Moving to the farm life for our dog…and our kids…and us. A journal of adventures and misadventures learning to homestead. Primarily a journal by Mom on various projects and learning to be more self-sufficient.
Thankfully, we are tilling a plot for most of this tomorrow, but I definitely got a little plant happy this year! We have a set of Rise gardens I wasn’t able to keep up with, so we are currently using them as grow lights for our started plants. we have 8 shelves of starts. Phew.
PS I still no dig and have cardboard down in the front yard, and that’s my preferred method, but was under a time crunch for this year.
Spent 4 hours processing dandelions for salve. Realized in last hour I didn’t have to remove greenery because it’s not for food.
Hello four hours of work, with most progress in last 30 mins. 😳
Over time the front garden has evolved into an extension of my food garden. I try to select plants that are pretty and can be used in a way to also work as an ornamental. Here is the current status of the front garden.
I planted asparagus crowns this year for the first time. My favorite moment was when I was worried about placement and read that they usually grow in swampy areas. Well, friend, welcome home!
I did also read that they do not like competition for nutrients and they don’t like to be close to alliums (onion family).
I planted them a week ago and their first shoots are already coming up! As tempting as it is, I don’t plan to harvest these shoots. The first few years are a time for establishment, so like many things in life, we need to let them build their nutrients and grow before we enjoy the harvest.
If I would have thought this through I would have marked them a lot more prominently, as these markers are easily smooshed. I am pretty sure I’ve walked over them at least once, but I’m putting stakes out today.
Other things to note are that the shoots are frost sensitive, but the crowns are much tougher. I will add more to this post as I learn about my new friends.
Over the years we have been here we have worked very hard to find a hardy free-ranging breed that was also pretty and assertive but not aggressive.
We have tried Cinnamon Queens, which were adorable as pets but didn’t free-range well. Australorps, Delawares, Marans, bantams (they are cute but those dang bantams slept in the TREES), and many other breeds and types of chicken, all of which I love for different reasons.
We primarily raise ours for eggs, but I try to source heritage breeds, or at least ones that are not heavily commercialized. The commercialized layers tend to have more reproductive issues and have never lived long. We don’t process our chickens except if we have to (and we haven’t processed in years), so we don’t buy meat chickens currently.
We realized that our black chickens lived longer, and didn’t know a correlation until very recently. Apparently, hawks hate crows, and they think black chickens are fluffy crows!!! Our current flock of black Ameraucana is now 2 years old, and we haven’t lost a single one since they were tiny.
Knowing the color we wanted, we also wanted a nice, moderate temperament. Our Ameraucana rooster is awesome. His name is Chuck. Chuck and I have a Come-To-Jesus once in a while, but otherwise he has left our family alone, sticks to his girls and keeps predators away. Watching him and his girls when one gets lost (as one did in our messy garage a while ago while laying an egg in ENTIRELY the wrong spot) is adorable and hilarious. He has a special call, and they know when he is looking for them!!! For hilarity (ignore messy garage) check out the video below (and yes, they jumped over the short fence we put there literally to keep them out):
As a chicken keeper, the hardiness, common sense personality and pretty iridescent feathering were great reasons to go with this breed. We plan to continue developing our flock and learning more about this breed.
They also, as Ameraucanas, lay pretty light blue eggs. This photo does not do them justice.
So, that all being said, hubby bought me an incubator this year due to the prices of purchasing chicks. Usually we buy from a local store, but our local Southern States sold out in 20 minutes. So, I put on the proverbial big girl panties and got an incubator, put in some eggs, and 21 days later found a new obsession!
Since then we have had a lot of people reach out word of mouth, so I’m more or less following what I’m asked for. We will probably hatch through the summer, and then phase out this fall before it gets cold.
If you are interested in eggs and are local to Monroe, NC, sign up for our wordpress blog and we will put a blog post out as things develop!
Please leave questions and comments below!
Jumping Dog Farm 