On the first Wednesday of every most months, you can find us checking in with what’s coming up on the calendar, both literally and figuratively. 

Ahh April. Predictably for this time of year, I’m wondering how we got here. Weren’t we just slogging through the end of January?!

At the same time, I feel that renewed energy and excitement that comes with warmer days, more sunshine, and the smell of wet soil after a good rain snow melt. Let’s not kid ourselves, I live in the mountains, and woke up to four inches of snow on Saturday. Fortunately, most of it had melted by Sunday night.

If I had to break the month down into a few common themes, it’s eating, getting outside, and observing the changing seasons…

Eat

This is birthday month in our house! The boys’ birthdays bookend the month, and so it’s turned into a month-long celebration. I’m planning (asking them prodding questions to figure out) their favorite dinners. Of course there will be cake! There’s been talk of recreating the famous spider-snowman-with-eyes-on-his-legs cake. I’m hoping for rainbow sprinkles. Who knows what sort of sticky mess we’ll get into.

Beyond birthday dinners, I’m all sorts of excited to change up our dinner routine. We’ve enjoyed a winter rotation of roasts, soups, stews, and other hearty meals, but I’m ready for some fresh veggies and lighter fare. I’m hoping to sit down with my cookbooks this week for some inspiration.

I’m also excited for our next Ingredient of the Season! We took a few months off from this series, but we’re both excited to bring it back with an ingredient that works well for breakfast, dinners, desserts, and cocktails… what could it be?!

And finally, add “pick a farm-share” to your April to-do list, because now’s the time of year to make that big and fun decision. We’ll be back this month with a helpful post to aid you in making that decision.

Get Outside

While we love spending time outdoors year-round, there’s obviously something extra special about the warmer days of spring. There are so many ways to enjoy time outside. This post provides some great suggestions for mini-doses of outdoor time; perfect for creating a bit of down-time during a busy week.

One of my favorite mid-week outdoor escapes is a picnic dinner in the park. This can be as simple or as complex as you want. Pick up a pizza or a roasted chicken and you’re out the door in minutes. Have a bit more time? Pack a simple picnic dinner of sandwiches and fruit. Even more time? Make a one-dish meal, like this, and take it directly to the park in its still-warm pan!

If you have a garden, it’s likely that you’re itching to get out there and start working. This past weekend I did a little bit of cleaning up in our flower beds, and I’m so excited to spend more time in the garden this week… We’ve lived in our house for four years now, and honestly, I feel like I’m still figuring things out. I’ve had some successes with certain plants, but others have been complete duds. Was it not enough sunshine? Not enough water? Deer? I’m flummoxed, but going to keep at it, because every year I learn a little bit more about our garden.

Observe

Spring and fall are such a great time to make nature observations. Everything is in flux, and the timing of these events is important, both for biological and climatological reasons.

Way back in 2014, we wrote about phenology, the study of the annual biological cycles of plants and animals. This work is nothing new, but through advances in technology and communication, it’s become easier than ever to contribute your observations to a growing body of citizen science data. As we discuss in that post, there are apps for your phone and websites that you can join to easily add your observations to a variety of studies.

One of my favorite websites to check in on every spring is the hummingbird migration map. They’ve almost made it to Colorado, and I’m ready to put out my feeders! Two more great resources for tracking and reporting observations are the National Phenology Network and Journey North. Journey North even has a map of earthworm observations!

And speaking of wildlife observations, it’s time to reposition our wildlife camera. We moved it for the winter months, but it’s time to focus it back on the pond to see who’s coming for a drink (and bath!) while we’re sleeping.