SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!

Busy, Busy, Busy at the farm this spring.  Photo, above,  of Mr. & Mrs. Peacock.  We let Peekachoo (male) and Princess (female) peacocks out for a little exercise this spring.  But, since Peekachoo was eating half of the seeds I planted, and every sprig of asparagus appearing in the bed, they had to go back in their pen.  Princess was visiting next door, with the new male and two other females, so Steve and I went over to get her.  Steve grabbed her and brought her home to our pen, only to get confirmation from Sue that we took the wrong female and had to switch them.  Talk about a wasted afternoon of shitty shirts and lots of head ache.  Steve got shat on all over his clothes and proceeded to get some in his mouth and on his face.  Yuck!

But, seeding the garden went on and we are now seeing two inches of green growth on all the garden rows.  Now we have to clip the chickens wings because they are now attacking my strawberries and biting off the bean plant shoots.  I have replanted the beans and want to get them clipped to keep them out of the garden for good.

Back Deck has been dismantled, waiting to start the house foundation repair.  In the mean time we have cleared a spot for the new chicken coop and building will start this weekend. 
My duties are focused on weeding and finishing laying the tarps in rows to keep the weeds from growing. (pictured above)

A photo of the last batch of spinach we got from our cold frames.  Lettuce is almost done as well and I have replanted both types of greens in my raised beds which are now in the center row of the garden.

With all of this work going on, we had a week delay caused by feeding newly born kittens (2 or 3 weeks old) who were left by the mother (or she got killed) under the deck at Jim's house (our next door neighbor).  Steve crawled under the deck and retrieved them, brought them home and we bottle fed them for 5 days.  After getting no sleep I finally had to call the Great Plains SPCA who came to me rescue.  They took the babies and set  them up in the care of a foster home until they are old enough for adoption. Great, hard working folks who really care about the animals. I even got to feed them one last time when I dropped them off.

We have been getting nice rain showers, every couple of days, so we hope it continues for a few more months. Free water is a luxury these days.

A few folks stopped in for dinner a couple of weeks ago and I served Brined Grilled Pork Chops, roasted Yukon gold fingerling potatoes and sautéed dandelion greens with garlic, caramelized onions and  white wine.  I told everyone they had to try them before I would tell them what they were.  I received clean plates!  One of my favorite spring greens and then you have fewer weeds in your yard.  Just remember, you can't eat them if you spray your lawn with awful chemicals.  They are a treat for us organic growers only!