Checking the list

There is no feeling as satisfying as actually checking off something on a to-do list. I have updated my 2010 Garden To-Do list below. The beds around the mulberry trees are completed, one just needs dirt. One mulberry tree is trimmed and looking fantastic! The second will get its haircut soon. Excuse me while I work on digging up the oleanders. :)

Words will have to suffice

I admit that I haven't "blogged" in a while because my digital camera is no longer functioning. The pictures are so important! So, close your eyes and let my words paint a picture of my urban homestead. (This might translate into a stick figure drawing, so feel free to use your imagination).

Oh man, where to begin. I have planted seeds in just about every place I can. Some came up and some are still thinking about it. Of the seeds that sprouted a few were lost to rogue chickens. I'm not sure if the nature of a chicken is dumb or smart, but these four ladies I have the pleasure of living with are pretty darn smart. For instance, I set up a corral with garden fencing and green plastic netting in the lawn so that they could get some green grazing going on. I left to go to class and asked the hubby to put them up when the sun went down. After class, I asked hubby about the chickens and he said, "Didn't you put them up?"

"Umm...no, I delegated that task to you," Apparently the ladies put themselves to bed.

The next day, while hanging the laundry, I observed the clever little chicks walk right through a slit in the green netting one by one in a row, using it like a doggy door. Damn! I would not have been able to find that if I was looking for it. I was very impressed. Immediately following this exhibit of brilliance, Rita and Lola got themselves stuck behind the reed fence. The wind has been so ferocious lately that my reed fence is losing its grip on the metal fence beneath it. Chickens saw a place to hide and went for it and then got stuck when the wind died down. Hilarious to watch, but stupid predicament to get in. So, are chickens brilliant or stupid? Or a little of both. How big is their brain? Can they see in color? I have so much more to learn.

They have been quite crafty with their eggs. I have discovered 2 stashes of eggs, 24 eggs each. 1 under the garden shed and the other under the hay wagon. So, perhaps they were laying all winter, I just didn't know it!