We have been really busy around our homestead the past couple of weeks/months.
Garden:
We are putting the garden in and some of the things are getting off to a late start due to a lack of fencing. We needed to fence our free-range chickens out of the garden, but instead they are on a short break from their free-range status until we can get fencing around the garden.
So far we have potatoes, onion, peas, greens, beets, radishes, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower planted in the garden.
Randy borrowed a roto-tiller from our neighbors and was tilling the garden (and before you say anything I don’t like deep tilling the garden and suggested not turning the soil anymore than necessary). Eh hem, so he was roto-tilling the garden and the engine locked up, piston broke, etc. $150-$200 and a few hours of labor later the roto-tiller should be purring like a kitten again.
Yard work:
I managed to get the fruit trees sprayed with an organic dormant oil spray from Gardens Alive. It has to stay above 45 degrees for 24 hours in order for the spray to work. Sadly, yesterday was about the first calm day with a predicted low above 45.
Pasture:
Dad came down with the tractor and disk and worked up a bottom area of our pasture that seemed to only grow poke, devil’s claws, stickers, and cheat. Yesterday evening, I headed down there with a big bucket of turnip seeds and my little lawn fertilizer spreader to throw some turnip seed around. The plan is to have turnips for the sheep to eat soon and follow up by planting grass. We’re a little late, but that’s kind of our theme this season. I have no idea how many seeds got thrown, where they got thrown for sure, if they will come up, and what it will look like if they do, but it is done and we got a tiny bit of moisture last night and today to help the little guys grow.
Tonight we will be docking tails and doctoring sheep. Luckily a friend of Randy’s and my Dad will be there to help. They will also start an hour before I get home, so hopefully they have it covered by the time I get home from work. Randy’s mom and fiancé are visiting this weekend, so I have plenty of tidying up to do before they get here.
I know we eat differently than a lot of people, so I always panic when we have company and meals will have to be prepared. I don’t want to freak anyone out with the meals we eat, but I also don’t want to completely change who we are for someone. So, I will make some slight compromises which some are more of a convenience for me anyway (i.e. store bought tortillas).
We will probably go out to eat once or twice. His mom can’t sit still for long and insists on going “shopping” a lot.
Otherwise, on the menu:
Dinner:
*Fajitas (venison, shhh!) with homemade salsa, homemade yogurt, store bought ww tortillas (compromise/convenience), and homemade Spanish rice
*Roasted Chicken (raised on our farm) with baked potatoes, veggie, and homemade bread
Breakfast:
*I hope to make ww pancakes one morning while they are here and maybe kefir smoothies another morning if anyone is feeling daring.
Snacks:
*Organic raw veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery) and homemade Ranch dressing
*Organic apples with organic peanut butter
*Organic bananas
*And possibly no-bake cookies if I’m feeling froggy! I know they aren’t healthy, but man are they tasty.
We are supplementing a bottle lamb right now, so it will be fun for his mom to get to feed the little cutie. Our blue heeler, Ash, can always squeeze in a game of fetch. And our cat, Spooky, can always stand to be held and loved on.
I’ll try to take some pictures over the weekend, so I have some more interesting posts next week.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
A Simple Prairie Life 