Hugelkultur Part 1

I've mentioned before my plans for a hugelkultur bed this year.  Today, the dirt was delivered, so I've mostly completed one!  First, we had a pile of logs, sticks, stumps, etc:

Next, add dirt.  Specifically, I had a dump truck load of dirt delivered,  It was dumped partially on top of the wood, but I had to shovel most of it.  Also on top of the wood, before the dirt was added, went the possum that I killed yesterday.  I didn't want to dig another hole.

This is not all of the dirt, as some of it is destined for potato bags, square garden beds, etc.

Here is the view from the opposite side.  You can see the additional dirt pile in the background.  All in all, the hugelkultur bed is about 4 feet tall, and it ended up being rather oval shaped.  It's probably 8 feet long and four feet wide, but rounded not rectangular.  I'm very happy with how it's going.  I will probably add a bit more dirt to the top tomorrow, and then I'll start planting.  Onions, pumpkins, and sunberries are definitely going in this bed.  Other things probably will as well.  The onions will be planted first, most likely tomorrow, both because they are earlier, cooler-weather crops than the pumpkins and berries, but also because they deter deer, and I may have to worry about deer bothering my hugelkultur bed since it is in the front.  The rest of the gardens are in the fenced backyard, and although they have been effected by deer before, the front yard is a more likely spot for that.  On the positive side, though, the deer haven't been on our side of the neighborhood nearly as often this year, and I haven't seen them in the area where the hugelcultur is for at least 2 years.

And here is a tulip, because it's beautiful and shows that it is really spring.

Spring Break Ups and Downs

We've had a mostly good spring break so far.  We got to visit family, and that was great.

 Lydia, Gyunay, and Malachi got to feed giraffes, which was a fun and new experience.  Elijah took the photos.

And then there's today, where the weather dropped to very cold, and I had to kill a possum that was in the chicken coop.  Normally, Nathaniel handles all predator problems, but he was out of town, and I had to get the possum out of the coop.  I tried to do it without killing it, but possums just play possum and lay there.  Not fun.  Not fun at all.

On the plus side, our chickens laid 233 eggs in March.

14

Lydia isn't the only one with a March birthday.

It's hard to believe that he's 14.

Spring

It has really been spring here for the past week, and we've been enjoying a lot of time outside.  The chickens have enjoyed it, too.

I've been happily transplanting cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale to the garden.  The transplants are doing well so far.

 But no one has been happier this week than this 8-year-old:

Weekend Away

My inlaws came down Friday night, and Saturday morning Nathaniel and I headed off to stay at a state park while they watched the kids.  We had a great weekend.  It started with Elijah and Malachi's chess banquet on Friday night:

The chess team did very well this year, and they celebrated being state champions.  Elijah was the first place alternate board in the state, out of about 90 alternates at the state tournament, so that was a great accomplishment.  

This boy and that smirk!  And here Lydia is modeling the new dress I made for her.  

Saturday was about as beautiful a day as one could ask for, so we had a great time walking around town and in trails in the park.  

Sacrifice Beads

Ever since we watched a Holy Heroes video that talked about sacrifice beads, Lydia has been eager to have some.  She was even willing to spend her own $8 (which is a small fortune for her) to buy them.  We have an abundance of beads and string, so I suggested that we make one, and she eagerly agreed.

Sacrifice beads are a way to keep track of good choices during the day.  The examples in the video were things like "When Mom says clean up and you don't want to, pull a bead and do it anyway without complaining."  Or things like sharing with your brother when you don't feel like it.  Little sacrifices in daily life, basically.  Anyway, she is so excited about her sacrifice beads.    

We attached them to a safety pin so she can wear them (basically none of her clothes have pockets or belt loops).  I pinned it to her, and she declared, "Now I'm officially a Catholic!"  This girl cracks me up.

Birthday Madness

Well, our March madness here is birthday madness, since Nathaniel, Lydia, and Elijah all have March birthdays.  We let Lydia have some friends over for a party yesterday, since it wouldn't work out close to her actual birthday.  She had a blast.

The girls each brought a doll and had a tea party on the floor.  Few of the girls really liked tea, but they loved the chocolate chip cookies.

Lydia was happy, and two friends got to stay later to play longer.  I got to enjoy some time with their moms, so it was a win for us both.  The boys had a blast as well, since Elijah was at the state chess tournament (where his team won, and he got first place for alternates) and Nathaniel took Malachi and Gyunay for some arcade games.