Do You See The Forest or The Trees?

My DH sees the forest. Here's the latest pic of the "sort of" garden:

June 17, 2013

I, on the other hand, see the trees. I choose to. But my vision also includes a peek into the future- a garden with no weeds and no tilling. It's a process that isn't going to happen overnight, maybe not even by next year. I'm one person taking care of house, yard, animals, and family, you know-doing the shopping, paying the bills, mowing, milking, cleaning, vet trips, elder care, poop scooping, and on and on.... I have no hopes of ever doing any of those things perfectly- just attempting to would be insane! But I can be perfectly happy by making small manageable changes, like gradually turning my garden into the one I want! So here's a close-up look at my trees:

zucchini and yellow squash

roma tomatoes

jalapeno peppers

radishes

turnips

cabbages

I swear there's carrots!

cucumbers

That's just a sampling, there's also lettuces, habanero peppers, cayenne peppers, assorted bell peppers, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, striped tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, sage, cilantro,onions.... It's all in there. Somewhere.

A Garden of Sorts

It IS sort of a garden. Kinda....

This is what happens when you spend the garden prep month (April) on the road and then decide to plant stuff in the garden spot at the first sign of warm weather:

Weekend of May 9, 2013

Weekend of May 23

 I won't share the look of the cringe on my DH's poor face every time he glances in the direction of the garden, or the sound of the sigh he makes. He needs tilling and rows. I need easy and organic. Someday the two will find a happy meeting place here. But for now, I'm the one who spends the most time actually working out here. The poor man has finally just let me have my way with it. 

 So this year, piles of wasted hay and straw were scooted around to expose last years spots of awesome dirt- rich and wormy. Unfortunately, my bad back made it impossible to spread all that good stuff around at the time I placed it there. It was a major undertaking to get it from the coop and goat pen to the garden. It got left in tipped-over-wheel-barrow-piles. That left wonderful, weed free spots.    Not. Rows.  

 Check back tomorrow for images of how it looks right now. Bring popcorn. Laugh tracks won't be provided so be prepared to supply your own. Yeah, it looks that bad. (But on the other hand, it you don't have popcorn handy, there's plenty of good stuff to eat in there!)

 If you want an inspiring look at an organized garden, check out http://thislittleplacehere.blogspot.com/2013/06/looking-pretty-organized.html 

Someday I'll be that good....someday. Maybe.

Solar Clothes Dryer

 As I age, I find parts of my self sagging and drooping. And the same could be said for my clothesline. Thirteen years of use had pulled the posts in and no matter how much I tightened the line, it wasn't helping. I have clothesline props and I know how to use them. But even that wasn't keeping my sheets and long towels from dragging the ground. I had to return to drying everything in the electric dryer. That thing is handy when it's rainy or freezing but I really prefer the smell of line dried clothes. The savings on the electric bill don't hurt either!
 DH finally got time to reset the poles last week. He also strung up new line so I am back in the laundry business! I wish you could smell what I smell....

God turned the fan up to "high" and they dried in no time!

Multiplying Like Rabbits

Our rabbit venture has been an ongoing puzzle to find something that works. Try this, do that, don't even think about doing the other.... Haha, our brains have been on a merry-go-round. Every time we thought we had it figured out- up popped another obstacle.

 The first hurdle was deciding if we even wanted to raise rabbits. Seriously, even though we told ourselves (with every livestock start-up) that we didn't have to stick with it if it wasn't "our thing," once the money is invested...the trap is set. With rabbits came the purchase of cages, water bottles, and feeders, not to mention the feed and actual stock. But the only way to know for sure, is to jump in and try it. Turns out, we loved it! They are easy to process, not too expensive to feed, take care of their own young, make wonderful fertilizer  and are oh. so. tasty.

 Once we decided to keep raising rabbits, the second hurdle promptly popped up- predators. It's hard to say what got our rabbits the first, second, or third time. Once there was an odd smell, once there were large canine tracks, twice the wire cages were completely shredded...probably multiple species were coming to the rabbit buffet at our place. It was so discouraging to lose our healthy, well fed, rabbits. And don't think we didn't try to protect them. We did! When they knocked our cages down, we chained them together so it wouldn't happen again. When they knocked out the feeders to chase the rabbits through the feeder holes, we  started feeding inside the cages. We even tried placing them in a predator proof dog pen. Unfortunately that setup was extremely hard to keep sanitary with more than a couple rabbits-not an option.

After the last rabbit was killed, we had pretty much given up on our desire to raise them anymore. It's so disheartening to go through that. But at the auction last week, my DH surprised me and bid on a large, multi-cage hutch that would fit inside our new chicken enclosure- and won! So we are trying this one more time! We also purchased some rabbits. We got a Dutch doe and buck. Or so we thought (they were sold as a pair, we didn't check their sex at the auction.) And since we didn't know their ages or history, we also got 6 NZ bunnies to grow out and process if the pair don't successfully breed right away.

