Fake Spring came to Minnesota last week. Fake spring usually happens a couple times in late winter before real spring arrives. Temperatures soared to 50F / 10C and a few degrees above. Now that might not sound warm to you, but for us, that meant going out on neighborhood foot patrol in sneakers and a hoodie. It was glorious. And then Wednesday temperatures crashed, and the forecasted 2 inches/ 5 cm of snow turned into 7.6 inches/ 19 cm. And today the windchill is currently -9F /-23C. The garden had almost been clear of snow and the chickens were loving wandering around and scratching in the mud. They are extra grumpy right now at the sudden return of winter. I don’t blame them.

Along with the fake spring season came the fake spring of DHS drawing down federal agents in Minneapolis. We were hopeful, but continued to be vigilant. And while there are fewer agents—I’ve seen it suggested there are now less than 1,000 (pre-surge ICE staffing in Minnesota was 150 agents in the entire state)—they remain active. They are continuing to change tactics, and have shifted out to the suburbs where people are more spread out, making keeping eyes on them harder. They are still plenty active in Minneapolis though, just much quieter about it than previously. So while the broader media has looked away because the surge here is “over,” it isn’t over.

The Bulwark has a good article, Special Saturday Triad: What I Saw at the Battle of Minneapolis, that gives an overview of what has been happening in the city and where we are now. My neighborhood is right next to the Federal building where DHS operates from, and a Lord of the Rings loving neighbor compared us to Gondor and the Whipple Building to Mordor. It made me laugh, but also, it’s kind of true. Except we have no wizards or kings or armies, just a bunch of Hobbits mostly. But Hobbits can do great things.

Real spring will eventually arrive, and we’ll have ice out on the lakes and hopefully ICE out of the state. However, while the melted lake ice doesn’t invade another city or state, I hope ICE doesn’t take their thuggery elsewhere. Perhaps Congress will actually manage to do something worthwhile and not cave in during this partial government shutdown.

Ice out on my neighborhood lake is generally around the last week of March to the first week of April. Not long now. In anticipation of real spring, I have begun indoor seed starting. I dragged my seed starting shelves, heat mats, grow lights, pots and trays up from the basement yesterday and set it up in front of my kitchen window. Sorry James. This makes things a bit tight in our kitchen for the next few months, but there is nowhere else to set this up, so…

I hadn’t yet opened the envelopes my new seeds came in and got a surprise. Two of the seed companies unexpectedly sent me free seeds and they were all tomatoes. I was already set with four tomato varieties I grew last year and saved seeds, so these new choices caused a conundrum. Do I try them? How could I not? So I went from planning on 10 tomato plants to planting 18. Um where will they all go? Don’t ask such silly questions!

Here are the tomatoes I am starting:

• Hungarian Heart—This quickly became our favorite tomato when I first grew it three years ago. They are huge and make great sauce, salsa, and sliced on a sandwich. Saved seeds.
• Grappoli D’Inverno—Another one that became a favorite when I first grew it three years ago. This is a plum tomato that makes great sauce and also roasts up nicely. Saved seeds.
• Orange Peach—I grew this for the first time last year. They are sweet small to medium-sized tomatoes. They struggled in the cool spring and then got overwhelmed by the monster tomatillo, but still managed to fruit enough to try them again and see if they do better a second time around. Saved seeds.
• Alley Tomato—This is a small cherry tomato that we found growing from a crack in the alley pavement behind our house three years ago. We moved it into the garden and it grew big and strong and produced an abundance of marble-sized red tomatoes that were quite tasty. I have no idea what actual variety it is, so we just call it Alley Tomato. Saved seeds.
• Kathy’s Red Barn—One of the free packets. This is a large red beefsteak tomato that is intended for slicing. The description says it has outstanding flavor and is great for BLTs, but in my house that would be TLT—tofu or tempeh, lettuce and tomato.
• Yellow Ping Pong—This came free from Sandhill Preservation. It’s a 2-inch yellow cherry tomato, which makes it about the size of a ping pong ball. The description says it is sweet and juicy and has a lemon-like finish to the flavor. Yum
• Goose Creek—Another free one from Sandhill. This is a small pink tomato. It’s an heirloom that has been grown since the 1800s. The story is that the seeds were smuggled in the pocket of a Caribbean slave woman on a ship that docked at Charleston near Goose Creek, South Carolina. The seeds were passed down through her family and her great-great grandson, Jimmy Williams, owner of Hayground Organic Gardening in California, has offered the seeds to the rest of the world.

That’s all the tomatoes. Now for the 15 pepper plants:

• Early Jalapeño—I had to buy new seeds because the ones I had been saving from jalapeños we got in our csa box three years ago didn’t sprout last year and I had to buy plants at the May plant sale. These seeds are open-pollinated so I will be able to save them and grow them on for years and years. They are also a variety adapted to Minnesota, even better! I’ve got six pots planted with these. We love us some jalapeños!
• Ancho Poblano—I have never grown poblanos before so we’ll see how it goes. James wanted something good for roasting and stuffing.
• Lunchbox Orange Sweet Pepper—This is a small sweet snacking pepper. I’ve never grown these before either.
• Long Red Cayenne—Third year growing these and they do really well in the garden. They make great hot sauce and add a spicy kick to other dishes. We have a small jar of dried ones from last summer that we crush up for spice. Saved seeds.

And, I’ve got three pots planted with zebra eggplant. It’s a small green and white striped fruit used in a lot of traditional African recipes. The flavor is semi-sweet and it is good raw, boiled, sautéed, in soup, or grilled—very versatile! This has been northern climate adapted over the last seven years in Fargo, North Dakota, by grower Simeon Bakunda, an immigrant from Congo. Also, apparently, the leaves of the plant are edible and highly nutritious and make a delicious side dish when sautéed with onion, garlic, anise, mushrooms, hot pepper, parsley , and nutmeg. I have never grown these before and the last time I tried to grow eggplant was in the early 2000s. I grew the big purple kind and had only one plant, carefully nursing along a single fruit that a thieving squirrel came along and tore apart just days before it was ripe. Never tried eggplant again after that. I’m hoping because these are smaller and green that it tricks the squirrels into thinking they aren’t ripe. If the squirrels aren’t fooled, at least I know I can eat the leaves.

Planting all these seeds felt so good, a balm for my soul. I love the cusp of gardening season when everything is full of possibility and abundance and nothing has yet gone awry. Last year was cooler than usual with plentiful and regular rain. The Climate Prediction Center outlook for this summer indicates a likelihood of a warmer than usual summer with precipitation at equal chances to be higher or lower than average. The cool weather plants will not be happy but the tomatoes and peppers will be.

For now though, everything is beautiful potential and I’m just gonna sit with that joy for awhile.