It's never too early to begin planning the garden. When snow is on the roof and the longest night is through, out come the garden catalogs and the book about 4-square gardens and trenched potatoes. Mother Earth News magazines from long ago tempt me once again. Though my notions have changed through the years, I'm still not far from the 20-something someone whose greatest wish was a rear-tine tiller and a Excalibur dehydrator.

Though snow is tucked in all around us here in County Greenbrier, I know the earth is working its magic underneath all that white. The earth is softening and the self-seeded ones are burrowing with each freeze and thaw. We're a third of the way through January and today the sun is shining. I'm loving this tucked-in time of winter, but, like nature, I'm not above planning what the warmth of Summer will bring.