Homestead Happenings

It's time for Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's going on 

around our Piedmont  homestead.

We are wrapping up some of the bigger projects

before we jumpstart the spring garden season.

The baby chicks are getting so big,

and are flying/jumping out of the tub

at every chance.

It will soon be warming up 

and they may be getting their first outdoor experience this weekend,

when temperatures will be in the 80's.

We will take them out briefly to acclimate them to the great outdoors.

It should be fun.

We are new to chick raising,

so any advice from you seasoned chicken folks is welcome.

columbine

columbine too!

The irises surrounding the chook run are starting to bloom.

The bonus is that since the renovation of the run,

the plants are no longer within reach of the chooks.

No more dining on iris foliage!

The garlic in the grow bags is doing marvelously!

This is the first time I've grown garlic this way,

and I have to say, that it seems to suit.

One thing that made it easier is the fact that

we've had ample rain, and so there has been no need to water.

The main garlic bed is coming along nicely.

The bed was deconstructed,

and will remain more of a raised row.

There is a scattering of lettuce and I noticed last week

that a couple of potato plants from the fall are coming up.

More spuds!

Although winter is officially over,

several crops and flowers were sown using

the winter sowing method.

I've never grown flowers this way,

so it'll be interesting to see if the germination rate

is as successful as it has been for our veg.

Betty is a wonderful supervisor.

Determined to get some strawberries this year,

drastic measures have been taken to keep the squirrels away from the booty.

I used some hardware cloth to form a ring around this Birdie's round bed,

and cut a piece to lay across the top.

All of our new beds will have hardware cloth

on the bottom as well.

To add insult to injury,

I covered the whole kit-and-kaboodle with row cover.

Take that, you pesky varmints!

Fingers crossed.

The final project before beds are planted,

is to revise the irrigation system.

Some of the beds will be moved,

and I figured out an easier way to 

get the water to the beds.

I took inventory of what materials I had on hand,

and was pleased to see that I needed only to purchase

a few things.

I use mostly products from 

Mister Landscaper because they are 

made in the USA!

One handy hint when running irrigation 

is to lay out your poly and drip lines 

to warm in the sun before beginning.  

It makes it easier to insert connective parts.

Another option is to place the end of the poly 

in a bucket of hot water to make it more pliable.

I was able to lay out most of the irrigation lines,

and will connect everything once the needed parts are purchased.

Everything will be buried under the soil

and wood chips will complete the task.

The design I'm using this time will make for an easy set up,

as there are fewer elbows and tees needed.

We've been skunked!

Big K spotted a skunk INSIDE the smaller chook run

the other morning (4:30 am).

This was the entry hole that was found the next day

at the entry door to the larger run.

So, the stinker (pun intended) succeeded in 

getting into both runs. 

Thankfully, our Omlet coops kept them all safe.

Hardware cloth has been added to the perimeter of each run,

with long boards on top of that.

Hopefully, this critter will look elsewhere for a meal.

This cabbage looks deceiving.

Picture worthy, indeed,

but the heads have not formed.

Without a lot of experience with this crop,

it's a mystery.

It was promptly harvested and given to the chooks.

The time has come to ready the garden for spring crops.

The weather has been drop dead gorgeous,

as my beloved farmer Lynn likes to say.

With another dose of solid rain this week,

hand watering has been unnecessary.

What a luxury.

I hope you are savoring the magic of spring.

May you be surrounded by peace.

Homestead Happenings

 

It's time for Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's been going on 

here on our Piedmont homestead.

More cut flowers this week included some gorgeous

multi petaled tulips in various shades.

This vessel was actually the milk pitcher

my mom transferred over from the milk bottles

that were delivered to our back porch when I was a wee one.

One of the few childhood treasures I ended up with.

We did it!

We expanded our family and picked up a few

Olive Egger chicks!

It's so exciting having young energy in the house.

They are the softest creatures I have ever felt.

What a blessing to be able to nurture new life.

The unused spa tub is being used as a brooder.

They are not too loud as they cheep and peep,

so they don't keep Big K up at night.

I was wondering if his snoring would keep them awake!

Our hummer feeders have been washed and scrubbed

and will be ready for the first day of April

to start taking care of our feathered friends.

A neighbor had given me the little cleaning kit,

which comes with tiny bottle brushes to clean the ports.

It also came with extra ports so they can be replaced as needed.

We are swimming in seedlings,

which I have to admit,

is a nice place to be.

I've never before had so much success with starting seeds.

Thanks to the winter sowing method.

there are plenty for us and more to give away!

red kale

speckled Amish butter lettuce

leeks

More of the winter sowing seedlings

were transplanted yesterday into larger cell packs.

