We are in the middle of a very cold spell that has followed a very snowy spell. Over our Christmas break we received 24+ fresh inches of heavy, dense snow. This through most of our plans for family out the window, but allowed us to slow down and relax as we found ourselves homebound until a plow finally rolled through. Our friend Val arrived after the plow, bringing with her snowshoes which made the snow fun again. We tracked miles through it, right across fields surrounding our home.
Now cold has settled in, yesterday when I got up the courage to check the air temperature I found it to be -27. The animals are doing quite well, the horse and mule have grown their winter coats and the chickens have lost interest temporarily in being "free range" and have opted instead to hunker down, or roost down as it may be, together. Ah, January in MN.
We have started working on our upstairs bathroom project, and even the kids joined in the demolishing of the old walls last night. We found a wonderful resource in Marshall, MN; it is a reuse store of sorts. We purchased a window and are on the lookout for a sink and tub. We also finally installed baseboards in Miles' room.
In Novemeber Stephen took a spill from Blackie, the Kicking Mule. He broke his wrist in a way that has required eight pins and a plate. This has slowed down our farming plans a bit, but we are still ready and anticipating our growing year. We ordered seeds this week, which I wanted to share with you to give you an idea of what will be growing.
As far as fruits go, we plan to pick mullberries and strawberries. The strawberries were planted last year, and should produce enough to send at least one weeks worth this season. Mulberries are great used quickly on oats or cereal. We are hoping for some apples, plums, pears, and perhaps cherries as well.
Here is the list of vegetables:
Green bush beans
golden and red beets
a spring and fall broccoli
brussel sprouts
green cabbage, napa cabbage and choi
carrots
spring and fall cauliflower
celery
sweet corn
pickling and slicing cucumbers
orient express and rosa bianca eggplant
dino and red russian kale
5-color swiss chard
collard greens
leeks
garlic
green bib, red leaf, and green romaine lettuce
spinach
cante and honeydew melon
red and yellow onions
sugar snap and shell peas
red, orange, mini yellow, and jalapeno peppers
yukon gold and adirondack red potatoes
pie and carving pumpkins
easter egg, d'avignon, and diakon radish,
zephyr, flying saucer, and sebring summer squash
delicata, butternut, honey bear, spagetti, and sunshine winter squash
cherry, roma, and heirloom tomatoes
sorbet swirl, little baby flower, and sweet favorite watermelon
rapini
thai and italian basil
sage
italian and curly parsley
oregeno
chives
dill
mint
cilantro
rosemary
thyme
We order most of our seeds from Johnnys Seed Company. Their web address is www.johnnyseeds.com. We anxiously paged through their 2010 calender and found our favorites from last year, as well as some new additions. If you notice anything missing from the list that you would love to see, please don't hesitate to let us know. As I have said before, we are growing for you and you are our priority.
From all of us at Kicking Mule Farm, have a wonderful new year!
impressed!!!!!
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