Spring is traditionally marked by the month of March. The sun rises on the equinox and sets twelve hours later dividing the day into two perfect halves. We call this the beginning of spring. It’s a day we look forward to from the beginning of the end of our winter festivities, and a day encouraged by the hope we place in a Pennsylvanian Groundhog called Phil. We call it the beginning of spring, but still we shelter in for the next few weeks until our newly acquired daylight starts to work away the snow that kept life dormant for five months.
At Ravenswood we start to see things really change around the end of March, and beginning of April. March moves out like a lamb, marked by the zodiacal baby Aries and the Easter celebrations, giving us a whole new display of natural phenomena. Nature expresses itself in the surge of rebirth and within this golden period comes many things to look forward too.
After the thaw introduces a tremendous amount of water back into the forest floor, one of the first characters that sprout up are the two distinguishable green leaves of the wild leek. Also called “ramps” this onion like plant grows in clusters around the forest and populates just about anywhere it can. At the time of the Leeks, there is little in terms of foliage so as you look out in to the forest you can see the many thousands of them; Although it’s up to you to harvest and fry them up for dinner.
Along side the wild leeks are the few spring flowers sprinkled throughout the forest. They live delicate ephemeral lives, so you have to act quickly to enjoy their short lived presence. Among the assortment of flora, the most notable are the trout lilies, the spring beauties also referred to as ‘fairy spuds’ (as pictured in the banner) and of course, Ontarios very own provincial flower, the trillium.
Ushering in this procession of new plant life is one of our favourite societies of fauna that dominates the ponds, swamps and all of the marshy wetlands on our property… The frogs.
Within a mere few days, a wall of sound begins to emanate from the breeding pools, teeming with un-manifested creative potential, singing the song of their virile ambition. The leaders of this celebration are the spring peepers. 
Their tiny bodies, yet small, produce a loud chirp that echoes across the forest. A fully pure tone that when strung together beside a hundred other frogs, produces a shimmering chorus.
As for what you can expect at our rustic getaway, the warmer weather allows us to set up the instant hot water, outdoor shower, for the rest of the season. The fire pit is also fully thawed and the fact that no bugs are out until later in May, means you can enjoy a pest free open fire under the dazzling night sky.