Hey! We might actually be past the halfway point of winter, although this is the Keweenaw, so who can really say? I hope so, because when Benj and I went to get wood yesterday, I realized that we are on the very last row of our wood pile. How did that happen? Of course there is some wood scattered here and there, along with a pile that needs a chainsaw, but still....bummer! I guess now we can pretend that we are real homesteaders who have to keep cutting their wood all through the winter. I WON'T be pretending too much and cutting it by hand. Like I would even know where to start. Yes, we are very spoiled, I'd say!
Not all that much to report on. I did order a ton of seeds last week. I can't wait to get that box!! I have a schedule of exactly when I need to start what seeds in the house etc., and the first batch, which is basically the cabbage family, will need to get started in 2 weeks. Wow! Isn't that exciting? I bought a box of 1000 jiffy-7's, which should be a breeze to plant in. We'll see. Chances are, I'll be using all of those 1000, and maybe even have some left over plants to sell. That could be fun.
I bought some really interesting varieties this year. Chocolate and purple peppers, along with some red and yellow little stuffing peppers. A ton of different hot peppers. Broccoli that grows all winter long, chard, lots of different kinds of tomatoes, some gourds to grow over the deck. (I'll need to do a little work on the deck area so that they can grow towards the house. That should be pretty cool having big gourds hanging over our heads. Hopefully not too dangerous!) What else...I can't really remember at the moment. But lots, for sure. Oh, some really cool long red beans, as well as peas. I tried to order things that had multiple uses...like I didn't realize that some of the beans could be eaten fresh, or would be just as good if they were left to dry out. This way, if I get behind on things, nothing will go to waste. There are some people who grow fields of beans, dry them out, and use it for hay in the winter. Who knew? I just realized that I forgot to buy some sunflower seeds. For sure, we need a lot of those. The goats and Flower get a cup and a half a day, and their coats are nice and shiny. It would be good to be able to grow enough to last them the winter. It'll be a fight with the squirrels, though. They tried to eat through my big plastic container in the barn that houses the sunflower seeds. Little bastards.
I've also realized that a lot of things will need changing around this summer due to the fact that the chickens aren't doing well in their new house, and the turkeys and geese aren't the best of friends. Besides, I'm going to be starting my own turkey and chicken breeding program, so things will have to be different.
Here's the new plan at the moment:
The horse barn is currently filled up with old goat barn and homestead wood. That will need to come out of there. Because the road house is going to eventually be the new workshop, I will clean that out and put the wood in the attic. Of course, this means that the upstairs floor of the roadhouse will need some new supports. No problem.
Once the horse barn is cleaned out, I am going to convert it to a goat barn. Build individual stalls, a milking area, a place for feed etc. Diane gave me this great little book for my bday that has some ideas for how to organize a goat/cow barn. I'll follow that.
Once the goats are out of their current barn, I will reconvert that into the chicken barn, which is what it was originally. Unfortunately, the goats have all but destroyed it, but that's ok. I'll fix it up again. The current chicken house will become the turkey house for next year. They don't mind the cold like the chickens do, (they go outside all the time where they are at now,) so they should do ok there. I'll have a run outside for them so they can come in and out all winter, build some breeding areas inside so the girls could start laying whenever they are ready to. I'll also keep a couple of male turkeys, but only one will go with the turkey girls. The others can go with the chickens so they can protect them if something should get in there. They are excellent watch dogs. Turkey chicks are over 8 bucks a piece, and if I raise my own, that will save a ton of money. I've got orders for like 50 if I had the room. Next year I will.
What else...I'm also considering breeding my own pigs, and have decided to build a pig house off the back of the wood shed. Their fence can go up the hill a bit and they will have shade, as well as clear out that entire area for me.
Another thing that will happen, but probably slowly, is that I want to start building a mess of little chicken, turkey and pig houses, and develop a system so that I can move them all over the property so they can fertilize and eat all the bugs. They will all be healthier, the ground will benefit, and everyone will be happy. This will be a ton of work, and will require a lot of organization. But it can happen if I don't overwhelm myself. Getting everyone in their new places will have to come first. But I'm pretty motivated, so it will happen. I just read a terrible article on the 35 million pounds of beef recall and the way the animals were treated. Darn it! I will do whatever I have to so that people don't need to purchase meat from the grocery stores. Any little bit I can do is going to help. If we have to move to selling farm shares we'll do it.
Well, that was a bit more than I thought I'd be writing. But pretty exciting, so it's hard to stop! The guys are home from school sick today, and because I have no classes today, we are all staying home. I've lots of my own school work to do so I best get at it!
Here's a few shots of Vanna as she tries to talk me into going for a snowshoe. I tried to get a picture of her jumping but she's too fast!
No comments:
Post a Comment