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Recent Entries to this Blog
A new project
Posted: 23 Aug 2009 Posted: 18 Aug 2009 Posted: 10 Aug 2009 Posted: 25 Jul 2009 Posted: 08 Jul 2009 All Entries |
shannonrose's Blog
A new project
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 2:39 am The kids have now begun school which will free up some of my morning and afternoons. my husband and I decided to get some projects done. My son has wanted a tree house and one had kinda gotten started. The tree is an older silver maple that had several major trunks. It made the most suitable site for the new tree houes. We also had a wooden swingset that hadn't been used as much. It was decided to try and incorporate it somehow into building the tree house. My husband has started and is recycling most of the usefull wood. I also started a recycling project of sorts. WE had a paved patio that was no longer being used much. It just added to the work load I have in my yard as it seemed weeds easily grew there. I had tosssed around many ideas for the patio. In the end I decided to remove it and use the pavers elsewhere. I am still working on lifting all the usable pavers and cleaning them. I plan to turn them into a walkway in from of a greenhouse I have. It had been just gravel but it too was a haven for weeds. I am hoping to use it more then the patio and then hopefully keep the weeds in check. BTW our little chick is growing and thriving. We have named it pip squeek This blog entry has been viewed 216 times
A few new additions to the mini farm
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 3:07 am We have been busy trying to wrap up what we can of summer. It is getting closer to when the kids have to go back to school. The summer seems to have gone way to fast. We have had a busy summer this year and so it seems that although it just started it is coming to an end. I hope while the kids are at school to get some final projects done outside and also some canning/freezing. During the last several days we have increased our flock of poultry.We aquired a fertilized egg from a friend. We had a hen that had gone boody and decided to see if she would hatch it. The egg got little attention until recently. I almost threw it away but got busy. It was my son who realized that it was hatching. We now have a cute little bantam cochin to add to our group. Today we puchased a few new ducks. They are a bantam breed . These are probably mixed in their parentage but the closest they will be are East Indies. I hope to get more time to post soon This blog entry has been viewed 190 times
Fair over-Some highlights
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 5:01 am I can't believe how long it's been since I could get back on here. Our fair week was busy but, went well. The kids did pretty good and recieved a few awards for all the efforts they did. We had a few funny moments with our goat. She didn't want to be at fair. It took three of us and about 20 minutes to convince her to go into the barns with all the other animals. Once she was in she didn't want out of her pen. She did very badly in the show ring and my poor daughter was frustrated. She cried, laid down, and plan refused to walk. By the time fair ended she was so happy to get back home. I think she missed her companion and familiar place. She is so lucky we love her. The kids had fun working with others to help ready the animals for fair. One thing we had to do was bathe turkeys. This task was something I never knew happend until we baecame an exhibitor. It is interesting to say the least. A stylist to the birds is what I became the week of fair. Our turkeys were later bought at a animal auction held at the fair at the end. The buyers are usually family, friends, or businesses. We have to go tomorrow and have the birds processed for our buyers. I am okay with this as our turkeys have become difficult to work with. They are males and they are starting to get aggressive. We are learning to get a better understanding of the role certain animals play in our life. Some are pets and others raised for their meat. These birds would die within a few months on their own if they were not used for meat as they are genetically predesigned to grow fast. They could not sustain their own body weight. We also have market poultry- the typical white chickens you see. We saw first hand today just what I mentioned about turkeys. The rooster got to big and just fell over dead from to much weight and being to hot. I had a fan and cold water for him and still it wasn't enough. He should have been processed sooner I guess. We never raised this type of bird so next time I will know what to do. We found raising meat birds to be a difficult process. They are able to grow very rapidly which causes them all kinds of problems. We will be lucky to get 2 for our buyers out of 6. I found out most people order 25 to be able to have enough to process for meat. We try and free range them and offer them the best situation we can. Well my body says it's time to get some sleep so I can enjoy a summer day tomorrow . This blog entry has been viewed 209 times
The county fair
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 4:41 am In only a few more days we will be in full swing at our local county fair. My kids and I have worked hard to get ready for all the projects and judging. July as a whole has been so very busy. My son and his sister already had judging on one each of their projects. We were delighted that they were picked to advance to our state fair competition. His was an insect display project. It was neat to really "look" for the bugs in our own yard. It made me realise even more how many benificial insects we have. I had a hard time helping to catch and kill them for this project. He has an upcoming gardening project so that will be a fun one. His sister did a project on being an athlete. It amamzes me how much the fair projects have had to change due to less kids having access to agricultural activiity. He and his older sister both have animal projects. These involve a great deal of work and learning. The next time I go to a fair I will have better appreciation for all that goes into the projects. I too have had fun because I have learned a lot as well. Our weather here has been nuts. It felt more like fall then summer. It is suppposed to heat back up next week. My veggies have been a little slower in some cases. The peppers seem especially slow. I am starting to get a few but the plants are small. THe garden hasn't been able to get as much attention with all that we have had to do lately. I sure wish summer could last a few more months so i could really enjoy it more. I love to be oustide and gardening. The very thoughts of snow and winter Yuk. Tomorrow I start my staycation. I hope to get a few things done outsdie for me before all the work of readying animals. We will be at fair all next week which will be fun This blog entry has been viewed 200 times
