The little we had of winter seems to be over. Marie has a reseeded pansy blooming in her yard. There are a few daffodils flowering in protected locations. All of my crocuses are in full color — both the early ones and the jumbos. The spring birds are singing. I wish I knew them better. In my perfect life I would know everything.

I finally sat down and perused a few seed catalogues. I went ahead and ordered peas from Pinetree Gardens out of New Gloucester, Maine. It is my favorite for several reasons. It has simple, non-glossy paper. They don’t give too many seeds. The prices are reasonable and the package arrives within two days. I like to grow all three types of peas — English, snow and sugar snap. This year I stayed with one variety of each type. I have a sturdy fence so all the varieties are five feet tall. At my age I like less bending over. For years I grew the dwarf varieties because I knew I wouldn’t get fencing together. For several years I cut random brush and used it as supports. Beech twigs are particularly attractive and hold up well.

Last Thursday’s New York Times had an article on Eliot Coleman and Barbara Wamrosch of Four Seasons Farm. They are raising food year-round in Harborside, Me. Mr. Coleman purchased 60 acres of land from Helen and Scott Nearing in 1968 for $33 an acre. The Nearings, socialists and free thinkers, built their house out of stone by themselves and grew their own food during the Depression.

I need to fall on my sword. Last week’s column had several typographical errors for which I need to accept full responsibility. As you may know I hand write this column, and my unfortunate editor picks it up and has to enter it into a computer. Pity him! He needs to sort through my not altogether impeccable penmanship. My third grade teacher would, as they say, turn in her grave.

Several family members have birthdays this month so there has been some serious cake-eating at our house. It’s time to get back to nothing but salads for awhile. Fortunately, I have tons of lettuce, spinach, kale, and pea shoots growing right now. It has been a mild couple of months — just perfect for cold-weather crops. I looked back over a few columns from February past and discovered I was just seeding this week things I am already eating this year. This is one part of global warming that is pretty nice. I’ll be singing another tune come summer.

The baby chicks arrived. They came on Sunday which is very unusual. By a fortunate twist of fate I received the phone message from the Vineyard Haven Post Office in the nick of time. They would have had to spend the night. They already were two days in shipment. The good news about baby chicks is that they can go for a couple of days without food or water when they first hatch. This is nature’s grand scheme. When a mother hen is setting on a clutch of eggs — it takes twenty-one days — she won’t leave the nest until all have hatched. The process could take two or three days. The first ones have to wait for their siblings before mom takes them off in search of food and water. When receiving an order from a big hatchery those days are spent en route. At any rate, all was well with the little ones.