Saturday, April 30, 2016

Spring is a busy time!

Almost all seasons are busy on the farm. (what almost??) but spring seems to be especially busy.  I have mentally been keeping everyone informed with the blogging in my mind, but there seems to be a problem with my mind-to-type device.  LOL

Some of the things that have happened in the past two weeks (in no particular order):

* Figured out why the cows kept getting out of the pasture because the "operator" of the electric fence apparently is blonde....hmm.  So now they are enjoying the WHOLE field.

*Relocated roughly 300+ strawberry plants.

*Tilled the big garden area and started planting:
60 tomatoes
100 Red onion sets
12 trellis of cucumbers
planted squash (Green zucchini, Gold zucchini, white patty pan, yellow summer)
4 kinds of lettuce, radishes, kohlrabi, beets, red & green cabbage
brussel sprouts.

*Committed to doing CSA gardens this year. (We still have a few openings)

*Tilled a new garden and planted peas, green beans, purple beans, yellow wax beans and lima beans.

*Relocated now empty strawberry raised beds to a new area and filled with bunny compost into garden area that was a machine shed so it has a "foundation" and cannot be tilled.  This will be where eventually we'd like to have the greenhouse located.

*Pulled all the sticks from the ragweed stalks from another area and put up fencing in prepartion for 
PIGS!! (101)
The pigs will "till" that area for a week and then get moved to another area for tilling and then ultimately where they will grow into bacon for the summer.  The first area will be turned to a corn field.

*Divided the front pasture with electric tape in preparation for the U-Pick Pumpkin Patch (101).  After all the pumpkins the cows ate last fall, we have about 100 volunteer pumpkin plants (plus all the seeds that I could still plant)

*Moved some of the above pumpkin plants to space the plants out better  (Most were within 15 feet of the fenceline)

*Put a new 8 foot gate at the front of the pasture so u-pickers can get into the field (plus, that would have been nice when I had to hike the pasture multiple times when Bess was sick/dying).

*I have a broody chicken working on hatching out eggs and the chicks that we got back in February are now to the "teenage" phase.  I have at least one rooster that is trying to get the "notes" right.  His crow is hilarious!!

* The twins are due to calve in Mid-May!  Hershey's AI didn't take so she will continue to be milked until the girls get "trained" be be a part of our "Micro-dairy"

*4 Bunnies should be kindling at the end of May.  Boy started back up with 4H.

*Mulched all the "one stick wonders" which is the orchard we planted last year and the year before.  We might get some peaches this year. (Fingers crossed)

* Almost to a point that we can pick Violets, Dandelions and Lilacs for jelly.  Going to add Honeysuckle too, if I can catch the blooms.

*After a two year break, Man restarted the woodworking business.  Taking it slow, but it's nice that he can go out and enjoy his shop again!

I'm sure there is more, but I'm wore out from typing it all!  I'll have to do a photo journal of the farm so you can see all the improvements.

And for as long as the above list is......the to-dos that are left is twice as long...
WHEW!!