Today the redbuds are in full bloom, dandelions are pushing up their sunny faces to the sky, the sun is shining and the homestead is busier by the minute! We saw our first goldfinch this week, alongside our regulars, the robins, the cardinals, woodpeckers and an occasional blue jay. A barred owl sat on the fence post across from our farm stand this morning, hunting in the ever-growing tall grasses in the ditch. The transition from winter to spring seems to happen so swiftly, and I welcome the lushness with open arms.
Tending Seeds
We've been tending to seedlings in the greenhouse since the beginning of February. Many of them are now ready to plant into the field, and it feels so wonderful to share them with our community at our farm stand. Currently, our stand is stocked with cool weather crops, and we're busy working behind the scenes potting up tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, flowers, herbs and more. Last week, our friend Julie Beth and I started melon seedlings at the greenhouse, which wraps up our seed starting at the greenhouse for the season! Everything else will be either directly planted in the field or started here at our homestead. I love this time of planting seeds and watching them grow with fervor.
This spring, the weather has been a rollercoaster - every year is so different and as a farmer/gardener, I've learned to go with the flow. It requires near-constant attention to the weather, the blossoms and the soil. Earlier this month, the weather pendulum swung from 7°F to mid-90°F in nearly 24 hours - every year, when the temperatures drop below freezing, I have friends come to me with their worries for their tulips and daffodils, to which I reply with confidence "they were made for these wild weather swings!" or "they're tougher than you think!" This was the first year that I was proven wrong, and many of our sweet spring blooms suffered from the large swing in temperatures, cooking in the heatwave following the cold spell.
We welcome the rain and do our best to protect the plants we tend from anything more severe. The ups and downs of the weather this season have had us doing quite a bit of "the plant shuffle" as we like to call it - a farmer's alternative to going to the gym. Without a greenhouse on site, we have to bring warm season plants into our garage and barn on nights that drop below 40 degrees. We have a few more chilly nights in the forecast but it does seem like it will be warming up a bit after the weekend!
Handicraft & new skills
At the beginning of March, I traveled to Viroqua, Wisconsin with my dear friend Baylee to learn the art of willow basket weaving from Anni Zylstra. I've dabbled in basketry in the past, but never with cultivated materials or guidance. Over the course of three days, alongside our 4 classmates, we worked with different varieties of willow that Anni grew, harvested and prepared, to craft our very own market baskets. It was surprisingly strenuous (on Saturday night, after our second full day of weaving, I may or may not have cried to Baylee in a defeated voice "there's no way I'll ever finish this basket!"), which was humbling. When we did, in fact, complete our baskets on Sunday evening, it felt like such a huge accomplishment! 
In the time that has passed since we made our baskets, mine has acted as a purse, a grocery basket, a toy basket, a knitting basket; in it, I've carried food to a potluck and gathered herbs from our garden. Anni grows basket willow on their farm in Viroqua, and sells cuttings for aspiring basket weavers to grow their own willow. I have yet to plant mine, but I did bring home 30 cuttings and look forward to adding another layer of "homemade" to my next basket! We're planning to plant ours along the Northwestern edge of our veggie garden.
While we were travelling, both Baylee and I were reading With Her Own Hands: Women Weaving Their Stories by Nicole Nehrig. For me, it was a slow but fascinating read, travelling through time and exploring the ways in which fiber and handicraft has played such an integral role for femmes in society. From quilting, to mending, weaving to embroidery, there are so many ways to connect with fiber arts.
I'm looking forward to co-hosting two Natural Fiber Markets with our friend Wendy this season, and our first Mending Bee with our friend Amy in a little over a week! You can find all of our events listed on our events calendar here.
Looking ahead at what's to come
On Friday, we're looking forward to celebrating May Day with our friends at Giant Joy Collective! Join us as we walk together through Benson in a simple neighborhood procession, sharing music, color, and laughter. Along the way, we will deliver their handmade baskets to neighbors, leaving small gifts of beauty and kindness at doorsteps. The celebration will end gathered around a Maypole, where bright ribbons are woven together in a dance welcoming spring and celebrating community.
This season has already brought new things: the unusually warm spring allowed us to keep our farm stand informally open from Valentine's day through our "grand opening" on April 15th. I've had the opportunity to lead a natural dye project for a friend's birthday party and we're getting ready to host our first event of the season (besides our plant sale) with a Mending Bee! We have two Natural Fiber Markets planned for this season, both of which will be hosted at The Florence Mill, and plenty of other events to come. You can find all of our events listed on our events calendar.
Last year, we started the process of upgrading our packaging for all of our products. We started with our caramel pouches, swapping out our old plastic pouches for compostable pouches. This spring, we are tackling our herb salts, and are in the process of ditching the glass for an easily recyclable cardboard tube! Most glass doesn't get recycled, plus it's heavy and breakable, which makes it harder and more expensive for us to ship. We're really looking forward to our new containers, which we hope to have ready by this fall! In the meantime, we're making smaller batches of our herb salts to avoid having too much inventory when we make the swap. Want to see little updates along the way? Be sure to follow along on our social media pages (we're active on Instagram and Facebook!).
Cheers to spring, to new beginnings, and to the community that makes it all possible!
Ali Yahnke
The Perennial Homestead
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I've always shared seasonal reflections through our email newsletter, but kept them short—I know how overwhelming inboxes can get. Recently, our farm assistant Baylee moved her newsletter to a blog, and I loved the idea! This space will let me share seasonal updates, favorite recipes, farm stand news, and more without worrying about email length. Thank you for being here!
