Dang it's windy today. Afraid that our "coup with a hoop" was going to become airborne, I decided to lower the front-in loader to act as anchor. Hopefully this will work until the winds subside later tonight. The broilers are ready for some sunny warm days as well.


Dual purpose greens? These guys were pretty pleased to find yellowing baby carrots, kale, arugula and microgreens being their dinner. After getting a belly full, they decided that they made a pretty soft bed as well. Aah! one of them was already settling in for an afternoon nap.

Picking up roots. We've already burned one pile about this big. We disk and pick up roots... we disk and pick up roots. I think we are finally finished to the point where we can hopefully begin planting this fresh ground.

Between the deer and the wet winter it has been a tough year for our strawberries. We've secured an electric fence that will hopefully deter the deer a little better. With the recent warm days, we're beginning to see a few blooms as well.



These tomato plants, about a month old from seeding, are ready to go in the ground. Waiting on "mother nature."




Hopefully they'll be producing some "riipe mayters" by mid to late May.

Another sign of spring? Love is in the air! Not sure if you can make it out, but this photo left is a pair of "woodies" that I took from my window earlier this week. No my lens was not dirty, it was a foggy morning. With mating season forthcoming, the aggressive drake appears to be "flirting," whereas the hen is playing "hard to get" as she is paddling fast enough to make a wake. Sooo do ya' think the turtles are going ".....get a room dude!"





Coup with a Hoop? aka a "chicken tractor" Well last night the chicks spent their first night outside. I got up and checked on them around 2:30 am and they seemed to be okay as they were all huddled together. No critters as of now. We strung a double strand of electric fence wire around the lower 10" of the coup to persuade our neighboring coyotes and raccoons that other fare may be easier prey. The logic with this contraption is to be able to pull the coup, along with the chicks, to fresh ground/pasture after a few days.



This broilers are three weeks old now. They are usually ready for "you know what" at about six-seven weeks. Hopefully they'll weigh out around 5-6 lbs. These are Cornish Rock crosses, known for fast growth. They seemed real happy to get our of their brooder and into fresh air and scratch around in the soil. Our next batch of chicks, due on March 24th, will be Red broilers.

Bird houses? Well kinda'. Our friend Chris, a biologist with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept., stopped by the farm and gave us a few Wood Duck Boxes. We'll place them on poles in various spots within our seven acres of wetlands. While we have a pretty good duck population already, we're looking forward to this experience as well. Maybe we'll get a "Kodak Moment" or two. Every spring, beginning in about May, we get three or four "broods" (baby duckings in groups of 5-12) swimming about the ponds. So cool to see them develop over the course of the summer. And no we don't hunt them.


Lots going on here at the farm over the past few weeks. Here we are spreading our second broadcasting of dolomitic limestone. This application of lime raises our native acidic soil pH to a more neutral reading, ideally near the 6.5 level. A neutral pH allows better nutrient uptake by the plants.





Cutting salad greens with scissors. These guys are surely thinking when are we going to get a machine that does this?













Aah! Baby tomato plants are so happy to be basking in the afternoon sun. This variety is known as "Early Girl", a vine growing (indeterminate) type. Hopefully these will be fruit bearing by mid May, weather permitting.





Speaking of loving the sun! These little piggies are enjoying their version of "spring break." Plenty of relaxation in the sunshine with lots of food! Sorry guys, your pen is an alcohol free zone.








In our last post, we showed you the Baby Rock Cornish chicks that we acquired. Now about two weeks old, they have about doubled in size, i.e. my son holding a chick. Hopefully this weekend they'll be introduced to their new home, a "movable chicken coup" aka a "chicken tractor." The theory is the chicks can range feed, spreading their "personal fertilizer" along the way. After a few days in the same spot, the coup will be dragged a few feet forward, providing a cleaner living environment and helping our soil along the way. FYI these are broilers, so we cannot get too attached as they'll be ready in about five more weeks.


Back in December we decided to clear another acre or so on a nice sandy knoll located in front of our farm house. The cut trees go to the mill to make newspaper, so the next time you're reading a paper ....? In any event, we'll hopefully be able to get some of this ground planted this spring. The trees in the background are adjacent to one of our ponds. Perhaps a great place for a picnic?