Dear Farm Journal,

Another day of outdoor winter projects brings us a few steps closer to being organized and ready for spring. We got the pack shed back in order (mostly) and moved on to greenhouse one. Unfortunately both doors were frozen solid to the ground. After chipping and shoveling away at the door, we were able to open it wide enough so that we could squeeze in sideways. Once inside, we did not feel the  normal warmth of the greenhouse because the heavy snow has blocked the sunshine from working its magic. We knock the snow off the plastic with a rake and watch it slide down the side of the greenhouse walls, allowing the sun to shine in. Then we give the soil a preliminary poke with the broadfork to find out if we can begin prepping the beds for planting…frozen solid. As I jumped on the broadfork (which usually sinks into the soil with my body weight), the tool doesn’t budge. Bed prep and planting are still on hold. I drag some large sheets of black plastic into G1 to cover the beds, in hopes that they will thaw a bit more quickly. Then we move on to the woodshop area where we clean and organize discarded blocks of wood from past project which have been thrown haphazardly into a corner. Finally we head indoors to brew our first batch of beer. I should say attempt to brew our first batch of beer because I think we may have done something wrong with the yeast (which is a pretty important step) but time will tell if we have 5 gallons of IPA or a failed science experiment.  

~Joy