A Peek Around the Doorjamb

Monday was a day where the future kind of grinned at me. Mostly, when I talk about what we're doing here at the DaM farm, it's a work in progress. Though we are doing things every day, we are still focused on the future. Hopefully, the chickens will pay for their own feed. Someday the gardens will supply all our veggies. May-be in a couple of years we'll grow a little grain. Yesterday, I got a glimpse of how it might all turn out. I think it's going to be ok. That's a picture of my bathroom door and it basically represents what life is going to be like. The sign says, " Baby Bunnies keeping warm, please keep door closed". Livestock in the house seems to be status quo around here; the door to the future has opened a crack.

It started with the usual chores and mundane run-of-the-mill routine. After the kids went school, or as I say under my breath, after I sent them packing, I started moving my last two does and each one of their babies out to the other colony.

Ceilidh is a pure Californian, white with black ears, nose, tail and feet, so naturally her daughter is the grey rabbit. Lavender is the black rabbit with the silver ticking, she half Creme D'Argent and half Californian so, of course, her kit looks like a pure Californian.

I got them all moved in and the two youngsters immediately became life-long friends. Ceilidh and Lavender are putting up with each other, it's a classic case of armed neutrality, "Well, I don't like you at all but my kid is best friends with your kid so I'll put up with you, I guess, most of the time... just don't get in my face." Anyhow, they all seem to be enjoying the space and one is exceptionally interested in the chickens.


While I'm going back and forth transferring the rabbits, I vaguely acknowledge that in the other colony Solstice is mucking around in a nest box. This isn't a surprise because she is due in a couple of days so I pay it little attention. Then I notice something black and wiggling under her bum. She decided to have her kits in front of the nest box and hasn't pulled a lick of fur. So I pull out my trusty dryer lint, the kind I save just for these occasions, line the nest box with that and put in the kits. Solstice has meandered off and is contentedly munching on pellets. By the time I have the kits all fixed up, she decides it's time to drop another one, just to make sure she keeps me on my toes. This whole situation which would have caused great flurry and excitement two years ago is now just something that happens on a homestead. Small variants from the norm seem to be status quo around here, the door to the future cracked open a little bit more.

The day progresses and I collect nine eggs from ten hens, a very good yield. That night our supper, with the exception of the rice, is totally from our own homestead. That's a nice feeling, knowing exactly where your food is coming from. Evening comes and I go out for the last round of chores. It's a clear and crisp night, the air virtually tingles with the excitement of winter's approach. In the sky, Venus and Mars herald the waxing moon across the plush darkness of night. It is an extraordinary sight and one that won't be seen again so clearly for decades. A perfect end to a day on the homestead. I shouldn't be surprised; subtle surprises seem to be status quo around here, the door to the future practically swung open. And I finally took a peek around the doorjamb.

2008 Garden Reflections Part Two

Companion planting is something I've been fooling around with for the last couple of years. The idea behind it is great. You group plants together to discourage pests and disease and/or encourage growth and bounty. I find it very appealing especially since I don't use any chemical pesticides, herbicides or growth boosters. And, of course, it has that key word that is all the buzz these days 'sustainability'. I'm still learning and I'm not anywhere close to being successful all of the time.

If nothing else, companion planting makes for an interesting looking garden. When the plants first start coming up, all different and random it really looks like some great giant came and sneezed seeds instead of snot all over my garden. The year before this one, I dotted the garden with sunflowers and nastriums to help with pest control. I don't know if it made any difference discouraging bugs but I think I'll do that again next year. After getting past the giant sneeze stage,it looked really nice.

Carrots and Green/Yellow Beans
The only problem I ever had with carrots was with slugs one year when I planted them where herb garden is now using the "square foot method". The slugs had a field day and I had no carrots. Haven't tried the square foot method since.I just plant them in the main garden and the slugs don't plow through them. So planting carrots and beans together was an experiment in increased harvest. I planted the combo near the front of the garden, towards the end. Things generally do pretty well there. I used bush bean seeds and three types of carrot seed. Baby carrot, Chantenay and a longer carrot type I can't remember the name of (naturally, because that's the one that worked the best). The scheme worked really well. It might have increased the bean production but there was a definite advantage for the carrots. I got a good bean yield and once harvested and the plants pulled up, the carrots had a lot more growing room. I think the carrots don't need to be thinned at all because of the extra room they get. The carrot yield was the best and the carrots were a great size and shape. So I will definitely keep with this companion planting duo. I don't think I'll use the Chantenay again even though it is a heirloom plant because they're squat, very thick and not all the easy to freeze compared to the longer, thinner carrot that I can't remember the name of.
Two (green) thumbs up for bush beans and baby and longer carrots.

Lettuce and Onions
In short, this did not work well. I planted two different types of onion; yellow, which I have had great success with in the past and red onions, something new for me. I usually buy the mild mesclun mix lettuce. This year I tried some other mixes and "gourmet" blends I planted them next to the beans and carrots with the Swiss chard (which did amazing) on the high end of the garden in the front. The onions were dismal, both types, few and far between and really, really small. I'm already through them all, last year they lasted well into February if not March. The lettuce did OK but certainly not the bonus crops I've had previously. I planted them in a different place, may-be that had something to do with it. May-be the onion seeds weren't good. May-be the moon phase wasn't right. May-be I'm grasping at straws. I think next year, I'll really pay attention to the onion seed I buy. The year before, I bought a bag of 100 and got at least 200, this year the 100 was barely 80, both types. Now thinking about it, I did plant some nastriums near the onions last year and that crop was great. Something to remember for next year. And I'll go back to the mesclun lettuce mix. Now, if I could only remember the name of that carrot I liked so much...
So two (gritty) clumps of dirt for this experiment.