Colors of Spring

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.