The Journal: Ash Fall Read Online Free Page B

fence
needs to be tightened up, and then the electric fence charger
reinstalled so we can attach those wires. I really don’t want to do
any work in the garden until it’s protected from the animals.”
    “Makes sense,” he replied, eying all the foot
high tomato plants sitting in front of the windows.
    “Before planting the garden, I want to rake
out and plant one of the new yards for the chickens. I’m thinking
of planting vetch or clover. I’ve got seed for both. I was going to
do a ‘green manure’ planting for the garden and never got around to
it.”
    “Why not seed some of both?” he questioned.
“That way they would get a little variety.”
    I smiled. It was good to have him back.
    “Good idea, John, we can do that.”
     
    * * *
     
    John pulled the tiller back into the garden
and walked it into the first chicken yard. I was really happy he
volunteered to do that, since the ground in that area hadn’t been
broken in years. I dug around in the metal trash can where I kept
all my seeds, found what I needed, and mixed a cup full of the
ground cover. It might take a month or six weeks for it to grow
enough, and the sooner it was planted the sooner the chickens would
have something healthy and natural to eat and I could cut back on
the remaining feed. I was worried about how I was going to keep
them fed this next winter. It was definitely worthy of a family
discussion at some point.
    “How are the chickens laying, Allex?” John
asked as he put the tiller away.
    “The eight hens are giving five to six eggs
each day, sometimes only four, though. Someone is slowing down.” I
frowned.
    The oldest of “the girls”, two black
Astralorpes, were now five years old. Their seven off spring were
three years old. It was time to renew the flock. As noisy as he
could be, I was glad I kept the one rooster.
    John chuckled. “What are you thinking? I can
see those wheels turning.”
    “I’m thinking we need to stop eating eggs for
a week and collect enough to fill the incubator, and then hatch out
a new flock.”
    “Why does it not surprise me that you have an
incubator?” He reached out and gave me a hug. “Where is it? I’ll
get it down for you.”
    I put the lightweight incubator box and the
egg-turner in the house to be washed later, and went back to the
garden. John had already started the raking, which was another
thing that would be done much quicker with two of us. I hand spread
the seed around the inner yard, and grabbed a second rake. We
worked silently side by side for another hour. As delighted as I
was that so much was done today, it was time to stop and clean up.
My lower back was feeling the strain.
     
    * * *
     
    After my shower, I slipped on a casual
t-shirt dress that was cool on my legs and made me feel more
feminine. Feeling feminine was not something I had worried about
for the past several weeks.
    While John showered, I washed and sterilized
the incubator, and set it aside. It would be started with the first
eggs tomorrow. Jason and I experimented one year and realized we
had a better hatching rate if the incubator was started
immediately, rather than waiting until it was full. That also let
the chicks hatch out over a period of time instead of all at
once.
     
    JOURNAL ENTRY: May 5
    It’s been a long and hot day, with temperatures into
the 80’s. For dinner I mixed up a cold macaroni and tuna salad,
using rehydrated celery and red sweet peppers, canned peas, and the
first of the fresh onions from the garden I planted last fall in
the raised beds. We drank the last bottle of white wine from the
shelf, one of Nancy’s stash. I think I will use some of my paycheck
from the township to replace the wine supply. Maybe I should look
for wine making supplies instead.
     
    * * *
     
    May 6
    “I think we should plant the garden today,” I
mentioned to John over our morning coffee. “The ground is ready. We
can do the seeds and the potatoes, but I’d rather wait another week
or two for the