The Girls Have the Green Thumbs of the Family

Well for the first time I finally have indoor starts that have made it all the way to being ready to plant outside. My two little girls help must have been want I have been missing. If all goes well and the rain can hold off I will  be transplanting these tomatoes tonight after work. Sadly the garden isn't as nice or set up as well as I had hoped but the only chance of getting a harvest-able crop before the first frost is if I plant now (The UP has a super short growing season and from what I heard it will be extra short this year). Nothing is funner than planning in the dirt after a long day at work!

Brewing Update!

The cider is doing GREAT!!! It had a little slow start but to be fair I used some old yeast I found while moving so that really isn't a surprise but now the air lock is firing like it is one full auto and it should be ready for bottling in about a week or so. If you might have noticed from the picture I have my next brew started. I have always wanted to try dandelion wine and thanks to a trip to sugar island I can check that off my list of wines to try to make. Not sure how it will taste but seeing that I have never had dandelion I will have to share it with someone who is an "expert". Anyone out there fit that bill and want some free wine to test.

Brewing Room Locked and Loaded

It took a lot longer than I had planned but its finally DONE!! (OK so I still have some clutter to throw out and a utility sink to install) I can now start brewing beer, wine, cider, yogurt, and cheese in my new set up. If all goes well and thanks to a meeting in Marquette this week so I could get the supplies I should be starting a batch of cider this weekend and bottling it by Memorial Day.

Chicken Eviction

So the time finally came to get the chickens out of the brooder (and our house) and into the real world. Normally I build my own coop but this year I got called away suddenly for a week long training and the only way to have someone look after the chicks was if they were outside. So off to Tractor Supply I went to buy a coop and $250 later my chickens have a new home. The coop is great and I have not complaints but as you might notice from the pictures I couldn't help but make some after market modifications to the coop. 

Every year we try to move the coop around the yard to a new location frequently. This cuts down on the chicken smell that can get us in trouble for the people on the other side of the fence, but it is also much healthier for the chickens. This year I decided to try something new. I made a PVC sled for the coop to ride on. To my surprise it works GREAT! It makes moving the coop solo possible and has the added benefit of protecting the wood on the bottom coop from rot, so in theory this should help my coop last longer. The only addition I"m going to make is some PVC uprights at both ends to give me a better lifting/pushing point. 

If all goes well I should be getting the raised bed gardens installed this weekend. Not planted mind you because even though it's the middle of May SNOW is in the forecast. But so far the chickens are happy, the kids are having fun and some day soon summer will get here.