Picked the first snap peas.  That's all there were.........so I ate them.

Went down to the garden at 7:30 AM in my "Nona" shoes and tied up more tomatoes, picked three cherry tomatoes before the deer could eat them, and hoed around the summer squash.  Cut more Kale and pulled more red frilly lettuce for our salads.  Carrots are still sad looking and some minute insects are eating the Swiss chard.  If I had chickens and ducks, they would be taking care of the slugs and insects.

Our box turtle came out of its hole after the Monday night rain and hid under one of the tomatoes plants when it saw me digging in the garden.

The John Campbell Folk School  in Brasstown offers free classes for local residents when a class doesn't fill.  I've been reading the site weekly hoping to find a free art class or some other class to take.  Running the weekend of May 18-20 is Gardening & Homesteading: Backyard Chicken Workshop.  It would teach me how to manage a small flock of chickens with an optional rooster and inform me about the different breeds.  Lauria has had chickens for years now and keeps encouraging me to build a coop and start small with only 5-6 at first.  There are so many beautiful breeds to choose from.  I find the Brahma and the Icelandic intriguing and, of course, the Leghorn always reminds me of the cartoon character, Foghorn Leghorn. 

During World War I, raising chickens in one's backyard was considered a patriotic duty. 

Food for thought!!