Thoughts of Spring

The weather here has been, to say the least, miserable. We've had a couple of nights in the single digits. On nights like that I worry about the chickens' combs. The Sussex and a few others have single combs that seem quite susceptible to frost bite. Last night Charlie had to shoo the ducks and geese out of the goat shed and into the chicken house. He said goats and waterfowl were all huddled together in a disturbing way. Everyone made it through the night o.k. and with temperatures climbing into the high 30s, we may even be able to get water running to them this afternoon. We've carried buckets down to them several times a day the last several days.

While Winter has been reminding us of its existence, the promise of gentler weather has arrived in the form of seed packets. The first of our giganormous seed orders have arrived. We will be not only gardening our rather generous garden, but another 40' by 80' plot donated by a neighbor this year to meet market and our own needs. So we have room to experiment and continue on with old favorites.

From Appalachian Seeds we received Black Prince and Akers West Virginia tomatoes. There is a six packet minimum in the seed order that Charlie somehow got around. I've been thoroughly happy with the seeds and plants I've gotten from them in the past. This was also the original source for Black Prince that I loved so much. I'm looking forward to it again and have plans to save seeds this time.

From Johnny's came:
Maxibel French Filet Beans
Jade Bush Green Beans
Alibi Hybrid Pickler Cucumber
Green Bibb Buttercrunch Lettuce
Graffiti Purple Cauliflower
Cheddar Orange Cauliflower
Purple Haze Carrot
Chioggia Beet
Full Moon Pumpkin

The Touchstone Gold Beet is expected to arrive at the end of February and Russian Red Garlic will arrive for planting in the fall.

For now the garden sleeps under mounds of goat and chicken bedding and rows of matted oats.
But soon, it will be time to play!