New "Hicken House"

We finished the new chicken enclosure/house/coop/pen thingamajig. It's big. It's sturdy. It's a thing of beauty and functionality:

 

The original plan included a stylish tarp/tent over the arched part to protect the chickens from rain and snow. I still have the materials on-hand, but I'm not in a rush to get them out there. The major point of this design was to create a "deep litter" system where the chickens essentially live on our compost pile. We throw our kitchen and garden scraps out there, they eat what they want, poop all over the place, and scratch around to keep the straw and wet stuff mixed up. In my experience, traditional composting needs water to keep the microorganisms happy. Maybe I don't want to shut out rain and snow, eh? I'll try it without the tarp/tent at first. If things get too stinky or sticky, I can keep it drier. The chickens themselves still have that little sheltered perch under the red coop to stay dry during rain. They are old enough to start laying any day, now. 

I also swore that this would be the last big project before the baby is born. And it is. But of course, my thoughts have moved to the grapes that are just now starting to turn the faintest blush of purple. I have other big plans...next year's plans...but it doesn't hurt to start researching now, does it? Rip out the old fence and shrubberies and grapevines on the north side of the house, prep the soil, build the 6' trellis, identify grape varieties that are hardy and disease resistant and good for organic production, plant said vines, and let them grow. I just can't decide how many fresh eating grapes I want versus juicing grapes. The only tasty way I know to preserve grapes is through juicing and jellying, unless someone else has another idea?