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Monday, February 22, 2010

homestead update

well- i'm bored with 7 days to better health. a little problem of mine, getting bored with the same ol' so easily.
anyway, i thought today it would be nice for you to stop by the homestead, and see what's going on and coming up!


white cloud is our buff bantam. she is our sweet little chicken! the kids love to hold her and wheel her around the yard in their doll stroller. to the left you will see lettuces that were too bitter for us to eat. the chickens loved them.

potatoes snuggly tucked in their bed. this is my first year to try potatoes. here's hoping that something comes up. we've dedicated a whole lotta space to them taters!


this is blackberry- our australorp. i cannot say enough good things about this breed of chicken. they are friendly, smart and hardy layers. i've been putting blackberry in the front beds to help clean them out and do a little fertilizing. she is easy to lead back the run so she has been chosen for the job. the other day she found a baby snake! it was so interesting to watch her take that snake down. the kids were spellbound! at one point moonpie said "this is better than watching a film". that's right, she said "film". don't ask me.


here is the last harvest from our winter lettuce patch (with some broccoli greens thrown in for good measure). that bed has now been planted in carrots and beets.


moving on inside, i have been busy making herbal salves and oils. oh, how i've loved doing this! that 11 pounds of beeswax has come in handy once again, than you very much!


some freshly strained jars of herbal oil. the two larger jars are calendula (see that pretty amber color?) and the small jar is oil of oregano. i'm going to be transferring that one into a small, brown bottle with a dropper.


and lastly, look what's coming up on my window sill! these little guys are striped roman tomatoes. i have planted TWELVE heirloom tomato plants this season. what is my problem??? alongside the tomatoes i've started some peppers and tomatillos.

i love this time of year, when dreams begin to take shape.

(yes- i dream of striped tomatoes!)

have you been putting your window sills to work yet? what's coming up?

5 comments:

Amanda said...

Oh, look how busy you've been! I am late starting my summer seeds. But I got the carrots, beets and brocolli in. I really want to make some herbal goodies, too, but I haven't found calendula around here. Did you grow your own?

5 Chicks and a Farmer said...

How SALV-EY of you!! haha!

On tha real though- girlfriend, that is off tha chain!

I would love to learn how to make salves.

Your garden is lovely and so is your precious fam!

Love you guys.

Nicola said...

okay, i haven't even ordered seeds yet. that makes me late, huh? i am embarrassed to say seed starting has never been hugely successful for me. any hints? i really want our garden to be bigger and more bountiful this year. we had a variety of failures the past 2 years and i don't know why. what do you use the salves/oils for?
nicola
http://whichname.blogspot.com

Rosie_Kate said...

I must confess to a wee bit of jealousy over your green things... Growth is sadly still weeks away for us...

I will soon be starting some seedlings, though-- mainly just the leeks and peppers that take so long to be ready to plant outside. Maybe I'll get to plant some lettuce in my "hotbed" soon, though.

Mandy said...

i see you have a normal chicken. no such luck at our house... you know how our doors have full length windows in them? well, when i let the chickens out to go hunt for bugs and roam, they choose to spend their free time standing/pooping on our doormats and looking in our windows. the rooster crows like he's wanting in. we have crazy chickens!