Chicks.

Today we stopped by Urban Farm and picked up 4 darling Wynadotte chicks. At first I wanted to come in for the Ameracuna chicks but they were sold out the first day they came in so, we are giving the Wynadottes a try. Wynadottes are another breed that dose well with city life, are hardy and lay nice brown eggs. They have beautiful black and gold markings.The only draw back for me is I will miss the "Easter Egg" colors of the Ameracuna's eggs.
This weekend we also added to our hay bales in our back garden.We are half way full, it looks like another 6 or so more bales and we will be done. So far our bales have not heated up to the 150 degrees we read about online.But composting in our cool weather can be tricky; by no means dose this mean we are giving up. It is early in the year yet and it has not even been time to plant yet.
We have a great trade and share system with the neighbors here on our block and through some neighbors we were able to swap for some nice leaf mulch.We used the traded mulch to cover the path ways in the garden.
Since root crops don't work in the hay bales we have decided instead of going without, we will be turning up more of our front lawn. Last spring we had added a bed with herbs and an Espalier Apple tree. Now we will add more beds for veggies and hopefully a couple more of the Espalier fruit trees. The apple we have now has 6 different kinds of apples grafted on to it. I hope to find a couple of Gravestines to add since they are my favorite for Apple Sauce and munching.
Chance and I wanted to get the word out to folks that we are asking all of our readers who have a garden and a bit of extra space and seed, to plant an extra row for your local food banks this year. Many people are losing their jobs and food security is quickly becoming an issue for many across our country. When we look back at the Great Depression and the hungry masses we can learn from it and try to head hunger off early. Also those of you who are worried about your food budgets not going far enough why not consider planting a garden to help yourself and family? Think of it like a Victory Garden. Victory over hunger.Victory over a failing system. There are many local groups such as Growing Gardens(link listed above) here in the Portland Metro area who will help you get started. Chance and I are also willing to help any one with questions.
I wanted to post some photos today of the new chicks but our camera is on the fritz.So as soon as I get it worked out I will post some photos.
Until next time I am watching my garden grow,inch by inch ,row by row.