Sowing

The past couple weeks I have been sowing seeds sow to speak. Sow far it has been various wild flower seeds, vining/climbing plants and of course our pear tree. I really don't know what will take or bloom, nor do I really know what I'm doing. I figure God set things in order in a particular way and I am modeling that best as possible. By this I mean, seeds fall on the ground, rain comes, and things grow. That is my plan of attack. I either have seeds cast on the ground or at times pushed in the dirt a bit, by my finger, and otherwise I hope for the best. We have gotten a lot of rain lately, and more to come it seems. We'll see how it turns out, but I am hoping for a lot of color. There are locations all around our yard, front and back that have seeds in place. Best I can tell, this desire to do gardening comes from my farmer/gardener grandpa on my dad's side. He was very good at it and provided much food for his family that way. I remember picking strawberries with him.

Next for me is to sow in the seeds for our garden. Yesterday I got sweet corn, spring salad mix(that's actually what they call it), beets, tomatoes, strawberries, carrots and cucumbers. We have a load of dirt hauled in from my in-laws dried up livestock tank. This stuff is thick and dark, and smells bad! Hopefully it will do. I don't have the amount of soil in the raised bed that I would like, but I am tired of driving through my back yard with a heavy truck. Several times to remove fence paneling and a couple times to unload dirt. I figure we'll go with this amount for now and add more next year. I had the idea last night of taking some pictures of the progress of the garden. Maybe later today, I'll post a shot of the bed with seeds planted and then months from now, post a shot of things in full bloom. Any of you local family and friends, we may have some fruit of the harvest to share with you this year. Last year, just with 3 tomato plants and 3 cucumber plants, we had more then we could use and gave away much.

As for my business, seeds are being sown too. My DBA is official, my business checking is open, my business cards and stamper are in, business cards are starting to distribute, and I have some equipment from Harbor Freight do in, any time. I have an ad in the local paper out, starting this Friday, that should run for 5 weeks. It's around 20 bucks for this and we'll see what comes of it, and if it's worth doing more off. I also have a couple new tank set-ups with monthly service in the works. Both are in commercial locations with high visibility. That would be great advertising! It's funny, ever since I declared my fictitious name, I have had banks calling me every week wanting my business through them. It's weird being fought over and "doing business" as they say. I'm just a dude with some buckets...

Veronica is seriously considering taking her new job which will give her every evening and weekend home with us. How wonderful that would be . Her hours are so cattywampus right now. If she takes that job, I am uncertain what time it will allot me to go work on tanks though. We'll figure it out. "One step at a time" the Lord tells me... She has to first shadow with some people at the end of March, decide yes or no, then negotiate terms of employment, then train in Houston for a month. Maybe the boys and I would go too, at least for part of the time. There is much going on around here. Much in transition. Everyday we pray to our Heavenly Father and thank Him for His provision, these new possibilities and ask for discernment on where to go and how to be. We are seeking His will. It's exciting. Sometimes nerve racking, but exciting! I have heard it said, "there is no better or safer place to be, then within God's will." How true. Just as soon as we are out of our comfort zone, we should realize we are still in His comfort zone. To Him be the glory.

I am still thinking on getting some hens for our back yard. The reasons are two fold. One, for the eggs, and two for the experience for the boys. It seems our little house in Cedar Park is turning into a small farm... Apparently though, one can't just slap together a chicken coop. There are a few essential parts to it and some effort/$ would go into it. Google "building chicken coops" or "raising urban chickens", etc. There are some hardcore chicken people with decorative coops all decked out in trim work and fancy paint. That's not what I had in mind. My neighbor has access to a brood(?) of baby chicks from his cousin. Maybe free? We'll see... For now, our garden and my business need attention. Look for some pictures soon.


Note- I just learned that a "brood of baby chicks" is called a clutch. I knew that, just not when I needed to type it. Actually one definition of "clutch" was a brood of baby chicks, so I wasn't so far off...