Don’t worry! It has not suddenly started snowing here in late April. I started this post right before my appendix ruptured, and then a whole month passed. Unfortunately, all the work in starting seeds went to waste- we were barely getting by as it was without having to worry about continuously moving and watering a tray of newly-started seeds. The tray dried out, the few seedlings that had managed to sprout quickly shriveled and died, and we dumped the soil back into the garden to start again. But back in March…
There was a thick layer of leaves over the entirety of our garden, which I purposefully put there last fall to protect the soil underneath from drying out or erosion. I had toyed with the idea of planting a cover crop over the winter to replace depleted nitrogen, but just never got around to it. By the time we had our first frost last fall, I shrugged my shoulders and threw a few good armloads of backyard leaves over the garden fence and hoped for the best. 
Not the seeds we started indoors- the above only like to start outdoors, so we set these packets aside for warmer weather… we’re going to get them in the ground today, actually!
When I finally uncovered part of the garden to retrieve some good soil to mix with the potting soil we had, I found rich, black earth underneath, no doubt visited by many earthworms over the past winter. Sometimes when we leave things alone, they work out just fine. 
And though it all ended up trashed, I’m happy to say that Oliver helped me plant the earliest of our garden indoors: two different varieties of kale, lettuces, cherry tomatoes and Cherokee & Brandywine tomatoes, red peppers, cucumber, and a few eggplant. There are enough seeds left to start over fresh, which we are itching to do.
Today we will have a little “planting party,” pizza on the back deck followed by popsicles and planting seeds and seedlings (bought, not grown) in our freshly tilled garden. Andrew even built some small raised beds for our carrots, radishes, and beets. I can hardly wait to get my hands dirty! Have a wonderful weekend.
This is the first year that we have started heirloom tomato seeds indoors. It is so much fun watching baby sprouts pop up. My favorite is brushing the leaves with my hands and smelling the tomato goodness on my fingers. With any luck these plants will go into the garden in the next ten days.
How exciting is spring?
Sounds like a perfect party, good idea . It’s still kind of cold here , I’m not sure if we are really done with frosts yet… slow spring. Hoping to get started this weekend too though. Gardening always feels good , hope you are feeling well!