Garden Love

I believe that gardens can almost have personalities.  They are picky like children.  One year they like one veggie, and they might hate it the next.  Our first year gardening we were giving away squash and zucchini.  Last year we had a surplus of peppers.  This year is too early to tell, but so far our garden loves lettuce (and weeds).  We have been harvesting lettuce for salads, along with spinach.  I made a pizza using spinach, basil and asparagus from our garden.  The asparagus is so fun because one day its not there, and the next day its a foot tall.
  I am always amazed at things we can produce ourselves.  With some dirt, some seeds and a whole lotta love, we can produce food to eat.  Just knowing that the food on the table is because of me gives me so much pleasure.  I always tend to over order seeds, and someday I hope to have a system down for ordering and planting.  But I would rather order too many seeds for my garden than none.  This week we planted pumpkin, zucchini, gourds, squash, cucumbers, peas, tomatoes and probably more I forgot about.  Our garden is not just in garden beds, but in containers on the deck, and anywhere I can squeeze them in.  I planted chamomile to hopefully make tea later, and rosemary for my favorite rosemary chicken.  I planted the requisite basil and parsley. We have oregano, rhubarb, lemon balm and asparagus returning from previous years.  I love my garden!  Someday I hope to produce all the veggies we need for an entire year, but for now I am still figuring out what exactly my garden likes.  How about you?

A Green, clean kitchen, Pink Hydrangeas and Blue Eggs

We continue noticing colors around Victory Garden Farm. This week I have vowed to keep the kitchen clean, and the counters as clear as possible. The mixer stays on the counter, covered by an antique needlepoint from Pella, Iowa. The coffee corner stays and the rest of the counters are just that. It is so refreshing to have a clean kitchen!

Hubby surprised me tonight by bringing home flowers...of the potted variety. He knows I love hydrangeas and he brought home four new plants! Two of them are blue and are already planted in the ground. The remaining two are pink, and I think they will be exchanged tomorrow for blue plants. The pink is a bit much.

We have been getting 1 blue egg a day. Today we had a total of 13 chicken eggs! The blue is really obvious when you see the eggs in person. The pictures dont show the true color difference.

We were hit with a big storm this weekend, and although muddy, we cant complain too much. There was a tornado semi-nearby so things could have been a lot worse. The radio was telling our area to take cover until the danger was passed. So I baked a cake instead...while the mixer had power.

Today was gorgeous and we got to work outside. I had a new friend over to the house along with her two girls. Watching the girls amazement at all the animals made me smile. We are expecting more thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. I will enjoy the time to hunker down and knit or spin.

Colors of Spring

Spring!

Our unidentified tree in the front yard is blooming and its absolutely gorgeous! Everytime I walk to the truck it greets me and I smile. I know its blooms will be short lived, so I will enjoy them while they are here. The peonies I planted are starting to emerge from the ground. The hydrangeas are settling in, and we can see shades of blue already. Today, the weather is gorgeous! I took the dogs on a long with with one of my girlfriends. It was so nice to be out in the sun, walking after having been cooped up during the winter. Welcome Spring, I hope you stay!

The waiting game

We are getting good at the waiting game...Yesterday we noticed one of the rabbits was pulling her fur. This indicates that she is going to kindle (or give birth). I was hoping she would go last night. No luck. This morning when hubby left at 5, I ran downstairs, sleepy eyed to see my new baby bunnies. No luck. I went to work at noon and came home at 7. Bunnies? Nope. Technically tomorrow is her 31st day from her date with the buck. Rabbits can give birth from teh 28th day to the 31st day. I will have to wait until tomorrow. In the meantime, you can bet I will be checking often. Hubby brought home damaged produce from the commissary today. All bunns got treats of cabbage, cucumbers, celery, tomatoes and carrots. Lucky bunns!

We had planned to fence in the garden this weekend. I found some fencing on craigslist for a super affordable price. Until we can fence in the plot, the chickens are penned up in the coop. Apparently fresh greens are irresistable to chickens. It looks like we are going to have to wait for our fence as well. Not only is the forecast predicting cold weather, but they are calling for 4 inches of snow tomorrow night. Which means snow on the ground, and the ground will be too frozen to work with. All our little plants are covered so they wont shrivel away.

