March 21, 2011
All the snow is gone now except for a few stubborn glaciers where we piled the snow from the chicken yard throughout the winter. I’ve been shoveling up bird seed hulls from t
he patio and picking up branches from the yard. Every morning I break off a few more dead stalks from the prairie bed on the south side of the “back 40 (ft.)” of My Little Farm in Town. Every square inch of the place needs to be raked. March is a really ugly month here. On the brighter side, the bulb flowers are coming up, and I will have crocus blooming in the front yard as soon as we get some sun.
Vole trails
When the snow melted off the front bed, I could see the pattern of tunnels left behind by the little creatures that were eating the bird seed that dropped from the feeders all winter. It looked like an ant farm on its side! I think we are going to have Mache to eat very soon. The second seeding I did last August that we ate until it all froze and stayed frozen is now waking up and starting to grow again! I am watching
Mache
the kale to see if it will come back as well. The parsley also is showing some signs of life.
I had to put my low fence back up in front of the strawberry bed (ripped out by snow moving equipment) because people are already letting their dogs wander into the yard to piddle. One neighbor’s dog did it while we stood there chatting! I’ll have to offer her some strawberries a little later in the season (evil chuckle). I originally put up the fencing because people were letting their dogs walk four feet into my front yard to “water” my potted kale! The robustness of this kale and the neighborhood dogs’ continued attention to it became a running joke. A joke that culminated the next spring when a neighbor’s spaniel grabbed hold of the dead stalks, pulled them out of the pot, and shook them furiously. That kale was never meant for my soup pot! Begonia
My Little Farm in Town 