I got half of the potatoes planted in rows

I got a little more than half of the seed potatoes planted in rows and then ran out of space. I have a couple of large 18 gallon “party”  buckets that I can use for planting more of the seed potatoes once I get them set into place. I know I’m a bit late but “life” happens and something has to give when you run out of energy.  My physically energy is limited by my disability. Other people’s energy and time is limited by jobs and family. There are only so many hours in a day and sometimes you just got to accept you don’t meet all the timelines on the stuff you want to get done.

I finally got the lawn mowed and the grass was so deep my electric mower struggled cutting it. I need to add some bad bug killer on the lawn and then give it another mowing but the lawn is looking much better this spring compared to last year. The front yard bed I planted in Garlic and peas is looking good so far. Laying down the galvanized fencing has helped keep the cats and squirrels from digging up the pea plants.

I started the weeding/cleanup of another raised bed and the soil in this bed is not as good the first bed but I can add some soil and amendments to improve the soil. I’ll direct sow some root crops and leafy stuff like lettuce and spinach to maximize the growing space.  I bought a bit of garden netting early this spring and I love it!!  This netting can be draped over garden beds like a frost cloth and it keeps out pets and other small critters. This netting is cheap compared to using a fence and if you have cats you know a fence is just a simple challenge to them. I’m sure more experience gardeners are saying well DUH!! But using this type of fencing/drape across garden beds is new to me.

Boomer the dog pushed his way into the chicken pen.. He did not hurt the birds but he scared the birds.. I added some fence posts and tighten up the wire to keep the doggo out of the chicken run.  Boomer showed me the weak spots in the run and no birds were hurt in the process. Now if a coon or a large cat had found those weak points in the run I might have had a dead or badly injured chicken. So overall it worked out well.  I want to add large pavers to the chicken run for the water jugs, since chickens scratch and don’t pay much attention if they dirty the water or feed. An 18 inch paver should help keep the water cleaner from the scratching chickens.  Give your chickens compost to work. If you use a bagged mower dump the grass in the chicken pen and let the chickens scratch through it then add it to the compost pile.

Moved the compost pile and added an extension to the chicken run

I know it is early days with the chickens and they are a bit stress with the move and dealing with my dog lunging at the birds to see if they will react. A couple of the birds dropped some feathers but I think it is a stress reaction and not a true molting. I’m getting 2-3 eggs daily from three birds so the feed and coop is probably good.  I moved the Chicken house extension where I keep the compost heap and shoveled some of the compost into that extension for the birds to scratch around. I added a couple of burlap bags to the chicken run to block run wall to block my dog lunging and trying to spook the chickens and added a small tarp to the chicken extension so the birds start feeling more secure.  A couple of times Boomer the dog followed me into the coup and he did not lunge at the birds. He was just curious about this new things.

I have read Apple cider vinegar can help with stress in chickens and a good supplement to keep birds healthy. I don’t have a good organic Apple sider vinegar on hand but I added some to the chickens water jug. I added plain water in a smaller jug in case the chickens don’t like the apple cider vinegar.  I added some perching area but I may have to make some adjustments plane the boards a bit smaller and easier to grip by the chickens.  I want the chickens to be happy and while I’m getting good egg output so far. I want to make the best coop for chickens in my power.

Yep, inflation is ramping up. I spent $50.00 and filled 2 gas cans. I splurged and bought ethanol free gas for $4.29 per gallon. I notice that diesel is cheaper per gallon than gas here in SW Idaho. Six weeks  ago gas was about $3.20 per gallon now it is $4.20. You won’t see your wages or Social Security payments keep pace with that level of inflation.

Mom is coming by to get her new phone that is better for texting. We will do a little gardening cleanup and I hope she will bring her dually truck to load up a raised bed and parts of my compost heap.  It is hard to run a truck that gets 8-12 miles per gallon at best. If you have heavy load. MPG is no problem.  Running around town with that gas consumption is a bitch.

