The outdoor planting hath begun.  It’s cool weather crop time and the Onions, Spinach, Cabbage, Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower and a bunch of herbs are all going in.  It’s nice having the new hail covers on knowing that there will be at least a little protection from Hell month, er, HAIL month in May.  It’s fun to just be sitting on my little garden scooter planting stuff in. I didn’t even contemplate another building project except for figuring out how I’ll mount the shade cloth on these beds.  It’s the first time that the garden feels like “my own”.  I’m not being torn in a zillion other directions; just doing the farming thing.  Spent the day planting about 400 onions and listening to an audiobook.  It’s brand spankin’ new dirt so they should do well.  Having respectable water pressure from our new hydrants doesn’t hurt either.

With the onset of spring though, and it being considerably wetter than last year, everything wild and invasive is coming up too.  I’m not really missing the old garden as it could rob you of your soul trying to keep it weeded.   Boxed beds are so much easier to work with.  But with the wet has come the weeds.  Many of them now, unfortunately, are becoming herbicide resistant, Red Root Amaranth being the biggest culprit.  It grows like mad and it sets down a super hero tap root.  Fortunately, the chickens like the seeds and the goats like the plant.  I’m thinking that even if our little dairy adventure doesn’t pan out, just having our little goat sweeties to mow down weed fields earns them their keep.  As soon as I get a needed gate mounted, the bucks are being turned loose in the big garden to eat to their heart’s content.

Another weed that no one seems to like, I think, because it is super smelly with pollen, is something the locals call “Purple Cap”.  Colorado State Extension Service calls it Purple Mustard.  It likes disturbed soil and boy has it found its home out there this year.  It’s everywhere.  So looking at the bright side, my son isn’t here having his allergies knock him flat, and it’s actually kind of pretty.  If you can believe it, this is our back wheat field.  The wheat is doing fine, but because it is still short, the purple mustard has temporarily overtaken it.  I’ll be happy when it is done blooming…..stinky,

The baby pigs still stay pretty buried in their straw out in the hut.  They are soooo tiny.  Zina has been coaxing them out from time to time but they are still pretty freaked about not being with momma.  Our meat birds are doing what they do best: eating and crapping.  Half will go to freezer camp the middle of next month.  The other breed takes a bit longer.

We are in hatching mode with the turkey eggs.  I stopped the egg turner today, decreased the temperature and ramped up the humidity.  If all goes well, and the candling shows movement in quite a few, we should have some hatchlings somewhere around Sunday.  I ran to the stockyard supply place yesterday and got the kennel panels to make a grow out pen.  Birds is stoooopid.  If we put smaller birds in with the bigger ones, they will likely get pecked to death.  Chickens too.  So after all is said and done, we will have 5 different coops: A brooder, 2 turkey pens and two chicken coops.  Dats a lot oh feathers and fertilizer!

So if there is one constant to this grand experiment it’s that it is all a big adventure.  From surgery, legs that seem to not want to work right anymore, to growing your own Pizza, Salsa and Carnitas, it’s never predictable.  Problem solving becomes priority number one.