Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Growing garden and uh...chickens!

Things have been gearing up in the garden. Just a week ago I left to go out of town and left the garden in as good of shape as possible. I tried to tie the vines of the butternut squash plants and melon plants to the arches, and give the tomatoes extra support by tying them to their cages. Imagine my surprise when I returned yesterday to find that my plants had pretty much doubled in size!!! The pumpkins are sprawling, the butternut squash plants have little miniature squash on them, there are little yellow crookneck squash growing, and several blooms on my tomato plants! And I have peppers ready to pick, along with greens, and oodles of herbs! It's amazing, and I am loving every minute. I have posted pictures at the link below to see the progress of the garden.

So I guess I should mention our OTHER addition...chickens! I will never forget the day Kris sent me a text while out of town and asked what I thought about having chickens in the backyard. The reality is, I had never given it much thought. His prompting led to rigorous searching on my end and pricing things out. We ultimately decided that since the laws were gray concerning raising chickens for eggs only within the city limits and the price was high to build a coop and get everything started, we would wait a year or so before considering it further. Then, one day, out of the blue, a friend of a friend sent me a facebook message to let me know that she had 4 hens needing a home. Her dad had built the coop, and the hens were about a month away from starting to lay eggs. She gave me a really great deal for all of the supplies and the hens. Later THAT DAY we were the proud owner of two Barred Rock Hens and two Buff Orphington Hens. So far, they have served as great entertainment to my family and today we received our very First egg!!! It has been so fun and we are looking forward to our many adventures with Peggy, Goldy Locks, Aretha, and one that has yet to be named. If you have good suggestions, let me know!

Click for pictures!


*PS all my law abiding friends in Nashville, please know that I studied quite a bit about the laws around chicken ownership in Nashville. The laws are very gray, and fortunately I have great neighbors that are excited not frustrated about their presence. So we're going to tread lightly and hope for the best.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

How is it June already?

I had hoped to keep this blog updated about life on the Donegan homestead, but time has gotten away from me. Suffice it to say that things have been busy. I finished school at the end of April and walked across the stage to get my diploma in May. I can't believe I now have my masters degree. It feels great to be done, and I'm sure it will come in handy someday. (Just not right now.) The girls are growing too fast and keeping me fit. A stranger commented about how small I was for having two little ones, to which I replied "Well, look at them! I chase them all day long and lug them around." Later I also remembered that rarely do I get a chance to eat due to trying to get THEM to eat. But, alas, that's the life of a mother.

Life on the "farm" has been great! Our garden is growing and growing. Here is a list of everything growing at my house right now: Basil, Cilantro, Parsley, Dill, Tomatoes, Butternut Squash, Zuchinni, Yellow Crook-neck squash, Asparagus, Beets, Radishes, Strawberries, 2 types of grape vines, Carrots, Pole Beans, Kale, various types of greens, onions, various types of potatoes, lima beans, cucumbers, cantaloupe, bell pepers, jalepeno peppers, pumpkins, watermelons, 4 blueberry bushes, 2 golden raspberry bushes, 2 red raspberry bushes, several blackberry bushes, a peach tree, and then the following flowers are also involved in my raised beds: marigolds, nasturtiums, cosmos, daisies, and zinnias.Phew, that's a long list. It's been fun to watch things growing and climbing up the trellises I built. Ainsley is my big helper and likes to look over the plants with me every day.

My garden has truly become a haven. I enjoy being out there to pull out weeds and observe the progress of each plant. I'm sure Kris is getting sick of me pulling him outside to show him how the beans have climbed another four inches up the trellis. Yet, it truly does excite me to see each little change. Gardening gives me a since of productivity and providence. I feel like I'm taking care of my family through growing food for us.

Today, I signed up for a meat Csa through Walnut Hills Farm. I have gone through them in the past and absolutely love them. When I walked up to their booth today, they greeted me by name as a long lost friend. I couldn't believe that they had remembered me after five months. It felt good to be that important to the people raising the food that my family is going to eat. My hopes are that between the meat Csa and our garden, I won't have to do much additional grocery shopping.

Additionally, I pulled out the cloth diapers again on Thursdsay. I had taken a break from them while student teaching because I didn't have the time or energy to put into them. However, I decided it was time to give them a whirl. So, we are well on our way to becoming self-sustainable, which is very exciting.

So for now, that's the news from our homestead. I hope to make another update soon with some pictures. Enjoy your hot beginning to the summer.