Since we last posted we have been very busy getting our flower growing season off to a start. April 1st we opened the greenhouses and started moving seedlings and Dahlias out of the basement under lights to the pure sunshine. This is the earliest date yet opening the greenhouses, since we started flower farming. The weather was so beautiful we could not see any reason not too. Right now we are experiencing a cold trend. The night time temps are going down to -10C, but the heaters have been able to keep the greenhouses above zero. An extremely positive thing because they are bursting with plants inside, and their are so many yet to be moved out. As soon as the weather levels off again and stays regular we will start shuffling the cold hardy annuals outdoors to make room for the babies and Dahlias germinating in the basement.
There are signs of Spring everywhere. The Sandhill Cranes are floating over the farm everyday right now. We are on their migration route to the North and they stop in the area for a few weeks to a month before they move further north. They are a huge bird and make this very unique sound. You often can hear them before you see them as they tend to float about, very high above, and catching a glimpse of them when they are that high can be difficult. There are Robins frolicking and Sparrows flitting around and a couple of Bluebirds are back checking out the birdhouses Pat has built. Every year we have many new birds visiting and staying to raise their young. We keep a log book of dates when the different species are sighted for the first time in Spring every year.
The Beavers are out and about in the pasture slough and the geese and ducks are joining them and hanging out. Hopefully we will have a lot of water fowl taking up residence this summer.
It really is a wonderful time to be living in the country. Watching the flora and fauna embracing the warmer temps and waking up never ceases to amaze us.
The grandkids are off from school this week so we will have sleepovers at the farm, which means picnics in the pasture, skipping rocks in the sloughs, crocus hunting, getting the bikes dusted off and tuned up, and playing on the swings and in the sandbox.
Succulent assortment we will have available this Spring at the Saskatoon Farmers Market. More info to come.
