Life on the farm....

  The last couple of months have been a little busy around here. What with having hardly any winter(2 days of lt. snow) and quite a few warm days we have been able to get more things done outside. We now have 2 rabbits,the Lion head(Ninja) and a Holland Dwarf(Dovie) and a Painted Desert ramling(Boomerang). What with the chickens,ducks,rabbits,lamb,dogs and cats around here we are starting to look like a real farm.A new shed had been put up so we can make the old one into a bigger hen house,the old hen house will be cleaned up for the lamb who now sleeps in a dog house.Does that make sense? LOL
 We have been planting flowers and clearing areas for more garden beds. Last year's garden didn't do very well due to bugs,poor soil and the heat,I hope this years will be better. Fayetteville had a Dig In Festival earlier this month. There were classes on beekeeping,seedsaving,gardening,chickens,cooking,bugs in your garden,and several others. Local organic eateries brought in wonderful treats for us and there were movies playing several times during the day. All in all it was a great learning experience and I am thankful to have the opportunity to learn from others.
 Piper and Zoe had their birthdays this month,they are now 11 and 13. I asked them if they wanted a trampoline or animals for their birthdays,they chose animals. Zoe wanted a lamb and rabbits,Piper wanted chicks.We will be getting bantams for her this week. We have 8 laying hens at the moment and 6 new hen chicks but 11 roosters(poor hens),nine of the roos we have now separated into a different pen to be sold or maybe for the freezer.Because of the light winter we had everyone is worried about the bug population exploding,especially the ticks. My sister keeps telling me we need guineas, I don't like guineas,they are loud and obnoxious but I will probably get some because I dislike ticks even more!

Dovie

Oreo

Boomarang

Shadow Ninja

Elie and Plato

Raver

New chicks

So what's hatching,quacking,baaing,crowing or running around your farm?



Blessed Be!

Come on Spring!!

  Here in NW Arkansas the weather has been particularly nice this winter, a few cold days, a dusting of snow and a little rain. Makes me worried about what will happen here in February and March. We have also been receiving the annual seed catalogs in the mail, you know the ones that makes us feel like a kid in a candy store, so many choices that it's hard to decide what to plant. My friend Tabbie and I are going in together to buy seeds from Baker Creek,http://rareseeds.com/. We have a list of 53+ vegetables and herbs that we want to put in our gardens this year. My garden didn't well at all last year due to the very hot summer we had and the major invasion of bugs that came to visit. I am going to expand my garden quite a bit this year, make space for a larger variety of yummy stuff. The melons, squash, and cucumbers are all going on the little hill area behind the main garden, I hope to get more than last year as Hershey isn't here to carry them off. 6 more raised beds will be going up in the next month or so with other planters scattered around the garden. I want a really colorful garden with all kind of eccentric planters and surprises that catch your eye when wondering thru. I found tons of ideas on Pinterest and hope to put them in the garden this year.

These are just a few ideas I want to incorporate into the garden, to find more click on the Pinterest button on the right. What are you plans for the garden this year?                                                                            Blessed Be,

  We have been busy bee's around here. Except for the roof, our little hen housed is finished. The girls and I started painting it yesterday, I will put up pictures when we are done. I need to find some fencing for the chickens until then I guess they will be truly free range, we have a rooster and 4 hens waiting at my neighbors for their new home.
 The garden beds are slowly getting ready. I have a lady coming out today and bringing me horse manure, I am trading blackberry plants for it. I hope to start planting soon.
 With everyone looking forward to spring and growing season I thought I would put up all my favorite homesteading, gardening and food prep sites. I hope you will find these as helpful as I have.

This has a lot of good Pod casts
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search/homesteading/

Backwoods home Magazine
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/clay125.html

The Hillbilly Housewife
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

The Humble Garden
http://www.humblegarden.com/

Dehydrate 2 Store
http://www.dehydrate2store.com/

Becky's Homestead
http://www.beckyshomestead.com/

http://selfsufficientpreparedness.wordpress.com/
Has alot of good info.

International Seed Saving Institute
 http://www.seedsave.org/issi/issi_904.html

Leeners's
http://www.leeners.com/index.html
I haven't tried anything from here but it looks interesting.

Tattler
http://www.reusablecanninglids.com/
I will be ordering from here.

Homestead
http://www.homestead.org/

 Best book I have run across lately is  Great Garden Companions by Sally Jean Cunningham. This book has a lot of wonderful information on what plants to combine with your veggies to bring in the good bugs and keep the pests away. Also Mary Jane's Farm and Countryside Magazines have great information on homesteading, gardening and so much more.

 I hope everyone is looking forward to the growing season as much as I am. Ck. out these links and they will give you a lot of help and new ideas.

Dreaming of spring!

Spring is around the corner, I can feel it, I just can't find the right corner! Last fall the girls and I planted a bunch of bulbs someone gave us around the tree in the front yard. Today I saw that a bunch were up and I worry if we get more snow. I might cover them with more straw when that happens.

 My son Aaron and I spent last Sat. building garden beds out of scrap wood. They came out pretty good! I need to collect more wood to make the rest. Today Is Aaron's 19th birthday, Happy Birthday, we love you!
In the Mary Jane magazine I found an article about a barn made from pallets and a polyuathane carport cover. I really liked it and now plan to make one for the goats which I hope to have by the end of the summer. I went onto you tube and found all kinds of neat things that are built with pallets. Now a chicken house and a bigger storage shed are on the horizon. This is usually free wood folks, just today on craigs list someone was giving away 25-30 pallets free for the taking. I really need a truck! I am becoming a great scavanger!