first day of spring

Dear Readers,

On the to-do list for this week:

  • prepare beds for planting!
  • put a deer fence up around the new field
  • spread lime on the new field
  • seed the first round of celosia
  • take down the anemone low tunnel

The low tunnel (greenhouse plastic over PVC hoops) was an experiment that failed because of weed pressure. We got a few lovely (but too short to sell) anemones out of the tunnel. Next year, we'll put landscape fabric under any low tunnels we build; it's just too hard to weed in there in the winter!

Anemones weren't the only flower we had blooming on the farm last week. We've been cutting forsythia branches before they were even budding, and brought them inside. This is called "forcing," because the branches get tricked into blooming:

This little cold snap is tricky for the seedlings. We've got too many flats to fit on our heat mats in the greenhouse, so we move some inside at night when the temperature dips below 32 degrees. Then they go back out on the porch during the daytime to soak up some sun.

The lilies, which we're growing in crates (see below under the frost protective cloth) also got moved inside. On Tuesday when it's warmer, they'll go back out. 

Happy first day of Spring!! I wish you all a new sunhat.

Laura Beth