Letting the sun take over!

For the first time this year, 2013, the wood stove has actually been cold for a part of the day!  Spring is coming.
The Equinox in a week!

March storm

And it was feeling so Spring like!  Maybe this is the last big hurrah?  It is "flocking" snowy outside!

Heavy, wet, blowing snow.

the bench under the Dogwood tree indicates
we got about 10 inches, so far.

The new addition to the family/fleet, sits on it's trailer, covered in snow, waiting for those days
when there is no digging of dirt, or cutting of wood to be done,
and the wind and sun and water beckon.

dirty hands

Went into the low tunnel today and did some weeding.  The temp outside was 30'f while inside it was 60'f.  Pulling weeds and getting the feel of dirt on my hands and the smell of earth in my nose during  the middle of the winter when the smells of growth and decay have been severely muted, was wonderful and inspiring of hope for Spring yet to come.
We have greens and root veggies in the tunnel.  We really need to plant more next year.

Cherries!

2012 cherries

This year the fruit stayed on the tree and the cherries look really good!  Not many yet, but I think it needs another year or two to get going strong.  I think a few might be ready for sampling later today.

June

It's been half a month since the planting season began.  We have eaten asparagus and now the plants are all fern and just something to look at for another year.  We are still getting strawberries, probably double what we got last year and they are sweet and large.  The Cherry tree has some red fruit on it, but I consider it practice fruit and don't really think about harvesting for another year or two.  The snow peas have pods on them and we should be eating those by the end of the week.  And as almost always, the collards, mustard and arugula keep giving.
We are grateful.

This week the seedlings all had a burst of growth.  My bean plants look strong and plentiful, about a foot tall now.  The potatoes that we planted all seem to have grown a bit too.

I think soon the bare earth will be covered in green leaf and the lush feeling and sight that this place becomes in the summer will have returned.

Mother's Day, Time to Plant!

It's Mother's day and here in the north east it's the traditional time to start planting.

Here are 3 "volunteer" potato plants, & some kale that just got
transplanted.  In the 3 pots are apple seedlings
that were started a year ago, or so.

The strawberry plants are looking very happy this year.

In the low tunnel the lettuce has come up.

the orange tree has it's sunblock on!

Snap peas are doing pretty well.

I dumped a bunch of squash seeds on a windy day and they ALL seem
to have sprouted.

Transplanted squash volunteers.

The terraces.

The main plot got expanded a small bit this year
and some new fence.

Apples to be, we hope. (winesap)

Peaches to be, we hope.

a row of pinto beans seedlings and the grape.

cherries to be, we hope.

pretty little flowers.

Happy Dog.

Silly rabbit.

In order to make room for this years crops we had to clear out what was still in the ground from the winter.  We still had a few carrots in the low tunnel.  Carrot soup, slaw, cake, salad....

Carrots! Planted last fall.

You can see how rocky our soil is by the funny shapes of these carrots.  We also did not thin them the way some people might so many were competing for space and nutrients in a small space.
I prefer the taste of the orange carrots to the white ones, slightly, and they all probably would taste sweeter if we'd picked them sooner.