February 18

Happy February!

I heard the groundhog saw his shadow, but it's time to get the cool-weather spring crops going! I've started some seeds, mostly salad mixes and lettuce, some brocoli and cauliflower. I'm excited to be trying more of the colored cauliflower this year--last year we just tried a few of the yellow 'cheddar' color and were impressed with it's buttery flavor.

I'm growing my seeds partly in some borrowed greenhouse space, and partly in a makeshift coldframe here at the house. Having started the farm from complete scratch last year, it is exciting to see how farm we've come -- last year we didn't even have the field plowed until March 31st!

Our two varieties of garlic have been up for a couple weeks now. They sprouted pretty uniformly, are about 3-4 inches tall, and on their way for July harvest. We have some scallions and leeks that overwintered well without any protection, and that look like they're starting to fill out just a little.

I'm in a rush to get my mushroom logs cut before the sap starts really flowing. I've been cutting and hauling oak logs out of our woods--we're trying to collect all the wood from our land, but 200 4-foot-long logs is a lot! I thought I had a good estimate of which trees I would need, but I've come up a bit short, so we're moving on to some slightly larger trees (they can't be much bigger than 8 inches across though). I'm really hoping to get finished or nearly finished this weekend.

A humorous note about all the things that must be done...and their distractions: I was ready to head into the woods today when, behold, I found myself stopping to fold the clothes out of the dryer in my full chainsaw safety gear (chaps, earplugs, the whole thing). I had to laugh at myself, and wondered how many other people run into the same sort of chore list! Probably more than I realize!

I'm headed to a conference all day on Saturday, hosted at Warren Wilson College by ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Program). I enjoyed it last year and am looking foward to another good day.

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Mollie