Dirt Montage

My little planting buddy. 

He has a pail of dirt with "tools" in the garden to keep him entertained. Further entertainment was provided by the puddle of rainwater caught by the cardboard box.

He went back and forth between this bucket and a pot of lemon balm (in a pot because it spreads so quickly). I ended up taking out the lemon balm seedlings temporarily because he dug it up so much. 

That excitement quickly wore off and he wanted to use my tool, a hori hori knife. Nope. Mine. But every time I set it down, Jaron was watching like a hawk to grab it. When he tired of that he "helped" collect all the plant starts I had laid out in the garden. Thanks buddy, please leave them there! 

I'm trying to teach him to watch his feet and that some plants and okay to step on and some aren't. Slow progress. 😅 He kept stepping on the herbs I just planted. I think they'll bounce back though. Thankfully I had cages around my peppers, so he wasn't able to step on those. They aren't nearly as forgiving. 

Planting Basil

We go through dried basil pretty quickly, so I wanted to plant enough we could dry or even freeze dry for the rest of the year. 

Not sure which variety I like the best, so better plant a bunch! I have six different kinds- Genovese, cardinal, purple, Thai, lemon basil, and sweet basil. 

I lined them up on the outside of the trellis between the tomatoes and potatoes. 

My sister gave me the idea to put cups over the seedlings when adding mulch so it doesn't crush them. Worked like a charm! 

Next time I will mulch as I go. It was a little tricky to maneuver the wheelbarrow between the rows of mulched potatoes/onions. If I had done it as I planted, I could've gone straight up the wide aisle without squishing plants. 

All's well that ends well though! 

 

Green With Envy

We're downsizing our goats; six is too many for our space. We are keeping Gerda and her daughter Senka. 

It's time to get them ready for pasture. You can't just open the gate and let them out. Well, you can, but it could cause health issues. They're not used to the luscious, fresh grass, so their bellies can bloat and they can die from the trapped gas. 

The solution is to let them eat fresh stuff for small amounts of time so their stomachs can adjust. 

The other goats about to be sold were jealous. 

The day before the sale, we loaded Chai, Sage, Brighita, and Mina in one of G's work trucks. We contained them in an upside down metal basket that goes around a water tote. 😂 

Panic hit once we were on the road. The sale was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Would we run into trouble being from Minnesota? I did a little searching. Nope, as long as your goats have scrapie tags. 

Scrapies is a genetic disease that effects sheep and goats. I remember learning about it in my 4H days of showing sheep. It's a bad enough disease the government tracks it. Producers are supposed to register with the government, they give your farm an ID number, and you tag your animals with special ear tags that have the number on them. 

I hadn't realized goats needed scrapie tags. 

So. What to do? 

It'd take too long to register and have tags sent; the sale is the next day. No vet office was open at that time of day. Maybe the sale barn would have some? Or, better yet, maybe Dad has some tags leftover from our sheep days... 

He did. Whew! 

We were able to stream the sale the next day. 7am start time. 

They split our four into two groups, the young two and the old two. The young ones went first. They weighed 75lbs total, roughly 38lbs a piece. Prices are per pound (or hundredweight). I had advertised Chai at $50 and had no takers. He and Mina brought $77 each, which I'm content with. Mina is probably worth more as potential breeding stock, but we didn't have time to sell her individually. And given the poor results we've had selling animals on Craigslist, I didn't think we'd have much interest. That's the same reason I didn't try to sell the mama goats privately. 

The stockmen didn't have the babies out of the ring before they let Sage and Brighita in. Mistake. The kids turned around to rejoin their herd. It took three guys to get everyone sorted out. 😅 The mamas brought $165/head. 

We bought Sage for $150 originally. Brighita was free (born to Svetlana, who we got for free). Granted we have feed costs put into them and the salebarn will take a commission. But still, I was satisfied with that price. 

It's strange how little action is in the goat pen now. Cutting the herd in half will do that though. Next step is to find a billy to borrow or rent. 

Mulch and Seedlings

Mr. Toad is back. 

He surprised me when I watered the plant starts. I wasn't expecting a giant toad! 

Garden work is happening slowly. The past two years my vining plants all got mildew and died. They produced a little even so, but I'd like to avoid that of course. 

Mildew avoidance attempt #1- I've put a ban on overhead watering. 

Mildew avoidance attempt#2- plant at least one watermelon far away from the former mildew area.

The internet had mixed reviews of whether the mildew will remain on the trellis, so I'm taking a chance that it'll be okay to plant vines there again. 

Cantaloupe experiment - three varieties is more than I want, but I don't know which I'll like better. So this year I'll plant three and do a taste test. 

Gotta take careful notes when working with different varieties!

Garlic Scape Mac and Cheese

Last year I made the mistake of letting garlic scapes grow and flower on our garlic. The bulbs weren't very big. You're supposed to cut off the scapes right away so they put all their energy into the bulb. 

This year, I've been on the lookout and saw a bunch coming up. A few snips and I had a handful of scapes. They weren't fully developed yet, and I wonder if the ones I snipped early will be done or grow more. 🤔

I cut the scapes into small chunks to freeze for later, but then I had the idea to toss some of them in a bunch of pasta with almond milk, shredded cheese, salt, and pepper. So good! The scapes add a lovely spicy bite to it. 

Freeze Dried Cherries

My mother-in-law bought a crate of cherries from the fruit truck and gifted me what she couldn't use. 🥳 They are so full of flavor! Jaron has been eating them as fast as I can pit them. 

Unfortunately, they're starting to go bad already. I picked through the box and sorted out the bruised/molding ones. The good ones got washed in vinegar water and are being stored in glass jars, vacuum sealed for good measure. So far they've stored very well. 

There weren't as many bad ones as I thought. 

I washed them in vinegar water too, then cut off the bruises and mold. They got sliced up and stuck in the freeze dryer! 

They turned out great - great flavor and great texture. Like a healthy candy! 

This is probably my second favorite freeze dried fruit (pears are my favorite). I would do more, but they're so good fresh...

Animal Update

Can you spot the chicken amidst the dandelions? 

Since we've contained our goats to let the pasture grow, the dandelions have really taken off. The goats have adapted to their smaller area. 

The feeder continues to work well. Even the young birds have figured out the feeder! And I'm it has continued to need filling every other day. 

I converted the tire with the water bowl into another dust bath, this time with soil and coconut husk. I'm curious if they'll like that more than the sand. 

Jaron and I started hauling spent hay from the goat pen to the garden to make pathways/cover weeds. He loved watching the goats. 

He spotted a bunch of goat poop on the ground (their poop is a bunch of tiny pebbles) and picked one up, holding it out to me. "Ball!" he announced decisively. Why yes, Jaron, you're right, that is the shape of a ball! 😂😂😂