Peepers are in

Introducing Goldie, Pip, Rupert and Gapsby (that's right, Gapsby)... our four spring chicks.We're hoping for some great egg-layers out of the tiny flock. So far, they look vigorous, have been enjoying the heat lamp in the garden shed this week, along with their first spell of scratching and pecking around the yard this afternoon. (Pip was the first to take a dust bath in a bare spot of ground. The chicks follow each other, so they all ended up dusting their backs, one by one.) Our idea is to get them as people-oriented as possible... I'm picking them up several times a day. So far, we've been having coffee in the shed every morning, getting the day's talking and singing going. When our friend Brady was here the other day, he held Goldie. I'm encouraging it. More images soon.

Weeds and beans

The weeds have worn me out, pretty near beaten me in past years. This year I have a new tactic... trying to pull weeds for a good 15 minutes a day, at least. Sparky does no chores, but he does sit near while I pull. So far, so good.

We tried planting some leftover seeds from last year and had no luck with some of the year-old basil and green peppers. So I've started with fresh seeds for those. The best growers so far are the radishes and the Italian bush beans - sprouting so well, we're thinking of putting them in the ground this weekend. Compared to other tiny-seed vegetables, it's pretty satisfying to start beans from seed - one or two beans per hole/pot, and soon the little green plant rises up, pushing that seed bean upward as it grows.

Starting small

By the first week of March we'd started weeding and tilling the old plot out back, the same garden space used for decades by a Gerald Thames, a man we've never met, but who built and lived in this house with his wife, Pansy, from the 1940s until a few years ago.

We worked chicken and cow manure into the garden plot, and used organic soil in the starter pots (Miracle Gro brand)... almost all of our plants are sprouting now. Some are already in the plant rows, many are still in seedling pots. PFE got tubing, stakes and nozzles and has created a great watering system, fed by the old well. (Another useful legacy of Mr. Thames.) There's a bit of sand in the water this year, but it's not clogging. Here's the plant list so far

radishes (from seeds)
Italian bush beans (from seeds)
onions (from seedlings)
carrots (from seeds)
okra (from seeds)
tomatoes (from seeds... beefsteak and sweeties)
garlic (that comes up every year from the prior owner)
strawberries (from seedlings)
eggplants (seedlings and from seeds)
herbs - basil, parsley, tarragon (from seeds... also some basil seedlings)
brussel sprouts (from seedlings)

I think that's everything. And this past weekend (3/21) I planted two flower rows... zinnias and sunflowers. Three or four years ago my friend Kimber told me she'd had good luck with zinnias on Folly Beach. Ever since, I've planted them... with two packs of seeds giving me daily blooms from June or July to fall. I planted the annual two packs again this year.