The Tulips keep pushing up and the Daffodils are trying hard to be ready for the first markets! No promises!!!

The fruit trees are in! and just in time for the first little intrepid cherry blossom!

Hella inspected my planting work before she got a little too micro-managey and had to be put inside for the remainder so she could think about how her actions create consequences □

The earlier in the day I let the hens out, the wider they roam, even to become wild hens of the woods! I bet the bugs under that leaf litter are super tasty!

The hens also has a little visitor in a little white Ringed Turtle Dove that must have escaped from somewhere as they are a domestic variety. It had a rest day on the farm and then continued on it's merry way!

The Tomatoes have started going into their big beds in the Dragon Dome...

...even if it means standing room only for the rest of the seed flats. As more go out for planting more keep coming in from the germination attic to make way for the ones I keep seeding, so really I am doing this to myself. #plantlover or #planthorder? or just #farmer?

The hen huts have all been mobilized out on the pasture and get moved about weekly so they get fresh greens and grubs even if I can't let them out an evening.

With planting out comes the web of hoses that I manage day and night. I'll wait a few weeks before setting up the new drip/sprayer irrigation system (hopefully the really hard frosts will be over) but even then I need all these hoses to get the water there! Only I know where they all go and where they all come from mwahahaha

It's like Easter everyday!

The end of last week was so warm it was time to take the back vent off the dome so the plants wouldn't roast away as the temps topped 85F in there. On the To Do list this spring is to rebuild the vent so it doesn't require complete demolition each time it's gotta open!

I got some help with the painting. Do you think she knows the panels are for her future pasture-able hut? She is one of the barn hens that longs to follow in her comrades grassy foot steps!

And the other hens get cozy in that same in-progress hut. Maybe they are just inspecting to make sure it's up to code!

The Raspberries went in with a little help from my handy dandy dump cart and some well aged horse manure that's been moved around a few times as the whole pile of it kept being in the way. It's current home is as the hens' favorite hill to climb that is slowly becoming a grassy knoll, but I was able to get some good rich soil by sneaking in underneath!

After the icy snow was gone we got busy on the new Orchard fence! Posts are in and next we get to put up the wire before I can get my precious test fruit trees in!

The huts have gone mobile!!! And the hens enjoy checking out the old winter pads of their neighbors.

Underneath it's blanket of straw, the Garlic doesn't mind the cold nights and is stretching to the sky!

Hella's favorite time of the days are the lazy (for her) evenings where she can follow me around in the warm sun while I check that everything is set to survive until morning. She's my shadow who enjoys the moments when even she can cast a long shadow!

The seedlings, aka plant babies, get an easy start at life being pampered in a warm attic, under bright leds, in a space that is consistently warm and not windy.

So once they are big and strong, they still need some time to acclimate to temperature shifts, wind, and full uv spectrum sunlight. This means a few hours spent outside each day with increasing frequency until they are not only big and strong but also hardy!

A greenhouse full of hardy seedlings means it's time to get their beds ready for them to move in! This means some quality time spent raking and removing last years stalks and stems that were left to overwinter.

Leaving the landscape fabric down and the skeleton of the low tunnels up saves me a lot of time both setting up and taking down each year. And, leaving the plant material in until spring means I don't need to remove the landscape fabric and tunnel hoops and that the roots of those plants remain in the soil as a home and food for all the soil creatures, which means I see many more earthworms each spring than I do if I stripped it clean in the fall! Happy Soil = Happy Plant

Sometimes when removing spent plant material, you become a non-intentional seed collector! This is the Chinese Forget Me Nots which set seed easily and have seeds that are super grabby to any fabric, hair, or fur.

The hens enjoy their tiny mountain that has become a rodent home, dust bathing center, grub buffet, and grassy knoll.

Hella enjoyed the time off by sleeping for an extra 8 hrs with a few yawn breaks

The first special test fruit trees and vines have arrived! 3 different cherries, 2 different asian pears, and a smattering of raspberries. Hopefully they will be able to survive the summer frosts and we'll see over the next few years if they can fruit through those frosts as well! Time will, literally, tell.

Those little trees get to go in the ground just as the native Cottonwoods and my Lilacs are budding out!

And Hella enjoyed the shade in the sun-warmed greenhouse, keeping a close (side) eye on all the plant babies as they get ready for the wide world!

Every warm day brings out the beautiful butterflies, the world feels so much more alive with their little wings fluttering about.

The first of the Daffodils have begun poking up through the frosty morning soil. The first spring prep task is to rake off the old debris from last year before everything gets too big, so it doesn't get damaged while I make way for the fresh growth!

