Snow blowing the Peas!

Yes, you read the title correctly.  It's time to snow blow the garden and plant the peas.  When my father was alive he made sure the first 2 rows of peas were planted by March 30th of every year.  Even if it meant that he put the plow on the tractor and cleared a spot on the garden!

However, this might be the year we don't have to pull out the blower!  From my first post to now, all  of our snow is 99% gone.  I can walk through the garden and not lose my boots!  I was talking to my neighbor and she too is looking forward to getting her hands dirty!  It is still mid-March and we are bound to get another storm.  So what do you do?  One word RESEARCH! 

Check weather history for your area, and find the answers to these questions:

*     When was the last time this happened?

*      What were the snowfall records?  Heavy high moisture but quick to go, or minimal snowfall?

*       Did the summer end up being dry or wet?  What were the rainfall totals?  Was it drought conditions?

Once you do this research you can then plan out your planting cycle and what to plant.  If your research shows that it was a dry summer, get out the rain barrels and start water collection.  If it ended up being wet, you may want to build a few raised beds for your beans, peas, and leafy veggies. 

Fertilizer is another thing to think about.  "How much and when?"

In my case we have enough organic fertilizer to take care of half the town.  Cows, Chickens,  Rabbits, and our compost piles.  So for us, we put a "load" on the gardens in the fall after harvest and tilling the garden.  It gets covered with snow and sits through the winter.  Then in the spring when it's safe to put the tractor on the garden, you  add 1 more load and till it about 3 times, then plant.  This of course is all about timing.  Again, what do you do when the weather pattern has changed?  With a low snowfall this year, we won't put on a second round of fertilizer.  You put too much on with a low water table, the soil becomes acidic and in some cases has cooked our plants.  Then you have to till it in, pray for rain and start over again.  (Costly if you grow produce to sell)

So is this how planting works everywhere?  NO!  Every area has it's own growing pattern.  If you want to start a garden but are not sure about how to start, drive around and find a neighbor who has a garden and ask them about it!  They would know!  I say that because my Father had a lot of people stop and chat with him about gardens over the years and he of course "had answers"!

So what am I going to do with our gardens here in Mid-March when normally there is snow?  I think I'll plant 2 rows of peas, check the Rhubarb, and keep the snow blower on the tractor for now.  You all know when that blower comes off, we'll get the big 3 foot storm!  New England weather is always interesting!

More on the gardens as the season progresses!

*Update...The snow blower is off..so far so good!  Planning to till the Gardens this weekend!!  So excited!

Birthdays 101

This week my son turned 7.  An amazing milestone for him!  Being born 9 1/2 weeks  premature and a boat load of complications that followed, I'd say he's doing awesome now!  So with another year comes another birthday themed party.  This year he chose 'Transformers".  We have two parties generally.  The first is what I call the "Grandparent party", the second, "Kid Invasion". 

The Grandparent Party consists of 3 homemade pizzas and a theme cake that requires me to lose the use of my right arm for what seems like days.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE making my kids Birthday cakes, but the Wilton Star Tip decorator can be brutal!  Here is the finished product:

Yes, the icing turned our mouths funky colors!

The Kid Invasion is usually a week later.  This year we invited 5 of my son's best buddies.  These are the boys that will be at our house when they are teenagers eating us out of house and home, playing Volleyball in the backyard, and jamming in the garage. (But we'll know where they are!)  So all 5 came.  We had games, we had food (which they ate it all) including the cupcakes for this round:

So after they were done eating, they got really quiet.  6 boys being quiet should be questioned.  Always!  They decided to turn on me and dubbed me "Deceptimom".  They came at me with all they had, balloons and couch pillows.  After a 20 minute battle, this "Deceptimom" came out victorious!  Dads were coming to pick up their sons and the first thing they see is me with one over my shoulder one on my hip and one on my ankles.  The others were slamming me with pillows. 

This party was one for the history books and one my son will always remember!  Now I have 4 months until my daughter turns 9...I better start now!

NOW winter shows up!

It's the 1st of March and we are finally getting winter here in Vemront.  Just in time for the kid's school vacation this week!  We are pulling out the Nordic skis for some much needed use.  It's sad when they have a layer of dust on them.  Compaired to this time last year, we are well below normal for annual snow fall. i can hear all of the ski resorts around us screaming YIPEE!  My husband on the other hand is screaming "Booooo!"  He works the overnight shift for  an airline, and has to work in the harsh elements.  Winter here in Vermont is  usually cold and icy.  Making travel at sometimes difficult.  Some nights what would normally be a 40 minute drive to work turns into 3 hours.

So now that we have winter finally...though the forecast is rain this weekend, we're going to enjoy it while we can.  It is Vermont!

This photo was taken the day after our storm.  It's a nice view!  Cold, but nice!  I grew up with this mountain range, moved away for 10 years and came back to it!  It's hard to stay away!

Here is my daughter breaking the  'cross trail'  also known as the "I'm too tired to go around again, let's cut through the center of the field to get back to the house" trail.  My whole family has been on skis since we started walking it seems, and my kids are no different.  They love it!

This is me...getting ready to break yet another trail!  You almost hate to disturb all that beautiful CLEAN snow.  Naaaaa, this stuff is MADE to play in!

What I have learned over the years about Vermont's seasons is this, enjoy them.  Mother Nature is going to throw whatever at us, and we just have to roll with it.  Along with the normal 4 seasons we have 2 - 4 additional seasons.  Mud season, Sugar season, Pothole season, (Auto Repair shops like that one), and finally Hay season. The last one is when you are following a hay wagon with your car and hope none of the bales come flying off when the trailer hits a pothole.  More on that when Summer rolls around!

Thanks for reading!