Pawsitively Exuberant

(about you)

You have the most amazing ability to bring joy to those around you. Don’t forget to use your superpower today. — Veli Belly, perpetual provider of joy

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Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm

• Daddy Warclucks got moved to his very own rolling coop with two hens to keep him company. One of those hens is Little Brown Chicken, who, you may remember, was being harassed by the other birds (and especially by the young roosters.) I may add another hen or two to his harem, since roosters can over-mate with hens if the ratio of hens to roosters is off….but I’ve noticed Daddy’s, ahem, productivity has waned with age, so I am not terribly concerned about him driving these ladies crazy.

• The first seedlings of the year went into the ground last weekend. Fava beans are a bit of a trick to grow here - they need three solid months of cool temps to produce more than one measly bean apiece. This is the earliest I have ever gotten them into the ground (look at me, actually ON my garden schedule!), so I’m hoping I’ll actually get some beans this year. Sweet and sugar snap peas should go in this weekend. Spring is officially in sight.

• Another sign that warmer days are ahead is that I’ll spend tomorrow sowing tomato and pepper seeds. These won’t go into the ground for months and months, but they’re slow-growing, and I am impatient for that warm dribble of tomato juice down my chin that only comes from biting into a just-picked tomato. I want these seedlings to be almost ready to bloom by the time their planting date rolls around.

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Here’s What I Loved This Week

The sound of spring peepers on a 70-degree evening in February. Technically, I know this overly warm weather is bad. My apple trees will blossom and get hit with a frost that kills the whole crop if these temps linger. But: Boy was it bliss to walk Veli around the farm in short sleeves while listening to the calls of frogs and trills of red-wing blackbirds.