Friday, 10 January 2014

Hey All:

I was out in the field yesterday to check on the snow pack and see what the critters have been up to.  The only recent animal tracks were a lone Turkey lost from it’s rafter (A group of turkeys is referred to as a “Rafter of Turkeys”.  The mice, rabbits, red squirrels and cats seem to be favouring the area around the barn. 

There is between 18 to 24 inches of snow in the field, which is good for the garlic planted last fall.  The bulbs will be well insulated from the extreme cold.

The workload is increasing quickly here at Whitsend.

I am getting the annual flood of emails – inquiries from new prospects and potential interns, last year’s customers signing up again, and replies from some of my own seed inquiries.  If you are waiting for my reply, I am getting to it shortly.

There is still some planning occurring as I get a few more of last year’s surveys, researching pigs and forage crops, and double checking what my equipment and supply needs are for the season.

And in the barn, the building continues.  The nursery reached a big milestone yesterday, with the completion of the roof.  This was a moral victory, as the structure (like a greenhouse in function but a cabinet in form) now looks like something other than a skeleton. 

I’d take a picture of the nursery, but the barn is probably too dark to take a decent photo without a flash.  The insulation I chose is highly reflective, and wouldn't be appropriate with a flash, either.

By the way, my wood working has created a considerable amount of cedar wood shavings.  We usually use these as fire starters on camping trips, but there is more than we can use for quite some time.  If any of our customers are the camping type, let me know and I will get some to you when convenient.

Talk to you soon,


Bob