We have most of the gardens planted. We're still working on the beans, tomatoes, peppers, and vines. We plant those last since they are the most susceptible to cold temperatures.
Josh's brother, Jared, came out one night after a job interview in Bismarck to help us plant the transplants (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale). It was very nice to have his help. It was crazy how fast Josh and Jared can work together. Jared got the job and we're looking forward to him living in Bismarck and helping us with other gardening and chicken projects this summer.
We especially need the extra help this summer because we're expecting our third baby on June 22nd. Christine can't work out in the gardens like she normally does, so Josh has been doing a lot of the work himself.
John is almost 3, but has become a huge help with chicken chores. He loves helping feed, water, and move the chickens. He also likes helping plant the larger seeds like beans and corn.
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| Paddock Garden with sprinkler running. |
We have finished planting this garden. Under the milk jugs are kohlrabi and kale plants. We also have turnips, carrots, potatoes, and popcorn planted. The turnips and carrots have germinated. We are keeping them damp (with the sprinkler once or twice a day) so they don't dry out in the warm windy days we've had lately.
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| Pasture Garden |
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| Pasture Garden |
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| Shallot Onions |
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| Seedling Onions - Walla walla and Candy hybrid |
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| Strawberry bed |
This was our big project last weekend. We weeded and pulled off the straw around each plant. We still have the last row to do, but it feels pretty good to get as far as we did. Josh is able to work 4-10 hour days at his job, so we enjoy 3 day weekends every week. We wouldn't be able to have this many gardens if we didn't have that extra day every weekend.
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| Cauliflower under the row cover |
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| Trapped Skunk |
We finally found out what had gotten into our little laying pullets when we had them out in the pasture. Josh lured the animal back into the little hut with the dead chickens that the predator didn't eat. He couldn't resist and was trapped in all three traps that Josh had set. We are pleased to catch the skunk and happy that it wasn't a weasel like we had originally thought. We've had problems with skunk in our yard before (always spraying our dog or trying to kill baby kitties). Josh plans to be more pro-active catching these skunk before they get to close to our yard and animals.
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| Pea rows |
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| Peas |
The peas are all coming up. They climb up these fences, so they are easier to pick.
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| Carrots |
If you look really close, you can see the carrots have just germinated. They look like baby grass.
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| Rhubarb |
We've already picked over 30 pounds of rhubarb. It should keep producing all summer if we keep picking it. I have been canning juice and sauce and making lots of fresh rhubarb crisp. You should be getting rhubarb in your first basket.
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| Broccoli plants under the row cover |
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| Celery Plant |
We cover the celery with milk jugs for a while before they are exposed to all of the outdoor garden elements.
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| Two little beet plants that have germinated. |
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| Milk Jugs covering the cabbage plants |
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| Paddock Garden. The potatoes are planted at this end. |
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| Peppers and Tomatoes, hardening off in the shade. |
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| Laying Pullets in their safer pen. We've never had problems with predators in these pens. |
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