Turkey Check Up...

Well we still have Butterball and Snowball, the two turkeys we've managed to keep alive.  Or maybe it would be better to phrase it that they've managed to stay alive in spite of us.  However you want to think about it works for me.  They love free-ranging and we love having them free-range.  They have continued to be good foragers and have left the garden plants alone for the most part.  They are efficient eaters of all things creepy-crawly and green-n-tasty, they only seem to eat a small amount of commercial feed.  We keep some commercial feed available at all times.  They also get into the pig feed we soak for the pigs.  I think they think they have it made here, what a smorgasbord they have to choose from really!

They follow us everywhere as we go about our chores around the place, they even follow the boys down to the dirt pile where they play and then they follow them back when they head back to the house.  I truly adore all the sounds they make as we work in the garden.  I had no idea we'd enjoy turkeys this much.

Butterball checking out the freshly cut hay.

Butterball on the left, Snowball on the right.

I thought we were going to get some electric fence action here but Snowball was just after a bug on the post and didn't touch the fence in the process.  Good thing too, because that fence is really hot!

They have the darkest eyes and the strangest looking heads!

They are really cool animals.  We still aren't sure if we will do turkeys next year.  They were a rather expensive adventure to get started and we weren't all that successful in keeping many alive. We will keep thinking about it and see what we can afford to do next spring.  For now, we are really enjoying these two characters.

Fall Crops? Maybe.

We are attempting a few fall crops this year.  We've never planted a fall crop before, but we thought we'd try since we have the room and some things were done for the season.  The first one we planted was the broccoli.  I had planted an open pollinated variety called De Cicco but I didn't care for the growing habits, they had small little florets mixed in a ton of foliage and very little yield per plant.  So I pulled out that variety and planted my favorite variety this year called Imperial from Johnny's Seeds  it is an excellent variety with large heads and seems to handle the heat of summer well.  I am not sure how well it will do being planted the first of August, but we will try for a nice fall crop and see how it goes.

Here is the row marked off with jute string and seeded already.  We will put a fresh layer of mulch around the plants once they are up and established well.  We also need some more on the walkway as the weeds are starting to peek through because the mulch is too thin.

Here we just finished pulling out all the old pea vines.  We planted some snap peas and they were excellent!  We had one package of seeds left so we replanted as many as we had for another fall crop of these tasty peas.  They were our favorite crop to snack on while in the garden while they lasted!

As far as the fall crops go, we plan to also plant another crop of cauliflower (Amazing Cauliflower from Johnny's Seed) and a purple cauliflower variety  (Violetta Italia from Burgess), carrots (Bolero from Johhnys Seeds), radishes, lettuce, and spinach.  I might even start some ornamental kale (from Harris Seeds) from seed if I get really organized!

The kids' help is very much appreciated, just knowing the kids enjoy the garden, love eating the veggies that come from it makes it feel more worthwhile.  We've been blessed by so many aspects of this process from early February when we started seeds indoors, clear through the season so far the kids have been right there with me, excited sharing in the memories, hard work, and fun of it all.  I wouldn't have it any other way, even when there are mishaps and squished plants, or premature harvest efforts.  It doesn't hurt that I have a husband who thinks weeding is therapeutic, he enjoys weeding in the early mornings or evenings on the weekends whenever he can.  For that I am SUPER thankful!

Sunshine has really taken voluntary ownership of the garden this year, I find her tending plants, helping to train them up the supports, weeding as she walks to do other chores, etc.    Just today, she asked if she could make some pickles.  I was busy working on the new school year's lessons plans so I told her to go for it!  She harvested some cucumbers and canned a few jars of Low-Sodium Sweet Dill Pickles (they are a family favorite that many request us to make for them) she managed to do the whole process herself and they turned out beautifully!  She even cut some in the sandwich stacker style.  I was pretty impressed she took that on without hesitation.  I guess those years of doing it together has really paid off.  

