Springtime is the best time! The weather is crazy, the sun is shining, and little green plants are poking up out of the ground. Chilly mornings turn into calm, warm afternoons, which give way to blustery cold winds into the night. In Colorado, that means dressing in layers to an extreme. First thing in the AM is hot tea, beanies, and sweaters, to cold beer and tank tops in the afternoon, to hunkering down next to the woodstove at night. I love it. Unfortunately the winds have kept us from having bonfires in the evenings, but I know that sometime in May the winds will die down and we’ll have a whole summer full of campfires to enjoy.

Jerusalem artichoke popping up!

Dirt supply. One of many piles.

R has been busy building more raised garden beds and soon we’ll start planting some early season crops, such as: kale, spinach, and radishes. Last week I was doing some stuff inside the cabin when Loki started whining to go outside, so I went to the door and, luckily, glanced outside before opening the door. Six does were standing around in our driveway and by Amelia’s enclosure. I told Loki to sit and stay while I quietly opened the door and walked out onto the porch. I snapped a few pictures, then you could tell Loki really needed to go to the bathroom, so I let him out onto the porch with me. He stopped and surveyed the deer situation for a moment, everyone just stared at each other, until his urge to pee overcame him and he jumped off the porch, at which point all the does bounced off.

Chewed up garlic.

Soon after I walked down to the garden beds and nearly all the garlic sprouts had been eaten down to the soil. R is not pleased. Apparently the new name for our ranch is, “Death to Deer.” But so far, it looks like the garlic will survive. Even though they are munched on, they’re still growing. Now the newest priority is fencing around the garden beds, and for now we set up strategically placed tools and fishing line around the beds so hopefully the deer won’t walk through it again.

Gardens.

Future firewood.

The ceiling is almost finished (4 more panels to go!), we have a door to the bathroom, and we took apart Loki’s old dog run (it was busted through anyway), and we have another ordered and on the way. Things are coming along at the ranch.