Chicken Poop smells absolutely terrible!!!!!!!!!

Now I have shoveled my share of horse stalls and been in my share of cow pastures so I can deal quite well with horse and cow manure. I have even been know to pick it up with my bare hands...(come on...it is just grass and hay!) 

I am a big believer of adding manure and compost to the garden.  The dirt that was put in our garden area is more clay matter than dirt so it needs a lot of help.    So when Terry bought two bags of chicken manure to add to the dirt I was all for it...  and didn't think much of it.

So today, I tore open the bag of chicken poop , dumped it out and began to turn the dirt.  All of a sudden the smell leaped out at me with a mighty force.... a smell so strong and indescribable seeped into each nostril.  As it hit my poor nose I felt myself starting to gag!  Oh my gosh what do they feed these chickens???  I had to cover my face with my arm to continue to turn the dirt!    I had no idea!!

I should have been prepared, I mean they even put a sort of warning on the bag... 

yuck!

Then I looked a little closer... it was full of chicken feathers.. gross!!!!

I know, I know chickens loose their feathers all the time and when scooping up the Chicken Poop they couldn't help but scoop up the feathers too...  again yuck!

But you want to know what the worse part of all this is...  Sadie loves the Chicken poop... I can't keep her out of it....  Every time she goes outside she comes back in with a dirt beard... you know,  they don't make mouthwash for dogs... Lucky me.   

After all this, I better have some big,   juicy, tomatoes this year!!!

As I have said before I love to grow things. Flowers, herbs, veggies.. you name it I will grow it. The only problem is I don't have a lot of yard that has sun on it. I have a small strip of ground in the corner of the yard, inside the fence that gets 8 hours of sun. It is about 8 feet by 5 feet.

I've grown tomatoes, basil, rosemary and two years ago I planted strawberries and a butterfly bush. Well that is about all that is there now because the strawberries have taken over the bed.

Which is O.K. because we love going out and picking fresh strawberries

The last year I dug up the small strip of ground that is right outside the fence and right on the property line because it also has eight hours of sun. I have black eyed susans, cone flowers, lilies, holly hocks and roses.

I planted roses for the first time last year. This year they are so beautiful! My Mom always had beautiful rose gardens when I was a kid. I have a light purple rose and a salmon pink rose.

Last year I planted these Holly Hocks and they did nothing. They have pretty much taken over the flower bed this year. I can't wait to see what color they will be. Today I found some time to dig some weeds out and to dig out another bed along the fence. I bought a bunch of flowers for my mother's day present. Tomorrow I will plant! As long as it doesn't rain.

My front yard is all shade. But I have fun planting it too. Actually it pretty much takes care of itself. I plant impatiences and caladiums for a splash of color. I love adding little bits of art in my flower beds.

I have a brand new growing season to play with and I can't wait to see how everything grows!

So what's growing in your yard?

Hopefully mine will grow well. We planted the veggie garden today. The kids and I planted in between the rain falls. We planted tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, and watermelon. Our neighbor, who is 94 years old has had a garden in this spot for the last 50 years. This year he was put in a nursing home and he asked if we would plant his garden for him and keep it up. We have tried to help him the last few years. I would go get the plants but he insists to get out there and plant them himself. His garden got smaller and smaller every year.

So this year we are bringing it back to life. So hopefully it will grow for us as well as it did for our neighbor.

Camille decided to become a part of the dirt. She took a long bath after this.

I just had to take a picture of those hands. I think she will have a green thumb like me. :)

After the garden fun and I had Camille in the bath I looked out the window and Brian and Griffin were having a little Father and son time. Had to grab the camera and run outside.

I think Griffin will take after Daddy and love Golf too.

Spring is my favorite time of year. I love the first of spring when the flowers start popping up through the ground, the tiny buds start growing on the trees. The sounds the birds make, the smell of grass getting it's first cut of the season. Everything is so fresh and colorful.

Most of all I love plants and I love the smell of dirt! Right after Christmas I get excited because in Wal-Mart, they take the Christmas decorations down and start putting the outdoor and gardening tools in their place. It always smells so good! Then in March when they start putting the plants out it is all I can do to wait until the last freeze to buy them. If you come by the Boutique you will see how much I love plants. I had a new flower bed to play with this Spring.

This weekend Brian and I started a vegatable garden. We got the ground ready, removed all the grass and turned all the dirt. Camille and Griffin helped us by making sure the worms where removed from the clumps of dirt before we removed them. Next weekend we will plant tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, cucumbers and sunflowers. This is the first year we have had a full veggie garden and I can't wait to see how it grows. ~Wendy