The dirt won't come out from under the fingernails

We spent the whole of the weekend in the garden. A second round of peas has been planted. All the rows are ready for seeds to be sown. Cabbage and brocolli plants have been set and are surrounded by radishes of several varieties - Cherry Belle, French Breakfast and the intriguing Purple Plum. Lettuce has been planted along the garlic. Beets and carrots also went in. I've still got shallots to set (and I'm trying some from seed). The leeks are ready to be set. Our new apples, plum and peach have all gone in the ground. Busy. Busy. Busy.

I spent a good part of a very hot afternoon in the greenhouse potting up all the tomato and pepper plants. They'll be ready to plant in the garden in a couple of weeks. No need to rush them when they have room and a warm spot to grow. I've also got fennel, basil and a bunch of flowers started. It all looks like so much.

As soon as school is out, I'll be able to concentrate on things around here. Chef Boots wants me to grow things for him and then there's the new tailgate market a mile from our house at the community center/fire station. I'm very excited about that. We had a formation meeting last week and that is going to be a fun way to spend my Saturday mornings. Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to fit everything in the garden and read the "egg laws" and try to anticipate what will sell well and drink more coffee...

Keep your fingers crossed for the eggs in the incubator. Today is the day they should start hatching and many eager children are counting on me to bring baby chicks to life (You probably didn't realize I had that super power...). If it should fail, I do have 10 chicks in the brooder already. Do you think they would notice??? I mean, how would they know those weren't the eggs??? No, I wouldn't do that - I promise. I know all won't hatch, but by the laws of probability, some should hatch. This whole hatching and brooding thing is such a fragile process. And the little things are so, well, little; you just don't know what went wrong when something goes wrong. We did lose one of the goslings the day they arrived. When that happens I always lose confidence in my ability to raise the little guys. So seriously, keep fingers crossed until I post a picture of fluffy little chicks that aren't all yellow and all roosters (Anyone need a Salmon Faverolle rooster chick? I have ten...).