Culture

Patience for spring

|Mikaela Nadeau|

As Mainers, we all know that there aren’t four seasons, there are five: summer, fall, winter, mud season, and spring. As someone who is getting ready to plant a massive garden, I think seedling season almost deserves a category of its own. Sometimes it tests our resolve and even our patience in ways we don’t quite understand.

Of course, to test our patience we have to have it in the first place, and that’s something I admittedly lack, according to my four-year-old. So, when I planted my celery seeds I knew they took on average 14-21 days to germinate, but imagine my utter disappointment when they crested beyond the 21-day threshold. I felt like all my hopes were in those seeds for spring — I wanted to see those seedlings unfurl like I was seeing the robins in my yard. Instead I was turning on grow lights, watering, and watching those little peat pots for almost four weeks before I got my first glimpse of green shoots.

Celery, finally sprouting. Photo: Mikaela Nadeau

I learned from these particular seeds that you can fall into one of two categories — one who likes to be patient and grow from seed, or one who likes to just buy it as a plant. Despite my extraordinary impatience, I will always start those little seeds myself, and care for them in that buffer zone of winter and spring.