Ladybugs and Chickens

It's February and the boy spotted a ladybug in our cover cropped bed. We must be doing something right.

A couple of our original birds went through a soft molt. Bacon, our Rhode Island Red is still coming out of it, looking a little sad.

William Shatner, our Barred Rock rooster that wasn't supposed to be a rooster will soon be a tasty chicken dinner. He's let out a few squeaky practice crows and is almost 22 weeks old.

The Simple Things

Give the kid some string and old bean teepee and he's set for a long time.

The row cover is already on one of the beds, the other has the chicken tractor on top.

We also harvested the last of the peppers, tomatoes and eggplants before the first low, low temps of the season last week.

Tiny Grape Harvest

This poor grapevine has taken a beating and has been pretty much neglected. Yet, it still gave us (and the birds) some sweet, tasty fruit.

Can You Dig It?

At the most recent Beginning Farmers class the summer interns Katie Kilpatrick and Jacob Delahoussaye at the Kerr Center demonstrated John Jeavons' Double-Digging method and bio-intensive garden layout.



I can't wait to give this a try in our yard! We've ordered Jeavons' most recent edition of 'How to Grow More Vegetables', and have the perfect spot to try the double digging method. We'll be doing a 4-foot wide (not sure how long yet) bed in the spot we had originally cleared for our small greenhouse. My folks have graciously said we can put the greenhouse in their backyard so that leaves us more room for growing beds. Right now the area has a few bean teepees (which are pretty well drying up in this heat) and is mostly covered with mulch. So we'll have minimal weeding to do to get started.

We also learned a lot about pest and weed control in organic systems. As well as different methods of staking tomatoes and wheel hoes for cultivation and weeding. Can't wait to get a wheel hoe!

Experiments in Sweet Potato Culture.

We are giving the 'hot foot' method of growing sweet potatoes a try. In a 4 x 4 bed we've got 'Qualls' and 'Continental Red' varieties. Not pictured, in a completely different bed, are 'Oklahoma Heirloom' and 'Edna Evans' varieties.

Like Butta.

Trying our hand and making butter with fresh from the farm cream. My mom hand the antique butter churn as decoration and gave it to us to put to use.

Chicken Progress

We put the finishing touches (minus the laying boxes) on the chicken tractor last weekend. It is now much easier to move. Yay! We think that Winnie, the golden headed Easter Egger, might be a rooster. She (he) has been aggressive from day one, the tail feathers are looking pointy, and has started making some strange, almost crowing-like noises.