Bi-Mart is having another Cyber sale of a large can of Yuban coffee for $5.99 per 37 oz. can. Don’t assume you can buy things on sale. Or things will always be available at any price. Coffee bean prices are going up because Africa has weather events not conducive for a good coffee harvest. Cocoa harvests look bad for Africa and America because of the weather. It’s not climate change it is weather. We had aa Strong El nino in the Pacific ocean last year now we have an La Nina event. That has happened for centuries and is well documented. Nothing new, just adapt and overcome.

Funny how bird flu became a thing. When people started keeping chickens, and refused to pay for cooperate $3.00-5.00 for a dozen eggs. .Now Avian Flu is infecting Cattle. Yet no cattle have been put down because of avian flu. Funny that.

I have chickens and rototilling the potato bed

My aunt dropped three chickens today. She has been very busy with her goats so it was very nice of her to get me the chickens considering how busy she has been this spring.  I’m glad I started off with 3 chickens as the chicken run looks a lot smaller with three full size chickens pecking and scratching.  The chickens figured out the ramp into the chicken house and three seem to fit in the house without crowding. The only way six chicken could fit in this house is if the bird were a small breed like bantams. From the reviews I have read and seeing the chicken in the house and run, I guess most manufacturers overstate the number of chicken a run/house can hold by a third at best. 

Boomer the dog was very interested in the chickens and barked, charged the birds for a bit after the delivery. Thee chickens were a little flighty being in a new spot but adding some grass clippings and scratch helped calm the birds down. I kept Boomer the dog indoors for about 30-45 minutes after the chicken delivery so all of the critters could calm down. I added a landscape log in the run along the wall of the run as Boomer was pushing the door and it was starting to open.  I added a few more zip ties to secure the chicken wire that started to gap after the chicken delivery. I will get a few of the landscape timbers to line the inside of the chicken run, to prevent chickens getting out and my pets getting in the run.  The first day of having chickens went well.

I got the potato bed roto-tilled. I moved the 4’x4′ raised bed and the bed was in better shape than I had anticipated. There is a little bit of rot but I made the bed out of reclaimed deck boards. So a little rot is no surprise. Mom wants this raised bed box for her garden since I’m not using it. I think Mom can get another year or two use out of the wood framing for a raised bed. 

I roto-tilled the potato rows adding in the rabbit manure I got from my aunt last year and the soil I recovered from the 4×4 bed I just removed.  I thought I might have some celery that reseeded but it was a couple of parsnips that had grown this spring.  Pretty impressive that the parsnips grew to a nice size after winter and growing in the spring. I had a few small carrots coming up but they were very small.  I need to rethink how I plant root crops as some seem to survive a mild winter and start growing quickly in early spring.

I set up a couple of the raised beds with Miracle-Gro “deer” fencing I bought on sale at a local Grocery Outlet store and I’m thrilled with the product. I doubt many deer would be restrained by this fencing but it is a netting with a small weave that will obstruct smaller critters like cats, squirrels and even birds from getting into your garden beds. I have two garden beds 2.5 feet wide x 10 feet long with an 18 in. walk way between the beds. The 14 foot deer fencing will cover both beds if you use 24 inch pvc pipe or wood supports like for frost cloth. 

Good news on the front yard garden beds. the peas are starting to come up and the garlic is growing better than I expected after planting in early Spring rather than late fall. I mowed the grass patch in the backyard. Though mowing the front lawn needs to be done and it will be chore as the grass has gotten a bit over grown. The weed & feed treatment was not perfect on the lawn but weeds in the front yard seem to be a bit less this year. 

Jury duty done. Yard cleanup and garden work

There was a bit of screw up on my jury duty as the case was set to go to trial and then some conflict on a witness caused a plea agreement rather than a trial. Worked out great for me as I get credit for jury duty and have a two year exemption from jury duty and the rest of April is cleared for any jury duty.

