Meet our sweet chickens…
This past week we welcomed 4 chickens and have succussed in keeping them alive. Not an easy task seeing how we live in a wooded area filled with foxes, raccoons, etc. Each day, each morning, we drive by our little coop and hope to see no feathers and four happy chickens. So far, so good. Their names: Rico, Skipper, Private, and Kowalski. Can you tell that an 11-year boy named them? (From the cartoon, Penguins of Madagascar). I can’t tell you which chicken is by which name. But that works.
Another adventure besides the possibility of getting a few more chickens is we wanted to give fruit trees a try. We love apples and raspberries. So, deciding to purchase some trees and bushes was easy. Keeping them alive is what will be hard.
Raspberry bushes and trellises will go in another week or two (after the cold weather and snow leaves us). The apple trees which arrived from New York will be planted as a group in another week with a trellis. They are dwarf apple trees that grow much smaller but are easier to care for, easier to pick from, and easier to prune. So excited about these new journeys and adventures. The challenge, keeping them alive, keeping them from the deer, and hoping to eventually get some berries and apples in a few years.
I will be doing some ph soil testing this week to see the ph levels in the soil in our yard for good locations to plant the trees and bushes. The ph level will make or break any plants (level of acid in the soil). I can also test for a number of other elements such as nitrogen and potassium. Soil health is vital to plant growth, and we live on a sandhill. Not wanting to set myself up for failure, taking the time to test the soil with a kit I purchased from a local hardware store is only smart to do prior to putting trees into the ground.
Hoping that soil temps increase with good weather next week. The soil needs to warm up a lot in order for farmers to get into the fields for some of us, to get into the garden. My garden going in the college greenhouse is thriving but not without challenge with cabbage worms and we have won a small battle against aphids but have found organic ways to combat these pests. But I am ready to be outside. To work in the garden.
In need of spring, and hoping it is right around the corner… next week.
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