Chilly in the garden

Here in Central Indiana it has dipped back to chilly, bordering on cold.  I am really glad we put the hoops on the square foot box!  We just went out this morning, whipped the plastic over the hoops, weighted it down with rocks and clamped one end then bam, cuddly warm seedlings!  Jilly's box has no hoops, but we covered her sunflower seedlings with the top of a 2liter bottle to keep it warm.  We planted some seeds in there the other day, but if the cold snap stunts them we have plenty more seeds, so crisis averted.

Also, while I was out there I took some pics of the coop, now moved into it's permanent position (the chicken tractor plan has been abandoned...it's too heavy. The Hubs and I almost killed ourselves moving it out there. They will just have to be happy with free range time.) and painted a nice grey/blue we got free at the recycling center.  I was going to tile it the other day, but the tiles were warped, so they are stacked in their under some heavy ceramic tiles till they are flat and it stops raining.  Beyond that, a door and the chicken wire over the yard and we are in business!  So far, we have begged, borrowed, or gotten free all the materials and tools except the chicken wire and the plumbers tape to attach the hoops.  We have only spent about $25 on the coop.  The birds have been moved into bigger brooders in the shed, with the heat lamp still, and are anxiously awaiting moving day.

  

We also drilled holes in 5 gallon buckets for feeder and a waterer.  Very high tech, I know, but I don't see a reason to get tricky if  simple works, and we have several buckets lying around.  I plan to just put a big rock in each to keep them from getting knocked over.  If they are fail, we have back-up plans to make auto-feeder/waterer still using buckets.  They are actually kinda cool, we just really need to wrap up the coop projects and move on to other projects.  Check them out HERE if you are interested in making a cool feeder..

So now, we will snuggle in and work on school inside where it is warm and dry!

H.W.