Our bushes arrived from Fedco this week, and today we were going to plant them. Last winter, we ordered four witch hazel bushes, five spicebushes, and two winterberries. We wanted to expand our mini-forested edges in the back and on the side, and thus we needed species that grew well in the shade of other tall trees (which these do). We hope they will enhance the privacy of our yard, and also provide food for pollinators, butterflies, and birds, as well as beautiful flowers and berries to see.
We had done some preliminary work before we ordered them, to decide where they might be planted, and today Margy and I went around to confirm the spots, to make sure each bush would have enough room when full grown. We marked them with flagging and markers. We unpacked the box of young plants and were delighted that they were more than just sticks with roots. They looked healthy, and we stored them in dampened shredded paper. The photo is our witch hazel bushes.
The land in our yard has been soggy and wet for the last week. But, when I tried to dig holes, I could only go down about five or six inches before I hit a barrier of ground frozen solid. I guess we aren’t planting these today! Still, it was in the 60s out there, and it was marvelous to just be outside in the sun–and then it was too hot, so we pulled out our shade umbrella for our patio table. We turned to other tasks in the garden, and listened to birds singing, and I dug up the old kale plants that had overwintered. Before I came in, I noticed that the holes I had dug were now filled with water. I am curious as to whether the holes I dug will thaw faster than the undug ground. We’ll see. We are expecting no freezes this week.
Nomiya munimqehs kihkanok. N’ciciya wot. 
One thing I love about the snow is how it reveals the lives of our animal neighbors. Here is a squirrel highway, a path between two mounds. Now, I had actually helped to create that path the day before, before the snow. The day before that, Margy got a call from a local arborist that he had some wood chips we could have. For permaculture gardeners, wood chips are a boon, especially hardwood chips, especially lamial hardwood chips, which are from the small branches and leaves of the tree. They provide nutrients to help create the kind of soil that is best for fruit trees.
So the wood chips were delivered. The next day I noticed that where the big pile landed had kind of blocked off the pathway on the edge of the food forest. Last winter, I had strung a small string across the edges of the food forest as a gentle deterrent to deer who might possibly wander through. We had seen deer tracks before, though we didn’t actually see any last winter. But the idea was to leave one area free for them to traverse, hoping they’d choose that path on the way between the street and the back of the yard.
Today I set out on my usual walk around the neighborhood. When I got to the newly paved way that leads over Capisic Brook toward the new Rowe school, I saw a fox cross over at the other end, and slip into the path into the woods (before I could catch them in a photo). So I felt invited to walk that path along the brook as well. I couldn’t see the fox anymore, but I could hear squirrels doing their alarm chatters, and guessed they might be warning others about the fox.
That made me smile. I like to see the evidence of other people caring for the trail.
So the latest “too much” were these sores on the peach tree trunk. Our friend Mihku noticed them, and suggested they were peach tree borers. The usual remedy is to cut out the wound with a knife and poke the caterpillars manually. But I couldn’t seem to find any clear culprits, and truthfully, the trunk is so small, I was afraid to do too much.
Somehow, calling for help from the Spirit, and then taking one small step to do something got me going again. It might not work. The tree is so beautiful and healthy, and has grown so well this first year, that it would break my heart if it is killed by this wound. We’re not a big orchard. Each of our trees is precious and the only one of its kind in our yard. I had also recently purchased some tall stakes, so I staked the tree (not yet in the photo) and also put up stakes for the mulberry tree, the apple tree, and created a border of stakes and string for the raspberry bushes, which are growing fruit now.
So right after my 
After doing the first batch, which used a lot of water, I figured out that I should save the wash water and bring it out to the garden, where I put it on the kale plants! Then I spinned the kale pieces to dry them, and sautéed them in our big cast iron pan. I had to start with about half of the batch, then add the second half after the first had cooked down a bit. I had green curly kale, red or purple curly kale and a double batch of lacinato kale. After sautéing, I cooled them in a bowl in the refrigerator before putting in bags. On the recommendation of other online gardeners, I used a straw to pull out all the air in the bags.
Finding Our Way Home 