Spring Fever: Spring Has Sprung!

The Minnesota winters are so long (Oct-Mar) that by the time April rolls around and the weather starts to get nice (50°-60° daily highs), I long for fresh farmer's market produce, perfectly grilled meats, blooming flowers, green grass, trees with leaves, and warm, sunny summer evenings biking with Allan. It's days like today that bring me back to reality. In typical Minnesota Spring fashion, it is rainy and 53°. Quite a shock from the above average sunny weather that we have been experiencing lately - one day last week it topped out above 80°!

As many of my longtime followers know, one of my favorite pastimes is biking with Allan. We spent a fair amount of last Spring and Summer on our bikes. Since most morning lows have been in the 40°s, Allan has begun commuting by bike to work, which made me yearn to feel the wind on my face. However, being the cautionary pregnant mama that I am, I figured it would be best to ask before riding down the parkway with AP. At my last midwife appointment, I was told that even though I could physically handle biking, it was probably not a good idea because if something happened and I fell off of the bike or hit my pregnant belly on the handlebars it could do some pretty significant damage to my little one. So, the Trek Lime will just have to wait until June to come out of storage.

One of the other Spring activities that I get really excited about is the annual Spring opening of the many local Farmer's Markets. My favorite Farmer's Market, the Eagan Market Fest, does not open until June; however, there are several Farmer's Markets that open the first week of May with cold-weather crops like asparagus, onions, spinach and rhubarb. A handful of the Farmer's Markets do stay open all year long offering local artisan creations, honey, maple syrup, and meats; and if I get antsy enough, we may visit one of these in April - just for fun. However, I love the Farmer's Market for the produce and flowers, most of which will not be available until May.

Here is a glimpse into the MN growing season, compliments of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Minnesota Grown website:

As the weather gets nicer, which Spring activities do you look forward to the most? Have you been able to indulge your Spring fever yet?