Our farm work officially begins each season around the first of March. That isn't to say we haven't been working all winter. I am frequently asked "So, what do you do all winter long since you don't have any farm work to do?" My response usually begins with a smile and a chuckle because the idea of not doing any farm related work all winter is amuzing. This year, the bulk of our winter farm work has been dealing with all the snow. This winter's snow level is the most we've seen in Star Valley since we moved here in the fall of 1997. We've been told the winter of 1996/97 was quite a whopper, now we know what that means. The winter of 2010/11 has been a whopper for snow.
Don't get me wrong, I do love the beauty of the snow and the water it will provide our valley this coming summer. But when you've got 6 greenhouses and a hay "barn" that are basically made of metal framing and plastic...well, large amounts of snow means large amounts of work. On the plus side, I have kept more in shape this winter than in year's past. :)
Shain's farm plans for 2011 are typed, organized and ready to go. He's already given me a list of projects to get started on this week. Project #1 - set mouse traps in all the greenhouses. My assignement will be slightly complicated this year by the fact that I'll have to use snow shoes to even get to the greenhouses. Then I'll systematically set about 50 traps all around the farm, screaming when they snap at me because I don't like to take off my gloves and touch the traps with my bare hands. *EW*! Eventually I'll remember how to do it without getting snapped so often. And eventually I may even overcome the *ew* factor and be able to do it barehanded. Then obvioulsy I'll have to go out sometime every day or so (in my snow shoes) and check my traps for any victims. It's a good thing I do this job alone. I'll suffice it to say there is more screaming involved and a lot of *EW*! Come about May I'll be a mouse trapping expert and will be able to set, clear and reset a trap without flinching, barehanded even. And I've been known to brag about the number of my kills on facebook. See what farming does to me...thus the reason for this post's title - March Madness.
Have a great week. I'll be in touch a gain soon.
Tara
LOL! It is very hard to work with mouse traps! The fear of being caught in one makes everything worse. I usually leave that work to my brother. And it thrills him every time he sees a mouse trapped in our barn. I hope you'll have an abundant harvest this year!
Posted by: Ula Heximer | January 02, 2012 at 09:04 AM