So here we go!  First post and it goes like:  
It was a long, hard winter and there  is plenty of early spring work to be done to clean up after it.  There are things that need to be fixed, there are new things to build, and there is the garden to be readied and planted.  After being cooped up indoors due to near all-time-record snows combined with some unnaturally cold temps its exciting to be able to get out and at it!  

First on the list of stuff that needs to fixed is the tractor.  During the last big snow of the winter I popped a rear tire of the rim and because I wasn't paying very close attention ("Why is the blade digging in funny, why won't this thing push, and why am I listing to port?" -  The last, I suppose, should have been a dead give-away.) I promptly trashed it. Now, truth be told, I've been wanting to change those lawn tires for 'Ag' tires, but I kinda wanted to do it in my own time.  Anyway,  that's first on the list.

Next is the bus-house-come-chicken coop.  The next step in our homesteading journey is raising chickens!  I've got a wonderful niece who agreed to brood our chicks.  They just arrived at the post office today, so I picked them up and they are now happily in their "chicken childhood home".  While they are growing, I need to be working on their 'permanent' home.  (As permanent as it gets for a chicken.)

When the kids were young, I built them a little bus house so they could wait for the bus out of the elements.  Since the kids are grown and (nearly) gone, We've decided to refurb it into to a chicken coop.  The son and I got it moved last fall, and now its time for re-construction to begin.  I'm on vacation this week, so work starts in the next day or two!  Look for pics as work progresses.  So much to do!




Then there's the garden.  You see it in my blog header along with the coop and shed.  Twenty three (or so) raised beds and two large open plots, with raspberries off to one side. Lots to plan and lots to do there, too.

Finally there's the orchard.  You see it (or would if were actually planted) in the pic to the left.  I suppose to be accurate, that's where my wife and I agreed to put the orchard. The most astute among you will note the 'orchard' currently consists of a small handful of scrub trees, some non-fruit bearing mostly-ornamental trees, and yard.  The true geniuses among you will by now have surmised that the aforementioned shed has a chainsaw in it, and that Mark had better start using it if he wants apple crisp from his own trees anytime in the next decade. Yep!  That's on the list, too.  

So there it is!  Like any homestead, there's more work to do than there are hours in a day.  Again, I'm inviting you all come along and join us as we steward the land God has granted us, and see where our journey leads.  We pray that all the work and whatever produce it generates be done to His glory.  Take care, looks for pics as things progress, and remember to spend some time with your Heavenly Father every day as make our way Home.