Not letting the hazelnut pass, this is the very reduced flower of the tree
Local eggs (local calcium?) for our tomato's soil
Paper wasp nest, apple orchard, late summer.
yellow jacket (wasp) nest from the greenhouse
young male catkins from the hazel (january)
Common hazel and an unidentified corylus species' involucral bracts. Pretty eh?
On these crazy sunny days the temperatures in the greenhouse are often over 90 degrees. The cover crop is profiting nicely.
germinating seeds
The chicks are becoming easier to identify. These are Arucanas. They lay eggs that range in color from blue to green. They also have a very distinct look that will be more apparent as they grow
Silver-laced Wyandottes.
They're thirsty little buggers.
It doesn't look like it but there is 42 chicks in there! If you were wondering the chick brooder is a big square plastic tub. They were already here on the farm and we think that they may have been used to raise coy for the ponds.
Little baby chicks are fun.
Our new whiskey barrel planters for farm beautification.
Our new circulating water pump. This is hooked up to the water heater and pumps warm water to the seed starting table. A thermostat then regulates the temperatures. We keep the table around 70 degrees. During the first week of seed-starting the pump blew and we had to bring space heater into the greenhouse and cover all the seedlings with fabric to keep in night heat. Now we have a brand new one and the plants and farmers are happy again.
Big logistical nightmare. Literally this one kept me up all night. So as manager of this farm it is my responsibility to order all the materials we will need in the growing season. Ok. I can handle that. So, one big order is potting mix. Well to save money I decided to buy in bulk. 120 cu. ft of mix in bulk. Well it turns out that is delivered in only two extremely giant bags. And I am now responsible to move those enormous things in my little truck. Yeah right. In the end I found a very helpful man who luckily had a giant truck with a crane on it and he got them to our farm. Perhaps next year, I will go with the fifty pound bags and three truck loads. The lessons continue.
Northern red-shafted flicker. A very common bird on the farm. They were here all winter and now with the arrival of spring they are joined by robins.
Spring treats for Le Gourmand, a French restaurant in Seattle. Parsnips, leeks, nettles, sorrel and scorzinera.
Peas in a soil bacteria inoculant. The goal is to have many peas and many beans throughout summer. Many. 
Plum blossoms
Parsnips and scorzinera
Down to the lower field. It's hard to believe on February 20th that its time to start tilling up fields and putting seeds in the ground. After about two rain-free weeks, it seems like we better act now rather than later when the spring rains settle in. I'm only tilling enough earth now to get spring crops in. Thats radishes, mustards, spinach and arugula to name a few.
7:40 AM, Vashon Post Office : we were the fifth and last party to pick up our chicks. We have been looking forward to this addition for some time. The farm didn't seem quite complete without a flock of laying hens.
We got them home and immediately under heat lamps. Around 90 degrees is good for there first week. Before we placed them into their temporary home, we took each one and dipped its beak into water to make sure that it knew where to find it. Then we let them loose one by one. We had placed newspaper over their bedding so that they would not eat the pine chips. Right away we realized our mistake as one chick slipped on the paper and splayed her leg. A splayed leg chick cannot walk properly (or at all if both legs are splayed). Their leg comes out sideways from its body. We quickly turned to google and found our fix. We taped her little legs together and moved her to another box with a few mellow friends to keep her company. Within two days her leg was straight and she had ripped off her bandages. Now all chicks are together in one brooder box.
Gray Cat, the cool cat.
The winter rye - vetch cover crop is reaching new heights with all the sun the PNW's been getting; and the new greenhouse cover.
Harvesting stinging nettles for market and soup
We laid down a concrete water bar to direct dirty water to a shallow sump and lead-off ditch -to keep the house cleaner. 
Spring arrived on about January 5th this year. Once we got the greenhouse covered and seeds ordered we started growing stuff - like these onions.
The plums trees are in the midst of blowing up - real nice.
The farmer's seed starting table keeps getting fuller and extending further. Watering three times a day keeps us a little grounded.
A sorrel bath.
Look Bob, we're growing (abigail grew) parsnips! They love this field and the roots have been measured at 2.5 feet! Now, that's not easy to pull up.
The hand seeder in action
Digging soil samples in the new field. This years crop? Potatoes and sweet corn. Yum.
Soil samples from various fields drying out for mixing before we send them off for testing
January. The trailer will soon be the chicken coop.
Sorrel
Garlic with its over-wintering chestnut and hazel leaf mulch
Red tail hawk, one of a pair that have been cavorting up in the tree tops lately
Belted Kingfisher over one of the farm's ponds
Glaucous-winged gull with fresh sea-star lunch
One Western Sandpiper among thousands last month at Padilla Bay
The largest Great Blue Heron rookery in Washington State
Red shafted northern flickers, winter residents at the farm
Juvenile red-tailed hawk
Pied-billed grebe on Lake Washington
American Wigeons in Tramp Harbor
Eurasian wigeon
House finch
Belted Kingfisher off Discovery Park
American goldfinch
White crowned sparrow at Blue Dog
White-crowned sparrow chick
