December new

December News

The season's first storm caught us mildly by surprise.  Long, warm, fall temperatures made us relaxed and fairly unmotivated to finish up the last few gardens' clean up chores.  Snow fell on sections of flexi netting and the lengths of hoses running out to the tunnel, cementing them onto the ground for now. The greens in the tunnel are tucked under blankets of "Remay", removed for a few hours each sunny day to ventilate, and we cross our fingers the spinach and bok choi will still look decent after these cold night temperatures. 

 Along with the colder weather, the barn cat brothers "Fred" and "George" got their annual invitation to enter our home.  In part because of the cold, and also because they offer good rodent deterrent during a time of year when we are storing lots of produce in various locations throughout our old house.  Although they are always eager to come in and lounge, in years past they have had an annoying habit of meowing loudly at 2am if kept in overnight.  They are 5 years old, the same age as Joni, and each winter I am hopeful they will have settled enough to be quiet through the night.  My tolerance for being woken up by a creature other than a small child over the last few years has extremely diminished.  We built them an insulated, heated box to be sent out to, after first testing them inside for a few overnights each year.  This winter, so far, the cats seem to finally have settled, and they have been sleeping indoors now with us for several weeks.  

It's fun to have them in the house with us. Good winter entertainment, they are both exceptionally friendly and tolerant of the rough ways of the youngest human, often being tugged on before we can get there to rescue, they seem to enjoy often being half inside the young dog's mouth.    

 I give the cats the recommend feeding size for two, but Fred is too thin, and George is too fat, and it's hard to find a way around this as they share food access.  Watching George squeeze himself through the cat door to the basement, I was suddenly struck with the image of him stuck there like Whinnie the Poo.  I pointed this out to Joni, as we had just listened to that story, and we had a good laugh imagining what we might decorate his bottom with should he get stuck.   We laughed at how sad he would be not being able to reach his food bowl and listening to Fred snacking behind him. 

Its slower and more cumbersome to get out of the house now, especially with the kids, more layers, more complaining, cold fingers and toes while processing vegetables, but I mostly enjoy the seasonal shift.  Morning walks are less rushed and therefore more luxurious, and the snow cover makes everything extra beautiful and has slowed down the ticks.  I like being able to see farther through the trees, far off hills usually obscured by thick summer leaves are now visible. The Hosac Mountain ridge across the pond glows each evening, visible from our field for about 20 minutes during sunset, and I wonder if I will ever feel sick of this beautiful place.  

 
We are attending the Bridgton Farmers' Marketeach Saturday 9-12 at the Masonic Lodge until we run out of food.

We are in the 3rd week of our winter CSA cooperative the Foothill Farm Alliance

Our seed order came in, and sooner than we know it, it will be time to plan for Summer 2025.