May is the best color of the year. Yup, you read that right. 💚🌱💚

Published: Sun, 05/08/22

Hiya, Rural Sprout Readers,

I took a little unscheduled break last week for some much-needed rest. If you ask my sweetie, he will tell you that I’m terrible at slowing down and taking a break. I’ve got a mental to-do list constantly tapping me on the shoulder.

I frustrate my partner to no end when we are trying to get settled on the couch to watch a movie.

I get many sidelong glances, checking to see if I’m finally ready for him to push the ‘play’ button. And nine times out of ten, I’m suddenly reminded of one more thing I need to do first or one more thing I need to grab. Most of our movies start with him saying, “And she’s up again,” followed by an exasperated sigh.

But I’m slowly learning as the years pass that if you don’t slow down and press pause occasionally, life will do it for you, and usually not in a nice way. So, it’s good to have people in your life who are willing to remind you that it’s okay not to be going at a hundred miles an hour 24-7-365.

Anywho, friends, we’re back, gearing up for a fantastic May!

First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there. Being a mom is definitely a job that doesn’t allow for a ton of time to slow down and relax, but of all days, I hope today you get to do just that.

You know, a little more than locking yourself in the bathroom with your secret stash of Oreos while you hide from the pack of teenagers asking, "Mom, what's for dinner?"

May is prime-time gardening season. Depending on where you live, you can finally plant without fear of frost (Hi, friends!), or the things you planted are beginning to start to produce veggies. Either way, May is when we gardeners kick into full gear and get down and dirty in the dirt.

What are you most excited about in your garden this year?

I’m excited about growing Chinese cabbage and daikon radishes. I make a couple of large batches of kimchi each year, and I’m excited about using fresh ingredients from my garden.

I don’t know about you, but May is also my favorite color of the year.

Yup, green. And specifically, that bright, fresh new green.

It’s everywhere you look – in the newly unfurled leaves on the trees, across a hillside covered in fresh grass, in the garden filled with tender seedlings. It’s truly the best green out of the year, a veritable feast for the eyes.

And you’ll have to pardon my manners, but I can’t stop staring.

I find myself stopping in my tracks just to drink in the green around me. We’ve had 48 hours of non-stop rain where I am in Pennsylvania, and rather than grumbling, I’m amazed at how it makes this new green even greener.

Whatever you have planned for today, my friends, don’t forget to stop for a moment and openly gawk at the most beautiful green of the year. Because it won’t last, and before you know it, someone will be saying, “And she’s up again.”