Early Robin Returns

Yesterday I was walking into the dining room when I spotted through the window my first robin of the year. Surprised to see a robin in February I was excited and instead of going for my quality digital camera I used my phone to snap a picture through the window. (Explanation for poor quality?)

Is this the Thank You Robin or the one I spoke about in She is Back. Both of these postings were written in July 2009 so the chances are that this is not the same robin.
But one thing all robins have in common is a taste for worms. Worms are something we have plenty in the worm depository and gardens around the house. So it is naturally that with this warm weather this is one of the first places for a robin to check out in spring.

However, it is not spring yet so I was surprised. But as they say the “early bird gets the worm.” I was glad to see the robin since I long for an early spring and chance to work in the garden. I planted some lettuce and kale seeds in the sun room Growing Power box now that my very small heater and window inserts can keep the room around the 50’s. In March, soon, I will start planting seeds for annual plants for outside.

Not having a very cold winter has affected some of us with health issues as the allergic items around really never froze. Pat and I seem to walking around all winter with somewhat of a cough. But that is okay. I will take the lack of freezing cold and a cough any day in return for an early spring.

My thoughts turn to the tap tap garden we visited in Haiti for the farms in India during the Pilgrimage of Peace like the one at Navdanya. In these climates one can grow all year around but the poverty of the country makes one think twice about being there. My niece from Sierra Leone told me that before the civil war in the country the markets were full of food. The land is rich and everyone had land to grow. However, after the bitter and devastating war over diamonds in this country the richness of the land has not been fully restored. In my mind, thus, good earth to grow all year around is associated with poverty.

Peter Maurin the co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement that building rural communities of scholars, laborers, artist and farmers was the way to go. Actually Gandhi believed in and created such communities. With the lack and expense of rural land it looks like this will not happen. However, with vacant land becoming abundant in the urban environment the urban growing movement flourishing maybe the reverse will happen: scholars, labors, artist and farmers will come together to form urban communities.

With indoor garden methods being developed we can build urban farms in the city that are all year around. The robin will return each spring to the city but the growing will go on all year around.

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