Caught Up

I've been consumed in a series of books lately, the Earth's Children set by Jean Auel.  It temporarily stopped me from participating in my usual tasks, like correspondence on the blog.  Highly recommend the series; I read the books about 10 years ago and after suggesting them to my cousin a few weeks back decided to read them again, I wasn't disappointed.




In the meantime, Carl plowed and tilled the garden.  We need to build our furrows and set up trellises for the peas but otherwise we are ready to plant!  I have more than 400 seeds started and the greenhouse is thriving.  I had no intention of sprouting that many plants, but everything I read suggested that for every 10 seeds only 2/3's of them would sprout and be healthy.  For every 10 seeds I planted I got 10 seeds to sprout.  It was a bit more than I expected but it's given me some ideas.

First, I think I'll start selling starters.  I can get rid of a few this year, but I intend to put a list together of seeds I have available and people can order the ones they would like for their own garden.  For the most part I'll only have heirlooms available but depending on demand I'll consider starting others.  With a few seasonal customers I think it may be a nice hobby on the side - not everyone has the place or resources for a green house and I don't know about you but I would rather buy local.

We've also received our first batch of chickens.  So far we have 9 chickens but Carl would like to get 2 more.  I have been surprised by his behavior towards the poultry - he LOVES them!  He came home with a turkey last week, that was a big surprise but I'm glad he did it.  I felt bad for the little guy, he was so forlorn and lonely and decided to get another turkey.  I think the white one Carl brought home is just going to end up being a family pet.  He loves to be held and coddled and doesn't interact with the other chickens or turkey very much.  We've decided to call him "Big Bird".










The dogs have been great with the chickens!  My little one, Zora, she is very protective and stands watch over their box most of the day, it's pretty cute.



April is going to be a busy month for us, it always is.  Carl's sister will be in town this week and I am looking forward to that.  She has not been to the house since we got settled in and I'm excited for her visit.  We've also decided to do a party on the weekend of the 23rd and have our work cut out for us in preparation.  The tulips should be in full bloom for the shindig - I can't wait for that!  Winter is over for us - time to get the fire crackin'!