March 19^th 2012

With the month of March pushing towards its close I guess it’s time for me to get going on this month’s post. The weather has been all over the place here from unseasonably warm, dry, wet, cold. Because of this it has been difficult to actually get a lot of seeds in the ground. So far I have planted 200 feet of broccoli, 200 feet of sugar snap peas, 100 feet of Yukon gold potatoes, 100 feet of blue potatoes and a 16’ x 16’ patch of sweet corn. The mangle beets that I planted last fall overwintered nicely in the ground and have started putting out new greens. My Spelt experimental planting is growing very well. In the time between postings I have been blessed to be able to obtain 15 new fruit/nut trees and get them planted. Accompanying the 7 – 22 year old apple trees that my dad and I planted when I was 9 now there are 4 cherries, 6 new apple, 4 peaches, 2 plums, 2 almonds, 2 walnuts, 1 fig and 1 apricot. I also added to my concord grapes with 3 new varieties of table grapes. Last spring before I ordered my turkeys in I read over at the deliberate agrarian that the herb comfrey is high in protein and turkeys really go after it. So I ordered 6 roots and planted them. They took off and grew wonderfully. A few weeks back I finally dug up the 6 roots and was able split them into about 25 new individual plants. I planted them in a raised bed I had made back in December.

New chicks!

Last week I finally placed my order for chicks. I will be getting 24 Rhode Island Red egg layers, and one Rhode Island Red rooster and 25 Cornish/rock cross meat birds. They will be arriving next week and I really need to get working on finishing up the new coup I am building and the chicken tractor I have plans for to house the meat birds. My plan with the Rhode Island reds is to be able to continue my flock without having to purchase any new birds in the future with sustainability in mind. The meat birds are unsustainable on account of their fast growth rate, but I think it’s more prudent to use what is available now to provide protein for my family without relying on the industrial suppliers. The next obstacle to tackle is being able to provide all of the feed from my own land.

Tool storage/shed/greenhouse/other…

Progress on the 9 x 16 out building is progressing although it is getting more expensive than I was first planning on although it will be much larger and cheaper than anything I could have purchased, plus I get to add to my construction skills and tools.

Water Catchment

I have wanted to add a system to catch the rainwater from the roof of my house for a few weeks. It had been raining off and on for the week prior and I was feeling a sense of urgency about getting the system installed. I was able to complete ½ of this on the afternoon of the 16^th. I redirected the two rear gutters into a 275 gallon tote and just as I was making the last connection the rain started coming down. In a few short minutes of light rain I had collected about 50 gallons! Needless to say I was very pleased!! I went to bed that night feeling accomplished, but little did I know what bounty would await me when I woke. At first light I peeked out the window expecting to see at most an additional 50 gallons. To my shock and amazement there was over 200 gallons in the tote! Everyone that has a roofline should be collecting the rainwater that falls on their roof. Everywhere I go, every roof I see, I picture hundreds of thousands of gallons just running off not being captured and used to its highest potential. Just imagine if all housed had several thousand gallon capacity cistern installed under it that would be able to supply a large portion of the watering needs. The next project I am thinking about is how to capture the grey water and use it for watering our landscape or use it for flushing the toilets…

6 Years on Sunday

This past Sunday was our 6 year wedding anniversary. It seems like it’s been much shorter though and I can truly say I have been blessed beyond measure by my wife. She is a hard worker and puts everything she has into building up our family. I love her dearly and am looking forward to an eternity with her.

I have lots of things on the plate for the upcoming month. Until next time may the lord bless and prosper you in your endeavors!

P.S. Im going to attempt to add more pictures in my future posts.