Winter.........

It's been a while, not much to talk about, but I wanted to share a little of what's been doing around here, and some pictures. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and that is really helpful, especially when there's not much to write about anyway. :) The holidays are over, and life is slowly returning to normal. We got to see the sun on New Year's Day, which is a treat in the middle of the winter in the U.P. 

The north field, on New Year's Day

The north field, about a week later. 

Here's another shot of the sunny sky, on New Year's Day. 

Glorious evening sunshine

And here's the herb gardens I wrote about last summer, under a nice blanket of snow, with the seed starting greenhouse in the background. It's hard to believe on days like this that it'll be busy in the greenhouse in about 9 weeks. 

Waiting patiently for spring........

For readers out of the area, we've had a really cold, snowy stretch, with very little sunshine. My lovely and gracious wife, Janice, is a native Oregonian. Central Oregon (a bit north of Bend) has plenty of winter sunshine; the lack of it here in the U.P. was a big adjustment for her, after marrying yours truly and moving up here 18 years ago this coming March. Getting married, pulling up roots, and moving to another state to start a new life takes a lot of grit, and I have the highest regard for gals who do so.

We've also been working on next year's wood; like I tell the boys, we gotta get working on it, it's gonna be snowing again in 10 months. :) Right now it's being stacked in the spruce grove north of the house, and when the woodshed empties from this winter, we'll stack it there. Right now it's serving another purpose as well. We're stacking it between the trees around the hay which is for the sheep; the pesky local deer thought I had bought it for them, and were helping themselves to it. 

Lots of hard work.....

But it has to be done, if we're gonna enjoy this next fall.....

The living room woodstove, cranking out the heat.

On the homestead food front, the root crops we put in pits for winter consumption are doing fine. Last night's supper was fresh-dug parsnips and carrots, and storage spuds and onions from the basement, rutabagas from one of the pits, and a local roast.

May not look the fanciest, but it was tasty. :)

Tonight was pork steaks from the pigs we raised last summer, along with baked spuds, and beets from the same root pit the rutabagas came from.

Those (bloody) beets...... were good.

One of the things I can do with regards to next year's planting season, is start working on seed orders. Two of my favorite seed companies are Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine, and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, in Missouri. 

Johnny's has great seed, and great customer service. I recommend them highly, and encourage my fellow gardeners and farmers to check them out, if you order in your seed. And Baker Creek has a wondrous array of heirloom varieties to try. I like trying them out, although the heirloom varieties tend to be a bit less dependable. Oh, and for the record, neither of these companies pay me to say this. I say it because I believe it. :)

Well, that's about it for now. Happy trails! :)