The Infamous List

Waaaaay back at the beginning of summer, I thought up a crazy To Do List.  It was very ambitious, but check it out, I actually got a bunch of it done!


The Chicken Lady's Insane 2012 To-Do List
1. Build a hoophouse.
2. Plant items in the hoophouse.
3. Install minidrip or minisprinkler watering system in the hoophouse.  Not quite for this year, the jungle needed far more flow to support it, so I just resorted to flooding it with the garden hose periodically.
4. Find a bunch of bins to grow potatoes in.
5. Plant potatoes.
6. Refill with dirt AND weed out the front raised bed garden.
7. Get a lot of shredded bark. And that means A LOT.
8. Spread shredded bark all over the slowly eroding bare yard before it washes away completely.
9. Clean out the rabbit barn, and install more worms for vermicomposting under the cages.
10. Build many sturdy yet inexpensive chicken tractors, enough to house 200 chickens.
11. Seriously redo the front perennial garden, which has become all weeds and rougue invasives.
12. Till back garden. Many times.
13. Put something in the cold frames, so they have a purpose instead of being decorative.  I opted to compost in them this year, to rebuild the depleted soil.  Plus, it makes an excellent excuse as to why I can’t plant anything in there right now.  Whoot!
14. Rebuild the fire pit in the back yard.
15. Till up new gardens against the back fence and install trellises to support the zuchinni. Well, I went with cucumbers back there, which did ok until I kept forgetting to water them in this drought, and they became too bitter for my tastes.  The chicken loved them.
16. Decide where the heck the cucumbers will grow this year.  Plant into dry sink! Alas, the dry sink remains empty of plant life.  Sure looks cute, though.
17. Install fencing panels for the new chicken yard, and install a chicken door on the big pink shed.
18. Buy more paint in Phlox and Pigeon.  I actually found that I already had some.  Ha ha.  That's why you clean up the porch before you write things on the list.
19. Buy hot pink spray paint in quantity.
20. Make two old decrepit garden carts into cute planters, meaning a visit to the greenhouse!
21. Don't forget to buy a whole lot of potting soil, like you did last year.
22. Establish a third compost heap.
23. Plant new trees in the back orchard.
24. Weed the strawberry bed.
25. Dig out the blueberries, that aren't alive or growing at all.
26. Decide what small fruit may survive better than the blueberries did (umm, more strawberries?)
27. Clean out the chicken run, and build them a dust bath corner.  Going to be done TODAY.  Really.
28. Dig a dust bath area for the new chickens by the big shed.
29. Plant the vegetable garden on time, so things actually have enough time to grow.
30. Fertilize things so they actually grow and are healthy.
31. Research and implement fly control measures for the chickens and rabbits.  Soooo…had an infestation of wolf spiders around the joint, and they eat copious amounts of insect life.  It is fantastic, but a bit freaky when they leap out of nowhere in all their furry legged, creepy glory.  Cue full body shudder!  Ehhhheewwwww!
32. Build a "pond garden" in front, complete with fish and fountain.
33. Figure out how the black water trough that is the "pond" will be disguised (faux rock?)
34. Reblack the inside of the solar dehydrator with oven-proof spray paint.
35. Find a source of small hay bales and small straw bales, to avoid overusing the current suppliers.
36. Design a cat run...which may just be wishful thinking.  Yeah, ummm…definitely wishful.
37. Research lawn options that don't grow above four inches.  Ditto for this.
38. Win the lottery so I can afford to rip up the current lawn and replant the no-mow option.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha!  Right….
39. Restring the clothesline.
40. Fill in all the remaining dog-dug holes.
41. Invest in another weed whipper, one that has a better charging capacity so it doesn't punk out.
42. Find a local source for garden strength vinegar.
43. Buy some more hot pepper wax spray to deter the wild rabbits.  NO rabbits outside this year.  I believe something in the area is eating them, and it’s not me.
44. Come up with a weeding schedule, which may be the only way I actually weed as I should.
45. Round up some chicken crates for transportation purposes.  I opted to just borrow them.  Oh, and use old dog crates.  It worked.
46. Trim the weedy starts from around the box elder trees.
47. Don't forget to plant the new raspberry bushes.
48. If the grapevine really is dead, plant another one somewhere else.
49. More support for the climbing roses!
50. Mow the lawn regularly, until the lottery is won and the lawn is no more.

Not bad, eh?  Okay, gotta go and take care of those chicken chores .