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This past week has been busy! Sickness kicked me down a bit, but life on the homestead moves on anyways. There’s always tasks that need to be done and projects to complete. The garden is growing beautifully, especially the watermelon patch! I swear every time I go outside the melons are twice the size they were earlier that day. The kids are chomping at the bit for those babies to be ready to eat, even though I keep reminding them we still have a while to go. I really love watching the garden progress day by day. The rapid growth is just awe inspiring and so fulfilling to witness. We had an amazing start to the week before I was put out of commission for a few days, and even after still managed to get some things done.
Homestead Visit
A super gracious couple from our local homestead community invited us over to tour their five acre property. I was so excited for this visit because we have been trying to figure out how much land we want in the future and I was eager to see what could be done on just five acres. Believe me when I tell you, this property was absolutely stunning! The homestead had been turned into a food forest and almost every plant in sight was edible. A huge emphasis was placed on perennial vegetables to minimize the workload on the aging homesteaders who lived there. I didn’t realize just how many varieties there are of so many plants! This woman operated her homestead on faith – putting in the care it takes, but trusting God to provide the harvest, and He definitely provided! She showed us so many plants that had grown without her even planting them that were fruiting and providing food for them. What a beautiful testament to God’s grace. She sent us on our way with bags full of onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots that she had grown, and offered to share any plants that she had with us. We have to do some planning to figure out what is feasible with our property and then we will definitely take her up on the offer. They were such generous hosts and we cannot wait to return to visit again soon.
Sickness Strikes
The day after our homestead visit, I woke up unable to speak. My throat was so sore and I just literally could not talk at all. I lived the entire day in silence. I thought about how nice some soup would be, since solid foods weren’t in the cards for the day and then realized that our generous host had given us the perfect medicine just the day before. I quickly got to work making up a batch of healing onion soup. I used the beautiful onions and garlic we had been gifted and added in some oregano and thyme from my own garden to make what can only be described as the most delicious onion soup I’ve ever had. I also took a few doses of local elderberry syrup and raw honey throughout the day which all seemed to help a bit. I ultimately ended up going to urgent care the following day to get things checked out. We decided that an antibiotic would be the best course of action given the symptoms I had. I am grateful for the healing foods we can grow right in our own gardens as well as for the modern medicines available when needed for getting me back to feeling better. I’m sure my husband is also grateful since nearly all of the workload has fallen on his shoulders the last few days!
Ongoing Zucchini Battles
Okay so, remember how I fought against the squash vine borers and the heat trying to destroy my zucchini and summer squash? Well, if that wasn’t enough I now have two more battles to face: wet rot and pickle worms. I’ve dealt with pickle worms before, but never on my squashes, only on my cucumbers. Maybe it’s silly, but it never occurred to me that squash are in the same family as cucumbers and therefore are also succeptible to these pests. So far they have only taken out two of my squashes. Luckily they haven’t gone to waste because the chickens love to snack on both the squash and the worms inhabiting them. The reason the worms have only gotten to two of them is that I haven’t had any more than that get to a big enough size before getting taken out by a fuzzy black fungus evidently caused by too much moisture. This is an issue I’ve never faced before, and part of me wonders if it has something to do with the shade cloth. Maybe with the shade cloth things aren’t drying out as much as I need them to after watering. I’ve tried to remedy it by watering earlier in the day to give plenty of time to dry. I’m also being vigilant and going around daily and removing any dead flowers since that was where I first saw the black fuzzies appear. It has infected a few of the squashes so I’ve had to remove those as well. Time will tell if these measures will be enough to stop the progression and allow more zucchini and squash to grow. And if they do grow, will the diatomaceous earth that my husband put around the plants be enough to stop the pickle worms? I don’t know, but lets hope I get more this season!
Move out Day
About two weeks ago we said we were going to move our last three chicks out of their brooder pen and into a grow out area in the chicken run….but things happen and the chicks were so much fun to play with, so they have still been living in our house. We had them in a huge playpen enclosure in our gym so they had tons of space to run around and jump and play. Space-wise we weren’t worried about keeping them inside longer and it gave us more time to bond with Frank, our baby rooster. We don’t have any roosters in our flock, but Frank was hatched right in our own kitchen and since we got the A-OK from our neighbors to have a rooster, we have decided to keep him. Our hope is that by spending so much time playing and snuggling with us and the kids that he won’t get overly aggressive, as some roosters can. Anyways, this week we decided it was finally time for Frank and his pals to make the move outside. They are in an area we sectioned off underneath our raised coop, so they can see the other members of the flock but can’t be picked on by the bigger hens and pullets. We will let them live under there for a few weeks as they continue to grow and then join them with the rest of their feathered family. Fortunately, we’ve had nicer weather in the days since we’ve moved them out so they are having a good transition to the heat.
What’s Coming Up
This week we start our homeschool year! I’m really excited to share with you what that looks like for us, as well as some of the resources we use. Be on the lookout for a new post soon!
