Although there are signs of spring here at Ancient Ponies Farm, the winter seems to be endless. It is just “snow on snow on snow.”
And yet, the signs of spring are starting to be everywhere. Walking across a snow-free area of the pasture, we see dots of robins searching for worms. The crocus is coming up! The buds of the lilac leaves are tight but green.
Another sure sign is that I saw Zoe drive by my window on Cubby, our little mower tractor. Seeing this, I can be SURE spring is coming! No matter how unlikely that seems today. We had Cubby, and the manure cart packed away in the Brenderup horse trailer for the winter. Zoe used it to take a first spring cartload of manure out to the garden.
We’ve also started planting some seeds indoors. Leeks, lettuce, celery, and other tender greens. Zoe had help doing this from Bob Winston our friend, a fellow farmer, and mycology sage.
My good friend Harry Rockland-Miller has been gardening for many years. He has been talking to me about his “solar cones” and how much they extend his gardening season. A good friend of both Harry and I, and a fellow gardener here at Ancient Ponies Farm, Jeff Weston, volunteered to make solar cones for us. You can find the design for them in the book Solar Gardening. This Sunday, Harry is coming over to give us a workshop on how to work with these solar cones in our garden.