To add to a previous post; the overwintering nests from the mice are a loose ball of fine grass.  At times you can find plastic, twine or other bits of trash in the nests as well.  As the spring grass grows, many of these grass spheres, like the one pictured, are pushed up by the grass blades.  They do eventually fall apart, but they give a reasonable estimate of the overwintering mouse population.

The grass nest of an overwintering mouse [about 4 - 5" in diameter.

The hay is beginning to grow and new trees and berries are being planted.  The nests of overwintering mice are very apparent in the field.  While working on planting, I took the time to make an estimate of the mice population from the winter nests.  Since the rows are laid out at 2000 square foot per row, I took a count of overwintering nests on a few rows in the the new planting area.  There were on average 8 nests per 2000 square foot; this works out to about 170 mice per acre.

While mowing during the season, the mice run from the Gravely sickle bar.  It will be interesting to make a count in the same area over the next couple of years as that area will be regularly mowed.

Also, as the front acre has been cut on a regular basis, a kestral had started to hunt that area last fall.  Red-tailed hawks had taken to hunting around the barn, but were not as common as the Kestral; I did make Kestral nesting box which my daughter and her friend hung in a pine in the treeline.

It has finally happened, the snow has receded enough that we can now see the underlying soil. This is a good thing for those people into extreme gardening–putting in a crop before most even consider working the soil.

Some crops like it cool; okay, not freezing, but cool. They put on reasonable growth and as the weather improves they benefit from a headstart for the remainder of the season. Plants in the cabbage family [broccoli, cabbage], onion, peas, and greens like mache will put on a good show early in the season.

Aside from the neighbors thinking you are one onion short of a bunch for being out in the garden while the snow is still piled next to the drive, these very early crops hold other benefits. First, they will bear earlier than their more timely planted counterparts. Initially, the growth will be slow due to cloudier days and the cool temperatures, but they will put on some growth to give them just that much more of an edge toward the harvest date. Second, soil moisture is more available in our area of Ohio earlier in the year. We can run into dry spring and early summer weather but very early spring never seems to be short on moisture. The problem is to actually get a break in the weather so the ground is not too wet to be worked.

Soil must be in a good condition to be worked before the early garden can be planted. The frost should be out of the ground and soil moisture levels low enough to work the ground without making mud. Get a handful of soil; it should crumble in your hand without being too sticky. This level of moistness should be at least as deep as the ground will be worked. If your garden is “no-til” or if you will only cultivate shallowly, then you might be able to get some planting in very early.

Cold loving or cold tolerant plants don’t actually want to be frozen so they will need significant protection if the extremely early garden is to succeed. Once the frost is out of the ground, the night temperatures will be hovering around freezing. Hot caps, cloches and poly tunnels seem to provide the best protection for the earliest crops. Once they outgrow these close quarters, the weather will be more settled and the plants able to handle the reaming light frosts. However, be ready with the row covers if freezing temperatures return.

The onions are scheduled to arrive at the end of March and a couple dozen broccoli are germinating under lights. With some sun and a drying breeze they will be off to a very early start in the garden.

Now that significant snow has settled on the farm the local snowmobiles are out and about. That’s to be expected out in this area, however, they apparently were too inattentive to note the surrounding plants. Our neighbor said he saw about eight snowmobiles track through the front acre. They did go between the peaches but over top the young blueberries and broke a few canes of the blackberries. I marked the berries with bright green tape but don’t have high hopes unless the drivers become a bit more respectful of other people’s property.