Spring hustle

Since December I've been sitting around twiddling my thumbs itching to get started on our first year on a farm. The set backs have only made me more anxious to get going.

Yesterday was a busy day. A very, very busy day.

It was overcast in the morning, the sky was gray and threatening but Tractor Supply had confirmed their order of ducklings and chicks had come in so we went out to the store anyway. I had been calling for two days but they hadn't gotten them yet. I'm glad I went when I did because, out of fifty chicks they ordered, only about a dozen were left when we got there at 11:30.

I picked out four what I believe are Peking ducklings. I grabbed the most energenic and spry of the day old bunch.

We came home, set the ducklings up in the rabbit house in the bathroom and moved out the week old chicks to brood with the three weekers already established in the barn. The rabbit's cages are housed in the same stall and I've been eyeing Flora for nest making signs. This would be her week to kindle. I was getting disappointed since it didn't seem like the breeding had taken.

I glanced in the nest box in her cage and saw there was some fur. When I came closer the whole pile of wool moved! Flora gave birth to six healthy, pink baby rabbits while I was out getting the ducks. This is our first litter of Angora Rabbits and I'm so excited. I left mama be after snapping this photo of the babies.

And here is a very hagged looking new mama watching over her babies.

While we were getting all the new babies settled the postman came with a box I completely forgot about. Nine year old heritage raspberry plants were delivered and needed to be planted ASAP. The storm last night made the ground mud which made planting...interesting.

Then it was off to the farmer's market the next town over. It only happens once a week and we were in need of some fresh food.

While we were down that way I stopped into a different feedstore looking for higher protein game feed for the ducks. Tractor Supply only had a 15% mix for general poultry purposes. We're picking up poults today that can use up to 29% so I wanted to make a mix of both varieties for them. They were out of higher protein feed but they did have goslings!

I've always wanted a mating pair of Toulouse geese. They're mild mannered and are great flock protectors. Since the dog attack I've been even more interested in getting them. Plus they lay huge wonderful eggs.

They're brooding in the bathroom with the ducks. Apparently, they will follow ducks around as their leaders. They are also good weeder geese to help in the garden. They couldn't sex them and I couldn't even find a vent hole to try (it's there somewhere) so I just picked two of the best behaving ones. Cross your fingers we have at least one female.

After they were settled I went out and planted 6 Amish Paste tomato plants, 24 zucchini, 6 crookneck squash and 12 pepper plants. The garden has a way to go but it's getting there.

I hope today isn't quite as full.

Seeded

Since my neighbor's dog killed the chicken and I got a nice size area tilled for free, I decided to move some of the larger crops out to the Big Field. In order to accomplish this wonderous feat of seeding an area three times the size of our house, I got this Earthway 1001-B Precision Garden Seeder with 6 Seed Plates.

For some reason it took forever to ship but I finally got it Monday. We're scheduled for 50% percipitation on Thursday (anything about 20% down here you can just about count on it raining) so I thought today would be an ideal time to get some of these seeds in the ground.

I planted Ornamental Strawberry Popcorn and Snacker Sunflower seeds. I'm taking a few minute break before getting the quinoa, amaranth, and a package of mammoth sunflower. I purchased oil seed sunflowers which I feed to the rabbits but Bountiful Gardens ran out of stock and sent me Oilseed Radish instead. I have to look these up and see what they are and if I want to even bother planting them. If not, we might have our first give away on HeartSong Farms!

The box came from Amazon a little beat up and retaped...poorly. But it looks as if everything is inside.

The picture on the box is pretty but the instructions will make you want to stab someone.

It took me about 25 minutes to put ot together and considering 10 were spent in search of a wrench that's not too bad. But I have a good working knowledge of how it should look since I checked out the put together model at my local True Value. I had a little trouble figuring out how the plate worked inside. But I finally got it in the right way and went on to plant about four 100'+ rows in a matter of minutes.

Once the seeds start getting low you have to ride the wheels on the side to get them to pick them up. I did have some come out doubles and some blank slots but when you're doing that kind of area missing a couple feet isn't the end of the world. I just went back and hand seeded those places with the dregs the discs couldn't pick up. It helps to have a little one walk behind you to let you know when the chain didn't completely cover the seeds too.

