Hipsta hens

Next, on "When Chickens Attack," a head of iceberg lettuce gets it!

Spring? Hello? Are you out there?

It's been a somewhat dismal spring thus far at our lil urban farm. How ironic that the year I finally accept that there is no point rushing seeds into my cold, wet soil is the same year that Mother Nature decided to dish out a spring that's colder and wetter than usual.

Oh well. Can't fight the weather. We did get a good start during spring break (although we haven't been able to do diddly squat since then).

Jeff started putting in a proper path that, when finished, will extend from the patio to the vegetable garden (and past the chicken coop). Right now, it's a hazardous mud slick in the rainy season.

I cleared out the strawberry patch that had been completely taken over by Ranunculus repens (aka creeping buttercup). I'd fought it for a few years, but it just got too good of a foothold, and our berry yield wasn't very good last year. So we're starting over.

One good thing about weeds and chickens is that chickens love weeds. They feasted happily on this tasty pile!

Speaking of weeds, my grapevines went bezerk last summer, starting when I was taking a monthlong intensive organic chemistry class and had zero time to do garden maintenance. They wound their way into our large Japanese maple next to the patio and by the time I could deal with them, the job felt way too daunting. It wasn't an easy job, even now, but the lack of leaves this time of year at least meant I could see what the heck was going on.

Speaking of the patio, we have residents in this bird house! The cutest little things...I think they are some type of finches but I'm not sure. They started moving in materials before spring break, and we were horribly, sickeningly afraid that Jeff had scared them off when he powerwashed the deck and patio (it needed it SO bad). I cannot express the extent of our relief when we saw mama in there last weekend sitting on her eggs! We think there are three or four...it's hard to tell.

Speaking of birds, even though the ladies have taken well to their chicken nipple waterers, they insist on beelining for their old waterer whenever we let them out of the coop. They act like they are SO dehydrated (picture a hen laying wing to brow and swooning), but I know them for the little fakers that they are.

I've got tomato, pepper and basil starts growing in the basement, but my hands are tied until we get at least a brief stretch of warmer, slightly less wet weather. It's brightly cloudy today, so maybe I'll get out there after I go for a walk. I had a four-hour microbiology lab this morning, and it kind of wore me out!

Lunch!

Miss Buttons, Little Bob and Coco did a great job of attacking this lettuce head today. As always...don't let them mistake YOUR head for a head of iceberg. Where's Lady Marmalade? She was on the nest, laying the first of the day's FOUR eggs!

Today was the second day in a row that each hen laid an egg. We've had a lot of three-egg days the last few weeks, but this is a record. I think they maybe had one four-egg day last summer. I guess it makes a difference that they're a year old now.

So, in spite of the fact that the Seattle weather has been cool, wet and a touch dreary, our little garden managed to provide me with some significant lunch ingredients. Eggs, naturally, and some of these mustard greens that overwintered nicely.

I'm planning to start my tomato seedlings indoors this weekend. But other than peas, I don't plan to direct seed anything outside just yet. I've learned, in my five springs in this house, and this garden, that it just doesn't pay to rush even cool-weather crops into the ground until we've had a little more sun and a slight warming. Crops planted a month later germinate better and end up catching up to their early-bird siblings, anyway.