- Silvertree Forge
25 March, Friday
38 degrees F
Overcast, Light Wind
The air is cold and damp as we arrive at the Fort to prepare for the gardening weekend for l’habitant jardin. Immediately, canvas tarps are placed on some of the raised beds to prepare for the oncoming weather fast approaching. The tarps will keep new moisture from saturating the beds, as we hope to salvage planting later in the weekend once the forecasted snow has ceased. As this task is accomplished, we prepare the guard room for the weekend’s stay, enjoying the heat emanating from the newly lit fireplace. We light lamps and lanterns and prepare the bedding while the day’s light still holds. The table is laid for a simple evening’s meal of fish and bread. Sophie, the young cat newly in residence at the fort, has curled up in the bedding, taking advantage of the warmth beginning to steal across the room. Darkness descends and we know not what the new day will bring.
26 March, Saturday
36 degrees F
Snow, 5-10 NW Wind
As we awake to freezing temperatures, the skies are grey and the clouds ominous. By midmorning, the cold and damp keep us to our duties inside. As we finish our late morning repast consisting of a warm tourtiere served with maple syrup, a startling flash of lightning is followed by a long slow roar of thunder. We run to the guard room windows and to our amazement, huge snowflakes are drifting downwards, melting as they touch the ground. After our initial surprise, we acknowledge no gardening will be accomplished this day; we venture outside to observe the falling snow. With flakes clinging to our coats, we gather the last of the greens from the winter planting and spring herbs for our evening meal.
Author gathering herbs.
Once inside, our attention is turned to tasks that can be accomplished in a warmer setting. Chicken bouillon is prepared and placed on the hearth to simmer all day with some of the gathered herbs. Others attend to long overdue mending and sewing. Another spends time using their lucette, creating cordage to replace broken and mended lengths. The snow continues to fall and begins to accumulate. Occasional bursts of lightning and thunder steal across the sky and continue to surprise. Garden seeds are organized and the jardin plot is reviewed. Anxiousness accompanies this planting delay, as it is quickly becoming past time in the new year to have certain seeds sown this season. The continued snow and cold this early spring have prevented normal progress in the garden. We will need to make productive use of any good weather to prepare beds and plant.
Before long, the light is fading and our meal of bouillon, boiled ham, our gathered salad of lettuce, spinach, and salad burnet, are placed on the table along with bread for a satisfying meal. A fine evening of conversation and song follows, as we enjoy the warmth of the fire and companionship of close friends. We end the evening, thankful to be so well situated with the late winter storm still swirling just beyond the guard room door.
27 March, Sunday
42 Degrees F
Sunny, Light Wind
Snow-Laden CanvasTarps
Morning arrives heralded with sunshine, a chill to the air, and snow covering the ground. As we attend to our morning meal and duties, we await the sun’s rays to warm the world around us. Immediately after the table is cleared and dishes are cleaned, we observe and are well pleased with the sun’s progress upon the melting snow. We are drawn to the garden, anxious to remove the tarps laid earlier in the weekend. We pull back the snow-laden canvas and reveal beds that appear fairly dry from the weather the day earlier. Seeds can and will be planted this day! Those that need cool temperatures to emerge and thrive would not mature into much needed spring vegetables, replacing of the last of winter’s stores.
As we bring our supplies to the garden, the work is begun turning beds and adding dry compost. Beds are smoothed and prepared for planting.
Antoinette & Renea
We furrow rows and spend the late morning and early afternoon transplanting the cabbages, and seeding beds with heirloom varieties of kale, leeks, lettuces, radishes, and spinach, watering each as they are planted. We make sure we rotate the new plantings from the garden layout of the year previous, giving beds a time to breathe and frustrating pests overwintering in the soil. (The newly planted varieties for this year’s garden are listed on the layout page of this blog.) A great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment today-the new planting season of our jardin potager has begun.
Perseverance and determination have prevailed this day, both traits that serve a garden well!
As we basked in the warmth relaxing in our camp, we looked beyond and the garden beckoned. Toni and Renea quickly set to work weeding the asparagus bed and I began to prepare a few beds for planting. It was remarkable to reflect that just a few days earlier, strong winds brought air that was quite cool and damp and just the week previous we were experiencing thunder-snow! This morning our hope was to finish preparing and planting the beds that we were unable to work on due to the earlier snows. After hoeing and weeding, we planted St. Valery and Tonda Di Parigi carrots, Crapaudine and Early Wonder beets, Navet des Vertus Marteau turnips, and Red Wetherfield Onion sets. These heirlooms are seeds/sets of the 18th century and are close to the type of vegetables that might have been grown by les habitants of the Illinois Country, full of flavor and valued for their many uses-fresh or preserved. The newly planted seeds were well watered, as well as the other parts of the garden already planted. Gooseberry shrubs were pruned, joining the grape vines already so prepared by fort staff memebr Dennis Thomas and volunteer John Guilfoy. Walking the garden, the cabbage transplants appeared to be settling in nicely and the lettuces, spinach, and radishes seedlings were beginning to emerge. 
These cool weather crops were not bothered by this uncertain weather, thriving and growing, using the current warm air to fuel their growth. A morning spent in garden work under the sun warming rays was a pleasant way to end to a weekend of camaraderie and friendship. In the weeks ahead, as we near our last frost-date milestone, the next seeds to be planted will be runner beans and peas. Other garden projects include new heirloom apple and pear fruit trees which have been ordered and delivered. These new fruit trees are provided by Les Amis de Fort de Chartres, the fort volunteer organization. As we prepare work on our garden layout and design, we welcome the onset of spring!
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