I’ve been lured into complacency by the mild temperatures this winter. As I write on Tuesday, we’ve had some sleet and snow but it’s still relatively warm.

Now the forecasters are predicting some single digits for the weekend. Because my house was put together by the hippies in the late 60s and early 70s, there is a bit of concern about freezing water pipes.

I’ve spent all day fretting and piecing together some insulation. Honestly, there is quite a bit of anxiety with home ownership.

As a gardener, my concern is usually over plants and their imminent demise, so I am a bit ill at ease about my own surroundings.

I am able to compare myself to others who are much more unfortunate — to wit, the poor folks in Ukraine or the freezing of Texas residents last winter.

I think I’ve actually talked myself down from a cliff with that last paragraph, so it’s time to talk briefly about garden world.

I have blooming snow drops. This may be the absolute earliest for them. Wonder how they will hold up in the big upcoming freeze?

We’ve still been busy on some job sites. It’s a bit early for blueberry and fruit tree pruning but there is endless removal of bittersweet vines. It was so thick I had to cut some of it with a hand saw. I swear it is threatening to take over Aquinnah.

Also, remarkably, weeds continue to flourish on job sites. Most are lamium and chickweed and come up easily. If left until spring, I fear I’ll never get to it.

Sedum is up as well as daylilies, which I mentioned last column. Both have been discovered by deer.

I have two woodstoves, one of which is a cookstove. They produce a large amount of ash. I only burn hard wood and newspaper so they are relatively uncontaminated.

Violet is still home on winter break from college so I bullied her into spreading the aforementioned ashes all over the perennial beds. Hopefully they will provide some sort of needed nutrient.

I like to save some ash for use in the vegetable garden. They are a deterrent for cabbage worms and aphids. I also have used them around baby broccoli, cabbage and kale in the spring for the early root maggot.

Ghost Island Farm still has some of their own carrots, kale and spinach. I’m a big fan of shopping local, especially off-season.

Mermaid Farm and Grey Barn take good care of dairy and meat needs and wants.

February is my favorite month. The light has changed considerably and the march towards spring is happening.

The chickens go in to roost a full 45 minutes later than in December. I’ve been closing them in at around 5:15 p.m. instead of 4:30.

One task still remaining is the removal of used to be Christmas greens. Most are an unattractive brown.

We used to poke fun at folks with Christmas trees still up at Valentine’s Day.

Regardless of politics, I’m having a difficult time of late with national news. I have refused to watch the video of the horrific killing in Memphis. I don’t need to see it to know it was awful. Man’s inhumanity to man at its worst. I won’t even watch movies on the subject.

I saw one fight on the streets of Washington, D.C. in the late 60s that is forever in my mind.

Then, by mistake, I saw the attack on Paul Pelosi. I understand the importance of police body cameras and of video evidence of a crime but I really wish I had not seen it.

I’m not in denial or wishing to ignore it.

For years, I worked with a woman at the Black Dog Tavern. Her go-to line in any situation like this was, “Why can’t people just get along?” We always laughed but now I think I’ll start using it myself.