Thawing out and greening up

The ice is finally gone from the koi ponds and though Ron found frost only four inches down in the garden, some of the herbs are sending up shoots. Tender shoots of tarragon and oregano are up as well as rosy rhubarb whorls. We're watching for the lovage and when it's up, things will move quickly.

We had a great time talking about vinegar at the Women's Wellness event at Arrowwood, the West Ottertail Horticultural Day and the K.C.'s monthly dinner. Savannah used her computer skills to make a powerpoint presentation and it debuted at the Arrowwood event.

The first tour bus of the season ( a Girltime Getaway group) zipped right on by on Saturday. Mapquest gives some odd directions for finding us. The tour coordinator called to clarify directions and I guess the four miles from Long Prairie went quickly with all the girl chatter going on. The bus turned around and came back and we had a nice visit with 40 ladies on a mystery tour. It was a chilly day so Ron and I hopped on the bus and chatted about our enterprise so we could abbreviate the outdoor portion of the tour. In another two weeks the gardens and orchard will be a different place than the brown leaf-covered area that it is now. The vinegary is always cozy and inviting and Ron made a fire in the wood stove in the retail shop so no one was cold for very long.

We have two more tours scheduled in the next two weeks so we can officially say the tourist season is up and running.

Beginning a new season

We participated in the first speaking engagement of the season, today, with a vinegar presentation at the Women's Health event at Arrowwood, north of Alexandria. We showcased our new power point presentation created by Savannah and our new taller bottles. It was a beautiful setting and we made new friends among the class attendees. We hope they'll all come to visit.

Through exposure for this event we have been invited to appear on Patti Wicken's radio show on KXRA 1490 AM. Listen for us on Apr. 23 at 9:05 a.m.

Next Saturday, Apr. 4, we'll be talking about vinegar and selling it at the West Ottertail County Horticultural Event in Underwood.

We continue to use vinegar in new ways. Last week I made vinegar bread using my triple wheat recipe and substituting 1/2 cup of vinegar for a portion of the water. The bread was heavy since the acid of the vinegar may have inhibited some of the yeast action. It had a tangy flavor reminiscent of sour dough bread. Definitely a recipe to try again, perhaps with a little less vinegar.

Another development: my foodie watercolors can now be found in a shop on Etsy. Search for the "leatherwood" shop or look under art and watercolors.

We're looking forward to getting our local retail space spruced up and then getting the yard and garden in shape. I've ordered seeds from Pinetree Seeds and hope they come soon so I can get the tomatoes, peppers and a few other early vegetables started indoors.

Happy spring!