It has been a full week here at the farm, culminating with a massive weather event that saturated the field down by the creek. It might have briefly flooded early Sunday morning judging from the way the sunchokes are laid down in the field, but overall we are feeling lucky again to have gotten through without too many issues. As I type, I am listening to the sounds of the drips of rain falling into our buckets nestled in the corner of the den. Perriee and I removed many of the ceiling tiles in advance of the storm to avoid the ole, saturated ceiling tile collapse game. Anyone else familiar?

We kicked off the week by helping our friends at Turtleback Ridge get their maple trees tapped for this season’s sap collection. It was a spectacular experience to get to see how maple syrup is made. Each time a tree is tapped the bark scars over and you can see exactly where the tap marks from years past are. Some of the trees have tap-like marks that were actually made by birds who use eat the sap as a form of nutrition. Think, woodpeckers.

The first few trees we hooked up to their amazing network of tubing were still pretty cold, but as the morning carried on they would begin weeping as soon as you drilled into them. Call me a simple woman, but I was blown away every time it would happen. The way the sap would begin dripping down into the tubing when it was hooked up was too cool. Such a gift.

I wish I could better explain the setup, but the trees were connected to one another through the network of tubing that starts uphill and they all connect, flowing down into one, single catchment. The weather was perfect and Perriee and I both had the opportunity to break off and work with different people for the day, breaking for a delicious lunch with everyone. It was, in fact a “Happy Monday”. We rounded out the day by dropping off some cool dried vase rental arrangements at Sawstone Brewery all while spending more time with some amazing people. It was one of those days that could not make you feel more rich, even if you had all the money in the world.

Apple trees are officially pruned and they look so good. In total we trimmed five trees back. We also “live-staked” a ton of elderberry that we pruned back along the driveway side of the Warehouse. Live-staking is when you trim a plant back and use the pruned part to make a new one (a form of propagation). If only a third of them take, we will be very grateful.

Yes, we celebrated Valentine’s Day. We had lunch at the culinary school restaurant and bakery in Maysville and it was AMAZING! Other than that, we got some painting done in the house that has been 4 years in the making and scraped some wallpaper in the stairwell as part of the winter projects list. We mailed out this month’s email subscriber giveaway gift along with a special-order wreath. Last but not least for the week is to share a little news that I start a weekly farmer class through University of Kentucky in March! I promise you, we are all in! If this is not the greatest year of our farm yet, is it not going to be from lack of effort. Thanks for following along!

Seed starting of the week: celosia, strawflower, kale, and a few more statice.

Seedling watch of the week: The basil needed a little something. It had fungus gnats so I repotted the sprouts and put them under lights with a lid. Dill, chard, and spinach are coming up! PLEAAASSSSEE let the greens live!

Important Upcoming Dates:

March 3: Monthly subscriber giveaway! I can’t wait to see who is next.

March 12: Volunteer day: move some compost, map out new garden beds, pollinator patch prep, cut honeysuckle, volleyball court prep?

March 15: Volunteer day: move some compost, map out new garden beds, pollinator patch prep, cut honeysuckle, volleyball court prep?

March 22: Find us at Blue Stallion Brewery in Lexington from 12-6 for Blue Stallion & Hollow Haven Bazaar Equinox & Ales! It is shaping up to be a really cool event.

April 19: 2^nd annual Earth Day at Loving Farm. We have a lineup of 3 bands: Violet and the Newsroom, Hogtown, and Highly Likely for a day of music, nature and friends. Save the date!