The koi I purchased in late October/early November 2023 finally came home. Two pretty females, about 21 inches long each – Torazo kohaku (red and white), Omosako shiro utsuri (black and white). I purchased them through Russ Peters (PS Koi) on his fall trip to Japan. It’s always exciting to see all the social media of koi being harvested, everyone is visiting breeder houses, and of course koi are being sold. I’m very pleased with the shiro utsuri because I lost one this summer. I used to wish for a pond filled just with shiro utsuri koi because I love this variety. Now I like having all sorts of colorful koi swimming around.

The kohaku comes from the Niigata region of Japan where many of the breeders are located. The shiro utsuri comes from the southern area, closer to Hiroshima. Omosako koi farm is not too far from the coastal city of Kure. My father always thought that Kure was one of his favorite cities when he was stationed in Japan.

While the koi undergo a lengthy quarantine process and KHV testing at PS Koi, they will spend some time in quarantine on our farm. More to give them a break before introducing them to their pond mates. Time in the little quarantine tank is a nice way to get some video and photos.

Spring is kind of here. The crocuses and daffodils are now blooming but the weather is iffy. Some days feel like spring and other days (like today) feel a little nippy. We still have many evenings where the temperatures are dropping below freezing. I’m always worried about the young fruit trees since they have buds formed.

We decided to replace the Bush Hog (UTV) that we bought from the previous owner. I now drive a new gas powered Kubota UTV and the pond builder will drive the diesel powered one from 2020. He also ordered a new tractor for the farm. Apparently we need more horsepower and the new tractor comes with a grapple attachment, which will be handy for tree work. We plan to sell the older tractor later this spring. The cost of Kubota equipment has increased significantly since 2020, it was a little sticker shock. It really does make a difference to have the right tools for farm work though. Projects can be completed so much faster and more safely.

The hens are doing well and laying more eggs. One of the buff orpingtons looked a little peaked two weeks ago. I gave her an epsom salt warm bath and made a straw nest for her in the greenhouse. She seemed to enjoy the TLC and was back to normal in short order. We replaced the hay on the run floor with coarse sand which is supposed to be better. The hens were terrified to enter the chicken run when they first saw the sand. They quickly ran over it like it was hot lava. After 30 minutes, they were okay but we have a similar reaction to large areas covered with fresh compost.

The hive has been painted and I will be picking up a NUC of Italian bees mid April. The Carniolan bees are very gentle but compared to the Italians, they don’t winter as well. The Italian bees are supposedly the most well balanced, relatively mild temperament. I’m just hoping my bee suit protects me.

We continue to do storm and winter clean up of downed trees and branches. We only have a few more weeks before everything will leaf out and we stop working on trees and the undergrowth. It’s always so satisfying to take out privets, salt briar, honeysuckle, and other random undergrowth.

We’re making a dent in our compost hill. Our farm has been in production for many years and the soil could use some extra nutrition. We are using this compost pile to top dress raised garden beds, planting new trees, re-establish grass areas, potholes on the dirt tracks, practically everywhere. The pond builder has ordered two more truckloads to be delivered tomorrow morning. It may seem a little excessive but it certainly can’t hurt.

By the end of April, pond builder will have planted over 100 trees on the farm for me since July 2020. We just added some cherry trees in front of the peach line. We love Rainier cherries and they do grow in our zone. The pollinator I used is the Black Tartarian. I have two other Rainier cherry trees coming in and they will be placed in Nadine’s pasture near another pollinator, Stella cherry tree. We are adding five flowering apricots and three asian pear trees to the small pasture. The pond builder would like to try some crops on a larger scale. Maybe in a few years.

The berry zones have new plants. Where I originally planted tea, I am now trying American elderberry and red pearl lingonberries. We are a little warm for lingonberries but I’m hoping that even if berry production is poor, the spreading carpet form will look good. Up at the barn, one of my new raspberry plants showed up so it’s in the ground now. I have two more on their way and hoping to have a lot of raspberries this summer and fall. Deer could be a problem.

This weekend I started some seeds that will be round one of the upper vegetable garden. I’m using heat mats this year to encourage faster germination. I have my starter station in the greenhouse because it was annoying in the house. I’m also thinking it will be easier to harden off young plants if they’re always in my inefficient greenhouse. I placed a portable heater in the greenhouse to see if it would stay warmer at night (it doesn’t), I tried a compost bin in the greenhouse for passive warmth, probably need to do some more insulation. Some day I’ll get the hang of this greenhouse.

The raised bed behind the garage has been falling apart. Today I replaced it with a metal raised bed. This raised bed will need to have some chicken proofing since the hens have learned to hop up and help themselves to whatever might be growing in the bed. I use this bed for tomato, basil and cilantro. They are items that I use often while cooking and it’s so much easier to step out a few yards for something fresh than walk up to the upper garden. Laziness is in play but this garden bed also seems to get optimal sun and shade during the growing season.

Just wanted to share my green onion project. If I don’t use the entire green onion, I have been placing the leftover stalk with roots into the dirt. In a few days you can see how the green portion is growing back and I will be able to harvest some more green tops. Not really sure how often you can do this, but it’s another random garden thing. You can see my leeks in the back which were traumatized by the chickens.

While we have planted many trees, we’ve also taken down a lot of trees. Today I decided that I was going to place hazelnut bushes in the area and this tree was casting too much shade. Hazelnut bushes take several years to mature and the ones I started last year look pretty lean still. They are juglone tolerant plants so I’m not as limited in placement on the farm. I’m envisioning a line of hazelnut bushes that will also screen my compost station for the little pasture. Maybe I’ll be able to make my own Nutella some day. I do have some quince plants on order because I love mebrillo (sweet quince paste) with manchego cheese.

Another lovely weekend on the farm.