garden – Never Done Homestead

We’re Back in the Garden Again

March 30, 2018 Sarah

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you feel like you were just constantly busy, but when the end of the week rolled around, you had NO CLUE what you did all week?

That was our week in a nut shell.

BUT, I do remember one job we completed this week.
We planted the first seeds in the vegetable garden!!! OH YEAH!

For you non-gardeners, that probably sounds really boring.

But after a long, dreary winter, it’s so fun to watch those little green shoots start poking their heads through the garden soil. Well, unless it’s weed shoots…

So if you want to catch a bit of the fun, join us in today’s video as we begin to awaken the sleeping garden.

Gardening, Video

Want To See Our Garden?

July 26, 2017 Sarah

How is your summer going? We have had an excellent summer so far. Everything is growing like weeds. Oh, and the weeds are growing like weeds, too. Go figure!

ndh beans

Before I announce today’s video, I wanted to let you know we are almost sold out of our pastured chicken for September 16. These are the last chickens for 2017, so don’t wait if you want to order!

ndh3

Today’s video is a little different. It has *almost* no animals in it. Because ideally, you don’t want animals in the garden…

Yes, the video below is a garden tour. Now if gardening isn’t your thing, you might want to skip this video. But for those of you who are like me and love seeing your friends’ gardens, this just might be up your alley.

(SPOILER: There is a very short clip at the end with some really cute, NAUGHTY piglets!)

Ok, I’ll stop rambling! Take care friend!
Sarah

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There Are Animals In The Garden

March 22, 2016March 23, 2016 Sarah

There are animals in the garden, and for once, they are actually supposed to be there.

Photo by Laura: Goats & Garlic in the Garden

I’m experimenting with housing animals in the garden while it is in its winter dormancy. I’d love to say the idea came while trying to find a way to increase biodiversity, mimic nature, and increase fertility in our garden soil. The truth is, I desperately needed a place to put the goats over the winter, and the tomato patch was the only place that wasn’t flooding. So to make lemonade out of a lemon, I’m calling it an experiment station.

In the fall, the tomato patch had about 6+ inches of wood chips on it so the goats didn’t have direct contact with the soil. Deeply bedded calf hutches protected them from elements.

In the typical goat fashion, the does managed to spread a nice layer of ~~waste hay~~ mulch over the whole tomato patch. I’m hoping with the wood chips, hay, manure and urine, we will have a nice fertile layer into which we can plant our tomatoes.

The “goats in the garden” experiment led me to try a second experiment: chickens in the garden.

Yesterday, Anna and I threw some cow manure on the garden with the manure spreader. This morning the whole gang helped us move our mobile chicken coop on to the garden. We surrounded the area we wanted “chicken tilled” with electric poultry netting. The hens are loving scratching through everything. Happy hens = yummy eggs! They don’t realize they are actually working, tilling the cow manure into the top layer of the soil.

I’m only planning on leaving the chickens here for a week or less. By then, the chickens will be ready to move on to their next job.

~Sarah