even if its winter

We continue to plant seeds. Inside the hoophouse things can grow all winter, protected from wind. At night the temperatures are just as cold inside as outside, so only certain vegetables can withstand those extremes.

The construction of our second hoophouse prevented us from filling the existing hoophouse, so all in all we are a bit behind. We are making adjustments to our growing schedule and what we grow. Still need to fill beds in both hoophouse, a lot has been accomplished in the couple weeks since completing construction.

Thousands of cloves have gone in the ground. First the heads had to be split into cloves, then each clove into a hole. We use a divot for the right depth and distance. We had lots of help getting this done, including from a 5 year old who gave one clove a little boost with a cheerios...

We caught up on some spinach planting too. We put down some paper for weedblocking in the beds, the compost we make here, then seeds spread and raked in.

And the beds of spinach that went in weeks ago, just before 6 of 7 days a week were overcast, are finally growing.

The leaves are not yet large enough to harvest. We will need more days of sunshine to help them grow.

Our laying hens, all new this year, are just beginning to produce eggs. After the winter solstice we see a gradual but steady increase in egg production until June, when daylight hours reduce. Something in the hens internal clocks tell them when to produce and when to ease up...

Can't wait for hundreds every day!