Deep Freeze of 2017-2018

The holidays are winding down. Most of the family has returned home, only Jake and Allie remain for another couple of days. We had a White Christmas, and one of my recurring nightmares became a reality on Christmas Eve Day.

Kingston, Adam, and I ran him back down the driveway and up the road without anyone getting injured. The deer on the other hand...

The greenhouse is a challenge. We haven't gotten much precipitation and the rain barrels are about empty. The deep well has frozen, and so now we have little water remaining in the greenhouse. I squeezed out enough today, and hoping for enough rain/snow that the rain barrels get recharged soon.

The other challenge in the greenhouse is temperature. We left the south side uncovered this year, and as luck would have it we're seeing some of the coldest temps of the past few years. Last night we hit -9F and it took both propane heaters plus three electric ones to keep the temps up.

We're through the worst of the cold, but the forecast doesn't show a day above freezing in the next 5, and no precipitation until Saturday.

Spring Collection of Pictures

I have been collecting a few pics of some interesting garden, greenhouse, and kitchen things, and so while I have nothing particularly interesting to write about, a post is in order.

Earlier this month we spread 45 cubic yards of mulch. Tom lent a skid loader which made all the difference.

My dear, with my dear dog

Around the yard, we have fruit...

Paw Paws (Asimina triloba)

Seviceberries (Amelanchier 'Regent' and others)

Elderberries (Sambucus canadensis)

...and flowers...

Japanese Snowbell tree (Styrax japonicus)

Shining Bluestar and Threadleaf Bluestar (Amsonia illustris and A. hubrectii)

Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus)

Viburnum sargentii ‘Onondaga’

Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus)

Cercis canadensis 'Appalachian Red'

...and in the greenhouse, fruit as well.

Jaboticaba

Grumichama (Eugenia brasiliensis)

In the vineyard, some vines are showing a lot of growth...

...and, one day, this happened.

We have had a lot of rain.

Anas platyrhynchos

In the kitchen, a few interesting things.

Shawn is fond of carrot fries

Green papaya

Green papaya slaw, much better than expected actually

Blueberry lemon cake 

Kingston is slowly getting trained...

Keeley is not, but she's loyal.