Tobers and Whippersnapper are excellent harvest assistants, they regularly bring in the bounty for me.  I think it is like a scavenger hunt for them, many times they bring things in I didn't even realize were ready or couldn't see like they can at their vantage point (and a few things that weren't quite ready too, oops).  They are a really big help.  Spud Man keeps busy with his pig plot portion of the garden and weeding enough to feed his pig each day.  The pigs actually like the weeds better than the actual crops we planted for them to forage.

I will try to keep you posted on how the fall crops turn out, hopefully there is something positive to report back on in a few weeks time.

Front Flowerbed Fun...

We've been weeding, and weeding, and weeding some more.  This week it was the front flower bed, again, for the 5th time this season.  We didn't have enough in the landscaping budget to put too many perennials in the front bed this spring so we filled it with sunflowers and gourds to help cover some of the bare areas.  So far that plan is working out pretty nicely.

Here is an overview of what it looks like from the house looking towards the road.

Here is what this same section looked like just 1 month ago...

The next few pictures are the rest of the front flower bed sections.

Here are some close ups of our favorite sunflowers.  They are so cheerful and fun!

Aren't they beautiful?  The honey bees sure like them!

Here are some of the gourd selection we ended up with.  They are pretty fun and they will make great fall decor additions!

That is the progress on the front flower bed so far this year.  I like the looks of it so far, I will enjoy adding in some shrubs, evergreens, and more perennials next spring, but for now this was a fun way to fill up the larger spaces.

Garden Tour Early August...

The garden is doing pretty good, there are a few crops I wish had done better (like the green beans, cucumbers, and corn), but overall they still look good and we are getting some bounty from even the weaker crops so we have much to be thankful for.  The weeds have been very healthy this year and keep finding ways to create more work for us, but the deep straw mulch helps so much I can't complain too much!

Here are a few overview pics of the garden and you can see the hay field has been cut for the 2nd cutting too.

Cucumbers, cantaloupe, dill, celery, chicken run etc.

Green beans, tomatoes, and flowers.

Swiss chard, cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi, onions, carrots, zucchini, crookneck, and furthest out is the pig plot area that has mangels, canola, turnips, carrots etc.

Sunshine is checking out the Crenshaw melons.

The strawberries and corn beyond that.  The orchard is beyond the corn.

1 Ball yellow squash, I love these for stuffing!

Broccoli head, we have harvested about 75% of the plants now (we have about 90 plants) and we have about 34+ quart bags of  broccoli in the freezer (plus we've eaten a few meals worth too), our goal is about 45 bags.  We will continue to get some side shoots off the harvested plants later in the season to help us get to our goal.  We also plan to donate some of the larger remaining heads to the local food pantry if it is ripe on their next distribution day.

Some of the cantaloupe are gaining in size and might have a chance of ripening in time before frost.  We were unsure if we should grow melons as they take up a lot of space and we have never had good luck with melons, but we had to at least try now that we have so much more room to grow things.  So far so good on these.

My first year growing cauliflower is, so far, a success.  It tastes good, we've frozen a little here and there but mostly we've been eating it for dinner.  We did a few bags of frozen mixed broccoli and cauliflower which will be nice in the winter.  I am still learning how to tell when they are fully ripe and when to tie the leaves around the heads to prevent sunburn.  

We had to replant the cucumbers 2 times this year so they are a little later and I haven't gotten the yields I hoped for to be able to make pickles.  The only seeds I had left to reseed with were a space saving type so the vines are relatively small but are producing well for such small vines.  They have great flavor so far.

The lemon cucumbers are almost ripe and Mr. Wonderful can't wait for the first one of the season!  He LOVES these little gems.

The lettuce patch is hanging in there surprisingly well for such high temps lately.  It tastes good still and I'd love to plant this kind again next year!  Too bad I am not sure which mix this was. 

Here is a nice purple kohlrabi, we also have white and they both taste really good.  We sold about 22 to the local fruit stand because we had too many.  What we have left we should be able to eat before they grow too large to be tasty.

