I knew that burning grass off helped fertilize it and cause it to grow better but I had never actually attempted it before.  The weather was cool and dry with a slight north wind.  Once I started the fire burning, it seemed to stick to the alleyway created between my pasture and the road.  I recently witnessed some pretty huge blazes burning in other places around my house and was thankful we didn't have any problems with runaway flames.   This fence line has been untended for several years so I have begun to also cut the scrub brush that is growing in abundance.  My goal is to make this patch level enough to get my mower down a few times and only weed whack the edge nearest the road.   My nephews and my daughter were a big help this day.  My dog, Ranger, was curious about the fire and found out it can be hot on his paws, if he isn't careful. 

Brady and Davis, early, on the morning of their departure.

These are Sam and Hannah's two cousins that were down visiting us for the week. They probably didn't plan on working as hard as I asked them to, but they also managed to have a lot of fun too. They were a big help.... and so was their mom (thanks Deb!).

Spring Break Activities

You can't tell it but that is Hannah under all those clothes.  Some mornings were a little chilly before the sun rose higher.
  
"Here Hannah, this is how you do it."

We had this last week off from school for Spring Break. My sister and her two boys came down to spend the week with us. Sam had his tonsils removed on Monday. My thought was that he wasn't going to be up for more than soft food and lots of Popsicles so we needed to stick pretty close to home. With warm weather forecasted, I decided to use the week to tackle some of the projects around the farm that have had on hold. First up was the tree house.

Getting Ready For Chicks

I imagine that the word "first" will appear in most everything I post on this site.... especially during our first year of farming.  It will be fun to look back at these entries next year, when we actually have a clue what we're doing.  For now, we are having fun learning.   

We ordered our Delaware chicks and they should be arriving soon.  We decided to get the cages ready so everything will be in order and we'll only need to turn the lights on in time to warm up the little guys.  I tried to let my kids do as much work as possible.  I did this, mainly for two reasons.  First, I want them to feel a sense of ownership with with the chicks.  Second, we are using this as their "first" 4H project.   Hopefully, when the chicks arrive by mail, the weather will be warmer and we won't lose too many.