In which we cope with the weather, plant things, and have faith in the future

 It doesn't happen every year.

I'd be happy if it didn't happen at all.  But I'm not in charge of the sky.

Foxie Loxie says this stuff is FUN!

Mostly, sn*w--especially big, heavy sn*wfalls like we got this time--makes a lot of extra work around here.

It's beginning to compact and smush down now--hopefully turning to
slush and not ice.

We do have a livestock tank heater in the big tank near the barn, so I don't have to break up quite so much ice.

The day before the sky fell, Jim did a little bit of editing to the goat's stall door, so we can close it to exclude the Dragon from their stall but keep the paddock gate open so she can get to the warmer water.

Lupin Goat Gruff doesn't want to get out of bed on very sn*wy days. 

Goats do come outside eventually, because I refuse to feed them indoors--
they make a huge mess and waste a lot of alfalfa by peeing on it.

With the pasture all covered up, hay gets served several times every day.

"Mmm hmm mmm, second breakfast"

The chickens are not fans of sn*w either.  Jane Eyre was the only
hen to figure out how to get out of the coop before I dug them out.

I shoveled a path to the chicken kitchen, and sprinkled the path with cracked corn

Now all the hens are hanging out in the kitchen.  Pratchett is eating the corn they missed.

"For somebody who hates sn*w, you sure spend a lot of time out in it,"  says Jim.  

Photo from last winter

He plowed the driveway and most of the parking area yesterday with the quad/plow, until a cable on the plow broke.  We will need to shovel by hand if there's still sn*w there tomorrow, so he can drive the Honda to the parts store and pick up the replacement cable!

Meanwhile, in the house...

He can't believe that I deliberately brought a soup-pot full of sn*w into
the house...and then put it on top of his stove.

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Making our own plant-water

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Mix the sn*w-water with dirt...

Sn*w-melt makes excellent plant water.  We planted the first tomato seeds today!

It's also time to plant...TREES!

The story is that, around the time that Disneyland first opened (1955) the family in the house that is now next door to us (great-grandparents of current residents) drove down to California to see the sights.  

On the way back home, great-grandma fell in love with the sequoia trees...and stole some seedlings.  

No, that was not legal, even then.  No, she didn't get caught.  Instead, she planted her baby trees up and down our road.  

Gradually, the properties have changed hands, but many "stolen" trees are still growing here--including two sequoias and a coastal redwood tree on the grounds of Haiku Farm!

So. Much. Sn*w.

Monica has always been intrigued by these trees, which grow very well here in the Swamp.  Her research indicates that, with the climate changing around us, our oversized transplants will continue to do well here.

So, we're planting more.

Monica ordered seeds to supplement seeds she harvested from our own cones.
Our trees are still young (only 60 ish years old) and might not be producing
viable seeds yet.

We have a plan to try to start a variety of giant tree seeds:  sequoia and coastal redwood, and also dawn redwoods, incense redwoods, and a few more.

This is what sequoia seeds look like!  Each seed is about 1/2 the
size of a rolled oat.

It cracks me up that the "Whatcom Seed Co" is located in Oregon!
(Whatcom is my home county in the furthest northwest corner of Washington)

Incense cedar seeds

We soak the seeds overnight in distilled water

For optimal germination (which is pretty rare no matter what), soak the seeds overnight.  Most of the giant trees then require a Small Ice Age, which we simulate by putting them in the fridge for 2 months.

At the end of the mini-Ice Age, we will plant

Dawn Redwoods and Incense Cedars don't need an Ice Age, so we are sticking them in dirt today.  

Tweezers help us place seeds into the flat

Instead of moistening the dirt with distilled water, we used melted sn*w.

Sequoias in sn*w.

It seems like a good use for the stuff.