Early Spring Garden~April

I planted half of a pound of Contender green beans in early April before a lovely spring rain. They germinated well and are growing nicely except in the spots where our little dog has dug. I'm not sure if he is smelling something or just being an animal. I'm not particularly a pet fan unless they produce something...I suppose he keep wild critters away and certainly alerts us of visitors down the lane!

Our lone tulip that bloomed this year of a dozen bulbs planted 2 years ago. There is still hope they will show a lovely display eventually!

The barrenish garden behind the patio. I'm loving my small burst of color in the outdoor pillow!

Horseradish is growing around the birdbath. It is spreading with vigor.

 radishes

 spinach

 cilantro

baby sugar snap pea row

pineapple mint 

raspberries 

salvia 

I dug up some of the wildly sprouting horseradish and blended it, jarred it, and covered with vinegar. It is quite tasty! I've never really eaten it much, but since it grows so well and is great for you, we are nibbling on it now and then...it's almost addictive! The girls were giggling to see who could eat enough to burn up their noses. They would roll up a teaspoon in a horseradish leaf and chomp it down; it really opened up our nasal passages! The leaves even have zingy qualities!

April's garden harvest was a slim 1 pound of horseradish, cilantro, and chives, but oh so yummy to be eating fresh again!

Gardening in July

The annuals are starting to pop out bright colors.

Zinnias, sunflowers, and marigolds.

Calendula came up again this year in several spots. I pulled some young plants that I thought were weeds before I realized what it was. I need to read again how to harvest the flowers for medicinal purposes.

A hybrid squash. I thought I'd planted spaghetti squash, but this one looks a bit different than normal.

Cucumber plants climbing up the tepee.

The corn patch. 

We ate like kings for over a week, every day feasting on sweet, buttery goodness. Until Cora lost her very first front tooth, then it became not so queenly for her to munch on an ear as she rather gnawed at it on the side of her mouth.

***garden goodness***

Soft Sunshine Shots (a girl and a cat)

If you were three

like me,

You would go outside

and your stocking feet not hide;

But look for the cat

that promptly sat

(after some strong physical coaxing).

Then just enjoy

her like a toy

cradled, on top

straight up, flop, flop!

These carefree sunshiny spring days!

8 Summer Homestead Chores

This post is a bit late...as autumn is fully upon us. However I already had the pictures uploaded and ready to journal about, so here goes!

1. Poultry Chores

We bought a nice little flock of meat chicks this spring to feed and water for about 8 weeks until ready to butcher in early summer.Our son was in charge of this daily chore, plus moving the birds to fresh green pastures every couple of weeks when their pecking area became too trampled.

2. Taming Kitties

Our mama cat had 2 litters of  kitties this summer. The younger girls had so much fun playing with them inside and out, they barely knew they were preventing them from becoming wild cats. We like to keep a few around the sheds to keep our mice and garden-eating rabbit population down, but we also like for them to be kind enough not to scratch when children like to cuddle them.

3. Breeding & Hatching Chicks

Another of our son's projects is pairing off a male and female bantam bird to hatch out more babies. He got about a dozen little chicks to nurture to adulthood. Unfortunately 3 months later some wild animals wiped out his small flock, so we are currently bird-less.

4. Garden Chores

Water, pull weeds, pick vegetables. Repeat.

The garden is mostly my project, but occasionally I'll get some help from the rest of the family. The littles are the most cheerful helpers who like to discover the red cherry tomatoes and sweet orange peppers, munching half of their pickings.Along with babying the plants from strong winds and various bugs, comes the washing and preserving of a garden's harvest. You can see what has grown this year here, here, and here.

5. Wash the Vehicles

Who takes pictures of their kids washing the truck??? It was actually pretty fun. I'm usually too busy with my own stuff to take time to watch a son at work. I can just imagine his daddy doing the same, a few years back...

6. Pick Wild Fruit

We have a few mulberry trees sprinkled about our 20 acres that produce a nice amount of juicy dark purple berries for smoothies and jam. While they're in season, we make time every day to go a-pickin'. Sand plum thickets abound on our acreage as well, so we like to suck on those tart fruits fresh and frozen in winter as a summer remembrance treat. If we get enough, they are especially good seeded and dehydrated...similar to dried cranberries.

7. Laundry

Mostly this is eldest daughter's chore, but occasionally some others help. Our current routine is to get 1 load of laundry completed every day. We usually save the folding and putting away until early evening when Adventures In Odyssey is broadcast on the radio. 

8. Rest

Last, but not least...Sleep.
This isn't really a chore, though sometimes you would think it is the way the littles protest and commence to crying when a N-A-P is mentioned . Really, it is sweet reward for accomplishing all those chores!