Springing Forward

A partial view of the garden
 (minus the berry bushes, asparagus patch, & second garlic bed)
 as seen from the front porch.

I am so looking forward to daylight savings time starting this weekend.  This winter has been cozy and nourishing and a provider of many new learned skills that I am excited to take with me into the rest of my homesteading journey.  We installed, and learned to efficiently use our woodstove as our sole source of heat this winter.  We started our first batch of homebrew.  We built seed-starting shelves and have been using them extensively to get a head start on our garden.  There have been several births here in the cove, as well as a few deaths.  

But the promise of longer days, warmer temps, and all the plans we have for this upcoming growing season, have me sooo excited! Already these next seven days, the highs are between the mid fifties and low sixties.  I know Spring doesn't officially start until the Spring equinox on the 20th, but the start of daylight savings time is my unofficial starting gun for all he projects I have planned for my favorite season.

Here is my list (in case you are dying to know ;-)

New baby chicks arriving on April 3rd, including a Rooster for our flock.  More raspbery bushes planted alongside our blackberry bushes (ie. lots of cobblers made in my new dutch oven).  Strawberries moved to bed next to asparagus, to free up an extra bed in the main garden for More Veggies! (I am thinking something large and unruly like Candy Roaster Squash, or perhaps watermelon).  Put up fencing on the back 1/4 acre with electric for chickens and future goat babies!  Make a more permanent fence around the main garden, with a gate and an arbor (for growing hops on) using natural material from our property.  Expand the garden by two more raised beds for herbs and medicinals.  Plant perenial flowers and blueberry bushes along outside of garden fence.... Peonies, Poppys, Black-eyed Susans are first on the list :-)  Begin splitting the chicken shed in half, so goats can have one half and chickens the other.  Also starting a covered hay manger for future goats :-)  Prune the old apple tree near the garden so it will produce more this year.  And plant more fruit trees on property (this is all I am asking for, for my birthday this year)...good thing my birthday is the Perfect time to plant new tree saplings in our area!  I am hoping to get another apple that will cross polinate with our current apple tree, a couple cherry trees (Matt LOVES tart cherry pie), and maybe another peach, though we already have one and I may wait to see how much that produces.

I am sure there is more, but that is all I can think of right now.  I find that putting plans and dreams into writing GREATLY improves the likeliness of them coming to fruition.  Plus I have a thing about lists :-)