No whining, just bo-vining

If this weather has got you down....

Don’t let the hardness and harshness of the world right now extinguish the warmth and love within you. You radiate brightness and make this place better. Thank you for sharing your warmth with us. — Gimlet, who is always up for sharing her hot air with the world

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Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm

• I can’t remember the last time we had snow and ice on the ground for this long in Tennessee. We got more snow Sunday and Monday, and I was hoping it would melt during the week, but another bitter cold front moved in and it looks like it’s here to stay.

  

  Underneath that ice is stockpiled grass from this summer, but the critters can’t really get to it. That means I’m hauling bale after bale of hay out to them. So far, everyone seems to be hanging tough, but I know they’re all ready for a break. We all are.

  

• Last Monday, when we were totally snowed in, I spent the morning organizing our seed supply. I’ll be honest - I usually just read the seed catalogs, order whatever I want, and consider it a balm for my seasonal affective disorder. But: over the years that method has resulted in a lot of excess seeds.

  

  I decided it was time for a thorough audit. When I was done, I had 142 different types of seeds cataloged and put into alphabetical order in our seed drawer. I actually probably don’t need to buy anything at all this year. I probably will though, because: Ordering seeds is one of January’s small bright spots.

• This weekend I’ll get out the heat mats and the grow lights and start the broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and cabbage seeds. All of these guys can survive light frosts and don’t do well in the heat, so starting them early is the only way to go with spring plantings. It will feel hopeful to have something growing on this farm.

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Here’s What I Loved This Week

Can I interest you in these obscenely good cinnamon rolls? I baked a batch up on a snow day, and we each demolished one (or two…or three) after a snowshoe around the farm. (I recommend making the cream cheese icing, too!)