diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7e2c4f8..582f46e 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,12 +22,15 @@ if(CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR STREQUAL CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR)
     # requires CMake 3.11 so we just carry it around
     include(cmake/FetchContent.cmake)
 
+    message("-- Populating boost_config")
     FetchContent_Populate(boost_config QUIET GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/boostorg/config GIT_TAG develop)
     add_subdirectory(${boost_config_SOURCE_DIR} ${boost_config_BINARY_DIR})
 
+    message("-- Populating boost_core")
     FetchContent_Populate(boost_core QUIET GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/boostorg/core GIT_TAG develop)
     add_subdirectory(${boost_core_SOURCE_DIR} ${boost_core_BINARY_DIR})
 
+    message("-- Populating mincmake")
     FetchContent_Populate(mincmake QUIET GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/pdimov/mincmake GIT_TAG master)
     include(${mincmake_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/boost_test.cmake)