Off-Grid in West Virginia

Monday

Linda

Its after 8pm. The little chicks have been fed and watered and now that their tummies are full they snuggle together on a bed of sweet straw. The adults have retired to the comfort of their roost. The chicken coop door has been closed and locked tight to keep out the monsters that lurk in the night searching for a chicken snack. All is peaceful and quiet in the coop except for an occasional snore from the direction of his majesty Roo Roo Rooster. The hens snuggle close to one another and their plump breasts rise and fall as they float on the feathery wisps of chicken slumber.  The guineas have been given a dinner of scratch corn which they thoroughly enjoyed before retiring to their roosts under the pole barn eaves. My own eyes are heavy and I crave the comfort of my bed, but first I must tell you about the activities of the day on Pot Hole Farm.

My day started early. The sun was up and the sky was painted corn flower blue. My plan was to start planting the potatoes immediately after breakfast but as most plans go it was changed. Instead Ruby and I took a trip to the Salem IGA grocery store to buy some small grit for the chicks. They have started to eat a little scratch and the adult grit would be too large for their crops to handle. I read in my chicken book that if you can’t get the chick grit you can use small bird grit for cockatiels and such. As soon as we got home I decided to do a couple of loads of laundry. You can’t waste sunny days when living off grid. By that time that was finished, it was lunch time.

The rest of the afternoon was spent marking rows in cloddy dirt and digging holes to plant the cut potato starts. I planted four rows with about seventeen potatoes to each row. If we don’t get a few potatoes out of that I don’t know what to do. Unfortunately this part of the garden was added on just the other day specifically for these potatoes. I didn’t plan on planting any this year because they didn’t do well last year. This soil didn’t get the healthy dose of donkey manure like the rest of garden so it is a gamble on how well they will grow.

The sun was hot even though it was in the mid seventies. Proper attire is crucial when working outdoors. A t-shirt, capris, garden shoes, and Sonny’s Panama straw hat fit the bill, but the shade of a golf umbrella keeps you in the cool. I know this ensemble would not be seen in a Macy’s window but this is farm fashion. Dirt is considered makeup.

I’m not as spry as I used to be so there were frequent breaks to stretch out the kinks and enjoy a cold glass of water on the porch swing. The cabbage plants looked healthy and the lettuce and radishes are sprouting up. The hot sun had dried the soil so I gave the potatoes, green beans, lettuce, cabbage and strawberries a good drink. With the little energy I had left I weeded the flower beds. Not a good job but they look some better.

Well, the chickens and guineas are in bed, the cat and dog are sleeping and the all the potatoes are snug in their rows. Now its my turn to crawl under the covers and lay my head on a soft pillow. It’s time to put chores and lists of chores on the back burner and let the waves of sleep carry me out to the sea of happy dreams. Good night.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 9th, 2011 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Off-Grid. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.