April Showers


Gi and I have been enjoying our spring break, but since it also falls in the busiest planting season, we've been out in the gardens every day that we're able. The rain gave us an excuse to relax yesterday, and the snow! gave us another reprieve today, but there are several flats of cabbage, cauliflower, and leeks that need to get in the ground before Easter, as well as the first round of snow peas, mizuna, arugala, and broccoli rabe. We're hoping the ground has dried out enough by tomorrow to get that done. Earlier this week E and I planted the potatoes (Red Pontiac, Yukon Gold, and a purple variety), the first bed of mesclun (we'll do one a week for the next month or so), all the carrots (yellowstone, purple haze, danver's half long), and about half of the brassica transplants. I wish the weather had cooperated a bit more, but everything will get in over the next few days - I have off Monday and Tuesday as well, for the end of Passover, so even if the soil hasn't dried out till then, we'll be fine. I'd like to pick up a pear tree and get that in the ground tomorrow to replace a young one that died last year too.

E is using plans he found on the new farm website to make an eggmobile for our existing flock. It uses a bunch of 2 by 4's, 2 standard cattle panels, a tarp with grommets, and a roll of chicken wire - materials ran us about 200 dollars. He's almost done, and we should be able to set that up tomorrow. We're going to try to figure out food ad water solutions BEFORE we move 50 birds out there - we'll see how it goes. That will clear up the barn for brooding chicks and/or another 25 or so laying hens so that we can produce all the eggs we'll need for market (about 30 dozen a week last year). I was hoping to put some feed store chicks under the broody buff orps out in the coop, but I think they may all have been sold for Easter. We went by yesterday- I buy animal feed once a week since we don't have much storage space here - and Georgia was in heaven. Even by the usual standards, it was a zoo. There were the usual two cats, several rabbits, the silkie chickens that have been strutting around the place for months now, the usual Easter chicks and ducklings, and yesterday, for some reason, there was a baby boer goat inside by the register. (This is the same place that had the emus last month, lol)

Our faucet broke a few days ago, and after a couple of attempts to fix it, E finally called a plumber, who ended up replacing the whole thing. Everything seems to be working fine, though we're bummed about the warped floorboards that resulted from the whole fiasco. We'll have to order a few boxes of laminate boards and then E and J will replace them - luckily the damage is all in one corner, so not too much of the floor will have to come up. As a side effect of all our water woes, egg washing was put to the side for a few days....the result?

That was exactly a dozen dozen, and my poor chapped hands washed every last one the minute the plumber left! *grin* Since we are drowning in eggs right now - we only bring eggs that are 30 days old or less to the farmer's market - I tried my hand at making egg wreaths for my mom and MIL - they turned out nice, though the pic I managed to take washed all the colors out a bit. I just blew them out and strung them on aluminum fencing wire. Have a wonderful Easter and Passover everyone!


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Posted: Thu - April 5, 2007 at 07:11 PM        

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