Okay, here's a 2 day post...

Well, just when I have news to share, I find that Blogger is down temporarily.  I know, you all know this, but I was well, bummed.  So I will just share two days worth of news in one post:

Thursday:

Chickens are getting too big for their Costco box, and the coop is in need of finishing:

No roof, No floor, but the roosts are in.  I used 2x3's and offset them so the higher roost is behind the lower.  They can be removed for cleaning.

So the plan for the day was to put on a roof, put in the floor, and complete the ramp ladder to access the outdoor lower run.

Well, successful for the day.  Here you see the floor in, and the register at the back to aid in ventilation.

Lookee here, a way out!

The Ramp to the lower run, when the door / ramp is lowered to complete it.

The door/ramp is up, the coop closed up, and the ramp is now partial.

Here is the view from the nesting boxes (note there are two) and you can just see the roofing shingles at the top of the photo.

This took darned near all day!  Building this coop is a chore.  I had wanted to get the tomatoes, peppers and melons out, as I had made two hoop houses over my 4x8 beds, but was too whupped to do anything more.

Friday.  Well, got an early jump, and had planned to put the front panel on, and fix the door on the front, and put on the nesting box doors.  If time permitted, put out the tomatoes, peppers and melons.

Well, the front panel is on, and the door is in.  Note the window in the door.  The window is 18x24 acrylic.  The door has 3 hinges at the bottom and is held closed with two barrel bolts at the top corners.

This is the front door when open.  It drops totally down, allowing me to clean the inside, easily.

I have two doors on the nesting boxes, one for each box.  Two hinges per door, and a barrel bolt at the top holds it closed.

Here is one of the open doors.  Normally I see the lid lift up to access the box, but this was placed so high, my wife and daughter couldn't get their hands into the box if it was accessed through the lid, so I enter through the back wall, now everyone can hunt for eggs!

I finished up, and though tired, was able to put out 4 tomatoes, eggshells at the bottom of the hole, and a mix of epsom salts and organic tomato feed around the base.  I also planted out 5 Red Bell Pepper plants that were starting to flower (I got the seed from a Red Pepper I bought at the Grocery!  We will see what we get...) Also planted were 3 Jalepeno Peppers, 3 Cayenne Peppers and 3 Pepperocini Peppers.  Everything got a good soaking, and I sealed up the hoop house.

By this time, I was beyond tired.  I just couldn't get the melons out.  That will have to wait for tomorrow. As will the basil, and Ground Cherries.

My wife's sunflowers have all come up, and are reaching for the great fluorescent sun in the sky!  The tomatoes I planted as a last ditch effort to grow my own have all sprouted, and are growing, so I have some hope now.

Night all