Longing for Spring

 It's that time of year where we're just longing for spring. It's so close and yet... Well, we have a lot of work to do before planting time, so we'll just have to keep plugging along. At 9th, we got a couple loads of compost, courtesy of Rick C. Because this is such a large area, we're just improving the actual row area to start. Our plan is to get more compost this weekend and till up the rows with Rick C's tiller.

We lined out the rows with enough precision to be able to put in standardized irrigation. The fava bean rows are just wherever we put them, however. The favas are coming up nicely, although they need a lot more weeding.

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Weather Note
It's been above freezing (mostly) for the last couple weeks, after that crippling long period of freeze. It was dry until today, when a rainstorm blew in from Alaska. We're getting some significant rain today, which should really help the garden.
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There was a nice full moon at the end of January.

It was so nice we decided to walk to Titus and Jane's house to play Catan. On the way, I noticed that my neighbor has a cannon! Fortunately it isn't aimed at our house...

Over at the farm, we've been working on the laundry room some more. Rick got the door put on and rewired it so we can actually use the electricity safely.

I've been reading about using sprouted grains as fodder, so we decided to try it at the farm. I got a simple sprouting system from Sproutpeople. The chickens do love the sprouts, although I'm not sure this is a cost-effective way to augment their feed. I'm going to look at whether I can get much larger bulk purchases of sproutable grains instead of having to mail-order it by the pound.

The "true" daffodils are just starting to bloom, and Rick C says the flowering tree by his house is flowering. We use these seasonal cues to decide when to plant starts. It's still just a tad early for tomatoes and peppers.

But we started to think about peas. Here Rick and Buddy demonstrate our new trellis idea. We'll run strings down from the top piece, but that should keep the row from sagging. Look at how wonderful and black that dirt is.

It even has a beer stand! We made sure to leave plenty of room in the back so we can easily pull the chicken tractor along the back fence. We're hoping to get another spring crop of side shoots from the broccoli, even though the chickens had a feast of them.

 In our backyard, the onions are garlic are thriving. They looked a little unhappy during the super cold weather, but they have bounced back. I'll fertilize them as soon as I'm sure we're past the ultra coldness.