gardens and a poultry swap!

It's a cool, damp, Saturday morning here in Vermont. The coffee's on the stove, and that is something I will allow trick me into thinking it's a lot nicer outside than it is. I have big plans to spend most of the day in the garden. So far the dogs already walked, the rabbits are fed, and the sheep are munching on hay as I type. I can hear the roosters in the coop, but refuse to let them out before 8AM on a Saturday morning. It doesn't seem fair to my neighbors to have a rooster in their lawn before any good cartoons even come on.

I'm at ground zero of a weekend that should be productive. Today, the garden and tomorrow, the poultry swap! Day one will be knee-deep in the dirt, getting this garden to a respectable place. I plan on planting a few dozen new vegetables in the ground I turned over last week. But before I do there is a lot more work to be done on the chicken coop and weeding fronts. But if my plan goes through, by end of day today I'll have four or five raised beds planted, and between them, thick piles of straw feeding the soil and killing those damned weeds.

Sunday is a big day as well. It's an annual Schaghticoke Poultry Swap. Every first Sunday in May local farmers and hobbyists get together for this little expo. We'll sell birds, trade livestock, get new animals in and out our doors. I am hoping to come home with a few layers and possibly get rid of a rooster or two. Wish me luck out there where the feathers fly.