Complication with compost

We have a little dilemma with my plan to get compost and mulch. The smell in my car will not go away. Oh, to have a truck. I'm seeing a real need for one now. I left my car parked in the garage with all the windows down over night; nothing. Still stinky. Annie's comment, "Mommy, I think the car farted." After much giggling she agreed to let me drive the car to work this morning. It was not fun. Thankfully it wasn't raining.

Pitchin in

After a full day of work Annie and I headed to the community compost and mulch pile. We hit the dirt around 4 pm, and were able to fit in two trips in before dinner. My car may smell like compost for a few days. Got finished just in time for dinner, bath and bed. My plan is to do this several times this week until we have enough. I'm thinking my back is going to hate me by Friday.

Annie tackling the compost pile.
(if you noticed the giant pile of cut up Honeysuckle in the background, that's what I did on Friday, after the gutters)
Annie had a great time with her mini wheelbarrow.

Our first bug of the season

During our long Winter break I'd forgotten about Annie's Feelings towards bugs. It doesn't matter what kind of bug or how big or little the bug is. She loves them. They are instantly adopted, named and brought inside. Given a home inside a little jar with a few leaves, where they inevitably die. In Annie's loving attempt to nurture, she has no idea that she is slowly torturing them to death. It would be far more humane to squish them, but that will not happen. She has sworn to protect all little creatures.If you look very closely you will see a tiny little Nat on Annie's hand. She brought him inside, named him Kevin, and put him in a jar. He now lives on my kitchen counter awaiting his death. Sorry Kevin.

Outside!

It was so beautiful today that we had to spend the day outside. I got to clean the gutters (fun), while Annie played games with the chickens. Don't worry I got pictures, and cleaning the gutters wasn't so bad. Best compost you'll probably find is in your gutters, and I need every bit I can get. The sod for the potager garden is coming up possibly next week and we'll need a lot. I prefer it to be free.

Game one: Noodle chase

Start with chickens, add noodles and watch.

Lightening Mcqueen takes the lead with the longest noodle. Pearl is close behind with Sally on her tale. Sorry Harold, you don't stand a chance. I should have done this with the video camera, because they ran around the run about four times before Gertrude surprised us all and took the noodle.

Game two: Hide and Seek

First round of hide and seek, Annie is the seeker. She didn't have a hard time finding the girls (they haven't quite caught on). As soon as Annie opened her eyes she yells, "you guys are supposed to hide."

Second round Annie hid. They all found her within a matter of seconds.

Why I should not use power tools unsupervised

While attempting to make some changes to our grow lights I managed to get the drill stuck in the rafters with a dead battery. Thankfully I removed the battery and recharged. I was able to drill in the nail and free the trapped power tool, and it only took me 45 minutes to drill one nail. Annie thought it was hysterical, I have to admit I did too. I'm thinking next time I'll just use a hammer.

Finally

Our first Bell pepper came up yesterday. There is no denying I was getting a little worried. We started them back in February knowing full well it can take up to four weeks for germination. I guess I was hoping for quicker results. I certainly didn't plan on it taking all four weeks. Annie must have sensed my excitement because she snuck out of bed to see. Possibly she was just trying to avoid bedtime, but I like my version better. Here's Annie holding the first bell pepper soil block to sprout. I have really loved working with the soil blocker so far. It is a lot of work to charge the blocker, but I think it will be worth it in the end. We'll see...

Where we get our seeds.

Our seeds are from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. They have a great catalog with super helpful tips and what not. Please note some seeds from this catalog are for Southern Climates (hence the name), but much of it works in our 6a zone (just be sure to start indoors on the earlier side of the spectrum). Best part, everything is guaranteed organic and not Genetically modified.

Here's a link to their online store, SEEDS!
And there is now a button under Annie's Links.