Our seedlings are doing well. Each day, for the past two weeks, I’ve put them out on the front porch for some southeast sunshine. Then I bring them in at night.
We’ve had an unusually cold February (third coldest on record), so we’re anxious for March to warm up the soil so we can plant our cool weather crops.
Today I started reading a book called Natural Sheep Care by Pat Colby. Chapter 6, titled Land Management, is a rich
Colby says “[Land management] is the single most important item in any farming enterprise, be it fine-wool sheep breeding, meat sheep, dairying or stud breeding. Land management is the difference between ultimate success or failure. All disciplines demand land in very good condition mineral-wise. Without all the minerals being available in the right quantities, the microbes, mycorrhizae and other occupants of the soil cannot do their work to make it a living, breathing food factory which will nurture all who live off it.”
She recommends getting a soil analysis.
Today I picked up three free chickens from a lady who needed to rehome them. She said they all have been laying throughout the winter. Within an hour of us putting then in the pasture they had sneaked through the cattle panels and were browsing the side yard. It took some chasing to get them back in the pasture. Grant locked them in their coop overnight (without the chicken that Payne family gave us) to get them used to their new home.
Today I finished my first hügelkultur mound. It’s 3 feet by 12 feet. I created it by digging a hole six inches deep. Then, I lined it with birch logs from a tree that we had to take down when we lived at our Crater Lane house. I added smaller logs and branches as the next layer. Next, I filled in the gaps between the wood with wood chips we received from various Chip Drop dumps. Finally, I used the first that I initially removed as the topping. Much of the sod that I dug up in
This weekend I planted seeds indoors that I plan to transplant in a month. They’re sitting on the window bench in our dining room. Spinach, Swiss chard, kale, peas, and marigolds. I used cardboard egg cartons, seedling soil mix, and some plastic containers. I purchased all the seed packets at the Dollar Tree for 4/$1.
Bought 3 St. Croix sheep. Ewe born in 2016. The lambs (one girl, one boy) were born yesterday. It’s cold this week (lows in the 20s), so we worry about them.
