Happy Saint Patrick's Day all - I set raisins to soak in tea last night, and will be baking Irish Soda Bread for the neighbors after school. I had hoped to get them baked last night, but we decided to go to a meeting of the local board game club in Princeton, and wound up having a really nice time. We brought Gi, and I think it kept her mind off of her current crop of teeth, since she was busy smiling and watching everyone all night. We played Bohnanza and then San Juan....

E's going to put the latches on the gate tonight, which will finish off the new chicken yard. I can't wait till they can be out and about in their new digs. They've been cooped up in the barn for almost a week now, and they get so cranky...not to mention eat twice as much food as they normally would since they're so bored. After the losses, we're getting about three eggs a day, since we lost our best layers, but our pullets should start laying any second so I'm trying to be patient and not rush out and replace the old girls. I need to see how our eggs sell at the farmer's market before I go out and invest in any more hens. Of course, if one of the hens decides to go broody and hatches out a batch of spring chicks, you won't find me complaining :) I've even thought of bringing in some eggs for the kids to incubate (we have a still air incubator) but I'd need to see about buying an egg turner for it, I'm not sure how pricey those are. With our luck, we'd wind up with all roosters too!

We're going to order a roll of electro-net fencing from Kencove today, and as soon as that arrives we'll move the pigs onto the second patch we want tilled, and even out the beds/lay paths in the spring garden. Everything is coming up nicely in the seed flats, but I still need to plant tomatoes - good thing they grow so fast! - and try another round of peppers. The basement wasn't warm enough even with the space heater, and they rotted before most of them sprouted. I didn't plant as much kale as I thought, but I think I was planning on direct seeding half which would explain that - I'll have to check my notes. First market day is May 21, so I'm not going to plant radishes and mesclun till late April so they don't get too big. Spinach, kale, peas will all go in since if they start producing beforehand, that's ok.

Have a nice day all!