The Quietness of Winter

   For the most part, I have been enjoying the quietness of winter. Although there are no garden chores, other than ordering seeds for spring planting, the barn chores have more than doubled in the winter months. It seems I just get done cleaning the barn, chicken house and duck house, when I have to leave the comfort of the woodstove in the house and go out into the frigid air and do it all over again. This is the first winter in a few years that we have had a cow in the barn again, and I must have forgotten how much work it is to clean up after a cow confined to the barn to have decided to do this again! Oh well, spring is coming and soon the sheep, cow, chickens, and ducks will be outside all day only coming in at night.
   I have started to order my garden seeds and have already received all my vegetable seeds. This year I ordered all my vegetable seeds from High Mowing Seeds, an organic seed company right here in Vermont. For years I have ordered all my veggie seeds form The Cook's Garden, but this year decided to "keep it local." This week I will order my cut flower garden seeds. I always order the flower seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine. I have tried other companies but my best flowers seem to come from Johnny's. I am especially excited to try some new varieties this year, as well as, the tried and true sunflowers (6 varieties), zinnias (5 varieties) and celosia (4 varieties). I am looking forward to growing "Blue Boy" bachelor buttons, pincushion flowers, snapdragons, and China asters. Wish me luck!
   The prospect of starting seeds soon is so exciting, but the thought of my laundry room being taken over by grow lights and flats of seedlings on tables is a little daunting. I do so love the smell of the damp soil though! So I think I'll make a cup of tea and sit by my woodstove, and do my flower seed ordering right now.

Chickadees having breakfast on the farm this morning.

 

Temperatures finally warm enough today for the ducks and chickens to venture out.

 

The quietness of Winter in our field.

 

The herb garden at sunset last week.