Spring on the Homestead.

It is officially spring here in the Blue Ridge mountains!  We had a cold front come through a few weeks ago that froze many of the peach blossoms and daffodils, thankfully it didn't get them all. 

This peach tree is in full bloom and the bees have arrived! As soon as i step out the door i can here the buzzing. 

Seeds have been started in the greenhouse and i have tomatoes already coming up. i also have all my cold crops started, broccoli planted under row covers and a tunnel with spinach and mixes leaf lettuces. Spring garlic and peas are already in the ground.

So many little seedlings starting to sprout under the tunnels.  Our frost free date here isn't until May, so it's good to keep these delicate seedlings protected a little while longer. 

i started peas in the greenhouse and just recently moved them outside. i also have 3 rows planted from seed, that haven't started coming up yet. i planted a fun variety of sugar snaps this year. If they all survive, i should have green, yellow, blush and purple. i'm excited to try out these new varieties. i planted the Blush last year and loved them. They were gorgeous and tasty!

Goat field is greening up, and the goats are happy to be out snacking on all the weeds popping up.

My hens are laying full force, and all the chicks that were hatched last fall are laying now. i have a bit of green egg mystery going on now.   My two olive eggers lay the dark olive egg, but just this week i started finding these light mint colored eggs. i have no idea who is laying them. There is a small chance my rescue hen Lolo, is laying them as she is an Easter Egger. i haven't caught her laying though, and when i took her in i was told she doesn't lay. Very curious. i hope i get it figured out soon!

The lettuce i started in my greenhouse has really started to come in the last few weeks. i'm finally able to harvest a bit of it. i was hoping to keep it growing all winter so we could have fresh salads year round, but we hit a couple really cold spells and without heat in the greenhouse even the cold tolerant crops ended up dying. 

This year i hope to do better and get some type of heat source in there in the fall to keep things going. My tomatoes survived almost until December without heat in the green house, i'm sure i could have kept them going another month or two. 

As always i'm super excited about the spring and garden season and will try to document our progress each step of the way.  We have a lot of exciting changes coming this year, and i can't wait to share them with all of you! 

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler