Farm Update

It's been a mild winter so far. The greatest news is that I finally found a watering method for the chickens that keeps the water thawed and clean all winter! I also have them on supplemental light from midnight to 7AM (a single CFL bulb) which keeps my five hens laying four eggs a day. Yay! And the eggs are pretty darn big. Jumbo, in fact.

All the garden perennials have gone dormant. The strawberries held out the longest. I've already received my favorite seed catalog for next year, but only glanced at it half-heartedly. It's hard to tell how much time and energy I will want to commit to the garden next season. I don't get really excited about growing things until January or February.

I'm debating how much help to expect from the kids next summer. Is the garden something the whole family is expected to work on regularly, or is it simply Mom's pet project she allows the kids to help with occasionally? It's not like we depend on the garden for food. And there are only a few farm/garden chores done regularly enough to go onto a chore chart. I'm interested to hear others' experiences with family gardens growing up...what worked? what didn't?