We were pleasantly surprised on the first day to find one of the pair pulling hair. We immediately gave her a nesting box and had babies the second day! We were back in the rabbit growing business!

But imagine my surprise when I went out to feed this morning to find babies in the cage with the "buck!" We had just assumed that being sold as a buck and a doe the one that didn't have babies would be the buck. Oops. No bucks in this pair. Hopefully one of the NZ bunnies is a buck so we can continue our rabbit raising. But for now, I have rabbits galore!

Who I Am, What I Do

For those who have been wondering where this blogger went: I've been busy. Really busy. I bet you think I blog to keep everyone informed about all the cool things I discover on this homesteading journey. The truth is, that's what the blog is about but that's not why I do it. I blog because I like to, it gives me a way to express myself, to get my daily quota of words out. It's a calming therapy for a lonely girl who wants to get her thoughts across as perfectly as possible (there is no delete button in an oral conversation, now is there?) Having a topic makes it easy to stay focused on what is important to me. But the way I live doesn't define ME. I'm more than just a bumbling homesteader. There's a lot of stuff on my plate. Which is why I haven't had time to blog lately. I'll go into detail-but first I'd like to ask for understanding. You might not agree with my choices, that's perfectly fine. But it's my right to choose. If you feel the need to voice your disagreement with the way I live, please do so respectfully.

Who I am- I am the helper
Genesis 2:18  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. KJV 

What I do-What I've been up to lately

When he is building hay storage, it's my job to hold the boards, find the dropped nails, hold the ladder....

When he is at the livestock auction, it's my job to make sure he doesn't bid too high on rabbits.

When he is bored, it's my job to break the lawnmower so he'll have something to fix.

When he is out of clean clothes, it's my job to remind him to fix the leaning clothesline posts.

When he pours concrete in the post holes, it's my job to (accidentally!) step in one before it's set up.

When he wants to work on a hot rod with his sons, it's my job to go shopping and leave them alone.

When he pulls all of last year's moldy hay out, it's my job to spread it in the garden.

When he takes his eyes off the road and crashes us on the motorcycle, it's my job to forgive him.

When he cleans the bugs out of the light fixtures, it's my job to thank him-profusely.

When his hair is looking a little too scraggly for church, it's my job to cut it.

When  he gets a really good deal on a rabbit hutch, it's my job to help him carry it and set it up.

When he offers to make me a hanging strawberry planter, it's my job to take him up on it! and plant the berries.

 As you can see, we've had a lot to do. But DH has returned to work so I'm back to being a different kind of helper, the one who takes care of everyday, home front stuff. 

 Busy days are never over. We're in a countdown to DS#1's graduation from Nuclear Power School training in South Carolina and DS#2's wedding in July. But blogging will continue (I need this therapy!) 

Homemade Hanging Strawberry Planters

Pretty Things

Tomorrow will be a good day to post about what's been keeping me too busy to blog. But I noticed my last post was about stuff that isn't too pretty around here. How depressing. So here's a look at some of the prettier things in my life right now!

Ain't Nothin' Purdy Here

Caution: This post is not for the faint of heart. In fact, it was all I could do to type it without sobbing. There's ugliness here....

 Let me start by saying I WAS raised with a mama who instilled some type of fashion sense in me. At least she did her best... But while I was in Florida last month, my critter sitting DS#3 sent me the following text: "All good at home. By the way there's a green snake living under your front steps." Yep, all matter of fact I got that good news. So I'm not stepping foot outside my door without boots of some kind on my feet.

There I am, in boots and shorts (shudder) and a pair of DH's old crew socks so the boot tops don't rub blisters (double shudder!) You'll only see it this once, unless you stop by and catch me ducking behind a tree or the trash can.

And I'm not the only girl on this place wearing something hideous. Oohhhh Noooo. Check out my sweet Ronnie.

There she is with her fashionable duct tape/ coffee can ensemble. She earned the right to wear that ugly contraption when she started self sucking- the collar of shame! She knows how embarrassing it is to wear something so ugly...I believe I caught her hiding behind a tree when the mailman drove past.

 We got the self sucking stopped but there are other udder problems going on.

So Ronnie is getting lots of massages and vitamin C. She hasn't been hand milked for a few weeks and her kid is just about weaned so she will be completely dry before long. After that, she probably won't be bred again-at least not for milking. She has a great temperament and will be an excellent companion goat for when we decide to get a real dairy goat, though! I can't put a price on the amount of knowledge I've gotten from her. Ugly or not, she's a keeper!