It looks and feels as winter is here. Everything is harder in the winter - frozen water, frozen doors and frozen faces and fingers. The rewards of winter are worth it - relaxing by the toasty wood stove, baking lots of stews, soups and fresh bread.
A few weeks ago, we processed our meat birds, all 15 of them. What a chore that was, but now our freezer is filled with happy, healthy, free-range organic birds. Lettuce, cabbage, napa cabbage, kale, mustard greens, endive and broccoli are growing happy under the low tunnels. I hope they survive the low 20 degree weather on it's way. The goats and sheep have been venturing up to the house when I let them free range, and have finished off the lettuce and Chinese cabbage in the kitchen garden. They enjoyed my winter cover crops of oats and winter peas in the main garden. If I could keep them out of the road I would let them out everyday.
Several of the spring seed catalogs came in the mail last week - soon it will be time to start the onions!
I am late to go and do the chores this morning as everything is covered in a blanket of frosty snow and the wind is blowing fiercely. The eggs might just freeze today if I don't go get them!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Looking Forward
Our CSA season has ended and we are looking toward the start of a new season. There is much work to be done- cleaning up beds, fertilizing, tilling, cover crops and getting ready for an early start in 2011. We have evaded the first couple of freezes of the season with Agribon covers, and cold temperatures are in store for us again this week- it is time to harvest those green tomatoes, unripe peppers, eggplant and late zucchini. Soon the plastic covers will go on the low hoops protecting the greens, cabbage and broccoli. Our largest, oldest garden has been torn up by the "ripper" digging down deep and turning soil over to loosen the soil that compacted by flooding. I am looking forward to getting drainage and lots of humus and compost on it.
Christmas comes early for me in December when the new seed catalogs arrive and provides winter reading. Onions will start in January, the beginning of my growing season. I am going to experiment with overwintering carrots and maybe spinach under the low tunnels so there will hopefully be some ready by May.
We processed 15 of our meat birds last Sunday and the freezer is stocked with some nice broilers. We now have the barn free for the piggies we are getting soon! Today, I think I will go check on the persimmons I have been waiting on to ripen as soon as the wind dies down.
Christmas comes early for me in December when the new seed catalogs arrive and provides winter reading. Onions will start in January, the beginning of my growing season. I am going to experiment with overwintering carrots and maybe spinach under the low tunnels so there will hopefully be some ready by May.
We processed 15 of our meat birds last Sunday and the freezer is stocked with some nice broilers. We now have the barn free for the piggies we are getting soon! Today, I think I will go check on the persimmons I have been waiting on to ripen as soon as the wind dies down.
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