I’m still here… I can’t believe that its been since October that I last published an article, but I’m still working hard on the homestead. This spring has been extremely busy, both for the homestead and in our family, and for those who follow me on Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn, you have seen the updates along the way. This will be a little bit of a recap, and a little update on the family.
To start spring off, I decided I would yet again try to start seeds indoors. I was very ambitious and also trying to be realistic in that I over planted knowing that they would not all make it to being planted outside. That being said, I planted somewhere along the lines of 70 tomato seeds and 20 cucumber seeds, as well as 60 pepper seeds, and a bunch of herb seeds. Again, knowing that I do not usually have much luck with starting seeds indoors, I was not shocked when my peppers and my herbs didn’t grow well, and ended up dying. However, I was over the moon at how well the tomatoes and cucumbers were doing! They were thriving!! And then, all of a sudden, my tomato plants starting missing leaves and eventually just being stems. What was going on??? They had been doing so good. I thought it was a rotation issue, so I started rotating the plants closer to the lights, from one shelf to another. More stems without leaves. Come to find out…one of our dogs was eating the leaves! Which answered another reason as to they our dog wasn’t acting right. *face palm* So, fast forward to planting the tomatoes outside, I have 5 that might end up making it out of all the seeds I started. smh
A lot of work has been done in the garden though. The kids and I got the expansion done, which is my tea garden, and we also made plant boxes for it. Plus, I got the majority of the garden planted. I told Luke…the bad news is that I planned my garden incorrectly. The good news is that I was somehow off by 4 rows, and I can plant even more stuff!!!! LOL
This spring we also have become very bird-rich. We already had our 16 egg layers, 9 ducks and 1 guinea… but now we have a total of 50 egg layers, 46 meat chickens, 17 ducks, 4 guineas and 4 geese. And acquiring more birds, means needing more places for them to live. The kids and I really worked hard this spring and we got not one, but two different coops built, two brooders built, and two lean-to’s.
A little update on the family…Wyatt and Ella have finished their 8th grade and 10th grade school years, and Lillian graduated!! How is it possible that we have a high school graduate already? Lillian and Ella also got to enjoy prom this year. Ella is such a hard worker. She helps around the house/homestead during the day and then goes to work in the evenings. And Wyatt earned his black belt this year! Luke started working for a company in Kansas called ISPN, and he has really enjoyed the transition to this new position. I have been busy working hard around the homestead, planning the future for the homestead, and trying to keep everything here running like a well oiled machine. Some days the schedules get a little hectic, but just like the country music song goes, it’s “Just another day in paradise”.
Hope everyone has a great week! Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you.
Reader question… What is one spring/summer chore that you LIKE to do??