We had the last of our current spate of birthdays this month and it was a double-header. Chad's birthday fell on the thirteenth and Gigi's was the next day. We had before dinner get-togethers both days and of course more cake. I think most of us are now in chocolate withdrawal.

Ceilee arrived for a spring break visit on the fifteenth and was here until he had to return to school on the twenty-third. He is hoping to start a business after his graduation and part of his time here was spent in working on his plans. There was time for socializing and helping on the farm, too.

Sue got home from her trip on the seventeenth. She had a good time with her family in Michigan and found her visit to Twin Oaks Community and Washington,D.C. very interesting

Stan participated in an eight day training course for organic inspectors at the Innsbrook Conference Center west of St. Louis. He worked as an assistant to the course leaders. It was primarily held for people who will be working with the new Missouri Organic Certification Program, but there were also attendees from other parts of the country, as well as Mexico and Ecuador. He got back to the farm on March 26.

Gigi and Sol, along with Cory and Skyler, took a short trip to St. Louis on the twenty-fifth. Gigi and Cory stayed with our friend Matthew and Sol and Skyler went to see Sol's friend Laura, who is attending chiropractic college. Gigi and Cory also did some museum time and other fun stuff and took care of deliveries to customers. They came home that Thursday.

Laird returned March 25 after a month away. Early in his trip he saw Ceilee in Amherst and at the end of it visited Ann in Virginia. He worked with different groups while he was gone and also spent a few days at Twin Oaks Community with Sue. Apart from his train from Danville, VA to Washington,D.C being seriously delayed by flooding and causing him to be late for a job, it was a good trip. He was even able to participate in a national bridge tournament in Philadelphia.

Stan was off the farm again for a couple of days this past weekend. He attended our first fair of the season, The Farmers' Exhibition, in Kansas City on Saturday, and combined it with a visit to a friend.

This weekend we also had a an overnight visit from Cathie, a member of East Wind Community. She was in the area for a family gathering and we invited her to come by. She is the orchard manager at East Wind and took back some black current cuttings with her, along with some of our mustard for their kitchen.

The Sandhill gardners have really been busy the last week or so. Jon has been intently planting peas, Michael and Bekka have been spotting out brassica seedlings and Michael has also been working on the compost piles. Gigi has been busy with bed preparation, the cold frames and many other tasks. Sol and Angelina have planted a permaculture succession bed in the orchard and I have been seen talking to my lettuce seedlings. Onion sets go in this week, potatoes sets are sprouting eyes in Karma living room and there are sweet potatoes growing slips in the kitchen. The mulch is off the strawberries and,oh yes, we have lovely overwintered spinach to eat.