Straw bale gardening

Okay today was hot and even though we got a lot of clean up done it really felt like we did nothing at all. I wanted to get on real quick and post some pictures from today.

This is what I discovered yesterday while on Pintrest. Straw-bale gardening. This is one melon, 2 zucchini plants and 2 yellow crook neck squash. I so hope they do well because that would be a lot of food gone to waste if they die. I'm excited about this though because we wont be able to use our compost till next year and we have no extra dirt.

This is our compost bin #1. Hoping to get in at least two more. The compost is looking very good though. Has a very nice earthy smell to it which is exactly what it is suppose to smell like.

This is miss BBQ, (yes a food name), and she is enjoying the bugs from the log I moved. Ooh there were a LOT of bugs.

Here are all but one of our girls. The other one does not play well with others since she decided to become a brooder hen. We have to let her out separately. 

And this is miss Lucy. She was helping me keep the chickens in check. She is such a good dog. 

Well I am tired and still have to get a shower and bathe the girls but I wanted to post real quick. Off I go to shower and take care of a few things in the house like laundry and stuff.

As always, HAPPY BACKYARD FARMING.

Gardening May 2014

So with life events happening I have been away for a while. I am wanting to get back into the game so I will start with gardening. The last 3 or 4 days we have been gardening......A LOT........ I decided that I wanted to grow food and not a lawn. I still have grass but this section all came out.

The straw in the background there is from our EPIC FAIL as a winter garden. (Yes it was covered but never watered). Anyways I will mention now that I was going to get rid of the used bales but then I came across something on pintrest that I am so excited to try that I will mention in another blog post.

Anyways so as the day(s) went on we realized that it was going to be SOOOOO much more work than anticipated.

This is after we rented the tiller. We only had it for 2 hours so we had to run it none stop for the full 2 hours.  The hole in the middle there is a tree stump from a tree that our chocolate lab Cocoa decided to eat the bark off of when she was a puppy and killed it. Needless to say the tiller didn't take care of that mess so we had to do it by hand. Well my husband did actually.

Mission complete, he conquered the stump, LOL. There was another stump that we have been very slowly working on for 3 years. Basically as long as we have lived in this house.

Ooh and our house is the green and white one and not the yellow one in the other photos. Gardening so far this year has been very fun and as I was sitting there on the dirt putting in the tomato plants when it hit me. As a homeschooling mamma of 4 I have found if VERY difficult to teach them the way that schools do it. Mainly because God didn't put us on this earth to be in the confines of a room with 29 other children and one teacher with noses stuck in worksheets of redundant math problems and lectures. I was not home-schooled and I did learn a lot in school but what I didn't learn is how to nurse a baby, change a diaper, kiss a boo boo, or wipe a tear. There is nothing that school taught me about growing my own food or hunting or butchering our own meat. In the event of SHTF there would be very few people that could live off the land and provide for their family. No land? No problem! I live right smack dab in the middle of my town. Walmart is a block away and I live on less than an acre of land which is my lot and am surrounded by neighbors and yet I am finding a way to live and be self sustained. For sure a lifestyle change.

Back to my point. As I was putting tomato plants in I realized that we all must let out kids dig holes, trenches, build bridges over running water....etc. I realized that is not something that kids learn in school because public schools don't encourage that sort of play. I was out there doing the same thing that my kids were doing. They were playing and I was working because when I was a child I was allowed to be a child. Can't garden? Why not?? What you say the kids are to much. Why? Take them outside and give them a shovel. Give them some water and let them make a town. Let them play. My youngest child who is also my youngest daughter was making dirt angels, LOL. Yep hair in the dirt and all.

This is my daughter Makenna.....AKA Kenna or Kenna Bear. She was the one making the dirt angels. She was also helping me with tomatoes. Love this little girl.

Kenna and her sister Abbie playing in the dirt together. Love how well they play together.

WORMS......the last time we tried to get her to hold one she freaked out.

Tomato blossom. Looks more like a sunflower to me but it sure is pretty.

New Mexico Big Jim's green chili. By far the BEST green chili ever.

Six cucumber plants. Three biggest ones that are the closest are Burpless Cukes, Then I have one Lemon Cuke and two Pickling Cukes.

Tomato ditches.

Two rows of the Big Jims. Yes, we LOVE green chili.

Garden so far. We have a LOT further to go.

Ohh and this is the strawberry garden / wild flowers.

Dinner face.

Puts the spagetti on the fork and still eats it with her hands. Crazy kid.

Cheese.......Spagetti.......Fork........

Finishing off her second bowl.

Ooh and this is the homemade pesto pasta that we made from all the greens that survived the winter garden that we never tended to.

So this is our life right now. Still lots of planting to do and more to come. 

HAPPY BACK YARD FARMING!!

Natural Coop Cleaning

I seen a post from another fellow blogger the other day about a natural aproach to cleaning out their chicken coop. I found it very interesting.

 

What you will need is:

4 oranges

3 cinnamon sticks

2 vanilla beans

white vinegar

2 canning jars

spray bottle

Keep in mind that this is not my recipe and therefor I will not take credit for this. I am new to this blogging thing so I do not know how to link this persons blog to mine. Below is step by step pictures for what to do and then I will include some information about why she makes her recipe this way.

All the things you will need.

 

Peel all 4 oranges and put the peels of 2 oranges in each jar.

 

Break 3 cinnamon sticks in half and put 3 halves in each jar.

 

Slit you vanilla bean(s) in half, then cut the bean in half and put two halves of the vanilla bean in each jar.

 

Pour vinegar into each jar covering all contents.

 

Place lids on jars.

 

Make sure you have that spray bottle because you will be pouring the liquid from the mixture into the spray bottle to use for cleaning. Let the jars sit for a month to age the mixture being sure to shake the jar every few days to mix everything up. As it gets closer to being ready to use it will become orangeish-tan in color and become fragrant.

 

FUN FACTS

Cinnamon oil kills mosquito larvae.

Vanilla repels flies, mosquitoes and other insects.

White vinegar is a natural disinfectant having antibacterial properties, kills mold and is also an ant   repellent.

Apple cider vinegar is great to add to you chickens water and to drink yourself for the health benefits that it has, however it should NOT be used in this mixture because it will attract fruit flies.

 

After your mixture is ready strain the contents into a spray bottle to use full strength or pour into a bucket and dilute with water. Use the bottle to spray the roosts and then use the mixture diluted in a pail with a mop to scrub the coop walls and floors.

 

Keep in mind that this can also be used to clean your kitchen. It will leave a wonderful aroma.

You can also reuse the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean for a second batch but make sure you use fresh citrus peels.

 

HAPPY BACKYARD FARMING