Quick Homestead Update

There's not much to update you on. Absolutely nothing has gotten done in the garden short of some weeding and fertilizing of beds in preparation for planting because we went from unbearable heat to rain. Rain every day. Rain all day long. Puddles everywhere. Thankfully, the rain has dropped the temperature some, which has been nice, but it's also prohibited us from getting any seeds planted for fear of them washing away and having to re-sow the seeds. I'm ready for planting though. Have seeds. Ready to plant. I'm hoping to double my usual number of tomato plants this year to 50 or more so that sauce can be put up, and wouldn't mind doing the same with green beans for the freezer.

Our backyard chicken flock is doing wonderfully well, even with the rain. The new coop should be here soon, at which point we will merge the now 12-week old babies with the big girls. They're spending big chunks of the day outside now, 3 and 4 hours at a time, and are developing their own little routines. Rumer and Scout, the Easter Eggers, have emerged as the shy and stand-offish, bottom of the totem pole girls. Rarely are they not paired up. Nutmeg, my Rhode Island Red, and Ida, my Cuckoo Maran, are fast friends and the leaders of the pack. It's funny, because Nutmeg was the runt of the group and seemed to me the most shy and needy in the beginning. Not so anymore. She's bold and bossy these days. And my White Rocks, Lillith, Leisl and Loretta, well they are everywhere. Fiercely independent, they think nothing of distracting the big girls so they can get to the food, which the big girls banish them from on a regular basis. They take turns doing the distracting as it usually includes a quick run across the yard with a big chicken doing the chasing and scolding. Ilana, our ex-broody Buff Orpington, has made it through the broody hormones and has begun laying eggs again.

So now we just wait. Wait for the rain to clear up enough that we can plant and feel productive again.