Spring is busting out all over on Indiantree hill

Yesterday, the pear tree in the side yard had green buds. Today, it's a tree full of flowers.

Several weeks ago, we spent a couple of days pruning our orchard of apple, pear, peach and cherry trees. We also ravaged the grape vine planted by our ancestors. It pains us to cut it back so hard, but it seems to like it. It made for some amazing grape jelly last year -- and some grape pies to die for.

Now, the grass is greening up. The pasture is lush, awaiting the day very soon when neighbor Jonas will turn his cows and horses loose on grass that grows inches overnight.

Jonas was planting in his field beyond the pasture on Saturday, standing tall on the back of his planter as he drove his team up and down the hillside.

On our side of the fence, we planted 50 Christmas trees on Saturday. Most are no bigger than a pencil, and fuzzy like a squirrel's tail. They're tasty morsels for deer, so we made 50 cages to protect the tender seedlings from the four-legged, doe-eyed vermin that have ravaged so many other tender shoots on the farm. Seven years from now, if we're lucky, we'll have trees tall enough for our family to cut and decorate.