End of May, Nearing Summer

raised bed garden - carrots in foreground

It seems so weird that I get on the laptop to give an update, only to lose interest and quit.  I find it amazing that the last few years have brought such a change in me, I simply would rather forego on the homestead happenings.  (pictures are not in any order)

It isn't that I don't enjoy what I do.  In fact, I have been contemplating a lot of homestead topics lately, and by far my favorite part is the gardening - even if bugs (or groundhogs) want to devour everything!

potatoes and dill

Most of my garden focus has been on keeping the weeds at bay, putting an end to heavy pests, and filling in empty spots with SOMETHING we will eat.  

paste tomatoes

I already had to pull out the broccoli and cabbage beds because the pest pressure was so high.  The plants did look good and healthy aside from that.  After the removal, I planted Japanese purple sweet potatoes and more yellow potatoes.

Just the other day, not long after I looked at the squash and thought, "wow! not a squash bug to be seen", the darn bugs came out in number.  So, I have officially started with my annual squash bug assault. I tell you, those guys are quick at destroying plants! 

squash

I've also been attempting to keep the weeds at bay in my perennial garden.  This garden is not turning out quite like I had hoped.  Most of the flower seeds I planted did not come up.   

flowers, herbs, and berries

The rock paths I put in are becoming overgrown with grass and weeds, so I have been pulling them up in order to clean out the unwanted plants.  Now I have to decide if I will put them back in, or just use cedar wood chips.  I actually enjoy the look of the stones, but I might need to put some weed cloth under them. 

watermelon and bee balm

I was rather disappointed that the Burmuda grass also came up through the heavy layer of wood chips I put down, but there isn't anything I can do short of spraying with homemade herbicide.  

All of the tomato and pepper seedlings have been transplanted and are doing really well!  I am hopeful we will have a good tomato and pepper year, which hasn't happened since either 2019 or 2020.  Meanwhile, the cucumbers are beginning to grow like crazy up the trellis.  Unfortunately, the Chinese long beans seem to be struggling, as are my bush beans.  One thing I discovered about the trellises is that the west side doesn't grow as well due to having too much shade. 

After pulling the garlic from the raised beds on Monday, I decided to put in Strawberry Popcorn and some zucchini.  I chose the yellow zucchini this year because space was limited and I couldn't grow a variety. I wanted to put more energy into winter squash to get us through the months of cold.  

back deck grow towers

The GreenStalk grow towers are doing okay; I've yet to figure out the "learning curve" of using them.  There are some towers which have top level plants thriving, yet other towers have very stunted plants.  Soil?  Perhaps.  Another problem I am facing is having seeds planted in all pockets on the same level, only to have one pocket grow and another not. I had mentioned groundhogs earlier because we have a problem with them.  I discovered that one was climbing on the back deck in order to eat what was growing in the lower tiers.  Once I got the deck blocked off, I noticed the chard and lettuce started growing back in.  Now I just need to figure out if they would do better lining them up north to south rather than east to west.  These towers are really a matter of trial and error as I figure out what grows better, what doesn't, and what might need to be added to amend the store bought soil. 

The to do list seems to be a mile long, but finding time to do it all really is the problem.  Things like cleaning up the berry patch, trellising my black berries, putting up chicken wire to keep chickens out (since they can squeeze through the cattle panels), using kiddie pools for raised beds (but not having the compost to fill them), weeding (always), and so many animal related chores as well. 

I am finding the animals are becoming more a burden than a blessing.  The number of sheep are too many for the amount of land we have available for browsing.  I have lined up selling three adults and a lamb (since two have died).  The sheep that need to be processed still have some growing to do; that number being 6 lambs.  I have so many goats and NO ONE wants to buy them.  Although I did manage to sell one yesterday, I still have several which need new homes.  Just this morning, I found our Kahlua dead after illness hit her so quickly, treatment was too late.  Fortunately, her kids are weaned already.  (Actually, a lamb was found dead this morning as well.)  

I don't like the idea of raising animals without taking the proper care of them or raising them in circumstances in which they aren't as healthy as they should be.  Seeing thin sheep and goats makes me angry.  While I know they have food, I feel like I should be better about their care.  Keeping a large number of animals on a small area of land is an invitation for parasites, illness, and death.  While I don't regret getting the zebu, I do regret that we had to put them on the pastures for goats.  It is unfortunate that the goats don't get as much as they should. But the progress in getting the cows to the back is on hold since the area is not fenced and there are a barge load of downed trees.  Too many projects get started at the wrong times and never finished, leaving us even more overloaded than before.  The saying "I have more time that money" is just as untrue as "I have more money than time".  It's a stalemate.  For now the woods are growing over with brush and weeds, snakes and ticks are out, and working in the woods is extra dangerous. 

I am working on a new sign to advertise we have goats for sale and I will be selling them cheap since people around her don't care about "registered" stock.  In reality, I'm getting to the point I don't care anymore, either.  I don't show my goats, I don't do milk testing, and I certainly don't have such high quality goats I would be able to sell them for a higher value.  So I determined that the bucklings will be sold for $75 and doelings for $150.  Any older goat will be sold for a higher value based on what I paid for them.  

We finally decided to buy a pool for the kids and I am really glad we did.  It was put up this last weekend on the "basketball court" in the back yard.  The kids are already using it and enjoy it so much!  The rule being, "No school, no pool".   While the struggle is still there to get them to buckle down, they have more motivation.  

Local schools are out for the summer, but we school year round because we do four day weeks and often end up not doing school due to appointments, which totally throw the days off.  I get burned out from the constant attitudes and pushing to get work done.  Despite it all, the kids are pushing through.  As a family we are working through the U.S. Constitution, and quite surprisingly the kids are enjoying it (as am I). 

Well, I have rambled long enough and I am sure there is nothing gained from that.  So I will say goodbye until next time.