First Day of Spring?

Well, the calender says today is the first day of spring! Below are a few shots from outside my window.... does this look like spring to you?

Last years sunflowers

Greenhouses snowed-in

Buddha waiting for a sunny day

It may not look much like spring, but there are signs of it in the air. Big flocks of robins have been passing through, the first hardy red-winged blackbird is staking out territory in the wetland, and the cats are actually willing to stay outside for more than 30 seconds at a time. The real sign of spring, however, is the fact that after months of arctic conditions, there is life again in the greenhouse.

We started the first trays of lettuce and a few other cool weather crops about ten days ago. So, its official, the 2014 farm season has begun. It was a bit daunting to switch on the furnace with propane prices over $5.25 a gallon and night time temperatures still dipping towards zero, but this is what it takes to have salad by early May. It really is like trying to heat a big plastic bubble. In order to reduce heating costs early in the season I hang an interior sheet of plastic inside the greenhouse to divide the area in half, so you are only heating half the space. I also set up a mini-greenhouse within the greenhouse for the earliest flats to germinate. I heat the main greenhouse to about 50 and then get the mini-greenhouse another 5-10 degrees warmer with an electric space heater.

Mini-greenhouse within the greenhouse

First lettuce seedlings are up

The first weeks of spring are also the season for preparing our next crop of shiitake mushroom logs. Logs must be cut while the trees are still dormant, before the sap begins to flow. We have a small woodlot on the property where I can harvest trees to thin the stand and use the wood for shiitake logs. Timing is always a little tricky - it's easiest to haul the wood out over snow, when I can use a toboggan, but if it's too deep, everything bogs down. I also have to cross a brook, so it's best if that is frozen.

This week turned out to have perfect conditions; the snow had a thick crust so you stayed on top, and the brook was (mostly) frozen. In fact, it was pretty exciting - everything was so slippery, that 40 year old toboggan shot down the hill like it was a bobsled.

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At the brook crossing

Hartshorn Brook, mostly frozen

I am sure real spring will be here before you know it. I must remind myself to just have patience and enjoy the slower pace of this time of year and appreciate the re-awakening of everything around us.