So whats a girl to do while she waits for babies and snow? Today I registered our chickens with the state of Maryland. I also registered our bees. We are official farmers according to the Great State of Maryland! Not that we need them to tell us that... Hubby is napping, I might make some coffee and write to my new penpal. Sounds like a good way to spend yet another cold dreary evening.

Welcome Spring

Happy First Day of Spring! Hubby and I celebrated by tilling the garden plot. I am wishing I had a hot tub (preferably one from here http://snorkel.com/) to relax in because my back, and Hubby's as well, is killing me! We took turns tilling the plot. Since the plot was grass yesterday, we spent a good amount of time raking the clumps of grass, and throwing them on the compost heap. Once we were satisfied with the tilling job, we started planting our veggies. As I write, we have broccoli, spinach, lettuce, kale and onions in the new garden plot. These are our tests, as it is supposed to snow this week. We have seeds started indoors that we will plant in the ground when we dont think it will snow and or freeze. The weather is supposed to rain all week and I hope the garden survives. Kisses, our new goat is settling in well. We were prepared for her to cry all week. We were told a goat will always cry, and sound horrendous, for their first week in a new home. Not our girl! Knock on wood. She has been extremely well mannered. She cries softly occasionally, but George the Rooster is louder than she. Jackie and Billy dont seem to care one way or another that we have a new goat. Meanie, is her usual mean old self. Jumpy pays Kisses no attention until Kisses gets too close. So far so good. I only hope they continue to get along. On the rabbit front, I think one of our does is going to give birth this week. She is currently renting a rabbit cage in the laundry room so that if and when she delivers her babies might have a chance. She is enjoying this new location. The previous baby bunnies are getting huge! They look more and more like real bunnies on a miniture scale. Hubby thinks he has found homes for two of them, even though that was not our intent. Our male angora has some issues around his eye. I am not sure what is going on there, but we will keep an eye on him. Hopefully it will clear up. If not, its off to the vet we go. We had a lovely visit from a friend/old coworker of mine. It was so fun to show her all that is new around the farm since she last came. I dont realize how much it has changed, since its all been slowly evolving. Looking at it through her eyes made it so much more exciting. Hubby and I are relaxing, watching The Good Life tonight. My back aches, and my arms throb from the vibrations of the rototiller. At least its done for now. Tomorrow can be a lazy day in the rain. I am looking forward to the moment my head hits the pillow tonight.

Victory Garden Farm

Hubby and I were so fortunate to buy our "farm" in July. At that time, the "farm" was a house, 5 acres, and 4 outbuildings, otherwise known as slave quarters. After living there for two months, we have transformed the house to our HOME. One of the outbuildings is a playhouse for the kids who will pass through this farm. Another outbuilding Hubby is in the process of making his workshop. Yet another outbuilding (was not safe and insurance said we had to take it down) is half torn down, half standing. The wood will become our chicken coop for our future meat chickens. And the fourth, biggest outbuilding will become the small barn. The backyard makeover will forever be in progress. Hubby has already cleared over 30 trees, ensuring we have firewood for next winter. This place, our HOME, we will call Victory Garden Farm. During World War II, American citizens were urged to grow victory gardens in their backyards so that the food from farms could be sent to the soldiers. Citizens pitched in to help out for the greater good. That is what we aim to do. We will plant a large garden in the back, grow our own meat and try to be as self sufficient as possible. We have become too dependent on fast food and getting things from others. I want to understand the whole process of what we are taking in. We feed the chickens, which fertilizes the soil for the garden, where we will plant seed and grow food, and the scraps will be given to back to the chickens to turn into fertilizer yet again. Its an amazing circle and I want to witness it all. By no means are we expecting this to be all fun and games. I understand that there will be death and heartache. But there will also be births and growth. There will be hardwork and payoffs. I am looking forward to eating the veggies from the garden next year. Right now the garden is not even plowed. What little of a garden that survived the move is in containers by the future barn. With hubby being in the army, and moving from Texas to Maryland, its nice to finally have a place of our own. A place thats ours. A place to belong. Home. We look forward to sharing our journey with you. So please, come along as we build our farm.