Wanda and Neutron get to work.

March is a busy garden month. There are seedlings to transplant, seeds to sow, weeds to pull, fences to mend, and compost to spread. Of course, spreading that homemade compost is a lot more rewarding if you aren't attacked by fire ants crawling up the shovel handle. It's also best if your compost doesn't carry hundreds of seedling-eating pillbugs into your freshly made garden beds. To root out the insects that are inevitable in the compost bin but aren't so welcome in the veggie plot, I turn to my on-site specialists: Neutron and Wanda.

My two hens, Wanda and Neutron, are popular gals--trendsetters, even. Whenever friends or neighbors find out we keep chickens for fresh eggs and enterntainment, they want to know if they can do it, too. My inner home educator recently realized we were getting to critical mass with the inquiries. So last Friday I held "Chicken School" in my backyard.

By Casey Kelly Barton

I can hear sleet hitting the windows as I write and I'm reminded of what I like about winter in Central Texas: It's usually mild and brings some needed rain. My half-acre suburban homestead is more than ready for the change in the weather. Wanda and Neutron, our laying hens, are snuggled in their insulated house. The rabbits, whose duties include eating weeds, producing organic fertilizer and delighting my children, are in for the night. Out in the vegetable garden, the Swiss chard can handle anything Mother Nature throws at it. Lettuce, collards and carrots don't mind a little cold, and while this might be the last hurrah for the cosmos and alyssum interplanted to draw beneficial insects, the pansies and dianthus will no doubt soldier on through the cooler months.