Poppy Seed Snow

"It's snowing!" my Dad would say at 6:30 a.m. every April 1. My eyes would pop open, and i'd jump out of bed and run to the window.

"April Fool's!" he'd grin.

Today in the North Country, it is snowing AND it is April Fool's. This may (or may not :) be our last snow of the year, our poor (wo)man's fertilizer. Today is the day to plant poppies.

Throw the poppy seeds on top of the snow. I particularly like Papaver somniflorum (sleep flower), the opium poppy, which is a re-seeding annual. I'll be planting other cold-happy seeds as well, such as larkspur. Any later than this, and the results, the plants, become a bit if-fy.

Cold internal weather, when you feel the world has snowed you in--this is the time to start meditating. Although the immediate forecast is bleak, some seeds do much better in the dark. Like the seeds of meditation. Plant mindfulness today.