I’m all for seasonal eating. I practice it as best I can. However, life seems cruel when the March and April food magazines arriving in the mail and food websites I’m browsing this week all feature recipes for spring produce like peas, asparagus, rhubarb, and strawberries.

We planted peas last weekend, but the harvest time is 65 days. That means I can’t expect to enjoy the first fresh garden peapod until the end of May. While in the garden, I checked out the asparagus bed, but found no sign of green. I also checked the rhubarb, which is just starting to poke up some eyes. And strawberries? Ha! We’re taking June here in Massachusetts, extending into July up in Maine.

First up will probably be the mesclun mix we planted. It might be ready in a month. The head lettuce packet says 45 days, so that’s early May. I know that no other “spring” fruits or vegetables, at least ones grown here, will be available locally for a while, but I sure can’t wait!

On a positive note, the flower beds are full of activity. I can see leaves popping up from many of my bulbs, but, so far, blooms only on the snowdrops (for a while now) and crocus. Hyacinth, daffodil, and muscari have yet to show their colors. The perennials are arriving quickly. I see the first leaves of so many plants coming out to say hello to spring. There are day lilies, poppies, sedum, bleeding hearts, columbine, iris, valarian, Pasque flower, a few millimeters more each day.

Also, last night when I was walking Bella, I heard the peepers for the first time this year. That is also an encouraging sign.

I’ll end on a humorous note: it was snowing this morning! But it was gone in the afternoon.