This weekend has cooled off some! It is still sunny and things keep growing. But, it isn’t as warm as some days we had this past week. Here is what we are up to on the farm…

Our meat birds are growing and ready to move outside. We have around 63 birds and hope that our resident hawk stays away this year. She killed too many chickens last summer. The boys and I went out this morning and decided to transfer the birds into our chicken tractor first for a bit and then once they’ve grown a bit larger, we will be able to move them into the electric netting and their shelter.

Another project we are excited about… we moved Baker and 4 hens into the chicken tractor a couple of weeks ago and sought fertilized eggs. We got 7 eggs and they are now in the incubator. We will candle them again today and see if we have any chicks growing. This is new for us, but I am very excited about it.

Our homeschool year is wrapping up. As with many things, we don’t finish every subject at the same time. Some things get done quicker than others. This is a small look at my daughters reading. She is going through the Little Bear books (love those!) and we do one stack of sight words each day. She does very well but repetition is classical and that is the main style of homeschooling we do.

Daily chores always include dishes. We wouldn’t have a home without some sort of dish to wash. The kids and I take turns with what to do when. But it is ongoing! How do you seek to find joy in ongoing, monotonous chores?

Snack time! My 8 year old and I love hummus and pretzels. The kids like oranges… and most every other fruit.

Laundry too! I don’t do laundry daily- it isn’t necessary in our home. But it is a regular chore and something we must stay on top of.

Sheet refresh- I love this! Fresh sheets is such a delicious luxury, isn’t it? What restful sleep to enjoy under clean sheets. And line dried?? My favorite.

We did the hardening off of our brassicas for several days this week and some puddle boots kept popping up. The tomatoes and peppers we up-potted into larger containers so they can keep growing before their May planting date.

This day, my 12 year old and I wheel hoed in the chicken pasture and dug down for some composted soil. I have had the boys add the old bedding into the pasture each time and let the chickens break it down. This compost we added to the raised beds. More about that in a later post.

It is funny to see this bed a bit wonky. But, I am no perfectionist and our ground isn’t exactly level here. So! Our beds are a tad off kilter. In the end, they are still going to have food growing in them. This one has our Pontiac Red potatoes in them. It was a 5 pound bag of seed potatoes from Berlin Seed Co.

We got quite a bit planted, as my previous post states. My 12 year old enjoys garden works and often does some of the hoeing. Here, we planted lettuce and spinach. The lettuce seeds didn’t germinate, but the spinach is coming up nicely.

Time for a tea party! My 8 year old daughter set things up for her two favorite puppies. We had pretend tea and play-doh cookies.

Supper looked like au gratin style potatoes and they…were…delish! I added cubed potatoes, half a block of cream cheese, one cup of homemade ‘cream of soup’, salt, pepper, and cumin plus a little broth. It cooked all afternoon. We enjoyed them with baked brats and roasted broccoli.

What has this spring looked like for you thus far? Are you able to be in the sunshine? I was reminded recently at how important it is to find joy in all circumstances, not just those that make us happy. I hope you are finding joy in your days despite what you are going through currently.

Happy Spring-time!!