End of Winter Happenings & Projects

One last display of Winter?  I kind of hope so, I'm solar-powered!

Getting to some of those projects that couldn't be done in cold, damp weather.
The one on the right is the "new look" in Espresso... like it?  I'm also going to reupholster it with
outdoor, weather resistant material.  My neighbor bought this for cheap at a thrift store and
didn't want it anymore.  She gave it to us and with a new coat of paint it looks better than the
one we bought a couple of years ago for $150!!!

To celebrate today's glorious sunshine we made a sunny salad, I know some of
that is not in season, but being I sent my hubby to get me all the fruit he could find
we might as well put it to good use.  Isabella is practicing her culinary skills!

This was my window garden to keep me sane this Winter.  I have green onions with the bottoms
in water so they keep sprouting, I just cut off the tops when I need them and a couple of days later
I have new ones!  I also have rosemary and mint rooting in the mason jar, as well as some Vick's
Vapor Rub plant that my neighbor shared with me last Fall.  Oh, and the mint in the hanging basket,
time to move it on outside...soon.

Caterina LOVES to bask in the sun.  She's working on her tan! Haha

Okay, I know, not the most attractive picture I could have slapped up here, but
I wanted to show you about how much compost we get in a day or two!  If you don't compost,
you should!  You would be amazed how much less trash you'll have, and the amazing dirt that comes
from this after we put it in our tumbler for a while makes it all worth the (minimal) trouble.

NadiLu couldn't stand it, she had to help, she got to be the tosser and the tester.

Of course we're chipping away at school everyday.  I'll soon do a post just on that to answer some
of the questions I get about what curriculum we use and why, resources, ideas, etc.  Here the
girls are playing "Sound-O", like Bing-O, but to strengthen reading skills, school can be FUN!

We are finally getting our greenhouse up!  We have moved 4 times in 3 years and have been dragging
this thing around with us.  I'm glad we never put it up anywhere else, it would have been a pain to take apart
and move!  We probably would have left it.  But it has found it's rightful place and will be put to great use,
mostly for starting medicinal herbs to sell at the Folk Medicine Festival!

Playing in the mud! Nadia and Isabella both have a pair of these boots, our neighbor had
two pairs that she wasn't using and gave them to us!  Thank you Holly!  It made this Winter so
much better, you really can't live on a farm without a pair of these suckers!

The beginnings of our compost pile.  We put it at one end of our garden, near the chicken coop
and also near where the sheep will be.  That way we can quickly and easily transport the manure to the pile.
We also add what has been tumbled in our compost tumbler to this pile to further break down.  The leaves are from some
leaf-removal jobs my hubby did in the Fall and the big pile of squash are from a local garden center, these were tossed out
at the end of Fall.  We made some great soup from some of them, collected seeds from others and now they'll make us some fine dirt!  There is also layers of cardboard boxes mixed in this pile, all the boxes from when we moved!

Our bees are also excited for Spring, they are working hard today.  I was surprised they survived this Winter seeing as how it got down to -2 degrees here this year, which is abnormally cold for this zone.  Not only did they survive but they are thriving.  A quick note:  this hive is not painted white because we chose to go with all organic options.  This have is treated with a 100% natural wood preservative, made out of all-organic ingredients.  You never have to repaint it and I like the look of it better anyway!