I was physically wiped out going for jury duty as my sleep schedule tends to get a bit wonky in the Spring. I’m a bit of a night owl and getting up early after a few hours of sleep does not make me a happy camper. I got a garden bed cleaned up and let’s say my legs have not built up the gardening muscles and I was more than a little bit sore.  The little garden cart made cleaning up the bed much easier. I’d rather have sore leg muscles than low back muscles bending over a garden bed.  Given time the muscles will build up and the garden work will cause less aches and pains.  I was going to cut up the root bed raised box but Mom says she might want to use it if the box can last another year or two raising plants.  Since I’m trying out a traditional row method Mom is welcome to the box for her garden.

I was the idiot on the big trash pick up/trash cleanup week. As I was doing my taxes I found the trash department bill that had the trash schedule and I missed it. Though you would think the company would have that on the monthly trash schedule online. I have to admit I dropped the ball and it will be a bit of a scramble to get all of the bulk trash items out by April 15th.

The front yard lawn has grown like crazy this month and needs a mowing. I put on some weed and feed and I have a few dandelions but much less than some of the neighbors and much less weeds compared to the last few years. II think I still have some bad bugs in the lawn that need to be eliminated. Then I can add some grass seed this spring on a couple of bare spots.

Next week or two I’m going to focus on the garden prep and the fire wood stacking will be moved down the priority list. While I have started started seeds indoors I’m impressed with the reseeding of plants and how mama nature seems to be better at growing plants in my garden than me.  This year I’m working with what is growing already in the garden and adding plants and sowing seeds around the growing plants. Using the chickens to make compost and adapting my mindset of letting the garden grow as it will and I just make some minor adjustments/improvements.

The herb pots have put on a lot of growth and I can set them outside to harden them off. The peas in toilet rolls has been a complete failure. I think I did not set them up correctly as they did not get/keep enough water for the seeds to grow. The peas in the front yard are not doing well but the garlic is putting on green stalks/leaves like gang busters. Finding out what does not work in your garden is as important as finding out what does work.  The Strawberries are putting out runners and the Raspberry plant is putting lots of green growth. Growing berry plants in the large 18 gallon party buckets is a winner.

At the end of the day every garden and every gardener is unique. You can study, take advise but the only way to know if something works is to do the work and garden might still grow in ways you did not anticipate. You can do everything right, follow all the “rules” of gardening and the garden fails. You can do everything wrong and somehow the garden grows.

All you can do as a gardener is stack the odds in your favor and that starts with building good soil. That takes time more than anything. Sure I added bagged soil and compost to my raised beds but I  added mulch, made my own compost to augment it. I added natural fertilizer and I rotated crops over time. Just to name a few things I have done in the garden.

I think many Americans don’t understand how time makes a difference as we are to use to paying money for convenience. Or get it shipped to you in 24 hours or less.  We don’t know how to slow down and just let things happen naturally. Everything in the USA is on demand by consumers but nature does not work that way.

I know many beginning gardeners can feel frustrated when the garden does not work out like the book, youtube or garden club said. Sorry to say that is your tuition cost. Sometimes everything goes to plan and sometimes it does not. Your garden is not a failure. You are just learning what works for you.  Heck I was afraid to weed my garden in spring as I had no idea how garden plants looked in the early stages of growth until I started plants indoors.  Even if none of my early starts from indoors survived I learned the difference between a weed and garden plant I wanted to grow.

It is okay to feel a little frustrated. Don’t give up!  You will become a better gardener in time. Heck people spend a couple of years learning a trade. Four years in college getting a degree. I would say give yourself 2-4 years trying to grow a garden before you give up. Heck if you buy plants at the local garden center and you get a harvest. Good for you!! It is your garden you make it the best garden for you!!

