Photos!!

Here are the photos I wasn't able to get printed for the post below, fabulous new steps and my tomato babies!

Busy weekend!

Was a bit surprised with how busy we were this weekend on the farm. Started our Friday with a trip to Home Depot to get supplies to wire, insulate and finish the packing shed. That is where I store and process produce throughout the summer garden season. We have only had it about 8 years and just used it the way it was. Don't want to rush into anything.

Saturday was spring chicken coop cleaning day, got that done pretty quickly along with cleaning a small shed next to it for feed and supplies, just kept everything inside the coop before but the chickens would rather roost on the feed cans than on their roosting ladder, imagine that.

Moved onto the packing shed, needed to level it before wiring could begin, also needed to build stairs after the leveling process was done. After leveling but before the stairs we emptied the shed into the large horse trailer that we are using now for storage. That will motivate me to finish it as I will need that trailer to get spring steers. Another trip to the hardward store for stair risers and some vent covers.

Why is it that every project takes twice as long and costs twice as much as you think???

Sunday was definately a day of multi-tasking, while the boys built stairs and started the wiring, I got going in the greenhouse. I moved a few flats of tomato starts out from under the grow lights in the basement to the greenhouse. A huge bale of potting soil later, I had a shelf and a half full of tomato starts, almost 300! I still have a flat and a 1/3rd. to transplant, not sure what I was thinking, I guess plenty of tomatoes to take to the Sandpoint Farmers Market in May.

Today is a cool, drizzly day, a great day for the tomatoes to be cozy in the greenhouse with the heater on, way warmer than the basement.

Goat kids have arrived!

Our Nubian cross doe just delivered two boer cross kids Sunday evening! They are adorable, we have a doeling, Camille and a buckling, Cupid, he has a heart shaped spot on his back. They are doing super good and Chocolate their mom is doing a great job. Just in the time it took to work on todays blog and upload this picture, I had another doe, Zeva in labor in the pasture!!!

By the time I got there she had already delivered a kid. After I added shavings to her birthing pen, grabbed the kid and pulled her into her pen within a few minutes she had another. So far everyone is good. Heading down to check on everyone... more pictures to come...

Busy days!

So spring hasn't officially started yet and I am already busy! Last week, got a call from a gal who had 4 day old orphaned piglets, her sow pulled her heat lamp down and burned up her shed, mama didn't make it out but the piglets did. The gal had given away 2 and got my number from the Sandpoint extension office. She had 5 left and asked me if I wanted them so I said sure, so off on a road trip to pick them up! Super cute but kind of tramatized, got them to eat milk replacer from a pan by that afternoon. Of course they are in the kitchen so I could keep an eye on them!

Lost one at the end of last week, the couple was new to pigs and didn't know they needed to iodine their umbilical cords when first born. The other four are doing great now, so I should be okay at this point. I love baby pigs! They are my favorite farm animals.

Chicks arrived at the feed store for me on Wednesday, this year we are raising Speckled Sussex, I saw them at fair last year, they are super cool looking, and they are adorable chicks! Every year we raise a different breed so we can keep track how old everyone is and when we need to cull.

Plants are growing in the basement, tomatoes and most of the peppers are up, just started some herbs and lettuces this week, and am going to start some flowers today. The pellet stove is keeping the basement nice and warm for them so they will be ready to head to the greenhouse by the end of March and then I can start transplanting!

eded the cold frame with spinach, will reseed another in two weeks, am trying to work on my succession planting, that is one area I really blow it in. I just seed, transplant and move on, need to rethink that idea.

So in the mist of all this great weather we are having yard clean-up has started. We started raking and cleaning up branches, cleaned the goat barn last week getting ready for kidding this month. Only have 2 does that look to be expecting so that is manageable.

Still working on my spring cleaning projects, sewed new valances for the sun porch and busy dusting it down and washed the inside of the windows, now if we can get the outside windows washed that would be an accomplishment...hope to clean the chicken coop this weekend, we will see...our last basketball game is Saturday, yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now we have Saturdays to do farm work until the Farmers Market starts in May...life just goes on and on, but we love it!