A Week Later

I think the chicks are double in size---- Their feet and legs are so much bigger and their bodies are becoming so lean and tall.  They get fed 3 times a day and I keep the water jars full. We are introducing little grit and sand for their digestion. I worry a little so I am keeping watering the dry food.  I suppose I should let that go and start doing half mash and half crumble feed.  I'll try.  Tomorrow I get to change the poopy wood chips they have been calling home.  They will probably be chattering a lot when I get in there. I think I will feed them at the same time and most will not notice what I am doing.  I guess the chicken chores are becoming routine now.

This morning it is still freezing outside.  This area is North and West of the main weather stations and they seem to be at least 5 degrees warmer. So I have learned to do some subtraction from the weather report temperatures. My garden is still empty and the brown dirt is looking at me.  I have onions, peas and salad seeds ready to go in the garden and in covered frames.  So I am getting motivated.  They will go in the ground this week.  Also I want to start the tender plants in containers. So I am planning a big gardening week.  The seed packages are spread all over the big studio table and I am starting to arrange them for companion planting. 

This farm living is sometimes difficult for me.  There are a lot of 'facts' in my head that have always known, but they don't really work.  This area is really cold, really dry and really windy.  The soil is almost 'pottery clay' and it needs  coaching to be its best. The idealized things that people say just don't quite work.  My independence is coming slowly. The earth and sky are teaching me.

It is still freezing outside, but the sun is out and the greenhouse should be warming up by now.  The little salad garden there  is under pink insulation sheets on freezing nights.  Out there I am moving my tomato plants from little pots to big pots. They look like gawky teens for a couple of days until the stems get tougher and they stand on their own.  I have one little corner of the greenhouse that I will use for a tomato garden. Maybe I will call it 'Georgia.'