Rethinking Living Accommodations

Since the warm weather has finally come our way and everyone keeps on growing, it has become necessary to relocate a few friends to some more size-appropriate living accommodations here on the farm.

Our wee ducklings are not so wee any longer.  They have tripled in size!

After only a week they have outgrown their brooder and are ready to move to the refurbished baby chick coop outside.  They are loving their new home.  Likely because it comes complete with a pool (when the lifeguard (me) is on duty, of course) and a snack bar featuring fresh grass.  These ducklings are living the good life, that's for sure!

Our green friends also underwent a re-homing today - from the living room to the front porch.  It is time to start hardening off our seedlings for planting.  Hardening off means to slowly acclimatize the baby plants to outside.  Really, it is mostly about not killing the seedlings I have been babying for months now.  So, we started slow with a fan blowing on them in the living room.  Phase 2 is getting them used to some real wind and the cooler outdoor temperatures by living on the covered front porch.  Next, is exposure to some spring rain and natural sunlight on an overcast day.  Lastly, is exposure to direct sunlight for a few hours at a time until they are ready for a full day of brilliant sunshine.  Then it is off to the garden for them!

There are perks to having relocated both the ducklings and the seedlings.  We now have to cope only with "turkey stink" in the garage where the brooder is located instead of both duck and turkey stink.  As for the seedlings, I have temporarily reclaimed some of my living room real estate - at least until I re-pot my next iteration of seedlings.