We were gone on vacation in the beginning of July and when we came back to the homestead things were wild! Well, mostly it just looked wild because of our overgrown grass and weedy pond. We are trying to keep up with all of it along with our other projects. I’ll get into all of it here…
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Rabbit Dilemmas
Right before we left and while we were away we had most of our baby meat rabbits die off. It was really discouraging. I think they were eating insulation out of the wall and then getting sick before passing away. Thankfully we still have about 10 left that we will be butchering soon.
We also got rid of a few of our breeders. We have three females left that have given birth again. Once those babies are done nursing, we will butcher those mamas and our meat rabbitry will be done. We are excited to move on to pigs, sheep, or beef steers in the future!
Garden Craziness
The grass completely overtook my no-till garden this summer. I’ve determined to make the rows actual raised beds next year, high enough where the grass can’t penetrate through. The weeds are really not too much of an issue because I don’t till the soil, we just have such fertile land that our grass explodes and cannot be contained!
Still, we have most of our crops growing despite the grass! We have harvested lettuce, onions, and garlic so far. And, also small amounts of snap peas and cherry tomatoes. Plus the sunflowers are huge! We are hoping for a harvest of butternut squash, green beans, watermelon, and cucumbers in the next couple months.
Prepping For Baby
Before baby arrives next month we are getting projects done! Landon is currently working for a neighbor to re-roof his old church building that he lives in. He is hoping to get it done before baby arrives. I’m working on making broth from our old laying hens we butchered last fall and then freeze drying the broth. Plus, I’m gathering all the home birth supplies, cleaning and organizing regularly, and cooking some extra food for the freezer.
Meat Chickens Arrive
Towards the end of the month our meat chickens arrived! We are raising a double batch this year, 120 instead of our usual 60, to compensate for ending our meat rabbit production. However we had so many of them die just shortly after arrival. They must have had a rough journey.
We have about 100 left out of the 120 and will be moving them out of the barn and into their meat chicken tractors very soon! Landon built two additional tractors in preparation for them, so we have 4 total that we will move to new pasture daily. Then, come end of September we will be butchering them. Hopefully the rest of the flock stays healthy going forward.
First Egg From New Laying Hens
We found our first egg from the flock of new laying hens we have been raising since the spring. It was very exciting and we are hoping for lots more again soon!
Berry Picking
We were able to pick the last of the strawberries at our local u-pick when we returned back from our trip. Now our freezer is stocked with about one gallon per week for the year. We ate a few of our wild raspberries on our land next and now we are on to blueberry picking. So far, we have 2 bags in the freezer, but we are planning on stocking up lots more blueberries in the month of August at our neighbors u-pick.
We’ve also just been soaking in the summer sunshine at the lake, fishing and swimming often! Check back next month for more exciting updates, including a baby announcement Lord-willing!
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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