April 2013 Spring Update!

Finally, today it was almost 70 degrees in Central Ohio!  Today was filled with outside chores. I took some photos of everything that is currently going on here.

First, my dad, has been starting tomato seeds.  Started so far are Beefmaster, a Greenhouse hybrid, and Roma tomatoes.

Here are tilled up sections of the garden.  We have planted onions, turnips, and peas in these locations.

Here is the chicken update!

Today I cleaned out the chicken coop completely and put in new bedding.  Below is a photo of the new bedding, which is dry leaves, wood chips, straw, and pine needles.

I got two full wheelbarrows full of compost!  I layered the bedding over the entire winter and it has composted into usable fertilizer for the garden!

Then I added a large trash can full of dry leaves to their outdoor run.

Here is an update on the drawer nesting box.  It was being used just fine, however, we had trouble with the chickens scratching out the straw.  We took a second drawer that was the same and took out the bottom and stacked it on top of the other one.  This way they won't be laying the eggs on the bare wood.

The chickens were interested in what I was doing most of the time.  They also enjoyed the dry leaves outside and took dust baths.  They take dust baths to keep cool and to keep any bugs away.  I've never even seen a bug on any of my chickens.

Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to blogging more updates as we plant, get more baby chicks and update the chicken coop!