Signs of Spring And a totally random day The snow has melted all but for a few small patches. The ground has thawed out and is trying to dry up a bit. But we are supposed to have stormy weather the rest of this month. grrrrr I'm so ready for warm dry weather. Sooooo much to do! But yesterday my husband got three of the horses runs cleaned out with his bobcat, he also cleaned out their water tanks. We now have a huge pile of manure and shavings from the horses stalls for composting.....I really have to dig in my heels to keep my husband from hauling this away......Still struggling to get him on board with the use of compost. We do create quite a lot with 6 horses that live in stalls with runs all winter and only go out for turn out time to run and buck a few times a week in the winter months. I know this looks like a lot of compost.

This is the compost pile from last year. This has composted over the winter and we will now be able to use it in the new garden expansion. We will mix this with a load or two of good top soil.

My mother and dad come and get some every year to put in their garden and flower beds.

My mother calls this stuff "Gold". She had really bed soil that was heavy clay but after a few years of mixing in our composted manure/shavings it is very nice soil that contains a lot of organic matter.

I love it when my horses runs are all cleaned out and they don't have to clop around in a big mess and when all the moss is cleaned out of their water tanks and their water is fresh and clean. We try to keep them clean but in the winter this is a bit of a pain because we have to put in tank heaters to keep the water from freezing so then there are cords that have to be covered to keep them from getting a hold of them and getting shocked. All this then has to be dismantled in order to clean out the tanks then it all has to be put back together. We do it but just not as often in the winter.

I was thrilled to seee that my Swiss chard had survived the winter and is now coming up. The ground in the garden boxes can be worked now and I have several things coming up in the herb box. I cleaned out this box today and was surprised to find that I had left some carrots over winter and they survived too.....I had no idea that they would live through the winter like this........I pulled them all up and washed them then took them out to the barn for horse treats.

The horses love the carrots from the garden!!! They are so much more fragrant and so much sweeter then the ones you buy in the grocery store.