Hello friends, it’s been awhile! I feel as if I’ve been hibernating and am just peaking out to relish the warmer temps and sunshine! While January and February are relatively quite on the farm, March is when we start to pick up speed so I thought I’d share what is blooming and getting done here this week!
What’s Blooming
I take Rosie for a walk in the woods every day and each time I round the corner to see this little spot with Snowdrops it lifts my spirits and makes me stop to appreciate their beauty. This is an area of our woodland where after taking dead trees down we were left with a clear spot. We planted a grove of dogwoods, and a few oaks, and every year when I order my bulbs I order an extra bag of Snowdrops to plant in this area. While they are still sparse, every year there are more and more and they may be small but they are mighty and make a lovely impact.
What We Are Working On
My list of to-do’s is growing by the day but I actually feel pretty good about where we are because we did so much in the fall to clean up and prepare for the spring! This week we’ve pruned all of the fruit trees. I’ve always found this to be so confusing so we took a free workshop at a local orchard. We still don’t feel super confident but we will get there I hope!
I also got all of my roses pruned and I have torn up hands to prove it!
I’ve also started seed for cabbage, leeks (a new one for me!), Swiss chard, delphiniums, foxgloves, peppers, lettuces and a few others. I finally got my ranunculus sprouts in the ground, it’s my first year growing ranunculus and I”m unsure how it’s going to go. They took forever to sprout and are still rather small. Considering they don’t love hot weather, I’m a little worried it will get too hot too soon for them. Here’s to hoping!
In the Kitchen
We’ve hit that time of year where I’m really desperate to switch up my cooking with things fresh from the garden. While we aren’t there yet, I’m happy to report that our chickens are laying in ernest once again as the days have gotten longer. We also have been indulging in some meals with maple syrup center stage as we got a great batch of syrup this year. I often drizzle a bit in my morning yogurt! I also made maple sugar as it’s great in baked goods and I also often put it in my coffee! It’s one of those things that seems like magic.
I hope you are all well and looking forward to spring, or maybe you are already in the midst of blooming bulbs and trees! This year, maybe more than others, I’m looking forward to all things blooming and growing. Each seed I sow, I’m reminded that there is the promise of life, beauty and nourishment in each seed. No matter what, in this world that can be so unforgiving and ugly, I hope you are looking for the beauty!
