Temporary thaw
Posted on February 10, 2009 - Filed Under animals, farm maintenance, herbs, horse, pears, pests, planting, plows, seeds, spring, trees, vegetables, weather
After weeks of below freezing temperatures, rain and bluster, this week started with sun and warmth…aaaah….making working outside a pleasure again. I don’t know how long it will last, so I’m trying to take advantage.
The only thing in bloom right now is the Asian pear tree which seemed to thrive on the much cooler temperatures. Ironic, since last year, all the blooms fell victim to a hard freeze resulting in a much smaller crop. For my birthday party, we cut short limbs of pear blossoms and put them in tall juice bottle vases…very Martha meets Japan meets Country Living. The other night as we sat down to dinner, we noticed how green and full the limbs were. I’ve done very little research on tree propagation, but I think they’re shooting and rooting. Nice belated birthday present.
The freezes sacked my lavender and lemongrass, but funny enough left them perfectly dried and harvestable. Although dried lemongrass isn’t so great for seasoning (so I’ve heard), it smells heavenly. Actually, it smells like Pez. I’m thinking of making sachets of potpourri.
We ordered seeds and are in the process of hoeing out the gardens, spreading manure and so forth. John is going to prepare an area for permaculture gardening. From what I understand so far, it’s basically planting all types of plants and trees together at one time and letting them do as they will when they want — mostly hands-off with a bit of advance landscaping and irrigation help.
I’ve been working with Beautiful (the horse) again. Getting her (and me) comfortable with saddling up. I got a bitless bridle for Christmas, but it doesn’t seem to fit properly. Or else, I don’t know what I’m doing – more likely. Hopefully, I can get some knowledgeable input soon. Brutus is very interested in all the equipment and I think a bit jealous of all the attention Beautiful is receiving. When I walk her around, he follows nose to butt. I can do figure 8s, dizzying circles and he’s right there in on the action.
John is in the process of building a portable chicken house frame so chickens will be more free-range and help us with pest issues. You would be amazed at their ninja-fast reflexes when it comes to stalking bugs. New chicks will be coming in the spring. Mostly layers although it will be at least 6 months before egg production begins.
With all this going on and then some, I’ll probably be looking forward to at least one more short stint of cold weather just so I can curl up by the fire and veg out.
Comments
2 Responses to “Temporary thaw”
Leave a Reply
I am such a horrible person (and friend). I am so sorry I forgot your birthday. Happy belated. And you will always be 24 at heart.
I read Middlesex a couple years ago. I actually bought it because I liked the cover. I really enjoyed the almost Dickensian weirdness of the thing.
Also, Clay and I have been doing lots of different tomatoes. Discovered smaller seem to do better down here. Get 10 cherry tomatoes for every big ‘mater which is usually picked off by a bird or iguana before it actually ripens! LOVE the black cherry tomatoes… almost as sweet as grapes. No luck with the peppers either jalapeno or bell. Got some nice tomatillos and two whole cukes from that vine.