We received our six blackberry cuttings in the mail this week along with an elderberry tree. They are all obviously dormant and cut back very small with their roots intact. We hurriedly prepared their holes with some added compost and gravel for drainage. In they went in the warm welcoming sun. I suppose we were a bit anxious and premature in the season as the sunny spring like days shifted to a massive snow storm dumping nearly two feet overnight. A fine welcome to our new plant friends. Oh well, toughen em' up for a long productive life in angry high desert weather.

Our spoiled starts on the other hand live in the lap of climate controlled luxury, and are off to a great start looking at the snow covered landscape from the inside of a south facing window. Shanna built an awesome grow space for them in the living room equipped with a grow light for extended hours...who needs furniture any damn way? So far we have started kale, chard, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts and onion.

Next on the agenda is to obtain more wood to finish up our beds and for the chicken coop to be designed and built sometime in March. A local feed store here sells a nice variety of baby chicks starting early next month which we will brood indoors for five weeks or so. Also, we will need to purchase a large amount of compost and humus to add to our raised beds. Luckily there is a local company that sells and delivers it by the yard...yee haw.