The blizzard came during our first month on this land.

We spent plenty of time hunkered down by the wood stove, but at regular intervals, we ventured out into the elements to prevent the collapse of our greenhouse and hoophouse.

Luckily, the wind blew the snow right off the greenhouse, which prevented snow from piling up. On the other hand, the wind pushed snow up, up, up and down onto the south side of the hoophouse over and over again until it settled in heavy drifts.

We learned it can be quite satisfying to dislodge a pile of snow and send it cascading into a mini-mountain below. In the interest of maintaining the structural integrity of our farm buildings, we brought on avalanches.

Then we headed inside to select tomato varieties that we'll plant in these very same spaces in not too many weeks.

And look! Our greenhouse and our hoophouse survived the storm.