Barn house construction is coming right along.  We should have the roof and windows installed before winter if mother nature cooperates.  Stay tuned; Ed

Tortoises going public

Gester, Lilly, and Lucky paid a visit to the new Discovery Center in Reno, NV.  The kids liked Gester the best; he was the biggest.  They were all in estivation (sleeping)  for the winter back on the farm,  the next day.  See you guys in the spring.

Babies take flight...

Just too hot in the Hoostel, so the babies decide to leave.

Only two weeks earlier, the parents were tearing off small pieces of meat and feeding the babies. This film is a hoot. Cheerios; Ed

Hi folks;
Yes, we had a tomatoe fashion show. We planted the tomatoes in 5 gallon pots in our hot house two weeks later than last year as they were overgrown last year waiting to go out to the garden; the hoophouse was not closed in yet. However, this year winter refused to let up and once again, the tomatoes were overgrown in their pots. They don't transplant well when they get older. I finally put them out in the hot house and prepared for a cold dip which came on Sunday night. I was prepared with garage sale sheets and two 1500 watt heaters. The hoophouse only dipped to 32 degrees and all the tomatoes survived. My wife has given up on my "crazy" endeavors but I will persist in my efforts to get the earliest tomatoe in Douglas Co. Anyway, we also learned something else. In the fall when the temps drop, the hoophouse remains somewhat moderate as I think there is plenty of stored heat in the ground. Unlike the spring, we don't have that stored warmth and the interior of the hoophouse rapidly catches up with the cooling temps each night. At this point, I don't much advantage with the spring and cold sensitive species like we get in the fall. We are harvesting much lettuce, beets, chard, and bok choy right now. Cheers; Ed

Putting frames together on 1851 barn

We are working on the D bay right now which includes one of three long round beams that extend 34 feet from floor to ceiling. These will be open in the center of the house. Once we have assembled three sections like these on the other side of the foundation, we will be ready to rent a crane. Then the real fun begins. Stay tuned; Ed

The weather is trying to be spring. This is the F bay in our barn. (one of six) All the knee braces are now finished and this bay goes out to the foundation and gets pegged. All six bays should be assembled before the end of April. Then, the crane. Cheerios; Ed