every day is a good day
One of the hoop houses is loaded with blooming arugula. I had a patch of arugula which overwintered, and it is now in full bloom. Each time I’d pass the hoop house, I’d smell an intriguing, minty, spicy fragrance. It’s the heavenly aroma of arugula blossoms. The fragrance is minty with hints of cinnamon and allspice. Next time you want to compliment someone, tell them they are as refreshing as arugula blossoms.
It’s amazing how much power invisible things have. I started a new compost bin yesterday. Using a 16 foot long by 4 foot wide piece of cattle fencing, I rolled it into a ring 4.5 feet across. I had to wrap it in fine hardware cloth to keep the chickens out. I added one wheelbarrow of poultry bedding, and by the time I returned with a second wheelbarrow, the compost bit was full of chickens. Chickens are great at turning and tearing apart compost piles. They aren’t welcome when you are starting a compost pile. Once I had the compost bin chicken-safe, I filled it with:
The center of the compost was 60ºF when I put it all together yesterday afternoon. This morning it was 80ºF. I can’t see them, but trillions of microscopic creatures are having a feast, gorging themselves and generating excess heat from dancing through the night. May they party, eat, drink, and dance for a long time.
Last year, I first picked asparagus on April 30. In 2012 it was April 26. Having asparagus on April 18 is early. Asparagus picked while you prepare your lunch or dinner doesn’t need to be cooked. It has a fresh, sweet, green taste eaten raw.
Nijihime’s chicks hatched on Thursday. I’ve had many hens hatch chicks over the years, but it’s always a pleasant surprise when I first see a chick peeping out from under its mother’s feathers. I was expecting her chicks to appear on Friday, so seeing their curious faces Thursday afternoon caught me off guard.
Along with fresh greens and eggs, there is the first peony of the year. Peonies in April, way up here! When have peonies ever bloomed in April this far north? Ten, twenty years from now, will they be blooming in March or even February?
Seven years ago on April 20, 2008, a late spring snow planted snowcaps on our tulips. The winter of 2008-2009 was brutal, with snow falling every day from December into March. Even our well froze and we survived by melting snow for several weeks. Such winters seems impossible any more. If the climate has changed this drastically in such a short time, what will it look like in another decade or two?
