Well, if they say “In like a Lion, out like a Lamb”, then the end of March will be horrific. Today is beautiful. Bright sun, not too cold, very little wind at the moment. Apparently the wind is supposed to pick up by nightfall. The nice weather is great for the mental health, bad for the floors. The half if the driveway that was cleared is already entirely mud. The rest of the driveway and the yard will follow within a few days if the temperatures stay above zero. Mud-and-soggy-dog-poo season approaches apace.

I made a trip to the garden center this past week. I needed another bag of potting soil and wanted to check the prices of their seeding trays. I did not buy the seeding trays. I did buy seeds. 8 more kinds of seeds. Square-stemmed Monkeyflower, Prairie Coneflower, Galliarda, Culver’s Root, Boneset, False Indigo (Baptisia), Butterfly Milkweed and Blue Vervain. All of these are native in Canada, although not all in this particular area. Vervain and the false indigo I have attempted before. I will try again. Indigo is pretty, draws pollinators and is a dyeplant (hence indigo), blue vervain is pretty, draws pollinators and is good medicine. Butterfly milkweed is pretty and is the major host plant for a couple types of butterfly. Boneset is extremely aromatic, draws pollinators and is good medicine. Culver’s Root is attractive, draws pollinators and is endangered in its natural range. Galliarda has long been a favourite of mine as it is very cheerfully pretty, but I had only ever seen PLANTS before, not seed. At $20/plant. Seed is much better. It also draws pollinators. Prairie Coneflower is pretty, draws pollinators, and is a winter food source for small birds. Monkeyflower is pretty and draws pollinators.

All told, NOT counting my annual vegetable crop seeds, I have seventy-two types of seed planted or to be planted this year. Seventy two…plus trees and live plants….this WAS going to be an easier gardening season….I’m still looking for 2 late-season apricot trees and a witch hazel shrub, too.

I’m planning to set up one of my small greenhouses inside the big greenhouse, and then if I put one of the clear bins I used last year into the two layers of greenhouse, I should be able to get my tomatoes and peppers started far earlier than I would otherwise. Assuming, of course, the small greenhouse doesnt just get blown over because the holes keep reopening on the big greenhouse…

One of my (many) priorities for this year is to get some birdhouses installed throughout the orchard area to encourage bird habitat. To that end I acquired 6 birdhouses off of FB marketplace last week, and I hope to install one or two at least today. Nesting season begins in March, so I dont have a lot of time.

I have also acquired another DIY project. By circumstance, not choice. This is “my” chair:

My chair is very old. Antique old, although it was re-covered at some point in the not-too-distant past. The re-covery job was not terribly well executed, but the chair fits my butt nicely. It has never been SUPER comfortable, but two days ago, one of the springs let go and it became vastly less so. I had always planned to re-upholster it ‘someday’. That day has moved far closer. I did a quick repair job with the spring, but in doing so took a much better look at the chair than ever before. The old cover fabric is still on there (oh my gosh, so ugly) and it is stuffed with kapok. No wonder it’s lumpy. I will re-stuff it with large quantities of wool, and re-cover it with a cotton-linen canvas.

In the meantime, my three other projects are progressing. I have 2.5 inches left on the weaving,  the breakfront currently looks like this:

And my art canvas currently looks like this:

I’ll try to do at least another half inch on the weaving today. I want that project DONE!