Pictures From our Tiny but Happy Homestead

I can't paint, so I Photoshop.
The big squash plant in the back, is in the middle compost pile.

Henna and Alpha. See how much smaller Alpha is?
I still need to paint that board!

She is a sweet little thing. She could see if she got her hair cut!

Last night I went out and took a bunch of pictures to share with you.
Today I went and found 6 plants for $2.10. 2 tomato plants, 3 Oregano, 1 pretty yellow Marigold, and a healthy looking Impatien.
I thought the Oregano was almost worth the dime I paid for each of them but after a good watering they don't look half bad.

There were beetles eating our peaches!

Who says chickens aren't cute? Look at that face!

Purple Iris seed pods? What do I do with this?

Rosemary

Purple sage

Comfrey

The start of a Amaranth flower

Gerber Daisy

Coxcomb: Was my Mother's Day gift from my Nate.

siamese-dragon-stir-fry-mix
Something that grew in this mix.

A baby zucchini!

My Happy, volunteer Marigolds 

First tomatoes

Joy Joy's carrots and pepper plant.

Bad baby squash bug. :-(  I squashed him.

The damage done by the squash bugs. :-(

Compost pile surprise! What do you think it is?

Why add Gerber daisies to my garden? Because they make me happy!
Flowers also attract pollinators,
 but I plant them because they are pretty.

Joy Joy's 4-H garden

Bug-a-boo's 4-H garden

Nate's 4-H garden

Can you feel the love? I didn't even have to tell them to pose and be cute.
It just happened!

Gardening, Chickens, & Strawberries

It was a beautiful day today and I spent a large part of it in the garden. I LOVE being in my garden even if I'm not being terribly productive in it. I also love volunteers. Volunteers, as in plants that reseeded and are coming up in odd places as little surprises for me. I have a tomato plant coming up in the middle of one my  lettuce patches, marigolds coming up everywhere, and bean plants that I have been digging up and replanting over by the fence. OH! and a left over potato!

Does it look like a rooster?

 We hopefully be able to tell who are roosters and who are hens soon! The pen is okay right now because they are not full size yet, but we need to thin the flock, the sooner the better.

Lettuce Mix!

 We had a thunderstorm soon after I planted my lettuce seeds and I was sure they were washed away, but thankfully they just washed together in a smaller space. So it is a little crowded, but I picked my first salad with some fresh picked strawberries today....YUM!

Mint my friend gave me last fall.

 My friend Michelle gave me a part of her mint last fall and said it will grow anywhere and will take over. So I planted it in a space between my driveway and my porch where I hope it does take over. I was sure it had died but it has popped up in three spots!

Yellow Jacket was snooping around.
 I hope it does not make a home in my strawberries!

 I hope this was not a queen looking for a place to build a nest. I wish now I had smashed it with a shovel. Frank and Thomas have been attacked by these mean things.

YUMMY!

Bug-A-Boo picking strawberries, and my sign post waiting for a name.

Okay! So my wonderful hubby built me this really cool post over my garden where I could paint it and put a name on it. I was thinking of Serenity, I really like that but it also makes me think of the show by the same name. I enjoyed the show but its not what I think of in my garden. Selah is over used. Peace is too... well, plain. I was weeding to day and thought of The Garden of Weeden! I was told that was really cheesy, but that is what I do most of all in there. I also found out that it is the name of a popular marijuana game. Yikes! I don't want to give the wrong impression of what I am growing.  I am thinking of finding a part of a Bible verse about gardens.
So what do you think I should name it?

All but one went up when it was time for bed.

We are having a major thunder, lightning and hail storm right now. I am praying for my garden and my cat Scallywag who didn't come in before the storm hit. I last saw him running in a panic through the neighbors yard, away from us and safety!
Till next time! Be safe and dry. :-)

Chicken Tractor and Garden

                                                         What a great time of year!

We are busy getting our gardens in and the chicken tractor, through many bumps and fixes is almost done. It's a good thing too because the chicks are getting big and need their home soon.

We painted the Port-a-coop this morning. It was supposed to rain after lunch so we hurried, but of course the skies are clear now. The kids and I did a pretty rough job but it turned out pretty good. We need a little more paint to finish and a small can of hunter green for the trim. Over all I am pretty pleased so far. It is looking good and is not going to be an eye sore. Being in a neighborhood you want something nice looking. I know I don't like looking at junk , and all my neighbors keep really nice yards.

The great news is, the chicks should be in their new home before weeks end! I should get a new picture of them to post. They are looking more chicken than chick like now. We are pretty sure that 2 are roosters because Frank saw them fighting rooster style the other day. We will have to find a home for 4 of them soon anyway. If Rachel was not so attached, I would just try my hand at butchering the roosters.... yeah, not going to happen.

On the left is part of Frank's Amaranth field. The green in the boxes are our strawberries. Yum!

The 3 boxes in the back are our compost piles. The thing being built will be a shed  at some point.
Fence is going up around the garden.

I have so much work to do in the garden and the weeds are already ahead of me, it is a little overwhelming, but at the same time I am looking forward to the garden this year. It is such hard work but at the same time refreshing and relaxing. If you love gardening, you probably understand what I am saying.

Cool looking isn't it! Waiting for paint and chicken wire.

Painting!

One can of paint gone! I will be painting the trim green. But first it is ready for the chicken wire !

This is what we used. We will have to get a small can to do some touch ups.

Yes, we all came in spotted. 

It will come off in the bath tub. It was worth it!

John is working on and making the changes we found we needed to make on the plans.  I have to get some pictures to him for that and they should be ready soon.

Since it is not raining I am going to go put some more seeds in the ground and enjoy this beautiful weather!

Our Backyard Homestead

Spring is here! Time to plant the garden, chicks are hatching in my daughter's incubator and we are building a chicken tractor! I love spring!

So you might be asking, what pray tell is a chicken tractor?

Are pictures of a chicken driving a John Deer going through your head?

Chicken tractors, other wise known as port-a-coops are small movable chicken coops that you can move around your yard so the chickens can eat all those healthy bugs and weeds while giving back to the ground wonderful fertilizer!

We live in a subdivision so we are limited in what we can have. No milk goats, cows, ducks are too loud and messy... so we are going to have four or 5 hens (no rooster!). We will have eggs enough for our family, fertilizer for the yard and garden, and they will keep the bugs and weeds down. What more could you ask for?

I will post pictures when it is built and we will have plans for it for purchase so you too can have some beautiful hens in your backyard!