Homestead Happiness, March Week 3

The weather was pretty nice this week--lots more signs of spring (including the calendar), and some progress on our goals for the year.  Yay!

The first spring flowers in the yard!  We saw some crocuses at the neighbors' last weekend, but these dandies are the first ones in our yard.  Can't wait for pancakes and steamed greens!

Last week we mentioned that we found a source of free straw to use for composting, mulching, chicken bedding, etc.  This week we also found a source of free horse manure (hidden under the straw in this picture), as much as we could ever want.  It's organic, mixed with shavings and hay, and comes (accidentally) pre-inoculated with fungal mycelium. Gorgeous!  And they're just giving it away!  Can you believe it?

When the chickens saw the pile, they were possessed by the spirits of entropy and turned it into this within a couple hours.  They're not too interested in the manure part yet, but they really like scratching through the straw.  Since one of our goals for the year is to cut down on chicken feed costs, we're trying to get a miniature version of this going, and it looks like the chooks will be amenable.  (The full version of the video linked above--at Geoff Lawton's website, e-mail subscription required for full access--explains more about the operation, including predator control.  Harvey Ussery also wrote about the concept here and here.)

We also finally got our garden plans in order--layout in the yard and most of the seeds bought.  (Kudos to Territorial Seed for beating the pants off all the other seed catalogs in terms of variety and information about the plants.)  Now we just need to find time to dig up the middle half! (Or not dig part of it, since we want to try the no-till method Anna described in The Weekend Homesteader with some of the beds.)

And last, but not least, the rhubarb is alive!

What made you happy on your homestead this week?