Farm Friday

On Wednesday we received an email message saying our chicks had shipped and that we could go to the post office's web site to track their progress.  I assumed we would get them on Thursday.  However, by Thursday night we hadn't gotten a call.  I checked the shipping information and it said that the package would arrive no later than April 6.  April 6!?  They could be dead by then! Fortunately, the local post office called first thing this morning saying the chicks had arrived.

Every one of the chicks made it safely through the shipping process.  And, unless I counted wrong, we have an extra chick.  We're brooding them in a children's wading pool in our basement.  When they're bigger, we'll move them outside to either the barn or our new portable chicken coop where we'll keep them inside for a bit longer.  

We picked up the new portable coop last Saturday.  It's large enough to house eight full-grown hens.  We're going to use it to put in gardens after harvesting so they can go in and eat bugs and weed seeds and also fertilize for the next crop.  

On a less exciting note, both my aloe vera and my snake plant continue to bloom:

Although spring is here, we still haven't been able to plant due to the rain, sleet, and snow.  (At least my houseplants think it's spring.) We actually got a wintery mix yesterday and are supposed to get more rain today.  We're fortunate that our CSA members understand that you cannot grow food when the weather isn't cooperating.  It's getting to the point that we might have to skip the spring crops altogether.  But that is the reality of food.  It comes out of the ground - not the supermarket shelves - and is dependent upon weather and climate.

Have a great weekend!