It's March!

So, good news! Broody chicken rehab in the rabbit hutches worked! I released the two hens back into the coop last Monday morning and they've been acting pretty normal ever since. Here they are, acting pretty normal. 

More good news! We planted our first seeds of Spring today!! My mom and I set up a little grow light A-frame in Dave's wood shop, which is right next to the greenhouse. 

The seeds are all planted in six-cell flats or small plastic pots, and then placed in perforated trays for easy watering. They are also heated from underneath by heating trays and covered by plastic tops so they will stay warm even though it's still cold around here.

As you can see, there's not very much going on yet, but it's exciting! Today, we planted flowers (asters, calendula and sweet peas) as well as cilantro and parsley. These are the plants that require the most germination and indoor growing time before being transplanted outside. It's still pretty early for us to be starting most seedlings, especially since we're not sure when things are going to be able to go into the ground outside yet, but next week it's going to be time to start the leeks and by the beginning of April things will really be getting going. And thanks to a lot of rain, the crusty, dirty snow piles are starting to recede, so it really does feel like Spring might actually be coming...

Until then, however, here's some more pictures of the greenhouse:

The lettuce, swiss chard and kale is all doing great, and we've set up a little workstation with dirt (the mix we used today was half Happy Frog Potting Soil and half peat moss) and an area for planting.