A Difference of Nine Days

Nine days ago we were buried in snow, but today things are looking up!  Tomorrow is the first official day of spring and it is beginning to actually look a little spring-like out there!  Today it got up to 35 degrees and it sure felt good!  A person can walk around with no hat or gloves and a thin coat - well, you can if you are a Minnesotan! We all "go nuts" when the temps get above freezing!  The rest of the week is going to be in the upper 40's, so we will all really be crazy with spring fever!
     I took a few photos to compare with those of my last post so you could see the difference.   We had some rain several days ago and that melted about a foot of snow.   With the higher temperatures the rest of this week we hope that a lot more will melt.

The cats can actually get in and out of their house easily now!  And their favorite resting spots - the hay bales  - are clear of snow, so they can spend their time sunning now.

I went into my greenhouse this afternoon to see what's what in there.  As you can see it was a warm place with the sun shining:

It was 108 degrees in the sun in the closed up greenhouse.   Nice...........I soaked up some warmth in there!

I have a lot of work to do in a couple weeks to clean things up and get the greenhouse all pretty and ready for planting.

Underneath all the straw I have garlic planted.  It isn't up yet, but in a couple weeks I will see spikes coming through the soil.   The extra hay bales in the back of the photo will be used on potatoes this spring.   We read that potato bugs don't like straw, so we shall see if that is a good organic solution to those dreaded bugs.   We love those small new potatoes, and they also are big sellers at our market booth.  The greenhouse tends to be a catch-all for winter storage, so I will be busy cleaning things up.

Around the first part of April I usually get to start planting things in the greenhouse.  Spinach, leeks,  romaine lettuce, Chinese cabbage and bok choy are all good things to start with in colder weather. 
     For the past month I have been growing seedlings in the living room as usual under grow lights.    Peppers, flowers and Walla Walla sweet onions are growing nicely.

Newly transplanted petunias and statice is in the foreground.   This year I am growing double flowered "fluffy" petunias in shades of purple.   I am also growing lots of statice in various colors for dried bouquets that I hope to sell at our market booth.

When I need more space for plants, we add a middle section and more grow lights.  The only things left to start early are cabbages, and I will start those next month.   I used to start herbs early, but I have learned that they do just as well with direct planting outdoors.  Later as tomato seedlings grow, I will be transplanting them into larger pots.

Since we have melted quite a bit of snow in the last nine days, we can actually see the road again!   Here comes the mud season.............

The roads will get muddier and muddier as spring progresses.   Our cars get so filthy it's pitiful.   The joys of living on gravel roads!

Earlier this year, Harold's tractor broke.  The starter on his tractor actually broke off a piece of metal, and before he put a new starter on, he had to get the broken piece out.   He tried magnets of various kinds and sizes, but that didn't work.   So he had to split the tractor to get the large piece out.  That was a JOB!  He has been working on it in his shop as the weather permitted.  The huge tractor barely fits in his shop, but he got it in there with the help of a neighbor.   Shortly after that, the neighbor's tractor broke right in our yard - the front axle broke!  Neighbor Frank finally got that fixed today and got his tractor out of the yard.

Harold had to split the tractor and move the front end out.  He built some supporting wheels to slide the front piece.

A challenging job to put a new starter in.

The tractor is neatly split.

Harold got the tractor back together again.

The other side of the tractor.   Harold is starting to put all the side pieces back on.  Here he is going to put the yellow piece of metal on the front - a radiator protection bracket.   There isn't much room to work with the big tractor in there.

Well, this is what we have been busy with the past couple weeks.   If the snow melts enough, we hope to make maple syrup again.  If there is still a lot of snow on the ground, then we might skip it this year.   Nobody around here is in the mood to fight snow for maple syrup this year.   Thing is, we have spoiled ourselves with pure maple syrup - nothing else can be had with pancakes!  Nothing!  And it also is a big seller at our market booth.   We hope the snow melts soon.
     Oh - the last couple days we have seen trumpeter swans flying back and forth between the two ponds on our farm.   We always enjoy the swans and their noises.   It's a real sign of spring around here!