It's Almost Spring!

I was at the post office on Wednesday and I heard cock a doodle dooing coming from the back. Half joking, I asked the clerk if he had a rooster in back.

"Yep, there's a guy ships 'em out".

So that's going on.

The same day I went to Tractor Supply. It was already feeling like a spring day but the sign out front assured me that Spring was imminent. That's right, baby chicks and ducks have arrived!

Today I had my first signs of life from the seeds I planted earlier in the week. I also learned a new trick to get seeds germinating faster. 

Last year I started all of my seeds in soil. I did some in soil this year, but I also did a bunch in paper towels. I simply sprayed down a paper napkin, scattered some seeds, folded the napkin and zipped them up in a baggy. I put some on my window sill and some under a dark piece of paper under a growing lamp. Two days later I had germinated lettuce seeds. AND, they were old “expired” seeds. The Apt Garden has an excellent step by step if you'd like to try it. 

I also had the opportunity to see over a years worth of food scraps finally get put to use. Joseph made me a beautiful raised bed in the front yard and today we filled it. The compost bin was full so we busted it out. Thanks to Mike we were able to use the tractor and pick the whole bin up and bring it to the front yard. (I don't know how people live without tractors.) 

I like that the tractor looks like it could destroy my house in this picture.

Check out the mouse tunnels!

 As we detached the boards from the back of the bin a mouse scurried away. We could see mice tunnels from our new view. It was like looking at a giant ant farm.  

Get that old stuff in here!

Overalls: Joseph's weekend warrior outfit.




We put the remainder of the compost in the garden, then topped off the bed with regular old dirt. 

And last but not least, Bill Scrapps decided to forgo his testicles and leave street life behind for good. As Bill was getting looked over by the vet prior to surgery the doctor told me he had placed a pair of "Neuticles" in a dog whose owner did not want to appear unmanly. Of course Bill Scrapps immediately took to begging for a pair! Just last week he was pestering me for a place to stay and this week he's trying to negotiate himself a pair of prosthetic testicles! I'd be more upset with him if he wasn't such a nice dog otherwise. 

Poor Bill Scrapps!