• The cement path that was begun 7 years ago is now complete. So, so excited about that!

• While we were mixing cement for the path we also poured cement to secure 2×4’s for our soon-to-be-installed patio lights.

• The spring flowers have been extremely lovely this year. I’m loving it. And, so are the bugs. The amount of insects out and about is crazy. I don’t remember this many out so early.

• The violet-green swallows are here. I enjoy watching them fly around searching for a lunch of insects.

• The dirty, crummy task I did this week was clean out duck sludge from the pond in the front yard. It was disgusting, but absolutely needed done.

• Mo, our one eyed Easter Egger rooster, has been living with the goats. He got inside their fence and can’t figure how to (or doesn’t want to) get out. It’s actually a good spot for him. He can mind his own business without the other young roosters bothering him.

• I can only guess that the barley seed I got is bad. I’ve tried starting it a number of times and it just won’t grow. Such a bummer. I was hoping this would save us money – instead I just wasted money on bad seed. Blah. I’ll try barley again. But, not yet – I’m irritated.

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• I’m fighting with Canadian thistles in all my flowerbeds. They are definitely my least favorite weed and unfortunately are quite prolific around here.

• Meanwhile the garden is battling with a broadleaf weed. They are just as difficult to get rid of as the Canadian thistle. They just aren’t pokey, so they don’t tick me off quite as much.

• Farmer John tilled a section in the garden, so we moved a few of the seedlings I started to that plot. Also planted were onion starts and a few seeds.

• I gave the rye grass fodder to the chickens. They devoured it.

• The ajuga is blooming in my favorite color.

• Bugs are coming out like crazy. The kids & I spotted a bug we haven’t noticed before. I thought it looked similar to a dragonfly, except it looks mean like a wasp.

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• I think our seedlings are enjoying the warmer weather. They seem to really have taken off. #exciting!

• The ladies have started laying well again. Woop, woop!

• Our plum tree is blooming!

• The one good thing about being down to only one duck is that the fish in our ponds are out a lot more. They don’t have to stay in hiding anymore.

• We often have deer around. Lately, there have been 3 hanging around. They have nibbled on all the day lily leaves.

• The fodder. Oh, the fodder. I’m beginning to think the barley is just not good seed. 99.9% of it doesn’t sprout. This week’s experiment was putting rye grass on one side and barley on the other of the same container. This way I know they are getting the same exact attention. The rye grew great. The barley didn’t. I’m going to try the barley one more time before deeming the seed bad. My one change this time will be to initially soak it for less time. When I get home this evening I’ll set it in it’s tray and hope for the best.

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Happy Spring! We officially made it through another winter. Our winter wasn’t too cold, but it was rainy. Very rainy.

• Spring has sprung and our Leonard Messel Magnolia is blooming. The tree itself hasn’t grown much in the 7 years we’ve had it, but the blooms are gorgeous.

• The Marans are laying again after their winter hiatus. I love their dark brown egg. Notice the stink eye I’m getting from her majesty. Truth be told, I feel the same way about her.

• The fodder we started last week isn’t doing much. Not sure what our problem is, but this isn’t as easy as I thought it was supposed to be.

• Seeds and seedlings are gathered in the house, garage, and greenhouse. I’m hoping for a good tomato crop this year.

• While we were away camping this weekend a chicken got nabbed in the backyard. The game camera shows a coyote and bobcat wandering nearby. Ugh. However, mostly the camera snaps pics of the neighborhood deer.

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• Well, the fodder experiment was a flop.

• Buckwheat Seed: Only a handful of seeds sprouted

• Barley Seed: Virtually none germinated.

• Rye Grass Seed: It sprouted ok. It seemed like much of the seed didn’t sprout, though. And, it took longer than I was expecting to grow.

• I fed it all to the chickens. They loved it.

• We began Fodder Experiment #2

• Many of the flower, herb, veggie and fruit seeds I started are doing well. The ones moved into an aquaponics grow bed seem especially happy.

• The deer are back at munchin’ on the day lilies.

• It’s been a wet, dreary winter. But, finally we have some flowers showing spring color.

• Just like that, in the matter of one week, we are down to one duck. We believe a coyote (and maybe his buddies) are to blame. We saw a coyote one morning, have heard them a couple times, and caught one on the game camera. There hasn’t been evidence of anything else lurking about. It is amazing to me how quickly 11 ducks disappeared. Occasionally a random duck or chicken becomes coyote or bobcat dinner. But, never have we had so many in such a short span of time. The one lone duck to survive is the welsh harlequin who has been hiding and sitting on unfertile eggs. We moved her to a chicken coop and she doesn’t seem to thrilled with her new home.

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The weather was crummy this week, so we didn’t do much outside other than necessities. I’m still focused on getting seedlings started and experimenting with fodder. The wild life news this week is that there is a duck-nabbing critter roaming about.

• Many seeds germinated and were moved to the garage under the metal halide light.

• A few seedlings (bush beans, kale & romaine) were moved into a grow bed in the aquaponics system.

• A few seedlings were potted up.

• And, some we are still waiting to germinate.

• The fodder experiment hasn’t been going as well as I had hoped. The ryegrass is doing ok, but only a handful of the buckwheat seeds sprouted. And, we’re still waiting on the barley.

• The crocus and daffodils are blooming! But, the rain has proven to be too much for some of them.

• Our Welsh Harlequin duck is sitting on eggs. However, they aren’t fertile, so we should put a stop to this behavior.

• Unfortunately 6 of our ducks have gone missing. I also saw a coyote in the yard this morning. Coincidence? I think not.

• We moved the game camera to where the ducks hang out with hopes of catching a peek at what is lurking around and when.

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The majority of this week has been spent tending to germinating seeds and starting fodder.

• We’ve been using our dining room table as a germination station. Trays of soil blocks and peat pots set with seeds sit on the table enjoying the warmer temperatures than the garage or greenhouse.

• After germinating the plant moves out to the garage to sit under a metal halide light. This is a cool white light, stronger in blue than red in the light spectrum. This promotes compact, leafy plants as opposed to long, lanky or flowering plants.

• We haven’t moved any of the seedlings to the next stage, yet. But, we will soon. One of the grow beds in the aquaponics system has been cleaned out and is ready for new plants.

• Fodder has been on my list of things to try. We are finally getting around to giving it a whirl. We started a little over a pound of rye and a little over a pound of buckwheat. A couple days later we also started over 2 pounds of barley. Nothing has really started taking off yet, so we are waiting. I think we will most often use barley for our fodder, but I wanted to give other grains a try.

Seeds started over the past few weeks:

Herbs: Basil, Chamomile, Coriander, Cumin, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Tarragon, Thyme

Fruits/Veggies: Bush Beans, Cucumbers, Kale, Romaine, Sweet Peppers, Tomatoes

Flowers: Alyssum, Impatiens, Lobelia, Nasturtium, Pansy, Petunia, Viola

Fodder: Barley, Buckwheat, Rye

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