Button's Baby Blessing

We have a thing for alliteration here if you haven't noticed.

Actually, since last week, we have lots to report. Mostly good.

Starting with the bad... Homesteading Hubby got laid off last week. Its not terribly surprising given the financial state of many municipalities. Working in engineering where your work is based on cities have tax revenue to spend on improvements can be a sketchy thing. Since then he's been pounding the pavement. He's worked longer hours this whole last week than he ever did at is 8-5 job. I'm really proud of him for not sitting in a stupor from the sting of it all. We don't expect him to be out of work long. We have a very Might God who is his ultimate Employer. We expect a promotion... and that's what is looking very likely. More about that in the weeks to come.

Thankfully, Angel, the dog, is doing very well. The only thing we were told was to keep her dry. We moved her big kennel into the garage for now. She certainly isnt slowing at all. She runs free most of the day now, but lately has picked up some bad habits which I'll need to spend some time to correct. Until then, she gets locked up when my attention is going to be diverted too much.

I decided to dry off Noel already. Her milk supply plummeted quickly. I think she's pregnant again. I've also noticed that she can't handle grain like the other goats can. She started to scour the other day so I tethered her to a bushy green area and clipped some more branches. She was very happy for the fiber. I can't keep her in milk and growing a baby on the calories supplied through the greenery in our pasture right now. She's not as into hay as other goats are either. She seems to prefer the fresh greens. So... I'd like to wait a couple more months, make sure she really is pregnant, than try to trade her for another lamancha or maybe a mini nubian. We'll have to see what comes.

Yesterday morning, Farmer Hub was milking for me and Farmer girl started her normal babble about Button (the sheep) and her baby. He thought little of it as we didn't know when to expect Button to give birth. But after her being rather adamant and then saying Button's BLACK baby, he turned to look, and sure enough, a little charcoal gray lamb was standing beside Button! No birthing problems at all! We didn't even hear her! The lamb is a ewe to top off the blessing. We're now working to make sure she doesn't get skiddish. I'm trying to feed her a bottle every day. She's got little interest in it now. Hopefully that will change. We also are still thinking of names.

In the garden, I transplanted lots of greens into the square foot bed. I know you're supposed to seed, but I think I still like transplanting better. I took down the ugly orange fencing because I think it was blocking the sun too much. That has given Angel entrance now... which means I've lost a few transplants. I also have most of our cucurbits planted. I have a lot of work to do outside still. Thankfully my hip is holding up well now. I'm plugging away. Its just a very busy time for me right now.

And on that note, please forgive the general updates concerning every topic on the 'stead. It doesn't make for easy searching of specific information. One day I'll get back to normal... I think.

catch up

its a busy busy monday. i'm giving the wee one his last bit of breakfast before a long nap. lots to report and little time to report it.

sweet potatoes we've harvested most of our sweet pots now. at first i was rather discouraged with lots of very small ones. people have said to not water or fertilize, but i think some of both is in order. the ones inter-planted with cowpeas were significantly bigger and more numerous. we ended up pulling a full laundry basket full. they're now sitting on the porch curing.

square foot sprouts- we have sprouts in all but one square... a brussels sprout square. i'll snip down the extras and replant the missing ones hopefully today.

veggies- finally got some lettuce taking off in the big garden. looking good so far. pulled our first turnips yesterday. gotta do some major planting, but i'm so far behind being ready for christmas i'm not sure when that will happen!

ornamentals- i framed out an area with landscape timbers and covered the space enclosed with a plastic drop cloth to kill the grass underneath. i hope it works. w/out strong sunshine this time of year, it may do nothing. farmer girl and i are putting in this ornamental/butterfly garden in early january... i think.

space planning- with only an acre, we must plan our use of space wisely. the grandparents are blessing the little farmers with a swingset this christmas (they are going to be THRILLED!), but we've had to do some major thinking about where to put it. not close to snake habitat, where it can get some afternoon shade, where its not in a place frequented by pooping animals, where it won't look like a sore thumb, where its not inhibiting nap times of kids sleeping on the other side of a nearby window, and where its far enough from the road that i have time to respond should one make a break for it. so much to consider because once its there its not getting moved!

time to keep moving. don't expect another post until post-christmas!

square foot garden

we spent saturday putting in our square foot garden- a single 4' by 4' raised bed on the east side of the house. while we prbly won't be getting much broccoli out of it w/ its mere 5 hours of full sun a day right now, i hope to extend our cool season crops a bit with its placement there and no direct afternoon sun.

we put a block of peat moss from home depot, 4 bags of compost and 1 bag (3 cubic ft) of coarse vermiculite (available at lindleys nursery- will special order for you if not in stock) onto a large tarp. an 8'x10' tarp is what we used and i would not have wanted to use a smaller one! we folded each side in, one at a time, to mix the contents, then shoveled it into our box made of 4-4' sections of 2"x6" (not pressure treated- toxic for food!). we used feed bags under the box as we were unable to find decent weed cloth. then we used wire from our electric fencing attempts as the grid. so we now have 16 clearly distinct squares for planting. in these squares i have cabbage, lettuce, carrots, broccoli raab, broccoli, turnips, brussels sprouts, onions, swiss chard, and radishes- all direct seeded. some plants, such as cabbage and broccoli, have only one plant per square, some (chard) have 4, some (lettuce, onions, turnips) have 9, some (carrots) have 16 and finally radishes have 36 plants per square.

As of now, this garden is unfenced. its a fair distance from the nearest woods so rabbits aren't likely to venture into it much. its in full view for our gopher tortoises that live in the pasture so they may be a problem, but we can fence it easily if we need to. And since its in the back yard, it can be as ugly a fence as we want without the neighborhood grump getting upset.

i have a few pots filled w/ leftover mix where i will plant more carrots and broccoli. broccoli likes long daylight hours and cool temps... nothing we have at the same time. heard alaska is the best place for broccoli. this is going to be my last attempt- if it doesn't go well, i'm bagging broccoli for good... or at least for a few years. last year i got a few horrible tasting tiny heads. this year i've had a single plant actually flourish post transplanting, and that has been attacked by aphids recently. though i've transplanted broccoli every other week, the ones that survive just stunt out. i have many more favorite veggies that if its going to take this much work for broccoli, its not worth it. hooray for bok choy, my all time favorite from my china days, doing well and going strong!

For more square foot gardening info, see Mel Bartholomew's website that is linked in the sidebar.

Pictured: 1) Our box. We extended the "weed cloth" or for us, feed bags, up to the house and around each side to kill the grass for easier mowing. We'll mulch with rocks or bricks around the house to prevent termites. 2) The hard workers shoveling the mixed planting medium from the tarp to the box. Water while shoveling so that there's consistent moisture throughout. In case you're wondering, behind homesteading hubby is a chicken pen of young meat birds though the birds themselves are camera shy. 3) The semi-end result. Grid laid, seeds planted, all watered.