Seedling flats

The seedling flats are growing nicely. Our bedroom is now the greenhouse, replete with warming mats, lights, and greenery. Some of our cool weather plants will need to go out soon as they are beginning to get a little leggy! If this cold rain every stops (by Friday or Saturday), I can get them outside. But I have to remember, it's still only April! These longer days make me rush to get plants in, yet I'm still lighting the woodstove every morning.

Potatoes arrived yesterday! Yipee!

Hard rain gonna fall

John and I finally got our seeds started on Monday while the mercury hovered around 72 and a hot wind blew. Tomatoes, basil, peppers, eggplant, onion, broccoli, cabbage, and brussel sprouts are on the warming pads and germinating at last.
That night, around 3 a.m., Callie jumped off the bed and began pacing around the upstairs. I thought she needed to go out, but ten minutes later, the heavens opened up, and it poured. Of course, my first words were, "I hope Harley is inside." We've had more rain on and off this week, with more coming. There are still patches of snow, here and there, but for the most part, the white stuff is gone. NOAA is calling for sleet/rain mix tomorrow night :(

Spring Carrot Harvest

I dug up our over-wintered carrots today--a much better harvest than I expected. Some rotted into a gooey mush, but overall, not too bad. The tiny ones will be snacks for Harley.

We need to get our seeds started this weekend. Now that I've removed the concrete blocks from the truck bed, we can rig up our light and mat system in the living room near the woodstove. It's time to get those long germinating, heat-loving plants started. The mercury should hit 60 today, enough to melt the last of the glacier in the garden. The frost went pretty deep, so we still need the soil to warm up before we can plant early cool crops.

Happy April Fools Day!

Mother Nature had her joke on us--another 6 inches of snow! But I truly think this is the last hurrah for winter. Next week we should be seeing temperatures up in the 50's. Time to start thinking about planning our garden and starting some seedlings.

I'm vowing to not be too sidetracked by the horse, even though I may find that hard. He's so much fun, and still so new. But the dirt will be calling and once I smell spring out there, I'll be getting these hands good and dirty.

The tide is high--it must be spring!

Spring has truly sprung, ushering in the annual basement flood. I went to do laundry this morning and found an inch of water at the bottom of the stairs. Time to hook up the sump pump, one of the many rites of spring.
Yesterday I heard woodcocks buzzing in the early morning and at dusk. Today, it was flocks of robins and a horde of grackles, creaking in the treetops. And the jonquils are sprouting up in the woods.
I still have to get the fire stoked in the morning, but let it die down through the daylight hours. By dusk, as the damp chill returns, it's time to relight the stove. The forecast is for a few inches of snow and rain for tomorrow, so I've stacked wood around the stove to have a ready supply of dry heat!
The yard looks tired and trashed from the winter; wood chips and bark litter the driveway, twigs and dog poop decay on the lawn. I started in on my spring cleaning today, neatening and tidying the place up.
Soon it will be time to ready the garden beds, but half of them still lie dormant under the snowbanks.

Snowshoe with Callie Lou

After tending to Harley, I took Callie for a snowshoe up to Orris Falls. By 4:45, the parking lot was empty as the sun slid behind the hills. Callie ran for all she was worth, galloping up the trail with frequent stops to sniff under the hanging boughs--deer, mice, other dogs--all those interesting things dogs like to smell. By the time we neared the trail head, Callie was beginning to drag, worn out, but still having a grand time.

President's Weekend just around the corner...

...And with that comes tree tapping. I'm trying to talk John out of a big run this year. The top shelf of the fridge is still half full of syrup from the past two years. Every now and then, I pull them out to compare colors and determine which one to sample next. Will it be the golden amber, or the rich tobacco brown? Maybe half and half?
As much as I love maple syrup, the collecting and cooking can be hard work--lugging gallons of sap to the cooker and boiling, boiling, boiling it down to that single mason jar. But dang, it's so good!

And yet another snow day!

This storm brought another 10 or 11 inches with only a smattering of sleet mixed in ever so briefly. Yup, poor man's fertilizer is re-hydrating the well and giving the gardens a lovely topcoat. We may be shaping up for a stellar sap year the way this winter is shaking out.

John and I shoveled the drive twice and I cleaned off the garage and house roofs again. After all that work, I deserved a little play time. So I donned my venerable E99's and tromped out the ski trails again. If I'm really ambitious tomorrow morning, I may try and head down to Vaughn Woods before too many people pack it down with snowshoes.

I refilled the bird feeders before the storm--just so I could feed the squirrels too. Check out the level of the snowbanks! Compare with the picture on the January 22 posting.

Skiing Orris Falls

Tired pup

Orris Falls Trail