Moving right along

Last Sunday our nephew Connor lent us his hand in the garden, what a huge help he is!  We were able to pull most of the weeds, Carl built over 10 furrows, we finished laying out our plants and for the first time in weeks I see progress!  It was a huge relief and I believe the hardest part is over.  The work is strenuous but oh so satisfying.  In ways planning the wedding for September is perfect because it gives me that much more motivation to take immaculate care of the yard.

I also got rid of more plants, fingers crossed they work out for the ones I gave them to.  My plants are very healthy but they've been grown in a stable, temperate environment.   If you do not harden them off before planting in the ground they'll go into shock for up to 3 weeks, maybe even more.  I learned this lesson with the spring garden.  I planted most of my broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and onions almost a month ago and they are just starting to settle and grow. 

Carl also finished our "kitchen" herb box last week.  The box was placed near our soon-to-be patio for close access.  Now, instead of walking to the garden for my herbs I can go out to the porch and pick them right before dinner.  It was also a good use of the space and squared off the the house and patio.  When I speak of the patio, my father and I are going to lay pavers and brick soon to eliminate the last un-designated piece of dirt in the yard.  He did a beautiful job on his own patio last year and I've enlisted his help on ours.  Pictures will come soon.

 

I love the rain and it's great for my plants, especially my spring garden but Christ when will the sun come out?!  I'm starting to feel like we live in the tropics, we'll be lucky to get 3 months of summer this year. Hope everyone is doing well and life is treating you good. 

Gus

We have a turkey.  His name is Gus.  This is the story of Gus.

I received an order of chickens on March 28th, on March 30th Carl came home from work with a box in his hands and a huge grin on his face.  He announced "HONEY, I brought us Thanksgiving!"  I was a little baffled, "what?"  Then I noticed the box.  It had holes in it and looked just like the one I received the chickens in.  "You got more chickens, Carl?" After having to acquiesce from 10 chickens to 6 I had been a little surprised with his enthusiasm and excitement towards the baby chicks, although I had not considered him picking up more. With the same silly grin on his face he looked at me and said "Nope.  I got us a turkey!"

Turns out Carl had stopped at Cal-Ranch after work to pick up some t-post for our fencing.  The clerk was holding a turkey and told Carl that he was the 9th in an order of 8 turkeys and had been left at the store, alone.  Well, Carl's tender heart was not about to let that turkey stay and suffer by itself in a cage, so he did the only thing he could do, he brought it home.

I've never had a turkey.  I've never even had chickens so I am definitely no expert on the typical behavior of poultry.  From day one this turkey seemed a little bit odd.  He sat by himself in the box, didn't want anything to do with the chickens.  He was lethargic and chirped at the top of his lungs.  On the second day I decided I probably ought to get another turkey so he would have a companion, maybe that would do the trick.  I stopped at the feed store on my way home from work and picked up a "bourbon red".  Brought that one home, put her in the box and watched to see if Carl's turkey would do anything.  He didn't, he had no interests in the other turkey and still no interest in the chickens.  Now, the other turkey, the "bourbon red" which we have decided to call "shaneynei" (Carl's decision) integrated just fine with the other chicks, she thinks she is a chicken, while at the same time Gus continued to sit by himself and chirp, chirp loud enough to hear him outside and on the other side of our half acre.

Day 3 : I went to pick Gus up and as soon as he was in my hands the chirping stopped.  I guess that's all he wanted, to be picked up and held.  So I indulged him for a while, introduced him to our dogs and set him back in the box.  He didn't want anything to do with the box.  Now I had a predicament.  If I left him in the box I was forced to listen to him cry all afternoon.  If I picked him up how was I going to get any work done?  I improvised.  I put my apron on, set him in the pocket of it and went about my business.  He was happy and I was happy.  Then Carl got home.  As soon as that damn turkey heard Carl's voice he was at it again!

