I recently constructed a flower bed on the side of the hill behind my house. Well, it's actually beside my house, but it's near the steps to the back porch, where a bank drops off near the fence that marks the edge of my property.

Of course, I was prompted to do that, not taking it on of my own accord. Sometimes I need to be prodded a bit to get going, but not always. It seems that I like to find excuses as to why I can't do things rather than just doing them—especially if those things aren't things that I'm interested in to start with. Or if those things involve digging with a mattock, carrying very heavy timbers and other similar types of physical labor. However, I find that I usually enjoy building things of any sort once I actually get started.

I used old railroad ties to build the flower box, cutting them with my chainsaw and stacking them after leveling off a section of the bank. I had considered building some terracing on the rest of the bank to create level flower beds, but that hasn't really turned into a reality as of yet. Mainly because I haven't done anything about it yet.

In case you decide that you'd like to do this, I'd remind you that railroad ties are extremely heavy. They are even more heavy when they have been laying on the ground for several years where they can soak up lots of water, partially buried by compost, dirt, leaves and rotten apples. It's also a little icky to stick your hand in something that may have been an apple last fall, but not has been translated into another substance entirely.

I might not have had the railroad ties available had it not been for the chicken lot that I started disassembling. As you might have guessed, it's right near the apple tree.

I had given my chickens away last year and then I more recently donated "ye olde chicken house' to the same friend, effectively rendering my temporary chicken career over and done with.

The main reason for doing so had more to do with effort than profitability, although neither had proven a positive for me. I was going to be going on vacation when I gave the chickens away last February and didn't want to be faced with asking someone to care for them a couple times a day for me.

The main problem with small flocks of chickens is the fact that their water tends to freeze up, meaning that they need it thawed out a couple times a day. Their eggs also can freeze in the nests if they aren't picked up two or three times a day. As an added bonus, small flocks of chickens aren't profitable. Usually, the eggs barely pay for the food the birds consume. Of course, no one these days gets a dozen chickens and says, "Well, we won't have to worry about our retirement now." But there is definite value in having fresh eggs picked up that morning. At least you know where they came from and what they've been fed.

But anyway, like most of the little hobbies I've taken on over the years, I learned how to do it pretty well and then stopped. What hobbies, you ask? Well, I've raised rabbits and chickens, hogs and cows, gardened on a fairly large scale, tried my hand at beekeeping and probably a few other things that I can't even remember right now.

While some of those endeavors might even have been profitable and enjoyable, I usually get to the point where I know what I'm doing and quit after realizing that it's more of a problem than a benefit.

The little chicken house that I constructed using the design that I stole partially from a friend was one the last pieces of evidence of that enterprise to leave the house. My friend, who happens to also be my pastor, decided to expand his holdings in the egg business by adding on another flock. Therefore, being the generous sort (and wanting the house out of my yard to make mowing easier), I made him the proud owner. I'm really not saying I'll never raise chickens again, but I don't expect I'll do it anytime soon.

He and another friend came by and we lifted one end of the house before shoving it on up on the back the truck. Once it was loaded, it looked very much like a redneck camper on the back of his Toyota. It completely filled the bed from front to back. After the house was gone, I kept the fenced intact to plant my cucumbers in, since they did so well there last year. I may remove two sides and just leave one corner of it for the cucumbers to climb, though.

While we were moving the house, I noticed a really nice little tree was growing there. It may be a peach, but I'm not positive. Around the base of it were several peach pits, no doubt the refuse of some long-ago feeding of the chickens with rotten produce. That's another benefit to having chickens—they'll eat almost anything you don't want. At any rate, if the tree is a peach, it's really growing well and it will be a lasting benefit from my chicken experiment.

The railroad ties were around the bottom of the pen to help keep animals from digging inside or the chickens from digging out, like in that animated movie.

Anyway, the timbers are really hard to beat when it comes to trying to terrace off a piece of land or build a simple flower bed. However, they are a bear to move and cut, I've found. Of course, being difficult to move would be a benefit if one has an object that he would rather not have move, right?

With the time change and spring officially beginning, I'm already looking forward to spending more time outside. Even if that means I have to move railroad ties and build flower beds.

I'm already enjoying seeing longer days and more sunshine, both of which I've missed sorely.
 

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