One garden bed cleaned up and Jury duty

Nice day of 65 degrees F. and the soil has started to dry out a little bit from all the rain. I need to get the potatoes in the ground this weekend. I have to move a few things around before starting the potato rows. One of the things I need to move is a raised bed I used for root crops and celery. I’m finding volunteer celery and carrots growing in that bed. So I need to move those plants before I tear out that bed. I have a bed that is growing volunteer onions. I cleaned out all the weeds so I can move the volunteer celery and carrots to the bed of volunteer onions.  I used a hand garden fork to clear the weeds out so I did not destroy the onions. That bed’s soil is a rich black color and I basically turned over all the soil in that bed using a short one hand little garden fork.  This is the bed I’m moving the volunteer plants from the root crop raised bed that I’m removing for the new potato rows. I found a small tree starting in the bed but I can’t tell if it is a cherry or apple tree but it is putting on buds so I potted it up to give to Mom’s orchard.

I have been amazed by how many volunteer plants I am getting in my raised beds!  It seems that Mama Nature does a better job starting garden crops early outside compared to my starting crops indoors.  I have been reading that many seeds need cold weather to help with the germination process, but I had an explosion of volunteer tomato plants last year as well.  I’m beginning to think is my job is to provide good soil, some protection, regular water and soil amendments and Mama Nature will handle the planting. even if the garden is a little higgledy-piggledy and not neat rows.

While I have cole crop starts for this spring planting. This fall I’m going to plant cole and root crops in October/November weather permitting and see if those crops grow as well as the volunteer plants that have come up the last couple of growing seasons.

The Jury duty timing is less than convenient this month but I will  do my civic duty. I doubt many lawyers would want me on any jury as I believe in Jury Nullification and I have conservative/Constitutional legal views. From what I understand most lawyers prefer a jury that can be persuaded rather than a jury with black/white views of the law. I might be deemed unacceptable to be in the jury pool and get kicked.  But I got my stuff for lunch as eating at a restaurant costs to much and I doubt I’ll have the time or the gas to drive home for lunch since jury duty pays a pittance.

I’m going to move part of the chicken house run section to the garden area as the chicken Isolation area but I need to add another feeder.  I have enough chicken wire from the chicken run to cover the open area of the house run and I think I can set up some solar panels on the roof and power my solar generator. I will gain space in the chicken run to set up a composting ring that the chickens can enjoy and make compost for the garden.  It might be awhile before I get chickens from my Aunt as she is working as late as 10 PM at night feeding baby goats and doing the cleanup after feeding. I need to add a feeder to the Isolation chicken run but over all I think everything is ready when the chickens arrive.

Chicken house and run ready for chickens!

I still need to add some of the corner bracing but all of the chicken wire is on the frame and secured.  Heck I have a little bit of the chicken wire left over so I may move the “run” portion if the chicken house outside of the pen for an isolation run for sick or introducing new birds.  I added plenty of wood chip bedding and a couple of fake eggs to the nesting boxes, though I think I’ll buy a couple more fake eggs for any future nesting boxes.  I added a bit of low decorative garden fencing along the base of the chicken run. I hope the birds won’t dig under the run and escape. The backyard is fenced but better safe than sorry.

Mom has been a huge help recommending stuff to get for the chickens. Little hints for setting up feeders and waterers. Making sure I have grit and oyster shell on hand and how to make it a part of the chicken’s diet. There is a big difference between helping someone with chickens and growing chickens yourself. I know some stuff but I have more to learn. One thing both my Mom and Aunt always need is egg cartons as many people don’t think to save/return them buying eggs.  If you buy eggs in a store and not from a neighbor with chickens, give the cartons to people with chickens. I’m sure most will be very grateful. If you buy eggs from a neighbor or local farm give those egg cartons back to the local supplier. I bought  a few 12 pack egg cartons for .39 cents each at Bi-Mart.  I’m staring out with 4 chickens it is doubtful I’ll need more than 1-2 cartons for eggs but I can give the extra cartons to my mom and aunt if needed. Who knows I might increase my flock in the future depending on how things work out.

Having chickens, growing a garden and having a wood stove and even using portable swamp coolers in summer is not just about saving money, though that is a big part of my budget. The thing is about me having some control over my life.  If there is a blackout I still have heat via my wood stove and the wood I have stored. If there is a blackout in summer. I have a generator to keep the freezers cold but I can also run my swamp coolers as they use a lot less electricity than Air conditioners.  I have a small solar generator and a mid size gas generator, with a few gallons of gas on hand for short term disasters. It is not perfect, but I keep on working to make it better.  Making use of solar energy will be one of this years projects.

