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Things are crazy hectic here as always. However, I did play hooking from gardening yesterday. The house kind of got cleaned and so did the front yard, it no longer looks like a disaster zone, just simply lived in with children and animals. While hubby worked outside and had child detail (today was his turn), I also got to finish another eBook, a how to build chicken coop and tractor, greenhouse and compost bin with recycled materials. Basically how we got our stuff built with minimal cash outlay. I also put in the basic materials if you can’t find recycled ones. There is a link to my lulu.com store in my signature. I have my web store back on line and my monthly newsletter might get done before next week.
We have enjoyed the rains from Sunday’s tropical storm Barry. The ground is staying moist, garden is now really showing signs of progressing, finally. Not for a lack of keeping things watered but there is just something different about rain water. My husband thinks it might be the ionization in the clouds. Whatever the reason it was a blessing. Now mind you I am not complaining but with the ground so wet turning the last couple of acres to prep for fall crops is hard going. The ground is wet and bogs the tiller down and the riding mower gets stuck then and we spend a good 45 minutes getting it all unstuck to do it again for 30 minutes. I am not complaining remember that.
Farmer’s Market has been a roaring success for us considering a strong lack of produce. That should change over the next few weeks, only for the better. People still have a problem realizing that we don’t have tomatoes because they aren’t in season. Produce stands and other farmer’s markets have them because they bring them in from other states or from greenhouses. Our CSA, well for our second year, I can’t complain, we have had some turn over but have a long enough waiting list that we can replace lost members. We had a few disgruntled because we skipped a week. There was no produce, we did everything in our power and don’t regret it a bit. Installing a make shift irrigation system and keeping the plants alive worked, the rain is making them grow and produce now. A few were disappointed I stopped doing baked goods unless it was a special request. Oh well, the vast majority are thrilled with their packages which are getting larger by the week. I do now understand why so many CSA’s require the season be paid for upfront. I structured ours so that people pay a membership fee and then pay weekly. I was looking at economic factors facing everyone. Well I am not changing pricing this year, cost or structure, but will do something different next year, to ensure I am not stuck with produce for CSA members that could have been sold at market. I do have a list of people to call if we have extra packages but it’s a timing thing. They are not always available when we have the produce and we strive to make sure everyone gets the freshest stuff possible.
School is over, DD came home crying the last day because she thought she would not see any of her friends all summer long. Oh the woes of an 8 yr old. However, she has been to a birthday party already, visited with and played with friends. She goes every day to help “take care” of a friend who started the summer off with two broken arms. Morgan, well we had a break in potty training but we are now back in full swing, to the point where he gets very upset with himself if he has an accident. We bought a cheap wading pool for the kids to splash around in. We have, through freecycle, gotten a huge swing set; built them a small club house (same style as we built the chicken tractors). And we have set up a “kids only” area.
The home gardens are just about done and the raised beds are being cleaned out and gleaned. We are going to have all of herbs and flowers growing here. It will just look much prettier and be easier to keep some of the herbs contained. We planted quite a few out at the market garden for companion planting and it seems to be working well for insects and even keeping deer away so far. Now if only I could figure out how to safely keep a couple of Nigerian Dwarf Goats I would be in heaven. We have turned the chickens completely loose, not using the tractors for now. I was worrying so much with the heat what would happen if we were out at the market garden and they ran out of water. Well, these happy ladies are laying even better, getting much plumper than before and in general enjoying life more.
We have had some tragedies in the rabbitry and with the impending summer heat we are going down to one rabbit for now. Once we have the time to set up an automatic watering system and build a proper bunny barn we will get back into rabbits. One rabbit that we can move into the shade by the chicken coops is much easier to ensure the care of. With the cost of feed going up and several lost litters, even a doe already to heat exhaustion, we have to cut our losses. The baby chicks we bought 8 weeks ago are doing beautifully. They are growing slower than usual but we tried something different this year. We did not buy chick started. We started them out with corn meal mash, then slowly cut back on the amount of goat’s milk we added until they were eating dry. They are still getting some oatmeal mash with molasses in it. Their growth rate is similar to that of chicks raised by their momma, no started, no hormones to promote fast growth. They are all natural from the get go. They are feathering out nicely and will get nice and big soon. They are on regular cracked corn and a healthy dosage of bugs and greens in their little coop.
That's all the news that's fit to print at the moment.
Take Care and have a wonderful day!
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