Homestead Happenings

Greetings to you from Maple Hill 101!

We have a few things to share this week

about our homestead activities.

This little winter vignette has brought me so much comfort,

with the delicate white lights and the cheery bear on the card.

Several times a day I'll find myself just smiling

when I catch a glimpse of it.

Winter sowing continues, as spring inches closer.

We have had some success with chamomile, dill, kale, leek, 

lettuce, onions and dianthus germinating well.

The beans, parsley and thyme have not done well,

but will be resown in the next week or so.

lots of lettuce!

A large bin of broccoli shoots was harvested

and will no doubt be enjoyed all weekend.

The cabbage is finally started to head.

I can't wait to sample this homegrown newbie!

These chives decided to come back to life

after looking mighty bad most of the winter.

Bring on the potato salad!

The sweet potato slips have been started.

These were homegrown sweet potatoes

that were saved from our fall harvest.

Matchsticks were used in place of toothpicks

(we don't buy those) to suspend the spuds in the cans.

In a few weeks, we should have slips!

Last time I mentioned this heritage flour

from Sunrise Flour Mill in Minnesota.

A friend recommended it to me,

as she knows I have issues with gluten sensitivity.

I'm happy to report that not only was the bread de-lish,

there was absolutely no reaction to my skin

after devouring the entire loaf myself!

Yeah!

Dinner rolls or challah bread will be tried next.

The new chook run has been started.

It came in one ginormous box that weighed a ton.

Fortunately, the assembly was fairly easy,

especially since Big K was there to help.

We are awaiting the hardware cloth to be delivered,

so that we can finish it up.  The outer fence will be taken down,

and used underneath the perimeter of the new run,

to act as a predator deterrent.

We'll also have some sort of stone all along the outside

to keep trouble makers at bay.

We hope to complete the build by next weekend.

This will allow me to commence working on the new design

of the garden, which is to the left of the run.

Things need to be rearranged, but the run has to be finished first. 

We lost our beloved Ruby last week.

She was such a sweet and gentle soul.

We think the culprit was water belly,

of which I knew very little.

Unfortunately, it is a condition that has no cure.

We miss you dearly, sweet girl,

but know that we'll see you again someday.

I hope you'll share what's happening on your homestead.