Want to come back on this forum after almost two years!

[2dream]

What a beautiful place. DH was sitting here when I pulled up your pics. I was drooling over your goats. LOL He told me to wipe my chin and forget it.

We were admiring your place and we were trying to zoom in on your tree with all those purple blooms. Can't quite make it out. Is the tree blooming? Wisteria? Something else? He is a flower fool and loves all the fauna and flora stuff so he says he really needs to know. LOL

 

[homesteadmomma]

Wanda, the purple tree is lilacs, there is a white one acros the road. They were here when we purchased the place. I think the reason that I am so "in love" with this place is because while it was a great place to start with, when I took those pics I realized we have did so much to this place.

The rock garden was a bare hill and there was no fire pit. We hauled the rocks in that we picked up for free and all of the flower starts were given to me as presents or I transplanted starts out of my mom and MIL's yard. The animal areas weren't here and friends helped me build them with bartered laundry soap and homemade canned goods. The front flower garden was a diaster and I have fixed that up. The raspberries were here but they are so much better now that they have continual water and duck poo as fertilizer. The raised beds weren't here but our soil here is horrible, it dries out in about a day and dries in hard bricks. I love this place and my new ambition is to pay it off and get the title in my little hands. That and just surviving!!!!

ETA: Goats are great, mine are honestly more pets than anything but I do want to breed the does this fall and make goat soap and such. Honestly I feel that my goats are way less expensive than my othere animals. When we are home and can supervise them, they are on tethers eating the brush. I love my goaties!

 

[homesteadmomma]

Today is a new day and the sun is shining, it is beautiful. I have bananas drying in the dehydrator. My kids love banana chips but they are so expensive and I can get 5 lbs of bananas for $1.32 at Cost-Co so I thought I can make our own. The animals are all happy and the ducks all gave me an egg this morning. It seems that is a weird way with chicken eggs, a person has way too many or not enough. A lady stopped yesterday after seeing my sign and purchased a dozen duck and a dozen chicken eggs. I had to send my 8 year old out to the chicken house to see if she find any to finish the dozen. I am trading my friend who cuts my hair eggs for money off the haircut. That makes me happy, bartering.

I am trying to figure out what is next to do on my project lists. I am thinking about adding a goose or two to our barnyard but then I am trying to figure out what for. If it is just for looks, then is the added cost of food worth it.

 

[homesteadmomma]

Has it really been a week since I updated this?!?

The ducklings hatched and I have 11 beautiful SOLD ducklings. They were suppose to hatch today (Saturday) but decided to start pipping on Wednesday. I hadn't upt the humidity or pull them out of the egg turner as of yet so the hatch was a sticky. Some of them needed some help.

We had two baby goslings join our family a week ago. They are so fun to watch and so sweet. They are the Tufted Buff variety and I am just praying they are not too loud. Here is a pic of them when I first got them.

And here is a pic of them a few days ago!

We went fishing and caught 14 Rainbow, had a wonderful time and then a great dinner we were able to share with two sets of grandparents. Very yummy. The fish heads went in the tomato bed and the few leftover fish went to the chickens. It was a very satisfying day.

Emilee, our little angel, says fishing- no way- this is too much fun!

Garden is doing great and the spinach has been blanched and frozen. The radishes are starting to be ate up also. The broccoli has heads on it, nothing big yet but it is a start. The weather has turned to 95 degrees so I am not sure what that means for the broccoli.

My do list is starting to shorten and it feels good. The goat shed got cleaned out yesterday, it was past due, was out of straw. Need to trim hooves today.

I can't wait to see what else this God-given day has in store for us!
Happy day everybody!

 

[2dream]

Great pics. Looks like you all had a great time. Thanks for sharing.

 

[keljonma]

What wonderful pictures! It looks like you had a great time fishing... or not.

 

[homesteadmomma]

Thanks, I love the pics too.

I walked around the land tonight, trying to decide what to do next. My list seems to never be done and in a way that is what keeps me going. I need to think about starting on the geese pen but dh and I are still arguing about where to put it. If I know how loud these geese were going to be - it would help my decision. I am thinking on the far side of the house, as far away as possible from the neighbors.

We need to rent a tractor or something and push some dirt around to make the ground down by the garden level. Then I need to plant something there, such as grass or something. I am not sure what to do there.

Another project which is all about luxury and definitely not neccesity is making a frame and filling with sand to get the above ground pool level.

My chickens are another thing I am trying to decide about. I really enjoy my chickens but I am trying to decide whether to pick one breed and just focus on that or to keep my many different breeds and just sell eggs. I think I like the variety but think I will focus on seperating the ducks and maybe heading a different direction there.

Raspberries are looking good and think we will have a bumper crop. Making jam and jelly and sauce. OH YUM!

Another awesome thing that happened today was a neighbor called this morning for eggs and when we walked them down to her house we started visiting and I told her I would bring her Shasta Daisy starts. She was happy and told me she would give me some perrenial starts also. I took hers to her and she brought mine up later. When she came up, she brought me approx 40 red fir seedlings. I have to plant them tomorrow after church. I want to put them on the edge of our property lining the overgrown alley. YEAH!

 

[punkin]

I love it when I can trade for different things.

Fishing is one of my favorite past times. I can fish the day away with no problem. Sounds like the tomatoes and the chickens enjoyed your day, too.

 

[homesteadmomma]

I also love to fish although with the kids it does get tiring. The 5 year old dd has no use for it obviously as she can't hold a fishing pole. I could leave her with grandparents but that makes me feel bad. I took my duck babies to their new owner tonight. They are cute but I will be glad to get the smell out of my laundry room. I have decided to keep my chickens a mixed flock. I love watching all the colors of chickens in the yard and after all the main purpose I got them was for enjoyment. Egg sales are great and I can't keep any eggs in the house for us. The geese I will stick to the one breed and the ducks I have decided to thin out. I will keep a mixed pen which will be my Cayuga drake, Pekin hen, and Khaki Campbell hen. I have not decided whether to keep the Indian Runner hen or not, she is very funny to watch and she will probably stay. The other pen will be my pair of Rouen ducks. I may see about getting a Khaki Campbell drake but am not sure. My husband would probably frown on another pen. I will eat and sell the eggs from the mixed pen and hatch and sell the eggs from the Rouen pen.

Today was a great day, except dh is in bed sick. The kids went to Sunday School and then the youngest and I joined them for church. Came home and I made a bigger temp gosling pen out of field fencing and then just straightened up a bit.

Hope everybody is having a blessed day!

 

[Blackbird]

Congratz on the sale! What kind of ducks were they?

Its hard to stick with just a couple breeds.. We decided to just raise Muscovy ducks but seems we always get more of a different breed. I think right now we have twelve ducks are aren't Muscovies.. always plan for a few extra!