February is a hopeful time for us, and a time to emerge from the Persephone months.
According to Eliot Coleman in the Four Season Harvest, "...there is a period of about three months (six weeks before the winter solstice and six weeks after it) when the gardener's only work is harvesting the bounty...The Persephone months are when the cold frame crops reign supreme." So, not only are we ordering seeds at this time of the year, but if all goes well in the hoophouse (during the growing season) we're actually eating fresh spinach and the likes through an icy February.
Northern Michigan has so much to offer, in both summer and winter. In the shop, Matt has been trying to solve the issue of fastening the top of caskets with a local solution. Here's one try, using wool that was grown and spun 4 miles from our house. Braided into loops and given a wooden button, this solution may find its way onto a final casket design some day. Yet another way to make a living alongside neighbors.
