We are finally beginning to thaw. Winter doesn't end until March 22nd and cold weather will be here until mid April, but it feels like we have turned a corner. Looks like the negative temps are behind us. Today the Sun was shining and temps were in the 30s, so I decided to visit our community garden. The bright Sun and recent rains had melted some of the snow, which exposed patches of ground. Five things stood out.

1. The buds of the Corsican hellebore were dead. Another hellebore house failed. It is not as bad as last year when the buds died, the stems rotted, and voles moved in; but the result is the same. 2007 is yet another year without the cheery, fragrant flowers of Corsican Hellebore. Details are in the Corsican hellebore woes article.

2. Rabbit fur was scattered across the exposed ground. There were no bones, meat, blood, or signs of struggle. I will have to wait for more snow to melt to get a clearer picture. It looks like the fur was ripped off in small clumps. Only a few clumps had skin attached. My guess is a hawk, but there are cats in the garden occasionally. I don't think coyotes can get in the fence, plus I believe they would eat the rabbit whole.

Regardless, Hooray! The rabbits have bitten into everything green. They have chomped the sedges, sampled the snowdrops, munched the lychnis, and even nibbled the exposed Corsican hellebore bud. Maybe the poison from the hellebore weakened the rabbit for a predator attack. Good.

3. Voles are busy digging underground. Fortunately, this year they are not under the Corsican hellebore eating more trilliums. But they are visibly eating all the parsley. And probably enjoying more Tom Pouce lilies and toothworts as well.

4. The snow is dirty. For over a year there has been a pile of construction debris and rubble from the demolition of a factory in the lot just west of us. In 2005 the dust made it difficult to garden for long periods of time without coughing, watery eyes, and general wooziness. The issue has been discussed with our garden coordinator, Becky, but we don't have any answers yet. For two gardening seasons our crops and soil have been covered with this gray dust. While the food may be safe for consumption, it definitely does not qualify as organic.

Seeing the snow sprinkled with gray and brown flecks just brought the issue into focus. Construction debris (comprised of who-knows-what) is continually being deposited in our garden. We will have at least a couple more years of this until the strip mall or whatever is complete. It is crucial that we have this stuff checked to understand what we are dealing with.

5. Our raised beds are a mess! I built them on site with untreated wood in 1997. Now they are rotted, slanted, and riddled with vole holes and carpenter ants.