Wow, I haven't written in my journal for quite a while!
I ended up buying 3 Americauna chicks during the Easter Sale at Coastal-- buy 2, get one free. They are now at that straggly-looking stage - not downy, but not fully feathered either. It's been too cold to put them out in Fort Clucksop ( the smaller of 2 coops- intended as a nursery for broodys) so I have them in a tub inside the bathtub. Thank goodness for the YMCA- we go there for Tai Chi 3 times a week, and we've been showering there so we don't have to disassemble everything every time we want a shower. Some of my seeds have sprouted beautifully and are going like gangbusters in the greenhouse, but the tomatoes have stubbornly refused to do anything at all. I'll probably have to buy some starts from someone. Bummer.
We had a sunny day today, so we went out and worked on the garden. I never finished cleaning up last fall, so we got that done today. Checked on the asparagus- it's all coming up nicely! This will be the first year we get a decent cutting from them so I'm eagerly awaiting that!
The chickens are giving us about a dozen eggs a day right now so I'm up to my armpits. I've started freezing them in ice cube trays and then popping them out and storing in zip locks in the freezer until I have enough to do a load in the freeze-dryer. I only have 2 trays, which hold about 18 eggs total, so it's gonna be a multi-day project. Still, I will be glad to have those powdered eggs this winter for baking, custards, quiches, etc when the chickens are grumbling in their coop.
We finally have enough money saved up to put a perimeter fence around the property, to replace the ancient field fencing. I decided to go with 6-foot chain-link, with a rolling gate at the driveway and 2 smaller "man-gates" opening to the 2 empty lots on either side of us. I wish we owned those lots, but one is owned by the power company, and the other has an absentee owner who is not interested in selling (yet- maybe someday). In the meantime, those gates will allow us to have quick access if we need it. We paid the down payment and now we are clearing brush away from the fence line; most of the back is overgrown with wild roses. We found a large roll of perfectly good field fence in the middle of it- score!
I've been training with CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) the last month or so, it's kind of fun. At the end of this month they will hold a simulation disaster drill which should be interesting. No idea what type of disaster it will be yet- active shooter? multi-car crash? haz-mat spill? earthquake? And I don't know yet whether I will be one of the "victims" or one of the responders.
... you might be allowed to garden some there. In my area the power companies often allow some use for grazing. Hey, less area for them to cut down. I've also seen some huge gardens, leaving the adjacent owners smaller yard in tact. 
