First

TOMATO!!!!! 

 and CELERY!!!

   While moving in to our farm I discovered a tiny little tomato plant over the hill where we now have the rabbit hutch. I pulled it up and it was in the house all winter long, thriving! When we finished the greenhouse and got the heat running I  took it out there where it grew to about 5 foot tall. Today I found this wee little tomato on it. I don't even have the tomatoes planted in the garden yet.
   Celery - for years I have tried to grow it and for years I said never again. Not gonna do it. Just face it you can not grow it. And every year I try again. and get disappointed. Until this year! I am proud to say persistence has paid off. I have about 6 celery plants growing this year and with any luck can dehydrate it for soups this winter.

       What exciting things are happening with your plants?

Protected Strawberries

 While doing my morning feeding I discovered that my chickens were taking a dust bath in the strawberry bed that I just planted.  I know they want to stay cool but really in the strawberries? So I got to work on a protection for them tender little plants.

   Up in the barn I found everything I would need so the whole project cost me nothing because we already had it. Use what you have. Of course the whole thing might not be very pretty but I think it will serve the purpose.  The chickens still have some dirt to roll and play in so everyone wins!!
   

January - March

With the fog in this morning the gardening will wait for a bit and gives me a few moments to get a few posts in.

             January was my birthday and all I wanted was my greenhouse put back up so I could start my plants.  But first we wanted to move the old smokehouse and attach it to the greenhouse so the wood heater would be placed in it. My husband and a friend did it in 2 days. I works great and I now have tons of plants that are ready for the garden.
             Feb - we bought 14 goats, 6 mamas,  6 babies, and 2 show goats. Our total of 18 in the herd now.  We also did a bit of clearing on the farm to make room for more fence. ( below - cutie pie)

March is a month of building a goat stand for milking and grooming. I made this after my husband cut all the pieces for me. The goats love it and walk right up on it with no problem at all. The top blue piece folds down and makes a ramp.

            April is a month for babies, we are expecting goats to be kidding in April and May and of course our chickens to be hatching their little ones in 5 days or so. And can't forget about our cat who has already had hers.
     

Boring farm?

 The life on a farm is rarely boring - just imagine walking through the woods just after fishing our weeks worth of troubles away at our pond and find 3 white things walking through the garden field. DUCKS - we have no ducks. Wanted ducks. Just haven't got around to getting any yet.  After a little investigation the neighbors did get ducks. So now every night they come for a visit.

  Or wake up in the morning to discover that we now have 6 barn cats instead of 1.  The barn is set up for the kidding season and mama cat had kittens in a kidding stall. Go figure.

  Or walk in the house from feeding and discover the dogs have gotten in to something. But they look so cute sleeping on the couch or in the dirty clothes pile acting like they did nothing wrong.

   Yes our farm is busy and very rarely find the time to catch up on my posting but I am  determined to get it updated, it just takes time.

Keeping the flock strong

  We are excited here on the farm. Our 1st setter ( Honey) is setting atop 23 eggs and are scheduled to start hatching in 7 days. Our setter #2 ( Drama) is setting on 8 eggs and should start hatching her eggs off  on the 1st of May. We were also able to catch a sale, $1 each, and bought 8 White Cornish rocks for food at a local store. We are stocking up on new chickens. That sounds weird huh. Well let me tell you why, when we moved here we had 21 chickens and were getting at least a dozen or more every other day. That was until something started killing them. We finally seen the intruder, a mink. So for now our 6 adult chickens, yup that's all we have left, are not allowed in the coop. Our now only rooster won't take any chances and well the photo below explains it all.

Yes he is now roosting on top of our house while the girls now roost on our porch railing.  Needless to say we may be moving the coop soon. 

Large Scale garden year 1

   Okay I have gardened for years as many of you know but this year we are going bigger. It seems we never have enough food to get us through and others need a bit of fresh veggies also.  So it seems I have gone crazy. Yes people look at me funny when I tell them that half of the 4 acre corn field will now be garden area. But that's okay. I am a bit crazy.

    By my calculations the wildlife will get a portion and we can enjoy it also. hopefully. So my question is how does one keep wild turkeys out of the garden?

We are Blessed

            What a wonderful way to end a day!!