Changes on the farm

There is so much happening on the farm now! The little peach trees have bloomed. Flowers are popping up all over. The peas have sprouted in the front flower bed. The chickens are back inside their movable fence. Or maybe I should say, we're trying to keep them in. After all these months of freedom, they're not too happy about being restricted from the gardens. But we are trying, because every time they get out they eat the seedlings popping up in the gardens.

You should see the progress Danny and the boys are making on the new chicken coop. Both ends are up and connected, the doorways for us and the chickens and the openings for the nesting boxes are all cut out. It has a trap door in the floor for easy clean-out and its almost ready to put on the top. Danny's making it up as he goes along because he couldn't find plans for what he wanted. I think it's going to look like an old-fashioned covered wagon when it's finished. We're trying to find a good name for it, so if you'd like to make a suggestion, feel free.

I've been trying to hurry him up building it, because I expected to have a lot of new little chicks by now, but none of them hatched. I'm disappointed, but I'm about to try again. This time I'm going to use an automatic egg turner in the incubator.

We have lots and lots of little plants in the basement. There are literally hundreds of tomato and pepper plants. They've all been transplanted into larger pots now and are getting bigger everyday. We have about 15 varieties of tomato plants, most of the heirloom varieties. The Brandywine and the Old German Striped varieties are really taking off. Last night when I went to water them, they were so tall I had to raise the grow lights over them again. We also have a number of herbs that are growing quite well.

It looks like we'll have plenty of plants to bring to Earth Day at Forest Park. It's on Sunday, April 26th this year. It was a lot of fun last year. We hope you can join us.

I'll also be at the St Louis Community Farmers' Market this Saturday, April 11th. It's the last indoor market we'll be at this season.

I've been working on a new mix for Buckwheat Pancakes. If you'd like to be one of the first to try it, come see me on Saturday. It's wheat and milk-free, but I add milk and yogurt to the mix when I make it at home.

Hope to see you soon!