Weeds, Water, and Hope
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 3:27 am It seems like a rare moment to be able to blog about my gardens. I have found myself to be at constant work in them. The weeds are growing well unfortunately. My vegetable garden seems to be progressing slowly. I decided it needed watering so I went to work on both weeds and water. I hope to get some grass clipping tomorrow to use as weed block. I also have some weed barrier fabric to get down. I have found some things for which I am happy to see. I am seeing an increase in benificial insects in the garden. It is reassuring to know my organic methods are helping. I am trying to take delight in the small achievements I see. We have our fair coming up soon and I hope to enter some produce. Last year I had a beginners luck and took a few firsts. My son does 4-H and also has a gardening project. I hope his plants start to get growing so he has something he can enter. We have had such an unusual weather for the year. We have had a mild temp to our summer overall. Tomorrow is another day in the garden and I look forward to it This blog entry has been viewed 208 times
A very busy time in the garden
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:19 am I have spent so much time working in my gardens. Sometimes it's disappointing to not have more time in the yard. The days I have to head off to work are sometimes difficult. I often dream of how I could turn my passion for all this gardening into a full time job. Somehow I don't think if it became my job that it would ever be the same. My biggest problem these days in the garden is weeds. I can't seem to get ahead of them. My other dilemma is the lack of money to acomplish the large ideas I have. I guess that is all par for the course. I keep at it all just for the pleasure of being outside. My children have also been busy getting ready to show animals at fair. My son is doing a gardening project as well. The 4-H requires so much more then when I was in it as far as the projects go. It seems that I am often busy helping them with these activities. We really enjoy our animals. THEy are a lot of work but so much fun. Well time to go tomorrow is another day. This blog entry has been viewed 182 times
symbolic visitors
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 11:05 pm Yesterday was our youngest child's birthday. We awoke to see several large deer in our back yard. We have three acres for them to roam on. We seldom see deer on our property. To us they seem symbolic. The morning when I was getting married we had two deer a mother and her baby. My mom always felt it seemed like a symbol of she and I. Since then we have only seen them on the property one other time, after my dad passed. To see them on the date of our son's birthday only seemed to add to the symbolic moments they have been there. I have mixed emotions about seeing them as they can be very destructive to all my hard work. Yesterday to me it was like a visit from my dad and a neice who passed on. I know it's nutty but, it put a smile on my face. Last edited: Sun May 31, 2009 3:37 am This blog entry has been viewed 176 times
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How Does Your Garden Grow?
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 3:45 am It seems that lately I have spent many hours in my gardens. May is always such a busy month. All the plans of winter are unfolding now as I eagerly get plants growing. I have been to several events recently that were able to inspire new friends and a few new gardening ideas. Our oldest participates in her local high school FFA program. They always have a plant auction to make money for the program. It is a fun time seeing all the plants available. I managed to bring home a truckload of plants for the yard. My best deal was for 5 flats of perennials for $5. I used some and the rest went to a garage sale held by yours truly. I haply am enjoying 5 new shrubs, some annuals and a few perennials. Our recent garage sale brought about more fun. We held it to raise money for our woman's group. I ma getting tired so I'll write more another time This blog entry has been viewed 188 times
The Joys of Sharing Plants
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 2:32 am About a year or so ago I answered a Craigs List post and opened myself up for a unexpected new friendship. The poster wanted anyone who was able to share plants with her. She and her husband were a young couple just starting out with a first time house and a small budget. Something about her post made me want to respond. I felt she was a person who would be good to share my spring plant divisions with. She came over armed with enthusiam and we filled her truck full of new perennial starts for her yard. From that day forward we have shared e-mails and gotten together a few times. She recently brought her young son over to see our growing mini farm. We had a great time talking plants and updating what's new. As we walked around the yard I was only reminded again the value of sharing and how gardening can enrich our lives in so many ways. In this time of economic hardship the ability to give freely can be so rewarding. This blog entry has been viewed 193 times
Weeding in the rain.
Category: My Mini Farm | Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 2:14 am I really felt I needed to get in my veggie garden and start getting some things weeded and planted. Unfortunatly I also needed to get some grass mowed. I decided to mow first which turned out to be a good thing. We had a beautiful spring day filled with sun and moderate temps. Mowing was a relaxing time on our rider mower. It gave me time to think about what I needed to get done in the veggie garden. When I finished there I went to the veggie garden to access what to do first. After several days of rain I was confronted with many new weeds. One beautiful thing about weeding after rain is that weeds pull out easier. Before I could plant anything I decided I better remove some weeds. I use weed barrier fabric in between the rows as much as possible so I put that down were I knew I would need it. While I was working it started to sprinkle. I figured a light rain would be fine to work in so I continued. The rain continued but I was determined to get some things done. I started to wonder if I was nutty to be outside as it rained while doing gardening. I guess I am certifiably nuts because I continued on, even in a heavier rain. After becoming entirely soaked and smiling happily at finishing my work I was rewarded with a beutifuul bit of sunshine. I began to dry out and decided to do a few other things(again I am nuts). I ended my day as the sun was setting and felt a sense of pure satisfaction. This blog entry has been viewed 621 times
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