What have we been up to? With the fresh Spring weather being well, Spring-like – we took advantage of some gardening cleaning and repair (moved flower boxes which lead to rose bush trimming, a new gutter for the outside of the heat pump house that hangs over a flower box that needed desparate repair, raking of beds, getting the pea bed ready, and cleaning up the driveway cottage garden – I like to leave all the tall stalks of seeds – after saving some of my own, for the overwintering birds and such) and due to the national rash of Avian flu, the girls are being moved to and from the chicken tractor which is now in a couple of old beds to be renewed in the garden (double duty). Though it will still be too early to plant alot of garden friends for a month, getting all these beds cleaned up this early is a gift (normally we are scrambling around the leftover snowpiles trying to dig in potatoes or peas). And if we’re lucky, all this rain will curb the Browntail Moth infestation that wants to impair me from leaving the house.
The babies in the greenhouse (or rather, my poorly used front porch) are growing nicely (though, late, as usual but stronger this year thanks to newly learned suggestions from both Eliot Coleman and Deb Soule books). And I finally took some time to try a new seed organization – piling them all in baskets and seedstarter lids wasn’t amazingly working – for both my addiction to buying seed packets and saving my own.
Josh has been finishing up the maple syrup (all boiling outside is officially over and now it has been refiltered and in the finishing pots, it’s likely we’ll get about 12 gallons which makes sense since we did less trees this year) – beautiful dark slightly smoky syrup – that’s how Josh likes it, just like him – with lots of character. And his new Polenta Green Chili Bread is divine – lots of flavor and texture (though I think he might change the scoring next time) and we are suckers for New Mexican green chili (when we lived there – in season, the whole town smelled of roasting chili – Josh got to relive that last year when he helped a local farmer roast his own – and he was paid gloriously in chili).
Meanwhile, Duende has been the ambassador for all things appearing – pussy willows, watercress in the creek, spring peepers, honeysuckle buds, and emerging crocus and other bulb shoots. There has already been an uptick in outside games – frisbee, badminton, and yes – wagon riding.
Let the Wild Rumpus commence!
Rock Bottom Homestead 