Another pretty day

We've enjoyed fine sun and very comfy temps this week. Two new round garden beds, 17 inches high, include pea and tomato seeds.

Also, wood has been moved to fill the shed. This biomass was originally processed as part of our big Fall 2023 project. We transferred 47 tractor bucket loads to go from empty shed to this picture.

 

On a lovely walk today, birches relished to rays, even though leaves haven't started appearing yet.

New bed for asparagus

We completed a morning project today -- transplanting asparagus into a new raised bed. The original 4'x8' spot now has our transplanted roots higher in half the width. The great moist soil will hopefully decrease the stress of the big move on each asparagus stem. We'll see how much wants to come up this spring. Today's fine weather will give way to some rain tomorrow, perfect for the asparagus, as well as the seeds started in the taller bed to the east.

Magic number

Providing its annual proof of never wanting to let go, winter decided that 17 was the magic number again, as in the low temp this morning. About 2 total inches of snow fell across most of the day yesterday. 

Wood Party

Morning low today: 17 degrees. Even with really nice sun, we're still keeping the stove hot. The tractor went to work before lunch in another "Wood Party," moving biomass from the garage or shed into the house. The shed doesn't have much left, but we're well stocked in the garage now.

We had six inches of snow on Saturday, but most of that has melted. Some flakes are expected to fall tonight, as well.

The Big March Melt

After we received four feet of snow in February, we thought winter would be quite visible for some time. A major thaw began on Friday, thanks to rain, wind, and warmth. This below/after shows the same scene from Friday morning to this morning. What a change!

Another chilly walk

We've had more major temperature swings, as can be expected in late winter. At 7 p.m. last night, it was in the mid-50s. Twelve hours later when a walk started, we were 30 degrees colder. The scenes on either side of sunrise today looked grand.

Chex Mix Monday

Perhaps we've had the last negative temperature of the season??? Minus 3 this morning! For the cold start, a beautiful batch of Chex Mix was made.

Grabbing the sun

This baby birch seemed so ready for spring this afternoon! It's trying to grab the sun! Temps reached 40 for the first time in quite a while today. Cold has plenty of time to return, but the sun looks great.

In another interesting sight today, these old apple trunks retained a snowy top, looking like a double ice cream cone.

Snowy and cold

We've received more than two feet of snow in February, with low temps regularly at or near zero. Two sunny days (although with highs still well below the freezing point) led to some nice snow clearing work to widen the cleared width of the driveway or move lots of white stuff away from the frost walls. Happy Win-tah!!!

Long way to growing season

Based on frost and freeze data, our growing season lasts 148 days a year on average. As obvious from the raised garden bed, we're quite distant from Day One.

Great loaf

The first 2025 loaf of cocoa pumpernickel just came out of the machine! The aroma for the last two hours has been truly marvelous.

Birches rule the winter

About 8 inches of snow has fallen since the New Year's thaw. As usual, the forest becomes even more beautiful when the horizontal white mixes with the vertical variety.