Well, back to the grind to get these crops in the ground. If you have any info on the oilseed radish please share!

Wonderful (what is it?)

I call it Wonderful but anyone know what this is really called? I want another one.

Horse Power

I have big garden plans this year. Big ones. Last year my city plot was 8x16' with a few potted citrus and figs on the side. I got a few things harvested. Nothing much really in the grand scale of feeding seven people but what I did get was nourishing and satisfying in a way that is hard to describe in words.

Now that we're on a fair bit of land, I want more. This years garden plot is a whopping fifty by one hundred and fifty feet. Yep, it's big.

The land has never had a garden or animals on it. Other than being cleared, we have vast amounts of virgin dirt. The only problems were the thick hay-grass-weeds that are on it and what type of dirt we're actually dealing with. You see, there are bare places of dirt but it is mostly sand. Not the greatest gardening medium.

To tackle the first issue I needed to get the land torn up, the grasses cut to managable pieces. Once I could get to the dirt, I could then assess it. I asked the neighbors and had the prospect of one being able to do it with a tractor for a reasonable fee but they had to get back to me. In the meantime I posted an ad on Craigslist asking for tilling or plowing my garden for a modest price. The goal of the garden is to inexpensively feed our family this coming year, not go broke doing it.

While I was waiting for the neighbor the stars aligned and I got an email from my Craigslist post from a guy named Blake. After the first few sentences my face was split with an uncontrollable grin and really hasn't left since.

Blake wanted to bring his team of Belgain horses over to till my garden.

Some of you may not understand the enormity of the above sentence. The rest of you are scrolling down for the photos and opening up a new page to search for Horse Powered Plowmen in your area.

Unloading.

The disc thing (apologies for my lack of plowman speak)

On the field.

While hiring the neighbor and his overpowered gasoline gobbling tractor might have been easier and quicker, there is just something about seeing these gorgeous giants doing what they were made to do. Something in my heart sings true to support those still keeping alive what our ancestor's utilized. We have tumbled the idea of having our own horse power at the farm but as of right now it's just not viable. It is sad to think that so few people will ever be able to experience the quiet sounds of horse driven farm work. The tinkling of chains. The breathy snorts on a cold winter day. The plowman's commands as they walk the fields.

Blake and his team did a fantastic job on our garden and will come back out in a couple weeks when the grass has died to run over it again. I can't wait to see them again.

Blake's Horse Power is located in Northern Florida near the GA border. You can Like their Facebook page Here.

Standards

On Thursdays down in town they have a weekly farmer's market. Pretty colored tents get set up and the locals bring their wares. I've seen the signs before but yesterday was the first time I ventured down to check it out. There were perhaps just over a dozen booths set up with everything from fresh produce to handmade jewelry. There were even some fruit and nut trees and mushroom logs being sold.

I came away with apples, pears, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, eggs, strawberries, lettuce and broccoli plants and two loaves of freshly baked bread. I met a farmer gal that had pulled up the carrots and other treats just that morning, it was amazing to see one of her gardens nestled in the town between the police station and the funeral home. She literally walked the carrots over about fifty feet and sold them to me still dirty from growing. My smile was a permanant fixture.

There are a few things I noticed though, after the sparkle of the market wore off. The pears -while grown in the US- were trucked in. The bread was made with canola oil, not the end of the world but not what I would have done had I made it myself. The differences were merely standards.

Years ago, I would have taken a loaf of homemade bread and thought I was making a huge difference in the world. My standard of homemade was higher than my standard of ingredients. If homesteading has taught me anything these last few years it is that I am always learning. My standards are constantly changing. Right now, I'm evolving my standards of food to the 100 mile diet and have high hopes of producing 95-99% of my produce, chicken, eggs, and dairy products within the next 12-18 months, like these guys. With our mild winters and prolonged growing season, add in a greenhouse and it's not all that far fetched. The goats are on their way already.

Watching movies like "The Future of Food", "Food, Inc." and "Supersize Me" have helped me develop my sense of standards. I want good food. I want nutrient dense food. I want food that doesn't harm my body or the environment or has been mutated into substances that are molecularly non-food. While I'm not always perfect, I am trying. I still have a terrible sweet tooth and much of the time my budget doesn't stretch enough to cover all organic foods.

