which do you want first... the bad news or the bad news?

Saturday afternoon and evening we had torrential downpour, giving us a whopping 1 inch of rain in just a few hours.

the lower garden did not fare so well, but not nearly as bad as we first feared. there is a run-off stream on the hillside right above the garden, and with so much rain in such a short time... let's just say that the garden has some major drainage issues.

probably about ½ of the carrots are lost, although we won't know for sure for over a week. some of the potatoes were underwater as well, but by Sunday afternoon they had mostly drained. the rest of the garden is very, very wet, and i won't be able to get in there to work for days? weeks?

however, things could definitely be much worse~ the hard frost that they were calling for last night did not seem to materialize. there is another frost warning for tonight, so maybe after that we're in the clear. (she says with eternal optimism.)

our broody hen finally hatched her egg. yes, singular. not plural. and somehow, the one lone peep did not survive. i found it in the chicken tractor yesterday afternoon, all muddy and limp. it was so sad, and i felt terrible.

we don't know what happened with all the other eggs that she was brooding on, since there was absolutely no sign of them in the nesting box. I'm not sure what went wrong: was it us and poor management? or was it the hen and poor mothering? i do know that if another hen goes broody i will separate her from the rest of the flock. hopefully that will bring more successful results.

we've had a little set-back and some disappointment, but no major harm done. "onward and upward!"

(extra brownie points to whoever can tell me what that quote is from!)