Think about adding some shade cloth to south or west facing windows in the summer. Use your grill or BBQ to cook outside so your house stays cool. Buy and use fans to circulate warm air in winter and cool air in summer. I live in a place that has low humidity in the summer so swamp coolers are great alternative to Air conditioning.  Folks that live in a high humidity/high heat area almost have to use air conditioners but adding fans might help with circulating cool air or take advantage of any cool nights.

If you have a fireplace/woodstove this summer is time to have it inspected. For a few hundred dollars and buy some wood. If you can afford it buy a cord of wood for $200.00-$400.00. Perhaps it would cost less as I’m using my cost per cord. Even if you buy some camping firewood offered at many stores for $5.00-$6.00 for a small bundle of wood. You could store up a few days worth of fire wood for little upfront cost. It is your safety or your families safety on the line if the economy goes sideways.

There is a new Mr. Buddy type heater that has a propane cook top. I think if you can’t afford a wood stove you should invest in small propane heaters and butane burners for cooking. With the fuel needed for those items. Butane burners can be used safely indoors unlike many propane/ gas grills or charcoal grills.

Big Igloo type jugs for storing water. Igloo jugs store hot and cold water depending on how they are “primed” with cold or hot water. Smaller type jugs can be used in the bathroom and kitchen for hand washing or clean up jobs.

If the SHITF does not happen all you have at worst is a great tailgating//camping/patio or BBQ or grilling set up.

Adding chicken wire between thunder storms.

I added the chicken wire to the lower section of the side walls of the chicken run in between the thunderstorms and rain that is hitting the valley this week. I added zip ties along the bottom of of the metal frame and wire as well as where the sections of wire meat over the roof of the run. I have to attach a bit of plastic sheeting over the hinge joint over the nesting boxes on the hen house to finish up that part of the project.

Gosh the rain really came down hard and literally was splashing out of the gutters and rain barrels. The weather forecast is for rain and maybe some snow going into the weekend. I’ll probably work in the house or under the carport stacking wood until the rain stops.  I’m glad I got a coat of poly on the hen house before the spring storms hit this week. Plus these storms moving through the area was a good test of the stability of the light weight chicken run. So far the chicken run has not been affected by high/gusty winds. I need to add some bracing to the chicken run but I need a tool punch to mark the spot on the round bar of the frame so the drill bit does not wander while I try to drill a pilot hole for the screw.

I still need to add some grit and oyster shell for feeding the chickens. The local Bi-Mart has that on hand and I want to get a step ladder that has very wide steps and some of the bagged dirt that are on sale this week. Having big steps on a short step ladder is great as it feels much more stable while I’m working and for $25.00 I think it is a must buy for everyone. If you are older or have a disability that makes you less stable on your feet/balance issues.. These wide step little ladders make jobs much easier to get done. Heck if you are young always choose the most stable platform to do your work. Old people fall is always the worry, but young people fall and broken bones are no fun to deal with even if you are young.  I like a wide step ladder when doing jobs around the house and if that ladder only costs $25.00 on sale.  I’m buying it.

The butter sale is continuing this week at Fred Meyer/Kroger. The older butter seems to sold at a loss and not just a loss-leader to get people in the store. I have noticed when a product stays on sale for a couple of weeks or a month the stores are clearing out inventory and will introduce a smaller package at the same price or raise prices for all brands of the item. A few news stories are showing up about cross infection of bird flu into cattle and possibly humans in Texas. Egg prices are going up again because of “bird flu” and what better way for the PTB’s to reduce meat consumption if bird flu moves into cattle herds or people are infected?  There seems to be some Dairy cattle being infected by TB because illegals are working milking operations and they are carrying TB. Perhaps it is a scare tactic, but I think the illegals are carriers of 3rd world diseases that are being imported across the Southern border. An illegal having TB does not make them a bad person. I just don’t think the USA should allow people with diseases in the country and work. The USA does not need new immigration laws. It just needs to enforce the existing laws.

