a doo wop coop

talk about full circle... today, yes, TODAY, i attached the doo wop sign to the chicken coop. this past saturday found the farm bustling with volunteers who got their hands on some paint and went to town with the coop, the small greenhouse, and our 'stuff' lean-to.

the chickens don't seem to mind the new colors...
they are laying away, about 9 eggs a day!

happy chickens, happy plants

since we are going into a holiday weekend, and since holidays usually mean gifts, i've decided to be gifty... pictures galore.

enjoy the farm images, enjoy the long weekend, enjoy yourselves and each other.

happy chickens, outside and in!



peppers: from a cart full o' trays to a field full of goodness



toe-may-tows: 750 and counting

super coop

there have recently been some pockets of time on the farm allowing for coop work.

friday i had some help from jason, an awesome guy who lives in brooklyn and who will be coming up from time to time this season to volunteer, he snapped a few photos of me being a carpenter:

more framing went up for walls and the roof... firring strips will provide support at the roof for the tarp (to follow)

monday, tim and i got down and dirty with coop, adding ramps for the for the ladies to climb around, find a favorite sleeping spot, and explore the vastness of the luxury condo they will soon call home:

tim finished up the day installing nesting boxes and a trapped door for easy chicken-access:

a floor to dance on

update on the coop: there's a floor! tomorrow should bring walls and this thing will really start to take shape.

we had a couple of visitors to the farm today: one of the board members, sarah, stopped by to help seed up flowers with tim. she's spent the last many years working within horticulture in NYC and recently within agriculture at stone barns. it was great to have her energy on the farm on this gray, rain-threatening day! daniel moon, who will be apprenticing along with hiedi and me this summer, also stopped by to check in.
this will surely be an exciting season! (as if it wasn't already exciting)

"12 hour days... in April?!?"

- words from devin's mouth as we climbed into the truck to head home this evening.
what a day! at about 730 this morning, devin came up from the basement, shirt covered in chicken feed, brow furrowed, shaking is head.

d: we're moving the girls
me: today?
d: now!

the 2 hours that followed were too intense to stop and photograph, but i'll do my best to sum it up. it seems the roosters, one rooster in particular, had pecked his final peck in the basement of 61A New Hamburg Rd., eagerly attacking the feed tray, sending feed everywhere.
we grabbed the two huge animal carriers we are borrowing from our neighbor, slugged them downstairs, and started grabbin' hens, roosters, and hay. once they were all in, tim loaded them into his truck and headed for the farm. devin + i stayed back to clean out the stinkyness that is a month and a half of chicken life in a basement... blech!

now that the ladies (plus a few unruley fellas) are on the farm, the need for a coop is evident. they are currently in a 'teenage' coop; safe from the elements and adjusting to fresh air, bugs, grass, sunshine, snow (it snowed today!), etc.

yesterday's disassembly energy was quickly converted to assembly energy. my archie brain and limited carpentry skills sure are coming in handy. who would have thought that converting to the world of farming would allow me my desired 'design-build' time?!

when the wheelbarrow saw horse didn't quite 'cut' it for the work i had to do today, i simply turned one over, loaded it up, headed to the room with the vice, and saws-all'ed away!

and that heating system we worked on yesterday... the system that has been tim's headache for months... still in the works. t + d are sleeping at the farm tonight, keeping watch over the thermometer to make sure those pepper + tomato babies stay warm. oiy veh.