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What a gloriously gorgeous day it has been today. To be outdoors working on the chicken coop without a jacket on of any sort and to be perfectly comfortable, even a little warm. The sun shone and the sky was a brilliant blue. There was a bit of gusty breeze but it wasn’t a cold breeze. We’ve had the door to the deck open most of the day and the cats have been happy as can be. It’s funny how in fall 58F/14C feels a little chilly but in spring it feels so very warm.

Bookman and I got the rafters up on the coop today. It went along really easy because Bookman had the brilliant idea of using two C-clamps to hold the rafter on instead of me trying to hold the rafter still while he drilled. It went so fast and easy we didn’t know what to do after that because we had expected it to be a thing. So we measured a board to attach the run door frame to and then attached that to the coop. And then we put up another board on the other side of the run for attaching hardware cloth to and then there was nothing else to do because we need hinges for the door before we build the door frame so we know if we need to make any allowances for the size of the door to fit it into its allotted space.

And we are also ready to start cutting plywood. But the plywood is under a tarp that still has a bit of snow and ice on it and we didn’t feel quite prepared to remove the tarp and start figuring it all out. That will be for the next nice weekend. It feels good to be making progress on the coop again. We still have a lot to do but all the structural framing and stuff is all done. In some ways that feels like the hardest part. Now we just have to fill it all in.

The seed starting continues apace. The onions and leeks are doing great. The tomatoes have a few tiny sprouts. The peppers still have not decided to give me any satisfaction. I think they might not be warm enough or getting enough light so I now have a lamp shining on them when the sun is not which is about half the time. Hopefully that will be enough to encourage them to get going. If not, I guess I will be buying plants in May. There is still time yet, so fingers crossed!

Today I filled paper pots and planted parsley, basil, pineapple tomatillo and cumin. I have never grown tomatillos before, I have never even tried one. Have you? I’ve seen them at the store and I have heard they make great salsa and I always like to try something new every year and these are it. The catalog description says these actually taste like pineapple. Now, I don’t expect they will, not exactly. In a blind taste test no one will be fooled. However, I expect they will be pineapple-y, a little sweet-tart and kind of fruity. Since they are an experiment we’ll see how it goes!

The weather forecast for the coming week is up and and down temperatures but always above freezing even at night. That is just crazy for this time of year. March has traditionally been one of our snowiest months and the precipitation predicted for mid week is rain, not snow. Looks like it is time to get out and start cutting back last year’s perennials and prairie grasses. Too early to remove winter mulch yet. This week might be warm but next week could be a blizzard. Not likely considering weather trends, but one just never knows.

One last thing. That photo over there is what reading in bed at night is like for me. Dickens is on my lap and that’s Waldo curled up next to me. Bookman took the photo this week because he thought it was so funny. But this is not unusual, this happens every single night. If it doesn’t then there is something out of the ordinary going on. So now when I talk about reading in bed, you can fill in some of the details of what that looks like.

Filed under: Books, chickens, gardening Tagged: seed starting

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Yesterday I came down with spring fever. The temperature got up to an unseasonable 57F/14C. The spring fever outbreak was of epidemic proportions in the city causing people to go outside without coats on! There were people out running and cycling, walking dogs and children. I walked out onto my deck with bare feet and stood in the sun, face upturned, as though I were a sunflower. It felt delicious.

I had a window open for a while for the cats and when they weren’t fighting over who got to sit in the window where there was plenty of room for both of them but neither wanted to share, their noses were plastered to the screen. Then, for no reason that I could discern, one or the other of them would go running around the house, scrabbling across the furniture and skidding around corners on the wood floors.

But what a difference a day makes in more ways than one. So much restless energy let off yesterday and today, rain turning to sleet and then to snow. Waldo and Dickens were mad at me for not opening the window again. Since they didn’t pull out enough of each other’s fur yesterday they had a few more rounds today. Finally they have settled down and are curled up together sleeping as I type this.

