This was yet another busy winter clean-up weekend on the farm. Some very important things on the list got tended to- like cutting down the tree branches that were touching the roof so the insurance company would stop having a fit-and then some other less important work like pruning back more of the roses in the front garden. It was the perfect day for it. It was not too hot and the ground was still damp from last week’s rain, which made weeds with long taproots very easy to pull up. I love when I am able to get in “work mode” and really enjoy the pace of the day’s activities. Although I know we are still technically in the throes of winter – the night temperatures still drop below freezing and the days are still very short – but the gardening bug has bitten us early this year and we have a lovely raised bed of cole crops, garlic and onions planted now. We managed to plant a lettuce box as well. This will be a good distraction so we won’t be too hasty and try to plant warm season veggies too early. This year the greenhouse is full to the brim with lettuce and other bright green leafy things that can stand the low temps. It makes my heart feel full every time I open the door and step inside and see the benches covered with green, a real contrast from just outside its walls where the rest of the farm is still mostly brown and crunchy. There are also quite a few rose clones from fall growing out in a bright corner, and a few water baths with hopeful cuttings creeping along in the cold…..waiting.
The roses that were pruned back were in the “pink garden” next to the front of the house. They are mostly hybrid tea roses used for cutting and bringing into the house. This garden had been in a lot of shade until we cut down the big pine tree in front last winter, and now it gets a lot more hours of direct sun. The plants were scraggly and leggy from having to reach for the sun and it has taken the past few pruning seasons to try to get them back into shape. Some still look like they will take another couple of hard prunings before they will be just right. Right now they look like nothing but thorny brown sticks poking up out of the heavy layer of mulch around their feet…..waiting.
There are two does in the nursery pen this week, Quinn and Bunny. Quinn is dilating and has started to bag up so we keep a close eye on her these days. I am not sure about Bunny, I think she may fool us for a while still. This is Quinn’s first birth, so I am really not sure what to expect from her, but her mother never had a problem getting her kids on the ground, so we hope Quinn follows suit. The goat shed is clean and lined with fresh straw, the lights have been strung across the yard and set up in the pen, and I will make sure there is a stack of clean towels stacked and ready to go- but for now we just watch for signs and bide our time…..waiting.
Even though there are a few warm days here and there, winter still has a firm grip on the farm. There are only a handful of eggs each day and only the odd chick that hatches in the one incubator that we run through the winter months. We have eaten the last of the squash that was in storage, and feast sparingly on the jams and foods preserved from last summer’s harvest. We will be in full swing again before we know it, and looking for a chance to sit down all too soon, but for now we spend a lot of our time just waiting.
Blue Hill Farms 