meanwhile, back at the farm...

Spring is well underway, and we here at the farm are deeply in thrall. Davey and I both have become obsessed with planting and growing. He spent the last week tilling up a massive area for growing corn and pumpkins. And then he made the mistake of letting me have a hand in the planting, so now it's also got squash and zucchini and cucumbers and pole beans. (But I swear, I'm measuring this time!! I will NOT overcrowd! Scout's honor!) Tonight we're putting in a row of scallions and tomatoes, and even though it's really too late in the season, I'm thinking of planting some beets. Oh, and canteloup.. and.. and.. See what I mean?
We also got our pasture mowed by Davey's dad, and the whole place looks so great. We really need to get a tractor, but we're trying (HA!) to save for one and pay cash, and not go into debt. In the meantime, we're having to rely on the help of family to keep this place from getting out of hand. I kind of like that it's a community effort.
Up here at the house I'm having loads of fun puttering around in my little vegetable garden, planting flowers, and sorting my ridiculously large collection of herb seeds, trying to figure out how I can possibly make enough space up here to plant them all. I have a secret obsession with herbs, whether for culinary or medicinal use... I just find them freakin' intoxicating. Seeds in general appeal to my love of collecting little things - like beads and rocks and shells. I may never get them all planted, but you can bet I had a jolly good time sorting them into piles and dreaming of growing them. It's the simple things. Really it is.

Oh, and we also got some new critters over the weekend - turkeys! We picked up 2 turkey poults at the animal market, a Bronze and a Royal Palm, which I named Thanksgiving and Christmas, respectively. They're going to be delicious! But right now they're just tiny little things, and kinda cute. Thanky is especially friendly, too. He runs up to say hi every time I open the door to the coop. The little guy is fearless. This does not help my resolve to eat him in about 6 months. Oh dear.
We got a couple of quail as well, and again, tiny and cute!! It's kind of ironic that I don't want to eat things that are cute, but I also don't want to eat things that are ugly either... Oh dear.
We're also seriously considering how we can raise goats, both meat and dairy... especially with regards to containment, since goats are notoriously talented escape artists, and the local dogs are notoriously fond of goat for dinner. We're also looking into rabbits. I've never eaten goat, or rabbit, but I'm interested in anything that will reduce the grocery bill and our reliance on packaged food. And I've heard from fairly reliable sources that both are quite tasty. Of course, I heard the same thing about squirrel, and I found that to be VERY untrue. Oh dear.

We also decided over the weekend that worm farming seems pretty straightforward. Poop + rotten hay = earthworms. HUGE earthworms. Hundreds of earthworms. Anybody wanna go fishing? :)