Okra

My only memories of having consumed okra are fond ones. My grandmother used to make the most delicious chili with okra being the second main ingredient.

She was from the south so it shouldnt be a surprise but at the time i just thought they were weird peppers.

I planted several okra plant this season. I put them all in different locations, with different soil mixes, in different containers.

The plant on the patio died. If i had to guess i would say it didnt receive enough sun.

The second is in a raised bed that gets at least 6 hours of morning sun and is primarily store bought potting mix. Nothing in this bed is doing very well.

The third was in a 3gallon pail consisting mostly of native sand with a top dressing of store bought compost. This plant was also getting about 6 hours of sun. But unlike the others it was thriving. It has been been chewed to bits by what i assume was grasshoppers (since i keep finding them). I would cloche it and withing two days it would be covered in new leaves again.

Since this little guy obviously has a strong will to live i decided to move it away from the patio garden and put it in the ground in the backyard garden.

Ive cloched it with my homemade feed bad cloche ( which i will blog about later)  to protect it from the two ducks and one chicken that live in there.

I expect this trooper of a southern classic veggie will be quite happy in its new home.

cuteness overload

6 new araucana chics

no rest for mamas and farmers.

ugh. Im sick. All i want to do is lay on the couch and knit. But I cant. Theres work to be done!

The garden is looking beautiful. I spend hours just staring at it in awe. Ive decided to start prepping a pumpkin patch. All squash take up a lot of space. it would free up my bess to move them elsewhere.

eh. cant think to make this post interesting so here are some pics instead!

How does my.harden grow? Like this!

New Additions!!

I was waiting for ALL of the new spring arrivals before working on this post, but some are delayed so here it goes!!

First off -My birthday was in February. Lover kept asking me what I wanted. I couldnt think of anything. i suggested choosing something from my amazon wishlist but that response didnt fly.

So i picked something i assumed Lover would NEVER agree too -A calf. To my surprise within 48 hours of making the decision a deposit was put down on a jersey heifer!! I picked her up from the ranch two weeks later.

Her Name is Diane  though more often than not she gets called Miss D (whens shes being a brat) or Diana Banana (when she is being cute or silly).

And remember my challenging Baby Orchid from a couple of years ago? Well shes all grown up now and has had a kid of her own. She looks just like her mama, but she has blue eyes like her daddy instead of yellow. Her sire is a saanen. He is incredibly sweet. And so is Little Trixiebell.

grooming day!!

Today is going to be stressful. Its grooming day for the critters.  Orchid, my bottle baby angora goat, is due to kid any day now and needs a hair cut. Shes pretty easy. I can do her with scissors.

Her mama, Lily, has always been a stress case. Her fleece grows twice as long/thick as her daughters. It takes me usually two different days because she starts stressing half way through and i have to stop.

Ive got to do everyones feet, give a vitamin bolus. Brush the winter coats from the horse and my new aquisition Miss Diana.

Who is this Miss Diana?? well, you have to wait for that post!!

Sprouted Fodder systems

Most everyone has heard of eating sprouts. I never really considered this a viable option for livestock but apparently it is. Ive been  experimenting with sprouting for the critters for about a month, give or take.

Grassfed animals/livestock are healthier happier critters. My problem? i live in the desert-ergo, no grassy pastures.

I started out my experiment by purchasing a 20lb bag of wild bird seed. it contained black oil sunflower seeds, millet, sorghum, and wheat. I soaked two pounds of seed in a gallon of water with a tablespoon of bleach mixed in.

After 24 hours I drained and rinsed these seeds and poured them into two garden trays, watering 3 times a day for about a week.

By the end of the week i had a tray full of wheatgrass and sunflower sprouts. The millet and sorghum hadnt sprouted yet. It has been sprouting npw the the temps have gone up.

I also tried feed barley from the local feed store and bought clover to mix in with both.

So far the chickens,ducks amd pigs *LOVE* it. I do have one goat who also loves it but the other two only eat the root mat off of the bottom.

I had pics of the root mass but ive deleted it like a dodo. I wont have any harvestable trays for about 4 more days.

I will add more details in a second post, as this is a lengthy topic to cover in one sitting. Enjoy some bad photography of my ghetto system!