Farming in April

 Garden in a box! Blueberries, currants and hazelnuts.

Two little quail eggs

April was a busy month for these mini-farmers. We put in a new garden bed and after reading Gaia's Garden decided to improve the backyard based on some of the principles of permaculture: more perennials! We have eggs going into the incubator tomorrow which means that around the 21st of May (my birthday!) we will be expecting chicks. Our six hen's so kindly gave us 120 eggs which amounts to the equivalent of two dozen large chicken eggs. Not bad for our first month.

I can't wait to get my hot weather plants out of my house and into my garden! This year we are planting 34+ varieties of vegetables and herbs, mostly from seed. Every time we go to a hardware store (or anywhere there is a seed display, for that matter) I often walk away with at least one more seed packet. It has become a problem! I don't even want to think about how much money I have spent on seeds this year. Saturday my organic gardening meet-up group is having a seedling swap so I may get to add even more varieties to my tiny patch. Every time I go out to my garden I wonder: "Where can I fit more in?"

In the garden I have french breakfast radishes, baby spinach and lettuce ready to harvest plus dill, thyme, oregano, mint, dill and lovage to use as needed. I really want some parsley. I am planning on keeping track of all I harvest out of our tiny plot because I want to measure how much a very small yard can actually produce. Can it feed our family? I certainly hope so!