Triple Creek Farm, May 11, 2013

Rain, rain, go away, I want to go out and play.  This week we have had rain and I worked knowing the rain was coming.  A lot of the garden was planted and waiting for rain.  We pushed very hard to plant the bloody butcher corn.  Between some of the showers the potatoes were fed plant food and had mulch pulled up on them.

IN THE KITCHEN

I made sourdough English muffins, oh how I have missed having these for breakfast sandwiches.  We opened the violet jelly and it was very good.  There were 16 pineapples purchase at a very good price and I am dehydrating all of them.  The chives are blooming and chive blossom wine vinegar is working.  In 2 weeks we have the return of this to our vinegar cabinet.

ON THE FARM

Mr. Bootsie has been working on trying to discourage the foxes.  We have taken most of the protection down around the den.  We have seen 2 little ones playing.  We are still cutting brush for the goats.  I am afraid to let them go outside of the pasture and free range graze.  We were taking them out for about 30 minutes a day until we learned the location of the den.  Another trip to the mill this week.  A new project has started.  He is working on a brooder box in our feed room.

IN THE COOP

Everything is good in the coop.  Little Gray, broody is waiting for her eggs, they were picked up Saturday afternoon.  We are going to set her Sunday morning.  We have 5 Golden Pheasant eggs which we were told will take about 22 to 24 days.  There are 13 assorted eggs from a friend who has a number of roosters.  He keeps the pairs together.  This is going to be an interesting hatch.

The first hatch is now over 2 weeks old, they are eating oatmeal, scrambled eggs and grass. (They have been chick starter from the hatch, I keep this in with the setting hens.)  These little ones are growing.

Momma Duck has showed no signs of becoming a Momma Duck, we have checked lots of eggs and we see no signs of them being fertile.  But what do we know?

IN THE GARDEN

Most of the crops are planted.  Now the weeded and thinning has started.  Just when you think it is all clear the night temperatures next week are going to be low again.  I will wait until this front has passed to install the cucumber plants.  They like the soil temperature to be above 70 degrees.  

The walking onions are starting to shoot their scapes, it is time to start enjoying the green garlic.  Radishes are coming in by the basket full.  We are planning on eating the radish greens this year and dehydrating the radish root.  This is such an easy plant to grow I need to find more ways to use this in our food pantry.  The green beans were fed and mulched,  the early tomato plants are taking on a good color.  Harvesting broccoli and the Swiss chard is ready to be harvested.  The chickens are enjoying some of the  plants from the garden.  I grow the chard large and feed it to them.  I may dehydrate some of the chard, I find this is a wonderful addition to soups.  I have been thinking this could be a good addition to a green smoothie.  

IN CLOSING

We are busy, now that there is a second set of hands here to work things are getting accomplished on a more timely basis.  It seems I have Mr. Bootise running in a number of different directions.  I am not sure this will stop.  Mr. Bootsie was a start a project and finish it, move on to another, but now he is starting to understand you have to do what is the most pressing task at this moment.  His adjustment is really starting to show, it surely is making a lot of things easier for me.  I was able to plant some flowers this past week, what a pleasure for I have really missed my flowers.  There has been so much hard work here I have had to put some of the things I do for my pleasure on the back burner and think I will get to this later.  Many times I asked myself if later would come in my lifetime.  I am seeing a light at the end of my tunnel and somedays it is much brighter than others.