A Beautiful Backyard... and chickens!

We have spent pretty much all day today and yesterday on our backyard. Since our house is getting a lot of work done inside (new HVAC air intakes and vents, bathroom is still gutted, etc.) I can't do much inside. Makes for a beautiful backyard!

Yesterday, I finished up the planting of my first four rounds of seeds I sprouted in indoor peat pellets. They turned out GREAT! I would totally recommend this method, as I feel like I had better quality plants and more variety than when I bought plants last year. I also could choose the hardiest ones to plant, and finding hardy plants out here... not always easy... and you never know what the plant was subjected to before you bought it. My tomatoes finally moved into their new homes in pots. I have 6 extra large pots lining the driveway (yes, I know, I need to take pictures!) that are yellow and green, every other one. Then I have 4 more, slightly smaller (still big) red pots in the backyard. I also got my last seeds sprouting, so I can finish off my third garden, which is mostly shaded. It holds some herbs and will have new bean plants soon... the other two gardens are the main garden (watermelons, squash, etc.) and then an herb garden.

Today I tackled Babak's grilling pit area, which is in a corner of our yard. It had gotten a little tight since I extended the main garden by several feet, and it was heavily overgrown (I never did fix it since we moved in) so I weeded it out, ripped out some vines I didn't want, and discovered a host of small, stringy raspberry bushes that I found to add to our blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry bushes! That was fun. Once I figured out the area I wanted, we relaid the wooden logs and I relocated several plants. It looks so much bigger now! Soon, I'm also going to shrink the mulched area around a tree to reclaim some of that wasted space too. I do need to get some grass seed and get that going asap!

The last thing we did today was... decide to get CHICKENS! We are going to get a couple to start with and see how it goes, but the idea may go up to 8-10 birds. Rives, a former farmer and commodities trader in Shelby, was by the house recently and commented to Babak that the former owner's hunting dog pen was perfect for a coop. Now, I've said this all along and my chicken-loving self has always wanted more, but Babak never did see my desire. Apparently, Rives had quite an influence, and told Babak it'd be great for 10!!! So today, we started by moving some of the excess gravel out and pulling up weeds. Next, I've got to seal up a few open spaces by the partial roof and put up the other half of the roof (I'm thinking chicken wire, but may go with the metal type on the other side... not sure...). Some wood shavings or straw, chicken feed, and water, and we're ready to roll! Time to Craigslist some chickens. That's what we sell on there out here :)