The root system is absolutely fabulous,

and I'm hoping they continue to thrive in their new pots.

The soil recipe I'm using came from a good friend

and fellow Master Gardener.

She uses organic topsoil mixed with perlite

and vermiculite.

Peat moss is never used here,

as it is not a sustainable resource.

This combination seems to work well,

and we have a local supplier for the topsoil 

literally down the road.

tulips

On my daily walk,

it's hard not to notice the beautiful blooms.

One of our neighbors, and fellow veg gardener,

has an amazing display of phlox sprawling next to his driveway.

This is a favorite, and I have plans to plant it

along our slope, so that it cascades down to the street.

This candytuft fills in another neighbor's mailbox bed.

We have some of this growing in our pollinator bed,

but I plan to add more around the homestead.

It stayed green all winter,

and requires very little care.

Our wonderful next door neighbor's irises

were struttin' their stuff yesterday.

The blues are so intense,

and the contrast between the bloom and the green foliage

is certainly striking.

Life is good here on the homestead.

How's spring shaping up where you are?

A Twist on Gratitude

Every

Twinkling of starlight,

Scent of magnolia blooming,

Wondrous emerging bulb,

Song of nature,

Billowy breeze 

is

            a

                             gift…

Your turn.

Homestead Happenings

It's Friday and time to share what's going on 

around our Piedmont Homestead.

Spring has definitely arrived,

and we have color popping up all over!

These purple irises have never looked better.

Something I've wanted for a while now,

is a pulley system for drying clothes.

I had been using a whirly-gig type,

which worked fine,

but as I get older, I am looking to

streamline chores and make things easier on myself.

What a thrill it was to use it for the first time!

What can I say?  I find joy in the everyday.

These lovely blue pots had contained our blueberries.

They had been relocated to this area,

after a disappointing harvest a few years ago.

Unfortunately, the move didn't help.

I decided to again try growing in the ground,

in a different location.

When I pulled up the plants,

none of them had much root development.

No wonder we didn't get any fruit.

Back into the ground they go,

this time right on the outside of the new chicken run.

I placed wire cages around them,

because I noticed Betty eating the flowers off of the stems.

Ugh.

I'm hoping that the fertilizer from the chooks

will aid in healthier plants.

I also added tons of organic material

collected from the recent cleanup of our woods.

The pine needles and leaf mulch should benefit them.

Time will tell.

The strawberries have been replanted

in the round Birdie's bed,

after redesigning the garden layout.

It was promptly fertilized with 10-10-10.

I’ll need to come up with an idea

to keep the squirrels out of this container.

I'm thinking of adding more strawberries to another bed as well.

The potato cages were placed inside this silver metal bed.

This will be a flex-bed, changing out crops as needed.

The other silver bed was placed between the two tall Birdie beds.

The plan is to sow herbs here,

or maybe designate it as a tea garden.

As each bed is moved to its new location,

hardware cloth is added to the bottom,

to deter critters (read squirrels), from digging up from below.

Before the soil is added,

the irrigation needs to be fed up into the side of the bed,

to offer a more efficient watering system.

The bottoms of the taller beds will be filled with

logs, branches, twigs and a layer of shredded leaves

before the soil is added.

We have plenty of wood piles to clean up around the homestead.

This takes up some of the cavernous space in the bed,

and saves on soil costs.

These deep beds are great for root crops,

but the height actually makes it easier for harvesting at waist level.

These two are enjoying their time together.

Betty (left) and Queenie (right) have become best buds.

They spend their days (and nights) together,

and can often be found sitting side-by-side sunbathing.

In fact, I'd say that Betty's balance issues

have become almost non-existent due to Queenie.

Friendship can be a great healer.

And, believe it or not,

she has started laying eggs again.

It's been months since she's offered us anything,

but now she is laying quite regularly.

Just shows you what a little love and understanding will do for a body.

These leeks that were started from seed that a friend shared,

are jumping out of their winter sowing containers.

I've never had such good germination of leeks.

Just look at the root development!

These beauties were transplanted into pots

and left to grow on before placing in beds.

Up ahead-leek soup!

My French momma would be proud.

The front garden is coming along.

I've been working on this over the last year,

adding some much-needed evergreen interest here.

It's still a work in progress,

but I'm feeling very contented with our movement forward.

What a treat to once again have fresh picked flowers

to bring into the house.

No doubt there will be plenty more

throughout the growing season.

I'm not sure why,

but I'm feeling a renewed sense of stewardship 

that I've never really felt before.

Things are coming together in a most

extraordinary way,

and it's such a blessing.

What's happening at your homestead 

on this fine spring day?