If You Can't Beat It...

What? More rain?  Go figure!  If you can't beat it, join it.  That's the motto for the rest of this week.  We have a couple of days off and have every intention of getting some major work done around the homestead.  Rain, rain and more rain.  Ugh!  So, this morning, we joined it.  We completed the first length on the new garden fence installation and B began the construction of a rock wall to enclose the strawberry patch.  We were dripping wet, but loved every minute of it.... well mostly :).  Later in the day, when it was just grey and a little less was falling from the sky, we transplanted all of the broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and leeks to the garden.  We placed them carefully in their nests within the landscape fabric and then covered them with a gauzy row cover to prevent the dreaded root maggots. 

On taps for tomorrow...some more fence work and the strawberry patch.  Rain, rain, go away!

Strangely Cathartic

 I wasn't sure if I was going to like it when I  followed Martha's instructions on leaving fall foliage in order to create winter interest above the snow.  I typically like to have things all tidied up in the fall so that I do not have to worry about it again.  I must say that we enjoyed having the added texture in our winter landscape.  With spring so incredibly slow to start this year, I have been itching to get outside; and now all of that lovely "interest" has been driving me absolutely bonkers.  So this afternoon, when the sky became blue and the sun was shining (despite the weather channel saying that at that moment there was an 80% chance for rain), I grabbed by biggest pruners and off I went. 

Let me tell you, there is another benefit to leaving all of the "dead heading" until the spring.  You do not need the above mentioned pruners to get the job done.  Everything is so dried out it just breaks off nicely at the ground.  There is something strangely cathartic about getting on your hands and knees and literally ripping out winter and revealing all of the lovely bits of spring that are resting beneath what was once winter interest.

Limbo

This time of year is really bi-polar.  We have a beautiful day or two where the mild sunshine and exposure to Vitamin D invigorate us, then it is back to grey, cold, windy (we really must get a wind turbine put in), and rainy.  This weekend was a perfect example.  We knew rain would be predominant, but the mid afternoon bliss of Saturday spurred renewed enthusiasm for farm work and planning.  We managed to install most of the cover to the chicken yard that we had fenced last fall.  It went fairly smoothly with only one frustrating hiccup which hopefully we will be able to get solved this week as we dodge rain showers.  Not too bad for a big farm project!  If you check out the Back to the Garden section, you can see we have gotten a number of planting jobs completed too.  

Our sunny evening walk on Saturday had us listening to birds and planning the layout of the new garden fence and much needed tree pruning.  We then began to discuss whether we wanted to move the old orchard to new soil and where to plant our nut tree grove.  Sitting on the front porch, warmed by the evening sun, we ended the day renewed and ready to get going.  Sunday, we woke up to rain, grey and wind.  Back to indoor tasks like garden bag making, running kids to birthday parties and play dates, and once again feeling a bit like we are in limbo, waiting impatiently for sustained time out doors.