This spaghetti squash plant is really happy!  It is producing lots of squash, probably more than we'd eat so we might have a few to share and sell at some point.

At the end of the day with all the watering, weeding, harvesting, and tending....this is how we feel....

Then again, living here is a dream come true and no matter the hard work we are blessed and really enjoying it!  God has been so good to us.

July Garden/Animal Tour...

It's been a while since I had a chance to post anything about what has been going on around here.  This warm weather and the prolific weed population proved to be no match for my 30 minute weeding sessions in the early mornings.  I needed help!  Mr. Wonderful came to the rescue when he had a 4 day weekend over the 4th of July.  We took 2 FULL days as a family, and weeded almost the entire 10,000 square foot garden.  We didn't worry about weeding much in the walkways or the pig food plot, because they weren't at risk of crowding out the garden produce plants.  It was hard work, but we really enjoyed working together, visiting, laughing, throwing "weed bombs" at each other, and then celebrating with a nice swim in the reservoir nearby when we finished each day.  Standing back when we finished each section gave us a sense of accomplishment, and it was fun to see each section reveal what plants has flourished even with the weeds in there.

Here is a sample of the before and after effect...

We are starting to enjoy several garden harvests.  So far we've harvested a few 8 Ball Zucchinis, some of the 1 Ball Yellow Squash, lots and lots of lettuce, a few handfuls of strawberries, a bumper crop of snap peas, and several herbs.  It is an exciting time to see all that is about to go into full harvest mode.  I should be harvesting and blanching broccoli either today or tomorrow.  We have quite the crop of beautiful heads of broccoli coming along!  There is also one head of cauliflower starting to form.  I've never grown cauliflower successfully before so I am pretty excited about it.

Here are some garden pictures...I can't get the whole garden in any one picture because it is L-shaped  and very large, but you can get the idea.  It is hard to believe that many of these plants we started from seed way back in January and February!

I have learned mulch is my best friend!  Lots and lots of mulch is the secret to maintaining a garden this large. Sure the mulch itself is a lot of work when you are putting it down, in fact the only areas that managed to get out of control weed-wise were all non-mulched areas.  Now we have most everything mulched, after we got it weeded.  It really helps keep the moisture in as well.  We noticed our soil doesn't hold moisture as much as our previous place, so anything to hold it in better is good.

The yard landscape is shaping up pretty well too.  We have had very good luck with the wave petunias we planted from seed, they are really starting to cover some area now and I so appreciate their color where we have such large areas to cover.  I have quite a few in pots as well.

 The front flower bed is going pretty nicely for it's first year.  Considering how little money we put into landscaping plants, I think the area is filling out pretty well.  We planted areas of sunflowers, zinnias, and gourds to help fill in some of the space between the shrubs and perennials we have gotten so far.  I am really pleased with the overall shape and look of the flowerbed areas.  We still have a lot of work to do like bark mulch, edging, and more plants.

Now for a quick update on the animals too...

 The pigs actually like weeds way better than the actual pig food we planted for them so lesson learned on that one...they snub their snouts at beets, turnips, rape seed, and corn plants (but they will eventually eat it), then they go wild over plain old garden weeds.  Go figure!

The turkeys are doing great, Butterball is growing nice and large.  He is the guardian of the smaller turkey we hatched out a few weeks ago, he really looks out for him.  The smaller one, Snowball, is growing quite well also.  He follows Butterball all over the farm.  They both love to follow us while we do chores, they are very personable, and so far they are enjoying the free-range life.  As long as they remain gentle on the garden plants and they stick close to home they can remain free.

We still have meat chickens for just one more week.  We are finishing out the 4th batch which will bring us to 300 birds raised this year.  The project has went extremely well and we are pretty pleased with how it is turning out.  That being said, raising that many birds are a LOT of work.  Lots of heavy lifting with moving the pens twice daily, hauling bags and bags of feed, dragging hundreds of feet of hoses or hauling buckets of water, handling or moving the birds and not to mention the actual processing day to get them ready for the freezer!  Oh and don't even get me started on how expensive they are to feed!  I had no idea we'd be going through over two ton of feed in one 3 1/2 month stretch!  I will have to post a meat bird review soon to give you an idea of what we liked or want to improve on for next year and if we even plan to do it again next year.