I’m not sure I’ll get my seed potatoes in the ground this weekend because of all rain makes turning over the soil a mess.  I’ll probably stay in the house and start more of the hot weather plants indoors. I’ll move the herb plants out doors next week as they don’t seem to well in my indoor growing area. Herbs are easy to grow but my indoor herb garden is under performing.  My outdoor peas are growing outdoors sown in the ground in cool/cold weather are doing much better than the toilet paper roll pea starts. Onions I could not seem to grow last year are growing like crazy. Though I have not planted any onions this year. Right now I have some good looking starts for my cole crops but Mother nature has celery growing in a bed, despite of all the garden books say celery is a summer plant that likes hot weather. Gardening has some basic guidelines but Mama nature can often blow it all away. So don’t get to locked in to how everything should work and just roll with how your garden grows. If it stupid but it works. It ain’t stupid!

Hen House built

Overall the Sentinel Chicken house I got from Tractor Supply was complete. It was missing a couple of bolts and there was one corner area that the holes were off by a touch and the screw wanted to go in at an angle, but overall the build was straight forward and the instructions were very good labeling the steps with plenty of pictures.  This chicken house has a small run area but I’m keeping these sections separate as I have the 6ft. x 10 ft. run.. The run part of the chicken house will be set up as an isolation area for sick birds or introducing new birds to the flock. I sprayed a light coat of poly-urethane on the interior nesting box walls and gave the outside wood walls a coat of the poly to help protect the wood parts of the chicken house from water damage. Here in the Valley there will be about 3 days of 65-70 degree F. days so the poly spray will have time to cure. The tarp that covers the roof of the chicken run should help keep most of the rain and snow away from the hen house and reduce the potential of water damage.

I have to finish adding the wire to the sides of the chicken run but I’m glad the walls were open while I was building the hen house!  There was a little wind storm that moved through yesterday with winds in the 20 mph range and some gusts up to 40 mph. The chicken run is in a protected area of the backyard and there was no problem with the run moving around in fact the tarp on the roof barely ripple during the higher winds.  I’m still going to add some stakes at the base of the run along with some short garden fencing to mitigate the chickens digging under the run.  I think the run will work out well as a safe chicken space.

I got the metal barrel for the layer feed but I will go shopping on the 2nd of April and get some oyster shell and grit for the chicken’s feed since Mom reminded me of birds needing that in their diet.  I have a small waterer I’ll put in the hen house and a larger waterer that will be set out in the run. I need a couple of small feeders for the isolation run and  in the chicken house during the colder months  By the end of the week everything will be ready for the chickens.  At least I think I will have everything as ready as possible.

I moved the germinated cole crops off the heating mat but the are under the plant lights. My hope is these plants won’t get “leggy” because of to much heat to early in the growth cycle. The cut seed potatoes are drying and putting on the protective barrier for planting. I’m hoping the eyes will develop more in the next few days before I plant this weekend. Irrigation water will start filling the canals on April 3rd and I should start getting water about the 10th of April as we got a good winter snow pack this year. What I have seen so far is April will be rainy with some dry days which is good for gardeners as that means less irrigation water used. I’m not sure how good it is for the farmers as they need dry fields to operate the heavy farm equipment to plant.  No frosts are forecasted on the 10 day weather forecast so that is good.  My herb pots seem slow to germinate but there is a bit of green starting to come up in the planters. The peas in toilet paper rolls is looking to be a bust so far. It has been hard to keep the pea plants water enough to grow but not destroy the toilet paper rolls that hold the plant. The pea plants I planted outside are doing well in the cool weather so I’m not sure starting peas indoors is worth the effort.

