The grapevines need to be pruned fairly soon. Hope we don’t see another late frost this year.

And so it begins…

The first shipment of new willow cuttings arrived this past week and Anne has sprung into action. Trays were at the ready. Dirt and sand had been thoroughly mixed.

The deep cell trays are new this year to accommodate more than 300 willow cuttings. And it may reach over 500 if our stock plants are ready to provide. Some of the cuttings in the bag above will be used to generate more stock trees and shrubs.

The deep cells will encourage plenty of roots. At least that’s the plan. Like much of what we do around here, we haven’t really done this before. We’ve done willow cuttings, just not on this scale and not with these cells.

Even if the roots aren’t as productive as we hope, the forest of sticks in our bedroom is interesting. I’m tempted to put little forest creatures or plastic soldiers in the forest. I think that would be fun.

I really have no idea why eggplants are called eggplants. Anyone want to Google that for me and let me know?

Happy Valentines Day! (We planted almost twice as much garlic for the 2011 garden)

Chinese new year was Feb 3rd. Happy belated year of the rabbit! Hope this doesn’t mean we will have more of these fuzzy creatures in the garden this year.

The wind and snow are sculpting the landscape here in the Midwest. I do like snow drifts, as long as I don’t need to move them. And even when I do have to move them, I am impressed by their size and contour. (I am also annoyed by their mass when shoveling or tractoring). This pile in front of the East side of the workshop has yet to be cleared away. That’s why we wanted two doors to the workshop.

And then there was this mini-mountain peak next to the car. It’s so cute. I was hoping to see mice with little skis enjoying the slopes.

The workshop is still a work in progress. And we started back in May! That’s crazy, what is taking me so long?! Anne just reminded me that I work full time, so I shouldn’t feel bad about not being done yet. Today was an early release/partial snow-day so I took advantage and did a bit more. These photos might not show it, but the lights are working now! And all the outlets too! That’s major. I also had the lumber yard deliver the makings of a shelf-wall. If we are snowed in tomorrow, I know what I am going to be doing.

(If the slideshow above doesn’t play for you, check out the photos directly on our Flickr pages.)