Hello lady Farm Chicks, just wondering what kind of projects you have lined up to fill the winter days? This morning was foggy and just so pretty I couldn't resist a few pictures before I set off to finish up a few last minute details before the weather got bad. I took advantage of this unusually nice November weather to finish up one more chore that had to be done to prepare for next spring.The pen where my  chickens and ducks stay has not been touched in a couple of years and I started thinking about it and realized..it's space I could be using. I think this year I will try my hand at growing pumpkins to have for our Fall show here at the Briar Patch. I've had good luck with pumpkins before, but realizing that this ground is pretty poor, I decided to help it along a little. Now, I try not to use my tiller very much anymore, since I started using the Back to Eden gardening method, it hasn't really been necessary. But this ground is hard and mostly clay and it just isn't going to be a good garden unless I make it one. So, off I went with my tiller, a big monster called "the earthquake",I learned early on why they call it that..this thing will shake your teeth right out of your head. But being the brave and strong Farm Chick I am, I forged ahead. Tilling the ground up, raking up all the grass tuffs I unearthed and raking it smooth made a big difference right away. Then I hauled many wheelbarrels full of well composted horse manure out there and spread it on top. Just like frosting a cake. Now don't make that face...well composted manure doesn't have any smell and is not the least bit icky. After that, my work is mostly done, except now I will save all my kitchen scraps (veggie's, nothing with fat), peels, skins and old stale crackers and such, and I will bury them up until the ground freezes. After that, the chickens will do the work for me. If the ground is too frozen to dig into, I'll just toss the scraps on top. They'll have a great time pecking and scratching all those scraps into the earth and make my ground wonderful! So, one more thing crossed off my list, and another garden will be waiting for me come spring. Ah......life in the garden. I would love to hear what you have going on, waiting for spring....