Rain, rain go away

We had a pajama day today. Lilah, Cian, and I just lounged around all day:) We did make homemade pizza (including a crust from scratch that Marley didnt eat this time) and did other various chores, but mostly just vegged out:)

Cordon Bleu though (one if the chickens) decided it was a good jailbreak day and kept escaping. Several times today I ended up chasing her back into the yard...not conducive to pajama day. Dont get me wrong, I wear pjs out all the time, as in pajama pants and a tshirt, but I was actually wearing a gown today. Neighbors probably think I'm nuts.

So, I am trying to decide what to do with the side yard. It is not really full sun, but I may try to do some raised veggie beds there. I also am debating moving the chicken coop over there and fencing it in, but am not sure how the neighbors would feel about that. Dan wants it to be a croquet court.

Falling Behind as Usual:)

I am already behind on getting my seeds started as usual. I have 3 flats that I started about a month ago, but I havent done any since then. Hopefully later today I can get going and Lilah can help me as I have a lot of big seeds to plant. We had a wedding to go to yesterday and the reception was last night so not much got done. Dan did get a chance to play with his new tool in between and I will post about that seperately in a bit.

We still have to get the plant stand and lights out of the basement. I have the plants I already started in windowsills still and they are starting to get a bit leggy.

Some of the seedlings I started last month.

The seeds that arrived yesterday from Seed Savers

(veggies, fruits, and herbs)

Flood!!

So, we didnt really get to work on any "projects" this past weekend as my mom and little brother evacuated their house due to flooding. The house was in no danger, but they ran the risk of being stuck. We ended up having easter brunch here and they stayed the weekend. Lilah loved having grandma and Zach stay with us:)

Here is normal level

This is Thursday 3/20

These are from Friday, and the river didnt even crest til Saturday.

This is a view of Aberdeen Golf course
The spots between the row of trees are cows. Poor things were stranded so we called the Humane Society. The cows were rescued by the coast guard and even made the news:)

The Worms are Here

We set up our vermicomposting bin last night. So simple and easy to do. We just took a storage container and drilled holes around the sides and in the lid. Then we added about a 2" layer of packing peanuts for drainage. We topped that with a layer of hardware cloth and then a layer of landscape fabric. We then added the worms bedding which in this case was horse manure. We put some food scraps in and then added another layer of bedding, shredded newspaper this time. Ideally we would have set this up about a week before the worms arrived, but they got here a lot quicker than I expected:)
Then we dumped in the worms. All that is left to do is to let them go and feed them about once a week. In 4 months or so we should have a bin full of casings.....great food for the garden!!!

New Front Walkway

So, we are putting in a new walkway to the front door. This past weekend Dan went to collect rocks to edge it and took Lilah with him. She helped load the rocks and came home exhausted:) Then on Sunday, she helped him work on placing them. I have a very cute video of Lilah helping but I have to have Dan show me how to edit it so I can post it.

Lilah helping daddy

What the front walk looks like now
What it will look like (this is the path to the veggie garden)
We still need to continue this rock wall and fill in the gardens.

A Rainbow of Eggs

I cant wait until we get the new chicks. I am getting 2 more ameracaunas for blue eggs, 2 salmon favorelles for light tan/pink eggs, and 2 welsummers for chocolate brown eggs. By next fall we should be able to start selling some.

Potatoes

Last year digging up the potatoes

This year watering the potatoes

We are hoping to actually get some potatoes to eat this year:) We planted seed potatoes that we dug up last year. We have Yukon Gold and Blue. None of the red potatoes we planted last year made it.

Chickens New Pen

So, since the girls decided life was more fun on the other side of the fence, we moved their pen. The coop is still a moveable tractor, we just arent moving it while its so wet. We had it up against the house for the winter months to keep them out of too many drafts and so we could hook up supplemental heat when needed. So, we put hardware cloth along the fence and across to the front of the house and opened up the backyard to them. They are very happy with access to the backyard and are now digging up the compost which should help get it going. This means Marley is now using the front yard primarily for pottying. We have to do poop patrol before playing, but Lilah loves picking it up LOL.

Marley

The Girls
(back to front : Kiev, Cordon Bleu, and Dumpling)

Closeup of Dumpling
Checking out a stump
The new pen

Planting a Seed

Well, I decided to start a blog. Dan and I are starting so many different projects I thought it would be fun to have a place to keep track of them all. This past weekend I started several flats of seeds. We still havent finalized our vegetable order so it was all ornamentals so far....except for the brandywine tomatoes Lilah planted with grandma:). Dan planted the seed potatoes from last years (lack of) crop.

The chickens are doing great. Since we are now down to 1 dog, we are letting them free range in the backyard instead of the front. This is saving the emerging bulbs and curbing the chickens desire to cross the road. I am placing an order with some MDC mamas for some more chicks in the next month or so. It should be very interesting having a bunch of baby chicks.

I am planning on ordering some red wrigglers to start vermicomposting as well. I have been meaning to do it for several years now, but it always seems to get forgotten.

I think we are pushing the bees back til at least next year. I think it will be great but am a little worried about where to safely keep the bees where the kids, dog, or chickens wont get to them. Dan talked to an architect today about our roof and the possible addition. We wont be doing it for a while, but he wants to get a plan going. He wanst a green roof, and we were trying to incorporate a space for a hive or two there.

I guess thats it for this first post. The seed is planted, with some care and attention, I am hoping it grows!