mother nature does not care about our timelines.

We have a tendency to take on a lot of projects at once around here. Our list of outdoor projects for this season is quite optimistic:

• Build 3 new 4x12 raised garden beds
• Get chickens & build chicken coop
• Run drip irrigation to the existing row garden & new raised beds
• Run electricity to the backyard (for the coop & the greenhouse)
• Have a 6' cedar fence installed
• Put up a greenhouse
• Build a seed starting system
• Start about 1400 plants & put them into the gardens

Too ambitious? Crazy? Maybe... :) 

Mother Nature apparently did not get a copy of our project list & timeline. We have been doing pretty well with keeping up, even with the late snow & freezes in March. This month, however, has certainly been a lesson in patience. With the exception of one or two dry days, it has been a continuous forecast of rain. Projects are delayed, and the chicks are growing so quickly that they will likely outgrow Brooder 2.0 before we can build the coop!

Curry pokes her head out to see what we're doing.

It seems like just yesterday that Sesame was a tiny fluff ball hiding in the feather duster:

Sesame, 3/29/11

Look at her now, not even a month later!

Sesame, 4/24/11

We did find a nice day to stain the cedar 2x4s for the frame of the coop, so that's some progress! We did some research ahead of time on non-toxic and sustainable exterior treatments for the coop and decided to go with Penofin Verde. The downside of using this is that it's expensive (about $50 per gallon) and we had to order it because we weren't able to find it locally. The upside, so far, has outweighed it though. For a wood stain, it doesn't smell bad at all - in fact, because it's just brazilian rosewood oil, it actually smells kinda nice. It's also really beautiful on the wood and a little bit goes a lot further than we thought - we'll probably only need one gallon for the whole coop. We'll have to wait to see how it holds up in the weather, but at this point, we would likely use it again for future projects.

We're also bringing the chicks outside, as often as the weather will allow, and they are loving it!

Masala testing her wings

Curry leaping with joy

It looks like we may have some windows of sunshine in the coming days, so it's time to get the exact spot for their new home staked out and, weather permitting, have it built in the next week or two. Can't wait to see them enjoying their new home!