Keeping Watch

I almost made it out to the field the other day to cut hops poles, but wouldn't you know it, we got eight more inches of snow so I'm back to waiting for the snow to go down and the temps to warm up a bit. It won't be long.  The chickens ventured out before the snow came. 

Instead I brought some yarn up from my yarn bin and am knitting a simple vest to wear over my decidedly worn shirts.  If I like the way the vest looks I'll wear it to the Woodland Owners' Conference.  Then (a sure sign of Spring) I started some seeds in the basement:  Musselborough leeks, Danish Ballhead cabbage, Cal Wonder sweet green peppers, Thai hot, some of the hot pepper seeds grown in Laos I got from Bill and Linda -- I think I'll start calling them Laos Hot, Tabasco hot peppers, Rutgers tomatoes, and Fairytale Eggplant (not an OP or heirloom variety, but beautiful and tasty).  I'll start more seeds later next month.  Most everything else will be direct seeded.  And as soon as I can work the garden boxes I'll cover them with plastic and Agribon and get mustard greens, peas, radishes, carrots, cos, and onions planted. I saved some garlic to Spring plant this year.  I know you plant garlic in the  Fall, but I have heard of people doing Spring planting and I want to see what kind of garlic I get from doing so.

Yesterday I went to Phillips to pick up my order from the 4-H truck sale (that truck sale is the only place I can buy sliced frozen mushrooms in bulk) and while I was there I went to John and Floyds' house to drop off my farmers market scale.  They laughed when they saw me and said they had just been talking about contacting me to remind me they would be taking the scales down to Medford around Easter to get certified for the year.  They gave me a tour of their house and gardening set up.  It was a lot of fun!  I had no idea their operation was as big as it is.  They really have a nice local network going for them, too.  

While there we talked about what we planned on growing this year.  I was surprised that they agreed with me that it will be a cold summer.  Because of the Japan disaster I plan on growing most veggies under cover and growing a lot of potatoes and onions and other root crops.   John and Floyd are going to heavily plant beans.  

The March super moon was impressive.  It was kind of weird seeing the moon rise in the East while the sun was setting in the West.

Well, I could talk more but there are chores to do.  Take care!