Of Winter and Spring

This weather is seriously starting to tick me off. It is STILL bitterly cold and snowy and everything is a frozen wasteland. I could've sold several bags of kale this week, but couldn't because you can't pick it in the freeze. It just turns to mush. I could be making the big bucks on my garden! Actually, any little bit helps... it will get me faster to my goals.
I finally made it up to the greenhouse today... for a whole hour. That's all I had time for. Of course, everything was frozen up there, so I couldn't water my seeds or put my EM on anything. I am going to try again in a few days, if this weather would ever break! I totally expect these chilly temps in January, but it's almost March! March is spring!
I did get a few seeds planted. 3 flats of Walla Walla onions, 3 flats kale (both red and green) some green onion, stinging nettle (yes, I am growing nettles ON PURPOSE!!)  kohlrabi, cilantro, and some more lettuce. I also had to replant all my spinach, as it seems some naughty little birdies ate what I had planted 2 weeks ago.
My cabbage and some of the lettuce I planted last time is HUGE! If the weather was nicer, I would start hardening them off, and planting them out! I am going to wait until this cold breaks a bit, then move them into a cooler greenhouse, then it won't be long until I can put them in the garden. Everything I am planting is getting a dose of mycroizzial fungi and EM, right from the beginning. I can't wait to see what kind of difference it makes in the overall health of my plants.

I also got my little chicks in today. There are 34 of them. They are all different colours. I can't wait to see what they all turn out like when they are older! I have them in my bathroom right now. This should help to push me to get my new field coop done soon, so I can move these suckers outside as soon as I can. Not looking forward to the smell! The good news is that I will have more layers by July.

My incubator is all heated up and ready for some eggs. Again, I just have to wait for a break in the weather so I can grab some eggs and start incubating!!

Snow Day

I had big plans for today. I had actually wiped my calendar clean, and rescheduled all my daycare dogs, so I could go up island today. I wanted to visit my little goats, and mostly I wanted to go start a bunch more seeds in the greenhouse. I don't deal well when a wrench gets put into my plans. It takes me a long time to assimalate and adjust.
It was cloudy this morning, and cold like it's been all week. I had all the dogs out running around first thing, and suddenly there was a flash of light. I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me... I couldn't really figure out where it came from. Almost a minute later, there was a huge boom of thunder. Then it started to snow. Just a few flakes at first, then more and heavier. Sigh. I won't drive when it's snowy out - I just don't want to take the chance that it will get worse, and I won't be able to get home again.
Anyway, in the last couple of hours, we've had about 2" worth. Not as bad as Victoria... they woke up to about a foot of snow this morning. Ugh.
I know it's still February, but I want spring! I am hoping this is winters' last blast. I thought I had planned this day so perfectly, so I wasn't going to be all rush-rush. Now I have to figure out another day to plant seeds. I was also dying to get up and see the stuff I planted last time, see how it is doing.

So, I am getting an unexpected snow day. I am mostly just lazing about, reading a book, doing some laundry. I plugged in my new-for-me incubator, in preparedness of putting some Dorking eggs in there soon.

Some cool things happened yesterday, though. I had a client of mine talk a friend into bringing me some scrap lumber. It is all pieces of plywood. Nice pieces, too! They will be perfect for helping me build my chicken coop and goat shelter. PLUS, my friend Amanda and her hubby helped me to get a truckload of pallets. I am going to use those for my shelters, too. FREE;-) Just my price. I will have to get a few nails and 2x4's to finish the job, but my expenses just went wayyyyy down with these materials. As soon as the white stuff melts, I will get started on the chicken coop. Can't wait! All of a sudden, I will have more work outside than I know what to do with. Hope the weather improves soon, so I can get started!