Seed sprouting is coming along nicely. The leeks and onions are looking good. The peppers have not yet sprouted but they are getting close. They take a long time to get going which I found out too late last year. But I am getting a nice and early start this year. Today I made more newspaper pots and seeded tomatoes —pink brandywine, pink ponderosa, Cherokee purple, and Evan’s purple pear — and celery. I had no luck at all with the celery last year and since I have seeds leftover I thought I would give it another try.

While I am making newspaper pots I can’t help but notice article headlines. Of course the news is generally bad (terrorism, Syria, ISIS, climate change) or infuriating (presidential election campaigning). I was beginning to get a bit down about it all today and then I realized that all the bad stuff in the paper, I am turning it into good stuff. Pots for starting vegetables and soon herbs and flowers. And newspaper, being compostable and good for the soil, will get planted right into the ground with the vegetable plants in May. So then I couldn’t help but smile over turning bad news into sweet onions, spicy peppers and juicy tomatoes. If only my reach went beyond newspapers.

Some of you have mentioned you are interested in making your own paper pots. Here is the YouTube how-to video for the pots I use:

The pots are a really good size. You don’t need to be precise in your folding. After making a couple it gets really easy and you don’t have to think about it. A good activity while watching Netflix. Be aware though that the more you make, the inkier your hands will get so don’t plan on touching anything while you are working.

Cycling

I’m still cycling indoors on Zwift. For a time last week on one of my sessions I had the women’s QOM (queen of the mountain), sprint and fastest lap jersey all at once. I had to take a screen shot to mark the occasion.

I am part of a women’s only group and Wednesday I led my first virtual group ride. The women’s group has two rides that leave at the same time, a fast ride and a slow ride. We start off together at 1.5 w/kg until a certain point in the course and then the fast group increases to 2w/kg (and then 2.5 w/kg on the second and third laps with an all out sprint to finish) while the slow group continues and does 3 laps (about 19 miles/30km) at a constant 1.5 w/kg.

I’ve ridden with the fast group the last few weeks but Tuesday night I had a hard workout and needed a slow recovery ride. No one had volunteered to lead the slow group and I asked if there was going to be a slow ride and who was leading. It turned into one of those because-I-asked-I-got-volunteered situations. So I led the slow group.

We were a pack of five and stuck together tight even on the hills (we found out later the fast group fell apart at the end of the first lap and we felt quite pleased with how well our group did). We all had a great time and they asked if I would lead again and even consider being the regular ride leader. I was so flattered, how could I say no? Hopefully it goes just as well this coming Wednesday night and wasn’t just a fluke.

The women have also started some women-only racing which is great because even though I have been doing the open racing on Zwift every Thursday night since January, it’s all men and pretty much a stupid free-for-all. The women race on Saturday afternoon every other week and so far we’ve had two races and they’ve been great with everyone following the rules and encouraging each other. In yesterday’s race I finished 14th in a field of 22 and I had a great fun time.

My goal for the next race is to really concentrate on strategy and making sure I am at the front of the pack when we cross the start line so I don’t get dropped off the back and end up racing alone and having to work twice as hard as the people up front in the pack.

I just found out there is a real life women’s gravel road race at the end of May a half hour’s drive south of the Twin Cities. And it’s free, no entry fee. It’s only 33 miles/50 km which is a totally doable distance for me without any extra training. Astrid, however, is a road bike designed for smooth narrow tires and pavement. We rode on gravel trails every week last summer but the gravel we rode on was crushed and packed and almost like pavement. The internet informs me I can get some tires for Astrid that will work better on gravel, slightly wider with a little tread. I’ll have to talk with the folks at my local bike shop and find out if it is true. I hope so!

Filed under: biking, gardening Tagged: gravel, racing, seed starting, Zwift

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Did you all have a happy pie day yesterday? It was an extra special pi day because it had the most accurate decimals of pi in the entire twenty-first century. To celebrate, Bookman made us a delicious apple pie with apples that came from our own tree (preserved as pie filling). We also had pizza for dinner. A double pie whammy!

