Windy March Farm

So much wind! It makes a normal day a cold day, especially in the garden, which lies on the north side of our property, abutted by a huge farm field. The winds across that field cut like a knife. But in the greenhouse:

 Those are basil seedlings. We also have oregano, but it's much smaller.
We're picking asparagus for the first time this year! First two spears:

 Onion seeds. I have onion sets doing beautifully in the garden, so I don't know what I'll do with these, or if they'll thrive.

 The four volunteer tomato plants from last fall that I've over-wintered are still going strong in the greenhouse. They're a bit peaky, but will bounce back as soon as I get them into the soil in May.

 'Tis the time of year for dandelions. The kind lady at the post office looked at me rather funny when I asked if I could pick the dandelion flowers in front of the P.O.

 I dry them and then infuse them into safflower oil.

This is used to make "Dandelion Lotion Bars" in the summer, which are insect- repellent. But this is the first step, which must be done when the dandelions are fresh and plentiful, well before the mosquitoes come in herds.

What else on the farm?

*Kale, collards, and spinach are all up in the beds.

*Strawberry plants are healthy. 4 in a large garden bed, and the original small strawberry "nursery" bed is coming back well from winter.

*Onion sets look tall and healthy.

*6 hens and 1 rooster still. Lady Grey, my broodiest silkie, is broody again and is due with chicks on April 11. Because I struggle to incorporate new birds into my flock, this is by far the easiest way to guarantee new birds will be smoothly received.

*Adam has started mowing and weed-eating. His gas can was chewed through this winter.

*He's covered the crawl space openings with lattice, repaired the garden fence, dug out the front ditch, and trimmed bushes and fruit trees as the weather allowed.

* I dug up yet more daffodil bulbs that were in bad locations where Adam wanted to mow. It does no good to have them mowed down; they never bloom. I've been rescuing daffy bulbs every spring since we moved here! This time I'm giving them away to friends.

That's all for now! Spring has begun, but it's really not warm enough yet to do that serious seed-starting and yard work we long to do.