Happy Earth Day to all the mountains, fields, forests, oceans, rivers, and seas! And to all the plants and animals (human and non-human) that depend upon those mountains, fields, forests, oceans, rivers, and seas!

The first full batch of Salad Mix is almost ready to plant outside. Just gotta get it hardened off to the cold nights, bright sun, and hot days!

Before that Salad Mix can head out to harden off, all the perennials gotta get planted out to make room. The soil is almost ready, after a few days of sun and warmth this week, my clay-rich soil will be good to go!

Nothin' to see here! just a bunch of wild hens enjoying their wild life where the wild things grow

Sometimes the hens get a little too wild and think they can come into the Dragon Dome where all the tender seedlings are growing big and healthy, but one look from me and they think otherwise!

The Ranunculus are soaked and planted. Once they sprout they get planted out into their beds! Again, I've got extra corms this year so look for some to be available in the online store next week

Don't let the cold get you down because the sun still rises and the flowers still bloom!

The cold and the snow definitely makes it hard on farmers (and gardeners) but I've got everything that needs to be tucked up in the dome and some seeds the require cold stratification to germinate are sitting out and happy as can be.

The kittens take it all in stride as everything is new and wonderful (if sometimes a little scary) for them! The snow meant weird feeling feet, strange smells, and new things to discover. Every time is play time when you're a kid or kitten!

I may be eager to get the micros out from under lights inside to under sunlight in the dome, but the weather says no! Luckily the microgreens don't mind a nice warm, well lit home.

The hens are less pleased with the cold as they already spent all winter out in it. But they don't wanna miss any free time looking for a stranded worm or two!

The supervised exploring continues as they learn to play nice with the hen and the deer. Learn to play in the woods behind the barn and not across the road almost to the top of the little ridge (yes, I had to go find them and bring them back somewhat unwillingly) But they have learned to run back to the cabin when they need to!

Because nothing is better after playing in the cold woods and chasing hens than snuggling on the warm couch with a warm friend next to the warm fire

Roosters on the run! Tiny ones at least. Apollo is a tiny bantam rooster with one good eye and one bad one (due to a fight of course) but it doesn't slow him down. On any sunny day, you'll find him sprinting around in his tiny, be-featherd legs chasing bugs, hens, his brother and taking zero gruff from anyone!

Sometimes I get lost in checking in on all the seed flats as I peak into one, and another, and another. There are the easy-to-grow annuals that pop up huge and with a rush. There are the herbaceous perennials who are slower to grow but still with that same urgency. Then there are the slow germinating ones that sometimes take months, like the Pulsatilla at bottom left.

The hens love running around, scratching and digging in the compost row. It is mainly old stems, dirty bedding, and the leftover bits from the microgreen trays but they still find some tasty morsels hiding out. It means I never have to turn the compost but it also means they spread most of it around before I can scoop it up! If only I could teach them how to use a cart or wheelbarrow. □

Lisianthus is a much sought after cut flower and is known for being finicky to grow from seed. I tried four years ago with zero success, gave up on trying to grow them (or to order plugs which is expensive and requires careful planning). But I gave them another go this year and they are alive! They grow very slowly at first and need specific temperature, light, and humidity conditions. Once big enough they are pretty hardy but they are collicky babies and the biggest hurdles are over!□□

The Peonies are poppin'!!!

There are so many new smells in the field and farm, let the exploration begin! Sunny, warm days mean it's time to either sit in a nice window or learn to be the 'gatekeeper'

The wild hens have been flexing their wings and feet as they range wide over the field and forest hunting for delectable bugs and tiny green things. I always enjoy watching them forage with no fence to hold them back (just the watchful eye of the farmer) but ever in the back of my mind is the knowing that so few tiny poultry beings in the world ever get to experience grass between their toes and sunshine on their feathers as the huge majority of commercial organic and even free-range eggs are from hens raised in big long houses that are lit 24hrs with just a tiny outdoor area (sometimes a paved pad) to pop out into. That's the difference between calling them free-range (they have an option to go outside even if it's not grass and couldn't accommodate the entire flock at a time with space to move about) and pasture-raised (when they spend their entire waking life with an outdoor space that is full of grass, mud, and bugs).

The pansies that overwintered in the Dragon Dome greenhouse (unheated as it was through winter) are bursting forth with colorful blooms. There may be some Petal Power edible flowers available this week if you're lucky (meaning if this farmer doesn't festoon all my meals with them myself for me!)

The tulips have returned and I'm giddy because these are an experimental plot! All cut flower Tulips are grown as annuals (what! I know I was shocked too!!). Usually cutting the blooms taxes the bulbs enough to where they either won't bloom the following years or it will be a teeny tiny flower on a short stem (and flower farmers and florists like long stems!) So the bulbs are pulled up with the bloom and composted.