Spring update

I knew that the gorgeous February weather would mean we’d get punished in March or April. And I was right. The winds are so strong here that it’s not possible to really do anything outside. We have greenhouses where we can work if it rains or snows, but with strong winds they feel like rattling glass death-cages I’d rather not be in. Another argument in favor of plastic greenhouses.

Our bigger greenhouse is one we didn’t build ourselves. When we moved to where we are now, this greenhouse was already pretty old. It’s an aluminum construction mounted on a concrete frame on the ground. Because ground moves, the frame has been moving and this has caused the aluminum frame to put stress on the glass here and there. Every year we lose more glass panels. Some parts of the greenhouse don’t even have a roof. I’ll make sure I grow something there that can withstand rain. In Belgian summers, tomato plants don’t live long if they’re not protected from the rain, but I could put Asian yard-long beans there. Regardless of it being old and worn-down, we get a lot of use out of it. It undergoes a metamorphosis every year from being used as you see it now; storage/workspace to every inch being used for either plants or animals in late spring and summer.

Granny Muscovy on a nest last spring

The bad weather has my animals confused too. Granny Muscovy wanted to start a nest two weeks ago, she started collecting eggs and decorating the chicken nests with down. She seems to have slowed down a lot in this weather. She doesn’t protect her eggs anymore and she doesn’t ‘squeak’ to announce herself anymore. I’m sure she’ll start again when the weather gets better.

I’ll be busy with cleaning up after this weather before I’ll ever get to sowing any seeds. Luckily, we’ve been busy during the past few weeks with taking down trees that were unhealthy or might break during a storm. We’ll be set in terms of firewood for quite a while!

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