Spring is Springin'

After a long and gloomy February, we have been momentarily blessed with a warm and luscious March. With that, we all stir to life and crawl from the confines of our centrally heated living boxes and bare thy pasty skin to the Great Sun. So to, the plant world awakens from dormancy with new life in many colorful and bulbous forms, beckoning us to get down low to the earth and have a good look at the new splendor.

We have made some big headway in our development of the backyard garden. Last Friday we were delivered 10 cu yards of compost and topsoil for our many beds. Now, I don't know how familiar any of you are with measurement, but suffice it to say, we had one of the larger land masses in Washoe County right in our driveway.

With due diligence and a hardy breakfast stickin' to the ribs, we set out to shovel millions if not trillions of wheelbarrow loads into our backyard...we were finished by lunch time.

With all the extra dirt we thought it a good idea to make a few more growing spaces, so we made another little bed for our strawberries, a couple of large planters made from some leftover redwood planks for carrots, radishes, etc, and a wonderful rock lined bed on the west wall of our

yard for all of our herbs. We also cleared a small space in our south facing front yard and planted our asparagus crowns. Its a great location for such a springtime perennial with full warm sun and water runoff from the roof. Its very exciting to see all the spaces unfold.

Its even more exciting to see our little baby starts coming of age, readying themselves for the big move to the outside world. We have been putting them outside during the warmth of day when we are home and will soon begin hardening them off to the colder nights. Thus far, the

kale, broccoli, chard, brussel sprouts, peas and lettuce are off to a great start with tomatoes, peppers and eggplant just seeded. We await some material to make the long 20ft beds into hoop tunnels, providing an element of protection and insulation from the freezing temperatures that can occur for another month or two.

But by far, the most exciting thing has been the addition of eight new baby chicks to the family picked up just today. We researched the various breeds that were cold hardy, docile and, most importantly, high performance egg laying machines and got the following: 2 black Austrolorpes, 2 blonde Buff Opingtons, 2 white Delewares, and 2 calico Americanas.

In preparation we made a brooder for them by getting a good size clear plastic tote and cutting an opening in the top lid for a heat lamp and ventilation. Then we filled it with newspaper topped with paper towels to provide traction. Chicks don't do well on newspaper alone as it is too slippery for them and can lead to leg problems. We then put in a feeder with coarsely ground feed as well as some grit to help them clear away the leftover yoke still in their bellies.

Then we put in a waterer with a little added molasses to help them recover from their harrowing journey from the hatchery. We fired up the heat lamp until the temperature below it was 90 degrees and went to the feed store to fetch our new babies. As soon as they got home we showed them their water source by dipping their beaks in it. As small brained as chickens are they operate on instinct and learned immediately from this tutorial. Once warmed and rested they soon began exploring the new territory and finding their food. After an hour or so they seem to be absolutely content with the basics of warmth, water and food. Their quiet little peeps assuring us that all is well.

Next on the list is to build our hoop tunnels, get things planted and construct a chicken coop.

Thanks for following this fun little journey of learning and growing. We will post more soon.

Love to all.