You don’t need to be a prophet to see things in the USA are not getting better for the middle and working classes. Inflation rates might be dropping but it is still going up if at a slower rate. The inflation rate compounds just like the rate on your credit card balance. The highest reported inflation rate was about 9-10% perhaps if you don’t need to eat or buy gas the inflation rate is only 3% but that is on top of that 9-10% inflation and that 3% rate happens every month.  That 3% price rise every month adds up as each month it is another 3% to last months 3% increase of cost. Food and Energy is excluded in US Government inflation statistics, but how often do you buy a flat screen TV? Sure the price is dropping but I doubt most people buy a new TV every month or every year but TV prices are included in USA inflation statistics as it drives down the monthly inflation percentage.

Most people in the USA need to change the way they think about money and how they shop. They need to rethink priorities and getting basic needs on hand before things get worse.

Chicken run roof done and puttering around the wood piles

Mom came over to help with the chicken run roof.  We spread the chicken wire over the two short sidewalls up over the roof and then added the tarp over the chicken wire. I have to say working with the plastic coated chicken wire is more pleasant than bare metal wire. the job went much easier with two people and we got the wire fairly tight against the frame. I used a lot of small zip ties making sure the two sections of wire overlap and there are no gaps. The small zip ties are not included in the chicken run kit.

The tarp that comes of the kit is thicker than I expected and came with twice as many tie downs needed to attach the tarp. I will add the door and wire on the sides of the chicken run once the Hen House is put together and all the building is completed inside of the chicken run.  I have moved all of the parts of the hen house to the run and will put it together in the next couple of days. The wood is fiber board but all of the framing is steel, so if/when the wood starts to rot I can simply replace that section with higher quality wood. Haring a tarp over the run ergo the hen house should help the wood of the hen house last longer.

I was a little off on how long it takes me to stack a cord of wood. I finished up the 1st cord of wood in 2 1/2 hours. Not fast, but I’m happy with that amount of time per cord.  It should be easy to put in a 2-3 hours per week and have all of the delivered wood all stacked some time in April. That will be the earliest time in the year I have the delivered wood paid for, stacked and seasoning. That is a great feeling!  I finished clearing a path through the delivered wood. This makes life easier moving around my trash cans and since my family usually park in the alleyway it makes it easier for them. One thing I can say about the birch is it is a very twisted grain wood, probably as much or more than Poplar. This makes the little log splitter even more of a blessing as some of the birch will need to be split as it is little on the bulky side for my wood stove.

I started refilling the porch wood rack with the Red fir I bought last year. I have started refilling the starter wood box and this year I want to fill all of my kindling boxes for next winter heating season. I did okay last year but I want to have all of the wood heating jobs done before October so all we need to do is grab a box of kindling or a can of fire starters and not have to cut wood in unpleasant weather.  There is at least 2 cords of old wood to be cut and split for next winter and I want to get that done before the hot weather hits.

I got the large seed potatoes cut and drying out for the next few days so I can plant. I have the potato rows planed out but I have an old and rotting raised bed that has to be removed.  But that raised bed has celery plants that need to be moved and I haven’t got a spot cleaned out to plant them yet. Now that I have the firewood situation far enough along that I can access the alley and cut and split wood for next winter the next focus will be finishing up the chicken area and starting on the garden clean up and early planting. I’m also on call for jury duty in April so it looks like April is going to be a very busy month.

Building the coop and using firewood from the kennel

I got the most of the frame of the coop set up.  I’m leaving the door off until I get the henhouse built inside of the chicken run. Having the sides of run open will make putting the little hen house together easier. I can flip the the run on it’s side to put the chicken wire over the roof and make sure it is nice and taut. I’ll add the tarp after the wire and that will give me a roof to work under while I build the hen house.  After the henhouse is built I’ll add the wire to the sides of the chicken run.

