In season

One thing I love about New England is its four seasons. In Austin, seasons went something like this: summer, super summer, and fallwinterspring. So for me, this is a profound shift in the way we live. The rhythms of our days are now so influenced by the seasons. The freeform, barefoot summer turns to brisk fall with neverending leaf-raking. The dark, too-short days of winter are for skiing and sledding and shoveling snow. And for huddling under a throw with some tea and a book.

Now that it's full-fledged spring, we're swept up in springtime activities. Sunday afternoon featured the Newton Community Farm seedling sale and Bike Newton's 3rd annual Rally & Ride.

I feel so fortunate to have a working farm nearby, especially in a town that's so close to Boston.



Throngs of people milled about tables laden with seedlings. The crowds thrummed with happy anticipation. Perhaps they were thinking of this summer's muskmelons or fresh pesto. The farm folks were very organized, and had plenty of people to help and answer questions about varieties.



Purple mizuna. Isn't it lovely? Our yard has very few beds (if any) that get full sun so we concentrated on lettuces. Mmmm...spring mix from our garden. What a concept!



A bounty of beautiful heirloom tomatoes. I did say we don't have full sun, right? But we bought tomatoes anyway. We live in hope.



The world's tiniest oregano. My son insisted. Our children also insisted on a popcorn plant. I'm not even sure what you do with fresh popcorn. I'll figure it out if it actually produces something.



There was even a play area for the children with toys and a tree swing. On the way out, children could plant seedlings if they wanted.



Afterwards, we went to the Bike Newton event. Food, live music, booths, and a three-mile bicycle ride with Newton Mayor Setti Warren. What a fantastic turnout of enthusiastic cyclists...young and old on bicycles of all shapes, colors, and sizes, including a tandem bike, recumbent, bike trailers, and trail-a-bikes. Spring fun in New England.