Well here we are Memorial Day weekend, Happy early Memorial Day to all! :) We are not relaxing or any of that good stuff, instead we are doing maintenance on the yard and working to get the cows here. Cow house is done...now to keep them where we want them and keep them in! LOL It is so close I am so excited! We are also cleaning out our garage because as our kids get older they need more space. Trust me, we live in a pretty big house....but there NEVER seems to be enough space or storage. My kids are really getting into sports and they leave all their sports gear around our mud room and as we are trying to leave to go to practice they look at me and ask where their cleats are or their glove or so on. Mr. Smith also got me a new cabinet to put all the home preschool stuff in, so I have some organization and it is wonderful!
Ok back to the farm! I haven't been able to keep up with the crops we have been pulling. I lost count! We have had quite a few radish....at least 100. We have pulled some turnip, which we have decided not to grow again because no one liked it! HA HA HA HA....piggies are getting some extra produce :) We pulled about 20-30 turnips and there are still more. We have pulled all the radishes and have planted beans where the radishes were since we are doing succession planting to get the most out of our garden. We are planning to pull the rest of the turnips this weekend and plant more beans there as well. Beets are about 2-3 weeks away from harvest and we have gotten so many strawberries that my kids have eaten fresh strawberries by the handfuls every day for about 2 weeks now and I even got to make homemade strawberry ice cream! It was sooooo good! :D
The pigs are still growing and getting ready for breeding! We are just waiting on our male boar's leg to heal a little more. We had a scare about 2-3 weeks ago. Our boar ripped an entire board off of his house and before we could get in there to get it out before he stepped on a nail, he did. :( He was limping and it was pretty bad for a few days where we thought he wasn't going to make it. We cleaned it out the second after we got the board out and put antibiotic spray on it and kept checking him and we ended up having to give him an antibiotic shot for 3 days in a row and as of today he is walking pretty good, still has a slight limp when he puts his full weight on it, but otherwise looks to be in good shape :)
Our chickens and rooster are doing awesome! My incubator did not work, the temp fluctuated so much that it could not stay in the range the baby chicks needed. The good news is that one of the hens has decided to become a mother! LOL She laid some eggs and has been sitting on them for about 2 weeks now. The other hens kept laying eggs on top of her so we marked the eggs she was sitting on plus the few the hens decided to give her and now we check and make sure we take out only the eggs without marks on it so she does not have to keep sitting on more and more. Excited to see a mama hen do what God intended her to do! Make and raise chicks! :) Our meat chickens are up for butchering as well. They are meaner this time then last year, don't know why. I am glad that we have a hen doing her work and making meat chickens for us, so we don't have to order these mean chickens ever again!
We butchered our first ducks last weekend and it was our first time having duck, I have to say I am looking forward to having duck again! Hopefully Mr.Smith will get some this fall during duck hunting season. :D
We have had 2 meals where everything could be grown and just about was on our homestead. We had roasted chicken with peas and turnips (the chicken & turnips, were homegrown) and for breakfast we had mini spinach, onion, & bacon quiches (the spinach & eggs were homegrown) and it made me happy that we are getting closer and closer every year to being able to feed my family from our homestead and no longer go to the grocery store for food. I am trying to get my kids to eat more seasonally as well to get used to us not having grapes and peaches available 24/7. Its a slow transition, but for the better, for our bodies, the environment and my wallet! :D
This winter I think we maybe looking into renting more farm land,we are outgrowing our little homestead here and I would like to start maybe making some money off of the farm. We shall see.
Well off to start dinner! Will try to post new pictures soon.
