Unseasonably Warm

 

The whole farm, corner to corner

 

Gotta LOVE these warm winter days!  I got up this morning, made coffee and then wandered outside with the camera and a cup.  The sun is shining; and while it’s still cold enough for gloves and winter gear, it’s not as cold as it should be here in this part of the country.

 

Lots of things going on this week around the farm.  Jason has been working all week on planning and building our permanent chicken coop.  Here are the beginnings of it.

 

Then I wandered over to the greenhouse (or more accurately, what’s left of it) to let the chicks out for the day and see what they were up to.  Currently, they are fighting over the last of the pumpkins that we harvested.  When we ordered our chicks, we ordered straight run and after watching them today, I can see that it’s time to start culling out the extra roosters—lots of cockfights happening this morning!  Our little flock is now 4 months old and the hens will begin laying in the spring—the cocks are beginning to get territorial.  One more chore to add to the winter list.

 

Chasing each other for tidbits of pumpkins

 

Then I wandered over to the growing compost pile.  I decided it was warm enough to dig around in it a bit, turn it over and shovel some of it into the new pit Jason made of freebie pallets found on Craigslist!  It’s looking like liquid gold—how exciting!  It’ll be perfectly ready to use in the spring garden.  But the digging doesn’t last long; I’ve been sick this week and the digging is a little more than I can handle this morning—still a little weak and dehydrated.

Baby blue spruces that we'll sell for living Christmas trees

 

White Pine seedling, planted from seed

 

On to the shed to put the shovel and fork away.  I need to dig out my A20 trays—how many do I have?  How many do I need to start my seeds in a few weeks?   After we work on finishing up the coop later today, I’ll sit down and finalize my seed orders and get my tray and insert ordering done as well. 

 

Interesting tree fungus that fell with the last windstorm

 

We bought some of the materials to begin the repairs on the greenhouse as soon as we move the chickens out, hopefully this weekend.  It’s going to be a little tight time wise getting it all done; but it always seems to work out!  Mother Nature isn’t on a precise time schedule like we are—she is forgiving of a couple of weeks one way or the other!

 

pecking and scratching