I planted the last of the sweet potato slips last night. I put them in a different area this year and swapped them out with my corn patch, I do hope that was a good choice. I’m pleased to say also that the perimeter fence/driveway posts/grape arbor posts are now cemented into the ground, the hard work of digging post holes in solid rock is complete. We can now focus on the horizontal pieces & wires and really start making this place look great!

I planted “Nest Egg” Gourds in the front of each and every coop. My hope is that they will all grow up and cover the front of the coops offering additional shade during the hot summer days ahead.

We’re about to chainsaw down the Forsythia bush at the front of our yard, it is apparently making a wonderful nest for mice, and THEY MUST GO!

Garden photos have been updated, check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dawnonthefarm.com/FoodGardens?feat=directlink

Once I get done putting up the new fence & cleaning everything up, we’ll do a video walk through of it all.

I am doing pretty well to keep my Gardens page updated, more specifically my Harvest Amounts & Garden Expenses. The garden plans are a little out of date and I will try and update those soon. Check out what we’re harvesting and how much here: http://dawnonthefarm.com/gardens.html

I can’t stress enough how relaxing, rewarding & enjoyable it is to spend the day gardening!  Unfortunately, it also requires that I spend all day long each day maintaining & caring for everything.  It’s seriously a LOT of work to grow your own food, but at the moment, in only a couple of weeks I have harvested almost $50.00 worth of food.  That really does make it a no-brainer for us.  I really enjoy eating well, and there is nothing better than a fresh supply of food!  So only about 3 weeks into harvesting, with several MONTHS to go, I have already made back almost 25% of my expenses for this year!  Fantastic!

Stay up to date with my garden progress here

I am also enjoying spending time with the baby geese, who are of course darling, sweet and completely entertaining to watch socialize, graze and of course swim!  I just can’t get over how fish like they are, or perhaps they are just like ducks, only I’ve never had any of those.  In fact I’ve only ever seen them in a cage at the Poultry show, so I had no idea of their natural personality.  Right now the geese have a paddock out in the yard, their feathers are growing in, as are their personalities.  They graze almost exclusively on grass & greens from the garden, eating very little else.  I found a waterfowl pellet that they do eat a small amount of each day.  It’s there if they want it, and sometimes they do, but all in all they prefer grass & weeds for sure!

Well, I still have several things to get into the ground, including two varieties of sweet potatoes and a new Stevia garden.  So I’m off to work now.  As always, I DO PLAN to blog more often in the future, but early spring is tough… there is literally 15 hours worth of work to do EACH AND EVERY DAY.  If I’m not working or digging, I’m exhausted, too exhausted to type.  Once everything settles down, I’ll get you all caught up with pictures of everything!  You won’t believe how much I’ve done!!!

Take care, eat well and see you soon!

Dawn