It was a glorious weekend here. Sunny and seventies. It would have been perfection but for the black flies. Insidious little things. Did you know they have serrated teeth? My legs – a minefield of red swollen bites are proof.

Lots of things happened at Downeast Thunder Farm this weekend.

The Freedom Ranger meat chickens got their first taste of free ranging. With portable fencing we’ve set up a yard outside their pen. When they’ve finished grazing that area, we can shift to a new patch of green.

I prepared my raised garden beds and planted: corn, zucchini, pumpkin, spaghetti squash, radish, kale, green beans, carrots, and tomatoes. When my cucumbers harden off in a few days I’ll add those to the mix. Peas, lettuce and spinach have already been planted and are slowly coming along.

While the potatoes in my potato basket are just starting to take root, the basket itself has begun to bloom! It’s really quite beautiful.

Paul began excavating the duck pond. He’s had the spot cleared for a while, but we’ve had so much rain that he couldn’t get the tractor in for fear of sinking into the clay.

At the end of they day the pond was whopping 18″ deep. He moved a lot of dirt, but I think Paul needs a bigger machine!

A late afternoon peak into the Banty B & B found Shadow being a good mama, tucking her babies Klee and Peanut (almost three-weeks-old) in for the night.

They’re still a bit bashful around me!