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It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere in the world, and every day is the beginning of one season and the end of another.  Now is the beginning of the seedling farm in the basement and now college lacrosse starts in earnest.  This weekend all plots of dirt are weed-free, all teams are perfect and everyone’s hopes are high.  A trip to the final four is in every coach’s vision.  Lush and bountiful is the fantasy of the garden.  We could end up broken hearted in May, but right now winter is officially over for America’s Lacrosse Nation and for America’s backyard farmers.  Right now is our time.

What’s left of the winter season in the garden?  There are a few blocks of pesto in the freezer and final blooms of cyclamen in the sunroom fading against the icy sludge beyond the window panes.

It’s time to get it started.  Seeds in the warmth of the basement under lights — broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, curly and Italian parsley.  Broccoli is tried and true, a contender every year.  Not a lot of flash, but it always delivers, a classic in my garden.  Like Johns Hopkins.  Every year the Blue Jays are in the mix to play deep into May.  Every year Hopkins makes it to the late spring harvest.  Unlike brussels sprouts which disappoint me year after year, much like the Hoyas of Georgetown.  They start off strong with beautiful form and great promise only to fail to produce fruit, become bug infested and ultimately get ripped from the ground.  But every year, I will try again because I am determined that they can be a star in the garden and on the field.

Lacrosse is a specialty sport with an appeal that eludes most of the country though its popularity is growing.  More colleges are adding it as a varsity sport and it has caught on like wildfire at the high school level.  Lacrosse has been around for hundreds of years.  Gardening has been around for millennia.  Every day a season starts.  A seed. A bloom.  A flavor.  A goal.  A win.  A ring.