May Gardening Update

Hello! I thought I'd post another update on how the garden is coming along.  I am in the process of getting a new chicken barn and we've been clearing space for it.  We "candled" the eggs in the incubator (holding a light up to them) to see if any embryos were forming and there are at least 6! I didn't check all of the eggs, but I wanted to make sure we at least had something forming.  Hatch date is the 27th!  They could begin hatching a day or two early.  I have gathered all of my baby chick supplies and just need a large box!  Here is a photo of the chick supplies, feeder, waterer, brooder light and thermometer.

Another project I just started is a sponge herb garden.  My mom got these two sponges for me and they say you can plant seeds in them without soil.  So, I am experimenting with Basil, Flat Leaf Parsley and Cilantro.  Here is what they look like, the seeds are already in them!  I'll take more photos if they sprout.

Here are a few things up in the garden.  Onions (top photo), Zucchini (2nd photo) and Radishes (bottom photo)

Here are some photos of what the green house plants look like at this point.  They're leaning sideways because we had to bring them inside due to a frost warning.  They'll straighten up now that they're back outside.

The cabbage I bought, I don't usually grow that from seed.

The next few photos I took while outside today between clearing the area for the barn.

This is a photo of the bamboo we have growing on the side of the garage.  My dad got a start of this from someone and it gets huge every year.  I am considering starting it in other places also.

I've shown this to you all before its dad's farming rig.....1946 Farmall Tractor.  We have another tractor we also use to mow the field with.

Below is my farm rig. ha ha Not too big but that's OK. I use that cart to haul all sorts of things.  Water jugs for the chickens, bags of chicken feed, rocks, bricks, cement blocks and we've put tree limbs in it also.  It looks small but it can haul 800lbs of stuff!

I will update in about a week, there should be some video of day old baby chicks to post!

Amy's Harvest Garden Update

This is an update long overdue! I will just get right to it.  I took lots of photos over the last few days to put up here so you all could see how the garden is coming along and see just how many things I've been up to!

First, here are some photos of what the garden is looking like so far.

Zucchini is the first one.  We have also planted yellow squash, butternut, spaghetti squash and also carnival squash.

Sugar Baby Watermelon.  This year instead of planting seeds, I just bought a few plants.

Brussel Sprouts

Buttercrunch Lettuce

Green Onions

Jalapenos, Green Peppers, and Super Thai Chile

Tomatoes

Next, I took a couple of photos of how I deer proof the garden. In the back field, last time I checked there were 18 deer back there.  We had to do something to protect the garden.  This year we are using two methods.  The first photo is of an electric fence insulator.  We set up electric wire around the entire garden this year!

You may be asking yourself why you see a picture of Billy Bass.  Well, I actually have 6 of these that I've picked up at garage sales for $1.  They have a motion sensor in them.  I place them around the garden and every time a small or large animal passes them, they sing!  This has worked for YEARS.  We've been using this technique for a long time!

One day last week I noticed that between watering plants, flowers and chickens I had carried somewhere around 20 gallons of water all over the front and back yards and also all the way back to the chicken coop.  I decided that since I would be getting 12 more baby chicks, I would eventually be carrying even more water.  I decided to get myself a garden cart.  One that could be pulled manually or one that could be towed!  Here it is, already being put to use!

A few weeks back my dad and I rescued 4 baby bunnies from a nest in the front yard.  We kept them inside for almost a month.  We let them go in the back field a couple of weeks ago...here are a couple photos I took of them. So cute!  Since letting them go, we've seen them regularly hanging around!

Here are a few photos of what was going on in the chicken coop this morning.

The photo below is a bird's nest inside the chicken coop. I'll let you know if I see any baby birds in there!

Here are some various photos of flowers and plants growing around the house.  Below the first one is bamboo, it's out by the garage.

Foxglove

Lantana

Below are Peonies in an old milk bottle from my grandma's house.

Various colors of Verbena

The blueberry bush is loaded!  I have to get it covered with netting so the birds don't eat all of them!

Here is a photo of the first green onion harvest of the season!

This last photo is of a couple of items I found at a garage sale last week.   One is a dog feeder and the other is a dog water bowl.  I'm going to convert these to a chicken feeder and a chicken waterer!

As you can see, I've been busy!  Hope you all enjoyed the photos!