Life on the farm

 We've had weird weather here on the farm in the last week. We had a cold front blow through over the weekend that brought, get this...snow flurries to Central Texas! It only lasted a few minutes and didn't stick, but the kids had a great time trying to catch snow flakes. The onions and garlic weren't bothered by the weather at all, thank goodness. Now, 3 days later it's nearly 80 degrees outside, go figure.
 Other than that it's been business as usual. I had 6 new chicks hatch on Sunday. Three of them are Easter Egger/Buff Orp crosses and three of them are pure bred EEs. They are so darn cute.

The six new babies with the two that hatched last week

 I have 11 more in the incubator due to hatch in a week or so. I candled the other night and all 11 look good, moving around and growing just as the should.

A very blurry picture of candling, the embryo is the dark spot in the middle

 I have started lots more seeds in pots in the last few days. The total count is up to 396 so far.  Mike has been helping to make the pots, which I appreciate more than I can say, because the motion involved really aggravates the tendinitis in my elbow.

I pulled all of the pots out from under the lights to get this picture

 Nearly all of the herbs I planted at the beginning of January have sprouted. 

My herb seedlings

 Even the leaf celery has sprouted, which I'd read has really spotty germination. I'm looking forward to this producing, as celery is one of my favorite flavors.

Leaf celery

 The artichokes are also up. We love artichokes ever so much but don't buy them very often because, well, they're expensive and we can't afford them most of the time. Luckily they are perennials and will come back year after year. We'll never have to buy them again.

Mmmm, artichokes

 With the sleet and rain (which is what the snow turned into after about 5 minutes) we've had lots of mud. Bruno thought it would be a good idea to roll Boris through a puddle the other day which resulted in one seriously mucky puppy. He was not pleased with the bath that came after his dunking.

Mud looks so much worse on a white dog 

 Before the cold weather came through I managed to get the potatoes planted. The only problem is that I can't remember which variety I planted in which row. Oh well, they'll taste good even if I'm not sure what kind they are.

Ready for the potato pieces to go in 

Some kind of potatoes

Some other kind of potatoes

These, I know, are the red potatoes

All planted 

 Once it warmed up I opened the doors to let some fresh air into the house. This is what happens at my house if you leave the doors open and walk out of the room.

Chickens in the house

So, that's what's been going on here at the farm. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week. Blessed Be