Baking and Chickens and Goofballs and Thank Yous

I guess it is already pretty much February. Which means us girls, except Hannah, all turn a year older and it’s time to get ready for spring gardening season. I’m way behind already, that much I know, but I’m ready to plant a big old patch of beets come February 15th and maybe some potatoes in barrels this year? We did sneak a quick covered bed into the kitchen garden for some greens and a second awaiting planting in the main garden, so I guess maybe I’ve already started? We’ll see.

By the way, these girls are loving baking season around here. Aprons on and hands washed and they dive into dough up to their elbows with silly faces and sweet smiles. They’re also all a little bit goofy, these three ladies of ours.

The boys and I took nearly a week off of school to get some much needed homestead projects done. At the top of the list was an overhaul of the chicken coop. I don’t carry my camera with me as much anymore – maybe that will change, maybe not – but we took off the siding that was literally falling off and replaced it with tin.  Then we gutted the roosts and nesting boxes and started over, Elijah building us this set of nesting boxes out of scraps we had laying around.

We also finished culling the flock of roosters and old hens. We now have somewhere between 20 and 25 chickens which is about the minimum we’d want for our family size and egg needs, so perhaps we will have to look into getting more layers. For now, we locked the birds up for a few days so that maybe, possibly, they will all sleep and lay eggs where they are actually supposed to.

Probably not, but it’s worth a shot. And have I mentioned how grateful I am for the incredible help these children are to me? Building and fixing and starting the calf pen I’ve been meaning to put together for nearly a year. Oh, and hauling a truck load of composted manure from the pasture to the garden because everyone knows that piles of poop turned into garden gold are the way to Mama’s heart.

I have also been working on a project that I am nearing the end of, Lord willing. I hope to tell you about it soon – and give it away as a free bonus to those of you who have pre-ordered my newest cookbook out in March! – but I’ve got a couple more recipes to test first.

In the meanwhile I wanted to thank all of you who continue to stick around and read this blog. I know it has been a particularly dry season here on the blog this past year (or 5?), but I really appreciate the support, emails, and comments I continue to receive regularly.

Thank you all.