Special Delivery

I got a package today!

My pretty babies have arrived, and of course they'll have to wait a day to get put in their home due to the dreary weather we're having right now.

So I have made sure to unwrap their roots from the plastic bag so they can breathe over night.  Thankfully it won't go down to freezing tonight.  Three apple trees and a peach tree.  The peach came from Stark Bro's nursery in this state and the apples came from Illinois.

We have some soil prep to do tomorrow morning and some brush clearing to do, we got most of the brush today, but the thick spot will be done tomorrow.  I can't wait to get them in the ground and watch them as they grow this year.

I got an email yesterday saying they had been shipped with arrival today!  I have been pacing like an impatient parent, all day.  They look very healthy, and are bare root.  So getting them in the ground is very important unfortunately I can't till tomorrow.

I am planning on getting pics with them in the ground.  I also know my peas will be up in a day or so based on what I saw in my garden.  My chicks got put in with the big birds and seem to be doing well with the others.

Be Well, Be Safe, and Blessed BE...

I'M BAAAAACK!!!!!!

Well folks, it's been a bit but I am kind of back for a bit. We just “bought” today a “smart” phone that has internet capability. I am for now able to plug it into my computer for some internet usage but it's very limited so I'll update when I can. I also hope to hopefully catch up on my favorite blogs to read if I don't eat our data plan in the process!

OK, so to my updates....

We’ve had such a mild winter this year I have started my plantings. I already have ½ my potatoes planted, some cabbages, dwarf pak choy, edible chrysanthemums, peas, and lettuce planted. Tomorrow I will be finishing my potatoes (had to buy more seed taters), onion (sets and seed), kale, broccoli plants, and cabbage plants. I will be starting my 24 tomato plants as well, ½ will be paste as I am hoping to can a ton of spaghetti sauce before winter; next year.

Our chickens are earning their keep finally as for the last few months we have gotten so many eggs they have paid for themselves. The last month (Feb.) we had just over 21 dozen eggs out of 16 hens. … I can tell you we are starting to get tired of eggs.... I (and the rest of the house) can't wait for some fresh veggies.

I am trying to get some meat rabbits this year, I contacted a breeder today and hope they will get back to me on a purchase order for 2 does and a buck. So we can breed our own meat. We aren't quite ready for a pig/goat/cow yet though I am sure if someone offered we'd find some way to have it pastured.

We now have a full kitchen in our shed home as well as a full size water heater in our bathroom with that pretty bathtub from my last post. Again, Thanks to Little Creek Baptist Church out here you have been a great help!

Oh, on another note my kids are earning themselves a little money. One of the people from the church has them training/fostering 2 hunting labs, and paying them for it. So they are learning a little about how to take care of money.. and how to -not- spend it. They are doing a pretty good job as the owner is very pleased with how well the pups are getting along in their basic instruction. Of course one is learning better than the other, but that happens.

Well that's all I'm updating for now, I hope everyone is safe in this odd weather we've had in this last week, and...

Be Well, Be Safe, and Blessed Be...

A day in the Woods

Well we took some time this morning to "walk the property" it is beautiful; yes we seem to have a large number of downed trees from an ice storm a few years ago. No big deal though they will eventually become firewood. I have taken a few pictures while on our walk and discovered that our lens on the camera now has some kind of problem so sorry in advance about "foggy" images.

This is one of 2 rocks I found like this yesterday while we were cleaning up out back, I thought the combination of the moss and lichen(sp?) and the limestone rock wonderful in the late morning sunlight.

Here is the other one:

isn't she pretty?

This is one of two pictures I took of "green" popping up out from under the leaf litter, all this warm weather has gotten everything to start to grow out here. I do hope we do not have a nasty cold snap which would probably kill it.

This one has some lighter green leaves which are from some plants my girls brought home from school last spring. Their teacher called it "pillow weed" and when they get bigger I'll post a better picture (hopefully) so someone can tell me what it really is.

Now this next picture is of our "potato experiment" for this year.. I do hope I can oder heirloom seed potatoes before too late. If not I will buy some nearby. For now I do have a few sprouters in my kitchen, most of which are fingerling's. I am going to plant them too, I have planted 2 of the fingerling's already just to see if I can get them an early start.

This is the remainder of the goat manure I harvested from my neighbor last year. it has spend time since I'd say midsummer last year till now sitting in a pile and getting weathered on. WE are going to dig small holes for the seed potatoes and lightly cover them, then go and get some straw bales and use the straw to cover the plants as they grow; as thickly as possible. We will see what comes of it!

Alright one more picture from my "walk" It is one of my favorites it's a dead tree:

I personally thought this was a pretty tree for a dead one, the light and dark on it in just the right proportions. The clear forest field around it leftover from the canopy it must have had. It must be a great home for bugs (woodpeckers yeah!), and who else knows living in it. I can't wait to see what spring will bring to my little piece of the woods!

On another note I have heard -FROGS-! these last few days I guess they got woken up from all this warm air. Yesterday when we were cleaning I found a very small woolly Caterpillar(sp?) too and we saw a grasshopper this morning! I haven't experienced weather south of Chicago since I was about 5 so I am enjoying what I consider "an early spring"!

BE Well and Blessed Be...

DISCLAMER:

(I am a blogger and not a reporter therefore please note that some of my materials may not be all there is out there in the world or internet on the subject and I might get something wrong. I'm sorry but it's human nature to make mistakes) <--- This is going to be the newest joke on the web.