March 4, 2015

(Thank you so much to everyone for your kind thoughts and emails regarding my last post.  While it certainly could have been a whole lot worse, it sure has helped me learn about the importance of protecting my children in cyber world, particularly with close up frontal photos.  I plan to continue on here, but in a more cautious way.)

These photos are from a month ago, back when it seemed like merely a mild winter in western Canada.  Fast forward a month ahead, and we are in full spring, so very unusual for these mountains.  Garlic tips have shooted up, snowdrops are pushing upwards, and I’ve been building squash beds and preparing for a big Three Sisters Garden with Forrest.  We are certainly a month ahead, at least, of “normal” weather, and given the crazy snowy storms in the east, I’m feeling rather disoriented…what happened to winter?

No matter, there are seeds to start…lots and lots of seeds.  Our seed start table is back in the house and already there are onions, leeks and several variety of flowers started.

early February garden, and a month later…

early March garden

There is so much to begin right now, a whole month ahead of our regular spring schedule.  We are clearing more land for this year’s pigs which will eventually be sheep pasture.  We have some work to do on the chicken coop to make way for more nesting boxes as we anticipate some chicks later in the spring.  And as always, expanding the gardens to provide more year-round food.  I have already built eight squash mounds and I’m itching to move some manure, though the pile is somewhat frozen still.

And with spring comes the appearance of new life…of the four-legged variety.  We went a-visiting to meet some critters at the neighbours down the road, and we are drawn outdoors more to spend time with our favourite furry and feathered friends.

Whether you are waist-deep in snow or beginning to put your hands in the soil, I hope that March has brought some new perspective and a fresh outlook to your days!