The weather this weekend has been absolutely gorgeous. It feels more like the end of April than the middle of March. No jackets, open windows, sunshine. Bookman and I took our new bikes out for a spin today and I wore my bike shorts and t-shirt with a windbreaker on top and was almost too warm (except when the wind was blowing across the still frozen lakes, that was a bit chilly). It seems like the rest of Minneapolis was out today as well.

It was my first time out on my new bike and I love her silly. She is so light and zippy. I practiced clipping in and out of my pedals for about half an hour before venturing out. At first I was terrified to be so locked on to my bike but after making a few stops and not falling over, I started to relax and really have fun. I’m still hyper-alert about releasing my feet before getting close to a stop, but after a few more rides I expect it will become more natural and less thinky.

We did an easy 18 mile/28.9km ride. I’ve never had a road bike before so it was very much a get-to-know you ride. Did I say how much I love my new bike? My city bike (affectionately named Ninja) is going to be so jealous. I am searching for a name to call this bike but nothing has come up yet. I was going to take a photo but forgot. Giant has a fine photo though with the same exact colors including saddle and handlebars in case you care to go take a look. The only additions I have made are silver fenders over the front and back wheels, a cage for my water bottle, and a holder for my iPhone which I am using as a bike computer.

Happiness is also more seed starting. The onion seeds I planted last week have begun to sprout. I would have taken a photo but they are so tiny yet you wouldn’t be able to see them in a picture. Friday night Bookman and I spent about an hour making paper pots for the next round of seed starting and beyond. Today we filled another tray with pots, filled the pots with soil, and planted:

• pepperoncini
• golden cayenne
• leutschauer paprika
• etiuda bell (orange sweet)
• red mini bell
• purple jalepeño
• tall Utah celery

The celery was a last minute addition to the lineup. Bookman decided he wanted to grow some so we picked up a packet at our food co-op when we did our grocery shopping recently.

The seed trays reside on top of the refrigerator for the time being for warmth and out-of-the-wayness from

curious cats. Since the weather has been so pleasant these last few days the onions got to sit out on the deck in the sun for several hours. The week ahead is going to be ten to fifteen degrees cooler so there will be no deck time. Next weekend we will be setting up our mini greenhouse on the south side of the house and move the onion sprouts into it to make room for another seed starting tray of tomatoes on top of the fridge. The last time I did seed starting, about ten years ago, it seemed like one big hassle. I’m not certain what has changed, but at the moment I am having a great time.

For all of you out there who are new to the whole thing and want to try your hand at gardening, whether it be outdoors or indoors, in containers or in the ground, lettuce, herbs, or something else, check out Start a Garden (via). The site will give you easy, step-by-step instructions on how (for example) to grow thyme in a cup on your bathroom windowsill, tomatoes in a pot on your deck, or corn in your yard. Unless you live in a dark, cold cave, this site will help you find something you can grow.

And of course I had more fun reading about chickens this week too. A Chicken in Every Yard turned out to be a practical and informative guide to urban chicken keeping. When it gets closer to the time of having my own chickens I will definitely be buying myself a copy of this book. One thing I learned about chickens is that they can see color and when let out to free range they tend to stick to other flock members of the same color. This piece of information has me rethinking what kind hens I want. Do I go with two orpingtons (brown) and two australorps (black)? Or do I totally mix it up and go with one each of orpington (brown), ameraucana (brown), australorp (black) and barred rock also called Plymouth rock (black with white)? If I go with the one of each it will certainly be easier to tell them all apart. Thank goodness I have plenty of time to figure it out, and plenty of time to keep changing my mind! You’re going to get so tired of hearing about chickens before I even get the chicks next year!

As I mentioned before, we will be tearing down our old garage at the back of our lot. We will be installing a shed instead, this one to be exact This will happen in May or June. The tear down that is. The shed building will happen not long after that. We will have plenty of room for the chicken coop alongside it. I’ve been doing lots of coop plan browsing and have decided ours will look something like the red and white number in the photo. We’ll be making modifications, but this will be our foundation model. What do you think?

So much work ahead, but all of it good!

Filed under: gardening Tagged: chickens, seed starting

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