But I want to be better and I think that's a pretty good standard.

New Year, New Beginnings

The chicks in the bathroom have been escaping their cardboard homes. It's a bit startling to open the door or step out of the shower and have a curious little animal standing before you with it's head tilted wondering what the heck you're doing. And then poop all over the floor. I have decided that December is not a great month to buy chicks.

With the goats back with their momma's for a few weeks we have a free stall to brood the baby birds. We have to keep them away from Coco until he's dispatched. He doesn't seem to like intruders in his domain. We modified the gate with chicken wire and hung heat lamps from a pvc pole. The temps are beginning to dip again after a moderate week last week. I'm worried about them out there but free ranging in the bathtub isn't ideal either.

They seemed to do well last night, only the biggest, most feathered birds went out. The five Americaunas are still in a box in the bathroom but they're still so little escape isn't really an option right now. The Red Broilers are supposed to get near up to six pounds by sixty three days.

Coco still hasn't been slaughtered. I think we're both still working up the nerve. Neither of us has taken a life before and we've only been chicken farmers since August. Plus, Coco scares us. He stomps around the yard, stalking and making noises. He rushed me yesterday and I kicked a bucket at him (which didn't hit and didn't phase his attack) and then threw a gate to get away. He's much smaller than me but commands much feared respect. I'm refusing to defrost the chicken in the freezer until we do it though. Just seems wrong, somehow. But I think his dictatorship is causing stress in the girls which is why we haven't seen a single egg yet. We have bought a small piece of sheet metal to make a kill cone from and we've been researching techniques online. We're working up, just a bit slowly. (on a side note, if anyone lives near or around Gainesville and wants to come show us how to do this, we'd be much obliged.)

Yesterday, my neighbor's dog broke out and came for a visit, when I brought him back I asked if anyone in the area had a plow and might want to help me dig up some ground for a garden. I came back home with two names and a little hope. The first neighbor's tractor wasn't working good so I asked the second and I'm still waiting for the wife to ask the husband and get back to me. A plow would save me a lot of work, the grass here is stubborn and thick and while I'd get a great work out pulling it up by hand, I wouldn't have the engery after to actually plant anything. But the seeds are waiting.

 And so am I.

Garden Redux

We're winterizing the garden now. Our first year's attempt has, with few exceptions, crashed and burned. If anything, it's made me more determined and maybe a little smarter.

Our goal on our five acres is to have a large, self sustaining garden. The tiny self-watering boxes we have now are a drop in the bucket compared with what we'll have to have in order to eliminate produce purchasing. But it being my first year seriously growing anything, starting small was a necessity.

I'll freely admit that this summer growing season was horrible. My small victories when my motley crew of plants started producing quickly turned into side-show horrors. I never knew bugs proliferated so quickly. Thick, wriggling layers of bugs coated the supple vines and sucked the baby fruits into wrinkled lumps.

FYI assassin beetles fly. When the more than inch long bug, with long spidery legs and a formidable needle nose flew at me after I determinedly sprayed it with orange oil, I swear I could hear him laugh. I have no shame in telling you I gave a most girly shriek and ran for cover, those bastards are scary. And did I mention they fly?? I have a thing about freaky airborne bugs, especially freaky airborne bugs that bite.

The stink bugs and shield beetles were no better but at least they're smaller. Aphids were a nuisance we had as well. Then the eight days of rains drown out over half the plant varieties leaving only a couple of stubborn greenies behind.

Butternut Squash before the invasion.

But that's all past now. I'm hoping to have learned my lessons with the bugs and rains and next summers garden will be heartier, healthier and much much more productive. It really can't get much less productive. I'm picking up some special cloth to cover the beds to organically deter the pests and spending the winter building the frames for said covers. My goal is to do this free or cheap and I'll update on that when I get it worked out.

I ordered music garlic, yellow and bunching onions and a potato mix to winterize the beds. Plus, a bit of sugar snap peas to grow indoors. I'm hoping the fact the produce will be under the ground or in the house will help with pests. I'm still nursing a single very late blooming pepper to harvest I still have high hopes at least those jerks of the bug world didn't fly away with those.