Book Signing Season is Here!
I have come to adore book signing season. It's a time to meet people, talk books, and hang out with my author friends, The Wandering Wordsmiths (You can join The Wandering Wordsmiths Readers Group here to stay on top of all the news!).
My first signing of the season will be at Books End Bookshop in Syracuse, NY. I hope you'll come see me and chat about writing and your favorite reads...and maybe pick up a gift for Mom, since Mother's Day is the next day! (Last-minute shopper? I got you covered. 😁)
If you're interested in checking me out at any of the scheduled events this year, you can see the whole list at https://www.nickigreenwood.com/news/index.html#events.
Gardening Season!
I'm also just as excited about gardening season, and have been patiently placating myself with a bevy of house plants, some of which you can see at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.421398597896313&type=3.
I've already visited my favorite local greenhouse and picked out some plants, but it's still too chilly at night to keep them outside. While I wait (not so patiently), I will put them out during the day, then bring them in at night to protect them from the chill.
The USDA adjusts the map of its growing zones every ten years or so. What's a growing zone? Simply a map of the average climate conditions in your area, which helps you predict what plants will thrive where you live. The higher the zone number, the hotter your zone and the longer your growing season, so plants that thrive in Zone 8, for example, will do very poorly if kept outside year-round (and probably die) in Zone 3.
The growing zone in my neck of the woods was changed last year from 5B to 6A. That doesn't seem like much of a difference, but our conditions have warmed just enough to make it more habitable for certain plants. For example, I have finally managed to grow lavender with some reliability! I have used it for cooking and scented sachets, and because I love the scent so much it makes me extra happy.
The rule of thumb is not to plant outside until around Mother's Day, when nighttime temperatures are reliably above freezing. So...we wait. Not quite patiently.
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, Happy Spring!
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