My daily walk (weather permitting),
centers me like nothing else.
Although I prefer to start my day with a power walk,
sometimes the weather does not cooperate,
and it must be postponed until later in the day.
No matter,
the important part exercise plays in my life
makes it worthwhile to adapt to any changes.
Lovely, sweet carrots were pulled fresh from the garden bed.
I can assure you, they didn't last long in the fridge,
as most were used as a snack all by themselves.
Yes, they're THAT good!
Another round will be planted soon for a spring harvest,
although there are still quite a few in our winter bed.
It's so rewarding to know that there are a few stalwart crops
that can grow and feed us through the colder months.
A sampling of Vates kale yesterday proved to be oh-so-sweet.
Onions are one of the easiest crops to grow.
and require little attention.
What you see here is the Walla-Walla variety,
which is a new-to-me plant.
The goal with this crop is to never have to buy them again
at the grocery store or farmers' market.
Garlic and onions will be a winter garden staple from now on.
Yesterday a few spring bulbs were spotted popping up.
Our winter has thus far been consistently cool,
even downright cold at times,
but not so frigid that the bulbs couldn't wait to awaken.
These hyacinth flowers surprised me with a burst of color
in an otherwise barren and clay-laden bed.
I had hoped to fill this front flower bed with bulbs this fall
for spring blooming,
but I just didn't get a jump on it.
Maybe I'll try to plant in spring for the fall.
One problem is that the chooks enjoy dust-bathing and scratching in this area.
That's the reason I had laid the welded wire panels here
and it's worked fairly well.
These chooks have encouraged me to come up with creative solutions!
I had been communicating with someone on Next Door,
which is a local social media app, similar to Craig's List.
She is also a chicken keeper and she has the covetous conundrum
of too many eggs and not enough crates.
Which happened to be the exact opposite of our situation.
The good news is that we bartered empty egg crates
for eggs.
It was her idea, and I'd say that we got the better end of the deal.
Timely, as our girls are not laying much.
It looks like there will be quiche in our future.
Some time was taken to
pulverize egg shells in the Blend Tec for use in the spring garden.
C enjoys watching the contents being crushed beyond recognition,
so I am happy to let him lend a hand.
The shells will be stored in the freezer until spring planting.
A few new recipes have been tried in the last couple of weeks,
with much satisfaction.
It certainly does make it easy to go meatless,
which is how I've been leaning for years.
Recipes will be shared soon,
if you are looking for something clean, healthy and off the beaten path.
Here's where you'll find me on most cold, rainy winter days.
Grateful for our toasty, cozy nest.
Hope you have many blessings to count this weekend.
