Busy, Busy Work Days

   It has been a crazy busy week already and we aren't even half way through. Regular farm chores were done with haste as storms loomed in the distance. The farm critters don't like rainy days stuck in their stalls, but having a fresh clean bed to stay in helps. These two boys are getting mighty frisky these days.

   The brooders are set and ready; baby broilers are coming this week. In the past I have used one large brooder for the chicks, but that can be difficult to warm adequately. On the advice of the A&M poultry department, we are testing out smaller brood set ups with only 25 birds per pen. We'll see if this maintains the warmth better than one big pen.

    Garden rows are gently tucked under floating row covers keeping hungry nibblers away from tender sprouts. Cole crops and greens are under cover; potatoes and onions are now under the soil as well. It was a long weekend of planting for me and I can hardly wait to snip kale and onions for evening meals.

      Our herb garden clean up is underway. Plenty of weeding and trimming to be done in the raised rows here. Mulch is on the way to make this garden a little more manageable and a bit less frustrating to upkeep. New additions here are fruit canes and a few dwarf citrus trees. Nestled among the rosemary and mints, these will make a wonderful new element to the roses and herbs.

        While my tasks were many this week, the men folk had their projects as well. Recently downed pines needed some many attention and my guys are always hyped up about burning things- the bigger the better, right?

         I think they made excellent progress on this section of grazing ground. The large remaining trunk will be cut to size and placed together for a goat play scape- they do love to jump and romp on stacked logs. Aside from completing my classroom portion of Master Gardener certification, there will be a final to take and a wedding to finalize the touches on. Off to keep my stress level down cutting some fabric and basting some quilt tops.