You see, Gus prefers Carl over me.  Usually that isn't the way around here.  The animals come to me before they go to Carl.  Not this time.  Gus has a song for Carl, if he hears his voice he sings to him and Carl whistles back.  I have to admit it's quite enduring.

It's been about two weeks now.  The chickens have been moved outside to our heated shed, along with the turkeys and some adjustments have been made.  I had been under the wrong assumption until a few days ago, thinking that birds were birds and could be raised together.  Turns out that isn't the case.  Turkeys can't stay with chickens because the chicken poop causes a disease called "blackhead" in the turkeys.  We've had to make a few adjustments.  The birds require separate feed and separate housing.   A different coop will need to be built for the turkeys.  Even though Gus and Shaneynei are apart from the chickens sometimes he misses the company and jumps the barrier to hang out with the chicks.  Shaneynei can't yet jump that high.  I also found out the turkeys fly - like they fly into trees, sometimes more than 15'.  Oh and male turkeys can be up to 45 pounds!  If we end up with two 45 pound turkeys I'll be beside myself!

So that is the story of how we got Gus, I'm sure he'll be a common subject in my posts if his quirky behavior is any indication.

Caught Up

I've been consumed in a series of books lately, the Earth's Children set by Jean Auel.  It temporarily stopped me from participating in my usual tasks, like correspondence on the blog.  Highly recommend the series; I read the books about 10 years ago and after suggesting them to my cousin a few weeks back decided to read them again, I wasn't disappointed.




In the meantime, Carl plowed and tilled the garden.  We need to build our furrows and set up trellises for the peas but otherwise we are ready to plant!  I have more than 400 seeds started and the greenhouse is thriving.  I had no intention of sprouting that many plants, but everything I read suggested that for every 10 seeds only 2/3's of them would sprout and be healthy.  For every 10 seeds I planted I got 10 seeds to sprout.  It was a bit more than I expected but it's given me some ideas.

First, I think I'll start selling starters.  I can get rid of a few this year, but I intend to put a list together of seeds I have available and people can order the ones they would like for their own garden.  For the most part I'll only have heirlooms available but depending on demand I'll consider starting others.  With a few seasonal customers I think it may be a nice hobby on the side - not everyone has the place or resources for a green house and I don't know about you but I would rather buy local.

We've also received our first batch of chickens.  So far we have 9 chickens but Carl would like to get 2 more.  I have been surprised by his behavior towards the poultry - he LOVES them!  He came home with a turkey last week, that was a big surprise but I'm glad he did it.  I felt bad for the little guy, he was so forlorn and lonely and decided to get another turkey.  I think the white one Carl brought home is just going to end up being a family pet.  He loves to be held and coddled and doesn't interact with the other chickens or turkey very much.  We've decided to call him "Big Bird".










The dogs have been great with the chickens!  My little one, Zora, she is very protective and stands watch over their box most of the day, it's pretty cute.



April is going to be a busy month for us, it always is.  Carl's sister will be in town this week and I am looking forward to that.  She has not been to the house since we got settled in and I'm excited for her visit.  We've also decided to do a party on the weekend of the 23rd and have our work cut out for us in preparation.  The tulips should be in full bloom for the shindig - I can't wait for that!  Winter is over for us - time to get the fire crackin'!

Progress

Been in a little bit of a funk lately, or more like I've just been focusing on things outside of the Internet.  It happens.  I don't like to always be "dialed-in".

We're moving right along with spring planting.  My plants have been doing so well I've already had to transplant a few of them.  Carl just about has the greenhouse built.  We have a few finishing touches - like the window and should be able to move the starters out this weekend.

On the greenhouse - if he and I can build one anyone can!  It's sort of temporary but should last us about 3-4 years.  We used PVC pipe, 2x4's and two layers of 6 mil plastic film.  We placed rebar on two sides (which we had around the house) and then slid the PVC pipe over each rebar creating the dome shape.  Then we laid the plastic over the top and wrapped the bottom plastic between two 2x4's and nailed them together, in effect squishing the plastic tight.  To make sure it would withstand wind and weather Carl drilled 3 holes on each side and hammered another rebar through it. 