The Tulips are greeting the sunshine and air as well! Last fall was the first year they got planted into their protective wire-lined trenches so fingers crossed they survive the next winter from the voles and gophers!

The perennial Lupines are also beginning to bud and grow out, so the debris removal was a chance to get excited for more and more blooms and seeds! These are the bushes I grew from seed and saved this years Lupine Seeds from and it's a great time to get them planted. They, obviously, don't mind the frost (it still is getting down to 20F here) and it gives them a head start on everything else. Since they are perennials, don't expect too many flowers the first year, but each year the bush comes in bigger and bigger with more and more blooms!

The Dome is almost ready for those special Tomatoes that have been pampered inside under their lights, but first I had to make room by returning some of the pots, stands, and worktables to the hardening off area so that there is more room inside.

One of the key steps, getting the propane heater online, is done! A few nights of testing out which setting is needed depending upon the outside temp so that I have a steady temp of at least 50F inside are paramount before I entrust the care of those growing 'mater plants to the Dragon Dome and the Fire Breather! That involves going out a few times every night to check how it is faring, and so far it's very good and is easily keeping it 55F inside on some of the lower settings even when it is 20F outside!

With a warm and fairly calm day, it was time to start hardening off those baby plants to the strong sun, dry breezes, and also the cooler temps they have been shielded from. Hella was the designated inspector and efficiency supervisor!

The hens also get to enjoy the sunshine as I whittle away at the different tasks that need to be done before mobilizing them on the pasture. Next steps are to remove the front 'safety/snow' panels and pull out those many t-posts that held their runs down through all the wind storms! In the meantime, they don't mind mingling!

And when you wanna get away from the crowds to find your own special treats, it's best to employ the buddy system!

Sometimes the lure of a freshly cleared patch of cool, damp soil amid the warm sunshine is just too good to pass up, even if it means risking getting raked up with all the debris!

Special snack time means a feeding frenzy!

It's time to start the many-stepped process of 'unwinterizing' the hen huts and get them moving on that fast greening up pasture. The first big step is to remove the tie downs and the plastic covering their runs.

Another big step is to remove all of the electrics (extension cords, cord covers, heated water bowls, switches, and more). The bowls will get a good scrub down before being stowed away until next winter!

Who knew we had such close neighbors?!

The Guineas grew up with the 3 hens in the red hut and like to visit whenever they get a chance. They had to move out on their own 2 years ago when it got too cramped for their wildness, for they are tame but not domesticated.

Monday morning brought an inch of fresh snow for the hens and ducks to enjoy without their covered runs!

On Saturday, I hosted an Outsiety (www.outsiety.com) event for women to hike along the Kootenai on Bighorn Sheep Trail. It was a wonderful day with a special side trip up to see a special waterfall. There are other Outsiety events all year long and I'll probably host a few more this summer and in winter! All events are free!

A deep freeze with a low of 14F hit Tuesday morning. All the seedlings in the greenhouse were double (and even tripled covered) in frost cloth, the emergency electric heater was on (it can't heat the whole thing, but can take the edge off). A pre-dawn check in let me know that all was ok and it got down to 28F in the greenhouse and 32F under the cloths.

Freedom!!! Let's boogie!

It was just in the knick of time too, as more seedlings had to graduate to the dome to make space for many more flats to germinate in the warm, cozy cabin attic. The pipes exist to help get water to the bottom of the raised beds but also help to hover the frost cloth above the tender baby plants!

Rub a dub dub, two hens in a tub!

The more the hens are outside, the more comfortable they are exploring all the little places, like under the Hawthorne/Chokecherry bramble behind the barn.

The snowpack is gone and the land is calling! Time to start cleaning the beds, moving tarps, and getting ready to say hello to all the friends we've missed during the winter, like the earthworms, tiny grubs, ants, ladybugs, and all their soil-dwelling relatives!

Even the Guineas got out to enjoy the sun, find some bugs, and generally harass the rest of the birds

Seeding more flats each week means that the farthest along ones get the boot to the greenhouse (except the tomatoes, they get pampered for a few more weeks before I feel good moving them out only to be pampered in the greenhouse too!) I better work on clearing those old tomato vines before it's too hard to move around all the seed flats!

Luckily, I had built special window shelves for the orchids in the winter so that I could free up their wooden shelves to use as temporary flat holders in the greenhouse and all around the farm. You wouldn't believe the time I spend moving shelves around depending upon the needs of the season!

It's fluff butt time! Those bugs better watch out!

Doing chores while the hens are out means I am never left alone as the groupies hope for some treats to fall from my arms

The Golden Beets are looking golden and are getting a head start in some seed flats.

