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The chicken house, that is, not me!

This weekend, Dad and I tackled the chicken house. He bought new plywood and shingles yesterday morning, and then we tore off the old roof. Then we put the new plywood on.

Before yesterday, the chicken house was looking a little worn down. The roof had several bad parts, and some of the shingles and plywood were held in place with pipe flanges.

A couple weekends ago, Dad and I shoveled the inside out. I think we had three loads of dirt/composted chicken manure that went to the garden.

  

After we tore off the old roof, we blew the inside of the chicken house off with compressed air. Dad has this attachment nozzle that he made out of copper pipe, that he uses to clean out the gutters. It worked really well for airing out the chicken house! So glad we waited until the roof was off to do this!

At one point, Dad went to the shed to get some brooms for us to brush off the walls with  and I grabbbed the air nozzle and started working. He said something to the effect of "That's not very lady-like" to Mom, and she responded "No, but that's Anna-like". It's impossible for me to be offended by this comment, because my whole life I've been rather tom-boyish. It just made me chuckle!

By the end of the day, we had new plywood in place. It was a little windy yesterday to tackle the tarpaper, and the shingles were a little cold. 

 Ended the day with a rather beautiful sunset on the farm.

Today, Mom and I are picking out which chicks to order with Grandma Ettling!

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Something cool & possible bad news

Infographic: Home gardening in the U.S. | MNN - Mother Nature Network

I came across this article. It seems I fit into the typical statistics for a U.S. gardener: female, college degree, and growing most of the "most popular vegetables" except for corn (and adding a few that aren't popular). My garden, not including the greenhouse is about 185 square feet, so my garden is twice the average. I can't imagine having a smaller garden! I think my garden is tiny! I am doing a really good job of tracking my harvest so far, so I should have some idea of investment vs. return at the end of the season.

On other note, yesterday the guys at work noticed my car making a funny noise. I noticed when I started it, it sounded like the starter kept spinning even after the car had started. So the Hubs took it to the mechanic today and his preliminary thought is it's the timing belt. But he won't have time to tear into it for a couple days. So the Hubs is riding the motorcycle and I'm driving the truck. Here's to hoping it doesn't rain! I can probably hitch a ride with a coworker, who I gave rides to for awhile...

In the garden:
Today I harvested another artichoke and an ounce of peas. That brings the artichoke harvest to 2 and the pea total to 5 oz. Have I mentioned that's without the shells? The artichokes have paid for themselves. The package of artichoke seeds was $2.50, artichokes at the store are $3 a piece and I've harvested 2, which translates to $6! I "saved" $3.50 by growing my own artichokes, and that's just from one plant!

Some of the Golden Marconi pepper plants have blooms on them. The spinach is looking really pale, and some of it has started bolting. The lettuce is still looking ok. The onions look better than any onions I've ever grown. There must be something to this whole trench of fertilizer between rows planting method! Mental note for next time I grow leeks: don't put so much straw on top of them because it will choke out 50% of them!

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