Safety first update

 A few posts ago, I talked about the snow stops I had installed on the barn roof, and how they performed in a small snow storm that involved a changeover to rain.  Last weekend we had a storm that left behind six inches of fluffy snow - our biggest storm this season.  I know, it's been a lackluster winter as far as snowfall.  At any rate, I was able to gauge the effectiveness of the snow stoppers a little better this time.  They don't work quite as well as I'd hoped, but I'm still glad I had them installed.

 On the hay room side of the barn I figured the non-stoppered roof snow would give way much quicker, but it appears it came down all at once, despite the guards over the hay room door. The snow definitely spread farther where it wasn't slowed by the stoppers, but it still packed down like cement despite that.

On the mule's side, it was the same thing.  The snow came off all at once and formed a packed mound in the paddock.

I've marked the second photo - the yellow indicates the area I had run the snowblower through, to open it up.  The snow from the roof landed in a mound between the blue lines; at least it blew out farther away from the barn wall than it normally would if the stoppers weren't involved.  And luckily, it wasn't a massive load of snow by the time it came down.  This just makes me think that with deeper snow loads, I shouldn't assume I'll be safe under the eaves.  I have to admit I was a little surprised the snow still came off like this.

Completely safe, on the other hand, are the greens I started earlier this month.  

I started another sowing of arugula and mesclun mix (sweet this time) about two weeks after the first sowing.  I'm completely addicted to the arugula, and can stand there picking the tiny leaves off and eating them for far too long. I don't know if they'll ever get the chance to mature at this rate.  

As January comes to a close, I have two more weeks to wait before I can sow my stratified seeds and see how they do.  I've also ordered some last minute items like seed potatoes, sweet corn seed, and more mini cucumber seeds in preparation for the garden this year.  I've been hauling manure out back to the mound, so I'm definitely going to be planting squash out there, and hopefully corn.   I'm feeling optimistic about the coming season...let's hope it lasts into spring.