Season of Growing

As I write this I hear a steady rain on the roof, the wind howling outside, and yes a brief transition to snow is expected this morning.  This past week has been a blur and I have been neglectful of this sacred space.  Not that we are over-extended, just simply those once a month and one time responsibilities or activities, combined with the regular kid spring routine, all seemed to come at once last week and left few moments of leisure.

It has been one of those weekends, dodging raindrops, completing farm projects in fits and starts.  Though not the dramatic large projects, finishing touches were placed on all of those almost finished things, and slow steady progress made on other tasks.  I think we have the garden plan for the year in place and it looks like we will not be rotating any beds off this year, they will all have to earn their keep.  I sent out the first farm bag email of the year and was both humbled and thrilled by the overwhelming response.  The enthusiasm is infectious and spurs us to expand more and more.  Best of all is the little ditty above. The first flower of spring on the farm signaling the season of growing has begun.

The Sea

As I drive the kids from place to place, I frequently listen to our local NPR Stations.  There are always interesting stories on and a news snippet yesterday morning particularly captured my ear.  It was discussing the temporary shutdown of an Indiana steel plant due to delays in deliveries because of the lingering ice on the lake.    The shipping season is off to a slow start as the Great Lakes still have nearly a 50% ice cover and in some places the ice breakers are trudging through three feet of ice... in April!

What particularly appealed to me was the British news woman who at the end of the piece referenced the five inland seas.  I have never heard this term before and found it wonderful.  Perfectly romantic and full of mischievous adventure, don't you think?  I love that I live on the shores of one of these seas.

Spring Farm Weekend

As the weather begins to cooperate more and more, we are beginning to feel the soreness in our core muscles that comes from the hard work that is spring on the farm.   We completed last weekends hoop house adventure by finishing the planting and installation of the second one.  We filled it with three varieties of garbanzo beans, and giant Salanova lettuce heads that should be farm bag pleasers.  We also seeded Summer Crisp lettuce, kale and spinach to the cold frame by the house.  The garlic has just poked its green shoots above the straw and seems to be coming up abundantly.

We also laid down some landscape fabric over a grassy strip adjacent to the berry beds where our newly grafted baby apple trees will go in about a month or so.  We segmented out about 40 feet and plan to espalier them in that row.  I can not wait to see how many of them we can get to take!

We are really beginning to feel the absence of the other house in that we are more freely and actively dreaming of what we can do here now.  We have plotted out all of the areas that need clearing and begun to make a plan for getting it all done.  A couple of years ago we pulled out a number of large overbearing green hedges from the South and East sides of the house.  Last summer we barked it all in and planted the area with hostas.  Yesterday, with the help of a big chain and the tractor, we pulled out all of the leggy hedges that were encroaching on the North side of the house.  Now all of our irises and hostas on that side will have a space to shine without being choked out.

We also managed to retrofit the chicken tractor in preparation for a small flock of meat chickens and ducks that will free range the summer away.

I love spring farm weekends because we relish in being outside and are kept company by the abundance of birds and sounds of people out and about.   While it is still bare, buds just verging on greenness, we have the opportunity to visualize what will come next.  To top it off, we have a mass of energy bottled up from an exceptionally cold winter indoors to make those visions come to fruition.

A perfect example of how each child approaches a sunny 54 degree day differently! How was your weekend?

Singing for Spring

A little morning walk with my camera, if only I could have captured the sounds of all of the birds around despite the 28 degrees, singing for spring.

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That keep so many warm.

Emily Dickinson's Hope is the Thing with Feathers

Epic Struggle

 As much as we are aching for warm weather and sunshine, winter is attempting to hang on.  The temperatures for the week are still forecast to be ten degrees below normal with a few possibilities for sloppy snow through the mid and end of the week. 

We did manage to have a couple of warmer days over the weekend.  Saturday afternoon and Sunday shown with crystal blue skies.  The chickens scattered happily about to scratch as we cleaned out their digs from the long winter.  A win, win.... happy chickens and happy compost.

If Mother Nature is reluctant to bring spring, then we will help it along.  We built two small hoop houses over raised beds.  A perfect spot for starting cool weather seeds, while it is still a bit too cool, and they will function perfectly as a place to harden off plants that we start in-doors. 

Even though we are only getting hints of spring, it is energizing.  You can feel the struggle of the life on the farm right now.  The life around us wanting to stretch and bloom, yet not sure if it is quite safe to do so.  As you can see we are all a bit like this rhubarb, poking our heads up and wondering when Spring will win the epic struggle between seasons.