So far it's retained heat like you wouldn't believe!  Circulation will be very important so we've added a door and a roll-up window on the north side. Bring a couple shelves in and we'll be in business!

SEEDS

I bought our seeds for the garden today - I am VERY excited! 

150 packets of Heirloom seeds chosen for this region at $0.40 each! 

Of course I don't intend to plant them all this season, but it's a good start.  You can store seeds for 10-20 years in the right conditions.  If you want the comfort of knowing you'll have a steady, affordable source of food for the next decade or so I would start collecting seed whenever you can.  Heirloom are the only seeds still available that allow you to collect and re-plant.  Monsantos has gotten to all others, including organic and especially hybrid.  More than likely it wont be long before they get to the heirlooms too.

Garden Resources

Spring is quickly approaching and it's past due that Carl and I start getting a plan put together for spring planting.  I'll be picking up plant starters from a local greenhouse this year for most of our crops.  Researching where and how to plant certain vegetables has led me to a few very informative resources online.  I want to attach a few links and after a few hours of messing around with the blog format have decided this is the best method. 

I found this companion planting chart online:  http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html#chart
It's from the National Sustainable Agricultural Information Service and they seem to have a wide range of topics and information on their page.  They are associated with The National Center for Appropriate Technology, a site dedicated to local solutions for sustainable living and alternative energy:  http://www.ncat.org/

Livestock

Our chickens arrive on March 28th.  I went into IFA today to take a look at feeders and misc stuff and almost walked out with a bunny.  I don't know what I would do with a bunny but they sure are cute!  I'm still trying to convince Carl to let me get a lamb.  I like to think we'll get milk and wool from it but in reality it will probably eat my garden, require a lot of feed and be more a burden than a resource. Time will tell with that one.  If I had it my way we'd have a mini petting zoo in our backyard! 

So we need to build a chicken coop. We're planning to do something rather simple, cost efficient, and durable.  I had no idea there were so many options, many of which are a bit extravagant for our needs.  My friend Jenn tells me it's a good idea to have the coop built before the chicks arrive, but we'll just have to see how it goes.   The part I'm most excited for though isn't the baby chicks, or having eggs or a hobby, I'm excited for when the children come over to play.  I think they'll love the chickens and I look forward to sharing in their excitement, even if it does eventually wear off.

Missing Arizona

Badly.  Wish it was an afternoon drive away.  I miss the sound of the crickets chirping all day and night.  I miss the smell of the dirt, especially the few minutes before and after the monsoon rolled in.  Rain pouring down in a fury, clearing out the air and bringing the summer heat to a mild simmer.  I miss the simplicity of my time there.  Waking early with the sun, fetching eggs and skipping down the drive for the daily newspaper.  Running into the house and slamming the door shut in excitement for the day and the food waiting on the table.  I miss running through the Ponderosa covered hills in search of adventure and solitude, dreaming for hours and hours.  Finding hidden treasures in the forest, picking fruit in the orchard.  Watching the baby quell stumble behind their mother with belly's so full they couldn't find their feet.  I miss my grandpa.  Going to his office at lunch to bring him down for food and cards.  He would spin me in circles while he sang "Mac the knife" at the top of his longs.  I want to suck the juices from the honeysuckle that grew on the clothes line outside the window.  Build a puzzle and listen to the hours pass by with the chime of a clock.  I want to get my hands dirty in the garden of pansies my Papa planted for my grandma.

But most of all, I miss the feeling.  The simplicity, the contentment and peace, the utter joy from the little parts of my day.  Having no worries except for how much longer the sun would be up.  It was a constant adventure of unexplored places.  Everything that reminds me of that time, crickets chirping, the smell of rain, hearing Frank Sinatra on the stereo, seeing pansies pop up in the spring, the smell of fresh muffins, my grandparents, it all makes me hungry for what I first fell in love with, the desert.