Life goes on - Winter 2017

[BillSchiller]

Regards - and spring will come to all

tree farmer Steve unruh

I just hope it gets here before summer.

[JO_Olsson]

It seem it’ll be a while before any real spring gets here. Still -15C early mornings and just above melting point in the afternoon. Dogs love it though. They no longer have to rely on shoveled trenches for playing.

EDIT: Oh, and the wood business.
This winter has been colder than usual. I started burning next winter’s firewood supply already a month ago, but not a single btu of “artificial” heat has been added so far.
However, ever since I managed to free the the solar panels from snow, for the past week or so, they cover 25-50% of the heat needed. I expect to be able to shut the boiler down completly in a few weeks time. That’s when I start cheating a little bit and let the electric heater add a few degrees to the tap water on cloudy days.

[rustyold36]

I just got the last of the snow melted off the garden yesterday. Found some onions spinach and strawberries greening up underneath. Some beds the frost is gone. I e ven planted peas,onions , spinach and swis chard and covered back up with straw and clear poly. Soil temp 40 f at 8" depth. Most of the yard is still under 15" of snow. I have spread wood ash on the garden at the right times this spring to help the sun melt off the snow. I believe that the two feet deep rotted wood and leaves buried 2 years ago is still composting and helping here.
The weather but man is now threatening us with 6-10" of new snow tonight. I have a few tricks left to melt it fast if needed.magic black dust really works well.

[KristijanL]

Ha, l see winter is persistant in Sweden! Here we are starting to see some pink crawl out of apricot flower buds

[JO_Olsson]

apricot flower buds

Oh, I was under the impression apricot was equator jungle fruit. I’m only familiar to apples and carrots (which are usually ready before frost)

[BillSchiller]

Happy Easter all. We are heading down to the cities to celebrate with our family.

[Wayne]

Good morning Mr. Bill

Hope you and family have a good Easter. Hope you don’t freeze !

It is 50 now and should be 75 before the day is out.

[rustyold36]

Happy Easter to all. Mr Wayne it looks like your eggs are safe. I have to gather them a few times a day to protect from freezing. Easter egg hunt every day. The chickens think it is time to save a clutch for hatching. I am all for it but still a couple months early.

[Chris]

With apologies to our frozen nothern folk, I’m shifting us to the Summer 2018 thread.

Life goes on - Summer 2018

[IMG_20170920_183803] Continuing the discussion from Life goes on - Winter 2017. Carry on…

[Chris]