Try Again?

The other day I tried to put a blog up.  I was rather poetic as I was in a "creative" sort of mood. 

I had been sitting on the back deck looking out at the back yard, and I noticed that things were greening up.  Leaves are emerging from the trees and the grass is growing tall in areas that weren't destroyed by chickens. 

I was thinking about how a month ago, I decided that aside from my garden, the back yard needed to be my place of beauty where I could sit and watch.  For now, we have a chicken cage with a few hens in it, but that will be moved soon enough. 

Our sheep pastures are filling in and I am so glad that these pens will feed our breeding stock as well as future meals.  

And while the pastures are not near as tall as I would like, I couldn't leave them on their current pasture any longer.  So I moved them to the new pasture and they were quite happy.

The sweet potato slips have been planted in the small raised beds we made a few years back out of concrete buckets and plywood.  

Last fall's garlic planting has come up and looks pretty good. 

The fire ring gardens are popping up with peas and carrots, though the carrots are wee things not as visible as the peas.  While another bin has Napa cabbage started and looks promising.

The strawberry bed is doing absolutely beautifully!  I looked just yesterday as I pulled weeds and saw at least a hundred strawberries!  I am so excited!  These are the crowns I dug up from our home in VA and brought to this property last May. 

The bed with last year's chives has radishes in it.  One side (with a certain seed) is doing much better than the other, but I will be going through and planting another round of seeds. I have another bed with beets but they aren't as visible, thus no picture.  The raised beds in the background are not planted except for onion starts out of view.  The garden to the right will be where the kids grow a few things.  

The fruit trees have all bloomed and some bear small fruits, the grape vines are finally starting to leaf out.  Blackberries are starting to get their blooms as well.  

I almost forgot the in ground garden that Al tilled up.  It is a work in progress and I may just have to plant without removing rocks.  I just don't have the energy for all the raking and hoeing.  But I was able to put the third wall up using rocks we dug out of that plot.  And YES, there are plenty more. 

The turkeys are doing well.  One of the toms, named Arnold, is rather aggressive.  The kids are afraid of him as he comes toward them all the time.  I haven't had any issues with him and he shows he is afraid of me.  We have 25 eggs in the incubator and every single one has been candled.  All of them were fertile and only one looks like it has no life.  Yesterday Al found that the hens started a new nest in the woods so we wouldn't take their eggs again.  They had 13 eggs, but I don't hold out hope that they will hatch out any since it has rained so much and the bloom has been washed off opening the door for bacteria to enter the eggs.  

Yesterday, I asked a friend of mine to post pictures of our bucklings that we are selling.  Last night, I had a message from a young lady who was interested.  I responded to her and...well...new friends!  She is moving here with her family next month.  Yah is so good!  We are sure we will end up being good friends.  I have sold all three bucklings, two will be wethered, and a doeling, Cinnabon, to her family as a starter herd.  Not only will they have a doe and buck, but she will have companion animals for each so they are not lonely. It will be great for these animals to all grow up together. 

Well, I guess that sums up my update for now.  Hope you all have a blessed day.