As March draws to a close, let me update you on what’s happening around our little urban farm. The weather has drastically altered our plans. I’d complain but really, how silly is that? I have no control over the weather, and our farming hobby is dependent on the weather, so the best we can do is be prepared and ride the wave of unpredictability.
GREENHOUSE
We simply have not had the time to put the greenhouse up….there is still hope…stay tuned.
QUAIL
The first big batch of chicks is due on March 22nd. With any luck we’ll have 150 babies at that time. Most of them will be sold within a week, but we’ll keep some for breeding stock as well.
For those of you who don’t know, it takes seventeen days to incubate quail eggs. Our incubators can handle about 200 eggs at a time, and for good incubation rates you really need to put all the eggs in at once, which means for seventeen days you can’t incubate anymore eggs…but the quail keep laying daily…so I’m building a wooden stand and we’ll sell the excess eggs from the roadside out front of our house. I should have the stand up in a couple weeks….but first….
The final aviary for the quail is being built as weather permits. I should have it done in two days….the next two dry days we have which, if the weather forecasters are correct, will be next weekend….and then we’ll be able to house about 100 quail here for egg-laying.
GARDEN
We haven’t even prepared the garden yet. The ground is saturated with water, as in take a step and your foot squishes and sinks….so we wait for the dry period to come, hopefully. In the meantime we took advantage of a great sale on hay bales and we have those around the backyard….we will prepare them with soil and compost and plant seeds in them in twenty days.
FRONT YARD
We currently have six berry bushes and two fruit trees in the front yard. Our next step is to kill off the lawn, so we’ll lay down cardboard and use hay and compost to get nutrients into the soil…..then we’ll plant a cover crop where the lawn once was. This is an ongoing project and should be completed by mid-summer.
FENCE
We are going to fence off the front yard to keep out roving dogs and deer….the only reason I mention that is because the fence will be made with wooden pallets. I’ve been singing the praises of wooden pallets for a couple years now. I don’t believe in spending good money for new when used will do, so I’ll take pictures of the new/old fence when we finish.
WHAT ELSE?
Well that’s a lot, isn’t it? Bev and I both work outside of the farm, so hours are limited. My writing continues with the recent publication of my first novella/pulp fiction, The Billy the Kid Chronicles, and the second in the series will be published by early April. Bev is making plans to start a party-planning business.
Life is full and life is good.
How about you and your gardening? Your life? I’d love to hear about it.
Bill
The Urban Farm Yard Sanctuary 