Spring is less than one week away. It's hard to believe when the temperature is below 30 degrees, and the wind is blowing hard and fast. My favorite thing (not including my husband and kids) in my house these past few months has been our wood burning stove.
It's an insert that we installed a few years back. It's manufactured by a company called Morso. I love their clean, modern designs. Even though the stove insert is a modern design, it works in our 1920 four square home. We use kiln dried wood from Long Island Firewood. Their wood lights easily, and it burns hot. It costs more than "seasoned firewood," but it's an indulgence that pays for itself. We have saved money on our natural gas bill since we started using it. It has a circulating fan that distributes the heat efficiently throughout the house. The thermostat is located in the living room, so the remote rooms on the second floor can get a bit chilly…That's more incentive for us all to hunker down together in the living room.
In a month or so, we will be building two more raised beds. We built one in the fall, using 2 12 foot long 2 x 10s, 4 corner brackets, all of our compost, and a trunk full of organic soil. The beds will be on axis with fruit trees already planted, thus appealing to my architectural sensibilities.
I grew spinach, kale and lettuces, over the fall and early winter. I just love harvesting fresh greens and eating salad and juicing immediately after. I recently bought LOTS of seeds from seedsavers in anticipation of warmer days and nights. Here's to Spring!
