(June 14, 1884 – August 22, 1980).
American author best known for her “No-Work” gardening books and techniques.
Ruth Stout. Photo: wikipedia.org
On those brilliant and, at the same time, mellow days which we get once in a while in February, when the sun is so warm that it seems to ignore your clothes and touch your skin, I would go out to the vegetable garden to see if the ground wasn’t beginning to thaw a little bit. I don’t know what I had in mind to do if it was thawing. Cheer, I suppose.
📌 What kind of “saying” is this? This is not a traditional proverb (like “March stirs its tail”), but a literary quotation/observation from gardening literature.The tone is typical: poetic, down-to-earth, and slightly ironic. 🧠 Meaning: It describes those rare, early-spring-like February days when you briefly feel that winter is giving way. The narrator goes to the vegetable garden to see if the ground is beginning to thaw—not necessarily to do anything right away, but mainly out of longing and hope. The last line (“Cheering, I think”) emphasizes: impatience / longing for the gardening season the irrational optimism of gardeners a humorous self-deprecation: you go out “to do something,” but actually mainly to make yourself happy. 👤 Author: Attributed to Ruth Stout (1884–1980), the American gardener-writer known for “no-work gardening”. The style also suits her well: observations about the seasons, direct and warm, with a dry joke at the end. 🔎 Origin:Ruth Stout, “The Second Season,” How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back, 1955.
Door Pieter
Mensenmens, zoon, echtgenoot, vader, opa.
Spiritueel, echter niet religieus.
Ik hou van golf, wandelen, lezen en de natuur in veel opzichten.
Onderzoeker, nieuwsgierig, geen fan van de mainstream media (MSM).
