I am very excited because I think I have found a local source for three laying hens for the mini coop! The chickens are 5 month old pullets, and if all goes well I will see them and pick three to bring home on January 21. I should be able to harvest the first eggs in a few months. The pictures above were taken this morning, of kale and broccoli that will be harvested this weekend. The variety of broccoli is supposed to produce a number of small heads over a longer time, rather than a main head followed by side shoots. These were planted very late and were direct seeded in the garden (not by transplants), so this will be the first harvest. The plants had drooped terribly after last week's heavy freeze, but perked back up in about 4 days. One other delayed damage from the freeze: all of the leaves on my very small grapefruit tree were killed. I won't know about the tree itself until the spring. My tangerine and orangequat, which are 3 years old and pretty good sized now, only lost young leaves and the tips of branches. The leaves and branches that were damaged were young and tender: the result of the 70 degree weather in December.