I’m taking it slow and being methodical putting the run together so everything is neat and the best I can make it.  Things I really hate about chicken wire is the cut ends can cause scratches and the wire can sag badly if you don’t get it nice and tight when you put the wire on the frame.  I have some corner bracing that I need to drill the holes in the poles. It is always a joy to try and drill a hole into a round metal pole.  😉

I have bought the layer pellets, scratch but I still need to get some Oyster shell and grit as my Mom reminded me. I have the metal barrels to store the feed and most of the 1st aid items the chickens might need for minor issues. I need to add a handle to the lids of the metal feed barrels but that should cost about $5.00 and take about 5 minutes of work to add to the barrel lid. Last but not least I want to use some of my metal fencing to make a compost ring in the chicken run so the birds can do a lot of the work breaking down garden, yard and kitchen waste. My hope is I can let the chickens free range in the backyard but it might take some time for my pets to get used to the birds so the compost ring will help me and I’m sure the birds will love having all of that compost stuff to dig through.

I have started using some firewood from the kennel wood pile. I bought 2 cords of the Red fir last summer and this is the first time I used any of this wood.  I wanted to see how dry the Red fir was and how well it burned, plus I needed to cut some wood for starting the fire and did not want to fuss with poplar and other big chunks in the “old” wood pile. The fir was easy to split with a light axe and is burning great.  It is still a little chilly overnight and I’m starting a fire once a day or every other day as the house holds the heat if it does not get to cold.  I was I little surprised how far I got stacking wood from the wood delivery once I started breaking down the time. I stacked almost a cord of wood in 2 hours of work. Not to bad for disabled gal in her 50’s. Of course I needed some recovery time but overall I’m pleased with my progress on the wood pile.  This next week I should clear a path to the alley as I stack the wood.  I have a large tarp to cover the wood but I’m not sure how to place the tarp to cover the wood and not get in the way of stacking the wood. I may elevate/brace the tarp with a couple of 2x4s and once the wood is stacked drop the tarp.

I let the front porch wood rack get empty as there was a lot of dirt and chunks of wood/bark underneath it. I got all of that wood mess cleaned up and got the indoor/outdoor carpet place it a better position so I can clean up all that debris that gathers under the rack.  It seems that a clean floor makes the porch a lot cleaner though it is still a bit cluttered with stuff transitioning from winter to spring.

It is time to start getting some seeds into the ground and starting the hot weather loving plants started indoors. The cabbage and cauliflower seeds are up and putting on some growth. In about a week I’ll move all of the cole crops off the heat mat and have them under some grow lights. I hope this will prevent the new plants from becoming leggy.  My herb pots are starting to show a few green leaves but I am adding more water as the dirt seems to dry out faster than I anticipated. The toilet paper roll peas also seem to need more water than I had anticipated.  The potato eyes seem to be bulking up and adding growth but not getting stringy. At the end of the 1st week of April I can plant the seed potatoes. I’ll need to cut some of the larger seed potatoes and let the cut sections dry out a bit before planting. Overall I looking forward to see how planting the potatoes do planting them in rows and not growing them in containers.  In my area you can start planting onion set about the first week of April but I have onions in some raised beds that overwintered and show little to no damage to the above ground greenery. It was a fairly mild winter but it did get below 0 degrees F. on several nights this winter.  I may have some celery coming up in a bed though I just to a quick glance at the raised be and thought that looks like celery starts. If it is celery (I think it is) it must be a Utah Tall or Victoria variety that reseeded it self.  So far I have better luck with celery that reseeds it self or buying starting celery plants from a garden center. I have not had much luck starting celery seeds indoors.

I can start planting Spinach and some of the loose leaf lettuce out doors.  It might be a little early on the lettuce but I am planting both plants in the 3 pot stackable planters I got from the Dollar store.  So I can bring the lettuce indoors if it is a hard frost but the Spinach should be okay as the pots are going to be placed in a protected spot outside. While it is still cool at night it is not freezing cold.

This is the first year I got the trees treat with dormant spray, though what I used was a water can and not a sprayer. I got the Crab grass/weed preventer on the front lawn spread on the yard before all the weeds start to take off..  I have a couple of bare spots that need some grass seed and I need to add some bug killer to the lawn but overall the front yard is looking a lot better after this TLC.

I will add a few more plant boxes this year to the front yard but I’m still working out the plan in my head.