Planting seedlings and concrete

We've tried to make the most of the warmer, dry days since the snow melted. We finally transplanted our tiny onion seedlings into the garden (no pictures of them yet), which feels like some version of sending a kindergartner off to school on the bus for the first time. They're too small! The world is too unsafe! But they've been growing inside in dixie cups for two months, so I guess we've given them the best head start that we can. We'll transplant cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and brussels sprouts soon, which will clear up room under the grow lights inside for seedy trays of peppers and other warm-season plants.

Our expected shipment of 100 strawberry plants finally got delivered this week. (We're giving 20 or 30 away, which still leaves us with a bounty.) They're not much to look at now. 

So far, we've got 27 of them planted. Apparently you aren't supposed to let them fruit the first year if you want a significantly better harvest in subsequent years, so they'll be all work and no fun this year. But I'm already dreaming of the fresh berries and jam and ice cream we'll be gorging on in 2014. If we ever get to the fruit before the birds and deer do, anyway.

Today I was especially appreciative of the freelance lifestyle. With Mike's family coming over tomorrow for a "coop raising," it was imperative that we get the concrete footers in place today for the chicken coop to stand on. So I worked for a few hours in the morning and then got to spend the majority of the most beautiful day of the year outside, measuring and digging holes for the concrete forms.

Here's the site, with the rough footprint of the coop marked in cement blocks and wood scraps. We're putting it near the old dog kennel so that eventually we can use the kennel as an adjoining, protected outside area for the chickens.

I've heard "measure twice, cut once" before, but today was a case of measuring easily 30 times and pouring cement once. To get the holes the right distance from each other, in a rectangle (as opposed to a parallelogram), level with each other, and level on their own was the kind of mental challenge that will keep me from getting Alzheimer's someday. But Mike and I finally got the 1-foot-tall cylindrical forms in place and poured in the quick-set concrete. By tomorrow they should be dry enough for construction of our 4x7-foot chicken coop to begin!

Those footers still don't look level. But I swear they are.