I have had to be realistic and step back from a few commitments and other things to make it easier and more realistic to keep up everything we are doing right now.  We've had to change our lives some to make sure  I/we can still keep up with schooling the kids, caring for the animals, and maintaining this place. We've also given up the freedom to take off and go camping every couple weekends like we used to.  So far I have struggled to keep balance more often than I thought I would.  There is so much to try to keep up with when you have schooling the kiddos, church activities/ministries, friends, family, and social events, but hopefully everyone can be patient with us as our priorities change focus with the seasons of our lives.  That was really hard at first, but then I looked at it like a gift after a while.  A gift to focus on simply what I felt God was calling me to do THAT day, without all the other stuff hanging over my head.

Even though I go to bed most days exhausted and I have sore muscles just about daily, I always feel at least a small sense of purpose and satisfaction even if it was a so-so day.  That sense of contentment has always seemed to escape me before we lived on acreage.  For that, I am truly thankful every day!

Hay Down...

The hay has been cut!  It's that time of year again.  I really enjoy watching it get cut and walking the rows to enjoy the new look of everything, almost like a new haircut for the place.

Now we pray for no rain for a couple weeks!

Indoor Plants...

 I find it amazing how much something small like a houseplant can do to make a home feel just a little more pulled together.  Actually I can't really put my finger on what a plant does for a room.  All I know is, it makes me smile.  Lately, while browsing Pinterest I have been noticing several of creative uses for succulent plants of all kinds.  I have a fondness for them because they require so little in the way of water.

Here is a unique one that features, light green, bright green and pink edges.

Another favorite that almost doesn't look real!  I love the bright green color of this plant.

I needed something that would trail over the edge a little to fill the pot some.  Creeping Thyme filled the void for us.

I had a few various plants like a variegated ficus, and a darker leaf plant and a few other houseplant selections.  I tried to choose plants that would compliment the furniture colors too.  I have always enjoyed large pots with several heights, textures, and colors to create a grouping of neat plants.

I spent all day last Friday cleaning and rearranging the main rooms of the house.  I got some alone time to focus on some organizing and cleaning. I moved the furniture around and decided the wall above the TV armoire looked rather blank.  I wanted something rustic to fill the area.  Since there wasn't anything in the decorating budget I needed to get creative. I looked around the house, but nothing really fit the space or look I had in mind.  Then, I remembered we have a really neat old iron bed frame we use as a trellis in the garden.  We've had it for years, and I like repurposing thing and we've used it in various ways over the years in our yard.  

I decided to give it a try to see if it would fill the empty space well.  I pulled it up out of the ground, hosed it off, and brought it inside and carefully lifted it on top the armoire.  I stood back and I was pleased with how it looked.  Granted, I would have liked it to be narrower than the armoire but on this limited budget perfect might not be a reality! lol  So I started adding a few things to fill the spaces a little.  I was wavering back and forth on how much I liked it set up this way, but when the kids got home and ooohed and awed over it and Mr. Wonderful mentioned he liked it, I decided it will stay for a while.  Everyone seems to be enjoying it so far.  You can see it in the next 2 pictures.  I couldn't get the flash to light it up real well but you get an idea of what it looks like.

By the way, I found this armoire on Facebook Classifieds for our area.  Turns out it was a fellow homeschooling family and they gave me $20 off and sold it to me for only $80!  It is a beautiful quality peice with a lot of solid wood in it.  I originally wanted to put all the school stuff in it, then I realized it wasn't big enough to fit everything in it.  It works much better to hold the TV and movies and such, and it looks nice in the living area too.  So glad I found this, and what a blessing it all worked out as it did!

 So that's my idea to bring a little rustic charm to our living room. The bed frame is probably pleased to once again be inside a home rather than weathered and abused outside. lol