Rooster chorus line

Well it has come to my attention we may have quite a few little bantam roosters. These past few evenings have been quite noisy, as the little ones try their hardest to learn how to crow. It`s really kinda cute how they sound.It seems more like a croak than a crow, but its cute all the same. Now I`ve got to start making little pens to put them in though so they wont start fighting.  We let one little pair of bantams out on the yard, and they walk around with the ducks, and roost on top of another cage. I love how they like to follow us around the yard , and just be silly.

We have moved the guinea bird babies out of the brooder into a cage in the yard. They are cute little buggers, and have started to make that weird noise all guinea birds make. They still seem a little skittish, but I'm sure if we keep at it they will warm up to us good.

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Gardening

The garden is getting into full swing now, with tomatoes, squash, and zucchini literally flying off the vines. I`m running trying to keep up with putting everything up, thank goodness the hubby enjoys freezing stuff too. Yet the freezer is full already , so we are going to try drying some of it in the dehydrator, and start canning what we can too.

I have been getting creative and trying to find different ways to prepare squash, and have tried stewing them , baking them, grilling them, casseroles.....you name it. My favorite way yet has been to slice them in half longways, sprinkle them with salt, pepper,butter,  and garlic powder, bake them until tender, then put cheese on top, and bake until the cheese has melted .

We had quite a few cabbages to get ready all at the same time, so we looked it up, and found out you can freeze them. Just cut them into quarters, blanch in boiling water for about 3 to 5 minutes, then cool in ice water. Put into freezer bags and freeze. Since the leaves are still large, when you go to use them you can even have stuffed cabbage, or just cut them up and have boiled or fried cabbage, or add to soups.


We have cucumbers, okra, corn, and watermelons that should be getting ready to start making soon.

For the love of bunnies

Baby bunnies have arrived on the scene, and the girls couldn't be happier.

One of my favorite pictures of miss Willow.....

I caught her !

After a while this poor puppy needed a break, so hubby made the dog pen.....

Now they have room to run and be messy, and hide from the child who makes them dress up...

Here's what happens when I give over the care of my flowers to hubby , mums in June (still don't know how he got them to come back from the dead little sticks they were after last fall)

It`s been a while....

I can`t believe it`s been so long since I`ve posted . It has been really busy around here lately with work and such, but now that it`s officially summertime I should have some free time on hand. The pig is growing like you wouldn`t believe,and has turned into a source of laughs almost every day. I never have seen a pig frolic and play, it`s really cute. The ducks are full grown now and have started to fly some. The hubby hatched out another batch of baby chicks. We acquired some baby guinea birds and are anxiously awaiting their help with the tick situation. The garden is starting to produce now, and the chicken tractor seems to have done its job well....the garden grew faster than I`ve ever seen. We also have been growing cabbage, never tried before, but it has worked great, and we`ve already harvested 2 heads. Still waiting on the tomatoes. The plants are loaded down, but they haven't turned red yet. It`s ok though, because while we`ve been waiting Ive been able to get some fried green tomatoes for my patience.

The hubby got creative and built a dog pen out of cattle panels, so we got a much sturdier and cheaper spot for my doggies than we would've`e gotten if we had bought a dog kennel. Most dog kennels are 10x10 and cost $270 or more. We have about 40x40 for roughly $120. 

I now have an official herb garden (thank you dear ) and have planted oregano, parsley, dill, sage and rosemary. I also have some basil that the munchkin started at school.  Plans are going to plant more, and mulch the plants already in.

Here`s some of our squash, the very first batch, Willow decided we needed to document this occasion. She`s too young to remember us doing this before so she thinks it has been awesome to eat our own garden food.  It was funny to see her run around hunting for squash with a basket. Little squeals of joy every time she`d see one. When the tomatoes start getting ripe this may be a problem. I foresee her in the garden with pieces of tomato everywhere, a bottle of ranch dressing and a big tummy ache. Tomatoes are her passion.