Hella still likes to pop up like a little spring vole to remind me to get the computer work done so I can come outside!

With the snow clearing into mud, I caved into their cute little pleading faces and let the horde of hens free into that muddy, wet world.

The plants also got to get 'out' into the greenhouse. The cabin space is full with newly planted seed flats so the biggest and most cold-hardy seedlings graduate to the, for now, unheated greenhouse.

They get to enjoy the warm spring sunshine, and a greenhouse that can get 40F degrees warmer than outside when that full sun shines down on it. BUT, at night the well below freezing temps creep in so that crumpled bundle of frost fabric is tripled covered over the entire shelf unit to keep them cozy until that sun shines again the next morning!

It is a thing so ordinary and commonplace in the world, but watching those seeds that I hug into the ground germinate always makes me let out a little child-like squeal of joy and feel a rush of excitement, this may be what other people feel when they see human babies, but not me, I feel it when I see plant babies!!! □□

This is what a duck nest looks like when you didn't realize she was laying for awhile. LOL there was a full baker's dozen, but since they were sitting there for quite a while they went into the compost and I added her space to my regular egg check!

When the sun came out, the hens definitely took the opportunity to enjoy the radiant heat from the gravel and the direct heat from that beautiful sunshine!

While tidying the shed, I had a few helpers come in to see what might have spent the winter hiding under the pile of stuff!

If I fits, I sits. Just don't lock me in!

This farmer predicts that frost fabric will be a huge fashion trend this spring, and next spring, and the spring after that, and, well, every spring, summer, and fall! It's a classic that never goes out of style!

Hella and I head to the barn, then back to the house, then back to the barn! It's time to get some work done while the sun shines

Fresh snow makes for quiet mornings...until the guineas get up!

A north-facing porch under a sun-warmed metal roof and cold nights makes for some of the most interesting icicles. These speak to the constancy of the force of gravity but the variability in our relation to it. Poetry becomes science becomes poetry.

The farm and I were awarded a Field Tested Grant From CFAC in Missoula for a host of farm tools to help make me a lean, mean plant growing machine! And the first purchase has arrived! A floral tool belt to hold snip, pruners, scissors, phone, pens, notepad, and whatever else I need while I plant, tend, or harvest. It's handmade by a small leather-working company in the US and I hope it will help stop me dropping my snips in the field all day!

Since it seems to be slush season for awhile (a season Hella hates!) The magical delivery people dropped off a bevy of new cat toys (like these swimming fishes!!!), so I can get some work done without a tiny paw tapping my leg to go out, or come back in, or go out, or...

Every year I'm tempted to get a fancy seeder that can seed a whole flat in under a minute and then I don't. There are multiple reasons, like they use a vacuum and vacuums are noisy, I often don't seed a flat with the same single variety (especially with the flowers), and they won't work with a lot of the more irregular shaped flower seeds, but truly it comes down to this: I like to touch the seeds. Creepy of me right? It may be 'woowoo' but I like to give them a little sense of hope, a little feeling of gratitude for their current and future self, a 'seed hug' if you will. So go forth and not only hug a tree but also hug a seed because it is just a baby tree!

If these little seedlings look a lot like carrots to you, then you have a good eye! They are baby Queen Anne's Lace and Chocolate Lace Flower, both relatives of carrots that flower in the first year (not the second like carrots do) and make larger and more numerous blooms, but not much root.

The first sowing of Cherry Tomatoes are growing well, and the second sowing got done this weekend. In another week or two, they'll each get upgraded to larger pots and smothered with as much indoor light I can give them as I don't trust putting them into the greenhouse (even with a heater) until March/April. I sleep better knowing they are safe from a sudden overnight cold snap.

I'm finally getting to winnowing and sifting the saved seeds from last year! I should have done it months ago, but that's life. Every time you save seeds you are choosing individuals that are thriving in your region and local conditions. This is the perennial Lupine that grows big and bushy, with tall spires of purple, blue, pink, and white blooms that are beloved by bees and can handle frosts! I'm working on prepping the cold hardy varieties first so they will be available for planting as the conditions are right!

As the chickens get special treatment and consideration in the wet times, the ducks don't care one bit! I'm sure this drake wishes his run was flooded instead!

The firewood shed floor has quickly become a chunky smoothie of mud and bark bits! Since it is a low spot relative to the snow outside (especially on the sides where it falls off the roof), it all flows in and even though the wood is off the ground a bit I may end up with some logs in ice!

But the water in the shed is good for one thing: to keep the axe heads on with no bucket needed!