back in Portland

After a day of cold, rainy and grey weather, coming into Portland to take a hot shower with water I didn't have to pump was amazing (and really, I was filthy, so being clean was amazing as well.)

Yesterday was a two pants day. We spent the entire day (and a nice chunk of Thursday) putting up a winter chicken coop in what was once a tractor garage. I am now intimately familiar with chicken wire, staple guns, staple hammers, electric drills, insulation and how to attach things to rotting boards.

This is the first year the farm is raising chickens. They arrived in the mail, little, peeping, balls of fuzz and they are currently living in the barn and in the greenhouse. As we prepare for the melting of snow, seedlings are taking up more and more space in the greenhouse and the chickens need to move into new housing to free up space for plants.

We took a tour of the fields this week, and though they are still under snow it was nice to get an idea of what food will be grow where. Crops are rotated to different fields each year, because different plants take different amounts of nutrients from the soil, therefore, moving crops around helps to preserve the soil. Some fields are also fallow, they take a rest, get a cover crop and gather strength for another season. There are eleven fields on the farm, all different sizes. Should be no surprise then, that the farm manager spends the winter planning out how to grow food for 230 families over 20 weeks.

I drove back to town yesterday afternoon, exhausted and looking forward to a weekend of rest, food and time with my darling. I'm looking forward to next week, ready for our next tasks, see how much the little greenhouse plants have grown and hopefully watch more snow melt.