Outside we have a beautiful winterscape, if at this point in the year you've not seen enough snow. It's been a long, cold winter this year and the ground is still frozen solid. It's very common to continue to have plenty of snow here at this time of year, but usually one snowfall melts entirely before the next one, and the ground has a chance to thaw in between. And it looks a little like Spring. Unfortunately, the mental warmth of the season of reawakening hasn't reached us yet, and this frigid weather is delaying our greenhouse set up. Still, it is also making me appreciate how much I'm going to LOVE having it up at this time next year!
Of course we are plowing ahead, even if all the moving of snow had to be shared between tractor power and farmer power. There were a few warmer days this week when the top few inches thawed just enough to remove some of the lawn. It's a Catch 22 removing the grass in entirety and keeping any topsoil. Further thawing is required to determine the compromise we will choose, though we are probably done or close to it.
In the process with the temperamental Cockshut.
The point of greatest progress: I believe I truly love mud! Nevertheless we have regressed as a 6" layer of snow has fallen since this photo was taken, and we are expecting at least as much again over the weekend.
To bring on the Spring indoors, we are already making good use of the grow lights and our heat mats are full of germinating seeds. Little seedlings pushing out of the ground are always heartwarming to watch develop. Our first indoor sowing has brought us the beginnings of chamomile, lemonbalm, jasmine tobacco, zinnias, onions, castor beans, love-in-a-puff, and asparagus. Other flats of seeds are still dormant as they have a three week or greater germination process. Those ones make me anxious. Grow seedlings, grow!
Also I forced a few branches of double plum, and liked the results so much I started some more!
Since Easter is tomorrow we thought we would have a three day weekend of rabbits on Instagram, so watch out for those cuties! No babies this year sadly, but we do have a new buck on the breeding team: Rafael. A neighbour took his brother and named him Rocky, so we figured our little man needed a name beginning with R, too. He's a bit of a wild child, taking some time to warm up to us, but I'm sure in no time he'll be demanding love just the way Grand Chef does. @bluemoonfarm.lonepine.alta
In community news, we donated a basket of personal care goods (for the second year in a row), to the Raffle Night at Lone Pine Hall. It included a four step facial care box, shampoo bar and hair rinse, plus various other soap bars. Congratulations to all the raffle winners, and thank you to the businesses and people who made donations, and to those who attended - it was another great event!
Since seeding is such a long process involving dirty hands, I've not been reading, but listening instead. For those interested in the science behind the health of our food, I recommend listening to 'GMOs Revealed'. http://www.gmosrevealed.com (They have a website, but I just listened on youtube myself.) You'll enjoy the frankness and clarity of Dr. Zach Bush. The documentary series is quite fascinating, the facts and information are presented well - and if you care about your health it's a little like getting a condensed version of recent scientific papers and findings you would otherwise never get your hands on - though you might be a little disappointed in the reality of it all. Personally I prefer to be informed.
Happy Easter! May your bunny bring you Spring!
