The Spring Test

Here is a memory from last winter...

 We made brush piles in the woods of old tree tops and brush during the spring and fall of '12.  So while there was snow to limit forest fires, I would snowshoe up hill into the woods and burn the piles down.  There are about 25 acres of woods here and  about 2 are kind of park-like.  Here we cleaned out about half an acre of brush and dead trees around a giant black spruce tree. This was a big pile, 10'x20', and it burned so fast.  Anyway this spot is called 'Picnic Pine' now. It used to be 'The Bear Tree.'  It is easier for me to relax at 'The Picnic Pine.' So we changed it.  I  hope it works....


 This is a funny season.  Winter won't give up.  So I watch what the farmers do.  They have their equipment ready, seeds stored and as soon as the fields dry out a little more they will be out there, working 18 hour days to get the seeds in as quickly as they can. So I am cleaning, frost-seeding clover, cutting the old weeds, getting the wind damaged fences ready.
 This year an organic farmer is going to be harvesting crops from my fallow fields.  He will put in chicken fertilizer, plow, plant, and harvest. At the end of the season we will compare expenses and yield-value to decide who pays who. I have trimmed around the fields. Thursday I pulled out 3 giant old fence posts that were in the middle of a  field. The farmer, his adult son and their Black Lab came over and we walked the fields so we understood each other and how it would go.  I have some little trees and some brush piles to move . I will get good grazing fields and he will get some crops. I trust him and I feel he will help me make this a better farm. This seems good. I have been using Organic practices and supplies. But next year I will be checked as a part of his farm.  So this is a big deal for me.

 With the short spring, I am raising transplants for the garden. So that is ok. The orchard is mowed, the trees are pruned and the apple tree buds are starting to form. The bees are flying when it is warm enough. I am feeding them, planting clover, and watching for flowers. Even with all the cold, the plants in the flower gardens are starting. I am raising a flock of organic chickens... next month when there is more grass and warm nights.

Ready, set, go!  I feel like I am running already!!!

Joy to all of you!

Eric