Busy Days Ahead

I have been thinking about starting plants for my garden a lot lately.  I saved seeds from last years harvest, and I want to make sure they will sprout.  I am not planting pinto beans this year, those just take way too much effort and room that I could grow other things in the same space.  I will probably plant a lot more bush type green beans this year, I am going to plant some ginger and garlic this year too.  I bought some seed potatoes and a few seeds already.  I need to plant things to supplement my chickens feed too.  I will plant pumpkins, cabbage, sunflowers and oats for them and probably field corn too....maybe some wheat.  I sure wish I had a tractor to plow with, it is going to hard for me to till as much as I need to, to get the ground prepared.  I have been thinking about burning off the grass and weeds before things start greening up.  A lot of the grasses here have gigantic root systems that spread and it is difficult to cut through them with my hand tiller, I am thinking burning may damage the roots enough that they will die back.  I need to expand my herb garden by about 30 feet and enclose my blueberries inside the fencing.  I am hoping to get more of a blueberry harvest this year, along with strawberries.  I also want to get asparagus planted, I pulled seeds off of the wild asparagus I found growing in the middle of my Chicasaw plum grove.  I still want to dig and move more of the plum trees to a sunnier location too.

Since we cut a passage into the garden from the chicken area, they have been eating everything green there was, they have chowed down on what remained of my brocolli plants too and have been chewing on the stalks.  I just hope once I plant my garden they don't decide to jump the fence and eat it all.  My upper garden has grown well and is high enough on a hill that it doesn't flood when it rains, the others are in what the call the bottoms...and by the creek, it is the best dirt I have, but there is the danger of flooding down in that area.  I may end up having to dig it out some and clean up the creek bed so it drains properly to avoid flooding.  I am hoping we don't get 8 inches of rain in two days this year!  One garden that was tilled, I never planted because of the rain...and how fast the weeds grew up in it...I had it tilled three times, then I tilled it three times with my little tiller.  But, you can't plant anything in standing water and last year, it just got to be too late in the season and I gave up on that one.  You get smarter and wiser to the ways of your land, one of the reasons I have four separate gardens was to see where in my yard would be best for growing things.  This year I am going to plant a few things in my front and side yards and hope the rabbits don't chow down on it before I get fencing up.  I still want more fruit trees too.  Which reminds me, I have not sprayed the Dormant oil yet!  Maybe I should do that today...if not, my harvest will be awful like the first season.

I also need to power up the incubator and get it regulated.  I have Dominique eggs to hatch and I need to get the brooders ready for the geese and chicks before they get here.  I still need to finish the breeding pens too.  I will be able to use them for the chicks when they are old enough, and it is warm enough outside for them to stay outside full time.  I have some 90% shade cloth coming for over those, I need gates for them too...so I need to get busy making them or finding some that will work.  Needless to say, I have a lot on my mind...and it seems like I have more than enough to do for about 5 people!  Lol, that doesn't even scratch the surface though, I still have to keep the house clean, the laundry done, the shopping for feed for all the critters and ourselves, and cooking...and I still have not finished going through the boxes from when we moved here.  We still have a bunch in the office to go through...not counting all the stuff in the shed.  I want to create a logo for our farm and a sign for the posts out at the driveway.  I need to look into farm taxes and create a business plan, find out rules and regulations, get with our Agricultural Extension Agent, find out what certifications I need to start selling chickens...and probably my list will get longer the warmer it gets.  I have a lot to do and daylight is a wasting.