Rain, Rain--GO AWAY!

We've been getting a lot of rain lately. A LOT. So I figured now was a good time to update on progress here. I would love for things to dry up enough for me to plant, but it doesn't look like it will be happening any time soon.

On the seedling front, I have a lot of things coming along nicely. Mr. HH gifted me a soil blocker for my birthday. GREAT PRESENT! I think dampening off is less of an issue with soil blocks because it's so easy to water from below the actual plant. I feel like my seedlings are doing much better with soil blocks than with traditional seedling cell trays.

Tomato Seedlings

I did start a few tomato plants early in an attempt to have a few tomatoes early this year. Right before I started these tomatoes, I stumbled across this website. We ended up asking relatives and friends for 2 liter bottles and made a few of these self watering containers. I love them. They work very well. I'll probably keep saving bottles as I can get them to utilize this system more in the future.

Tomato seedling in a self-watering container

We've decided that this year, we will start utilizing as much of the space here as possible for food production. Now, this means dedicating more of the property to feeding our livestock, so we're moving gardening space up into the fenced back yard. We're referring to it as "yard farming." We've added 3 raised beds (4x12) to the back yard to start. We want to keep adding beds as funds allow.

One of our new raised beds

Remember the old windows I was saving? We're trying to decide the best way to use them. I think we will end up using them to construct actual cold frames, but don't hold me to it. In the picture above, you can see how we experimenting with the frames on the raised beds.

My Kids--Caprine Variety

The goat babies are doing very well. We ended up with two bucklings from Tease, and a buckling and doeling from Chessie. I really wanted a doeling from both, but at least we got one. In the video you'll see 5 kids. We actually bought an Alpine buckling to be sure we could breed the girls this year. We're hoping to get a Saanen buckling, but the doe I want a buck out of hasn't kidded yet, so we'll have to wait and see!

Tease with her bucklings. Shortly after this photo was taken, she started trying to ram her babies. They've been bottle fed from the beginning.

This is Fred. He and his brother Scruffy as VERY friendly. I hate to sell them because they are so sweet.

Cheeto is the first kid born on our farm. He is sticking around as a buddy for our buckling Thor.

And our Grand Prize--Heidi.

Mr. HH always loved the look of Oberhasli goats, and he is thrilled by Heidi's coloration. Hopefully she grows out well enough to be bred in the fall. Unfortunately, Chessie freshened with a problem udder. One side seems to be having issues. The vet will be checking her out again this week to see if it's fixable. Even if it's not, the good half of her udder is giving us 1/2 a gallon everyday. Tease is already giving us OVER a gallon a day!

All that said, be prepared to see some posts of my attempts at making cheese!

Baby Goats Are Here!

More later!

The Waiting Game...

As I'm typing this post, I am listening to the soothing sounds of goats chewing their cud via a baby monitor that's been strategically placed in our barn. We are waiting for our goats to kid. Typical goat gestation length is 150 days. Our alpine is on day 151. This is our first kidding, and we are very anxious to have some baby goats to cuddle.

To pass the time, I thought it might be fun to have our first giveaway! Now I can't give you anything too exciting, but I would like to send out some seeds to help someone else start their own little homesteading efforts. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. In your comment list some things you've wanted to try planting, but haven't. Maybe you'd like to try planting Swiss Chard this year or some different varieties of winter squash. Jot it down in the comments, and maybe you'll end up with an envelope of goodies headed your way.

Want to win a prize?

If you'd like a chance to win some homemade goat milk soap, head over to Krazo Acres. Carolyn has a great blog up now about spreading your sustainability efforts around. Even though I'd love to win some goat milk soap, I'd rather see people moving others to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Click here to enter!

Baby and Kids

Little Man has been keeping us plenty busy. Here he is dreaming about spring...at least his mom and dad are!

To try to get in a bit of early "dirt" time, I separated my aloe pups from the mother plant and potted them. I also had to throw away the rosemary plant that didn't agree with growing in my kitchen. I'll try again with the rosemary, as it's a great herb for cooking.

Here's Chessie asking me if she looks fat. I kept a straight face and told her she was still as beautiful as ever. I can't wait to have goat milk again. Little Man's belly doesn't agree when I eat cow's milk dairy. This isn't a big deal for me, but the goat's milk is an entirely different story. I really don't want to have to miss out on goat cheese, ice cream, and my favorite, steel cut oats with warmed goat milk.

We can't wait to see our goat kids (Arriving in mid-late March)! I'm crossing my fingers that I get some doelings. I'd especially love for Tease to have a doeling, as I've heard great things about the Saanen/Alpine crosses. We're almost completely done getting our kidding kit together.

Hopefully, we'll be able to post about our garden plans fairly soon. This growing season promises to be an exciting one!

Stay Tuned...

We hope to be posting again soon, but as you can see we are a bit busy!