Spring is always insane on every homestead across the country. Babies are being born, seeds are being planted, and new life is springing up everywhere. As I write this we are hip deep in spring preparations. We are nearing the end of our canning stores from last summer which gives me a good idea of what we use and how much of it. We are also looking at what wasn’t used or what we didn’t use a lot of, and will make adjustments in our notes.
While spring can be complete chaos, it is also my favorite time of year.
Waiting On Babies
As I write this, we are still waiting on Champ and Bella’s babies. We’ve been doing everything we can to make sure they are comfortable and safe. Champ is 6 and maybe a little old to have babies. This is our first kidding season so it’s hard to say. We have been giving calcium, grains, and other vitamins and minerals to ensure that they are in the best possible health when it comes time to deliver.
We also have 15 eggs in the incubator and we are going to try our hand at selling them to bring money onto the homestead. We already sell the eggs and while that has brought in some income, it’s not near enough to hit our goals for 2022. We hatched 5 out of 6 eggs in our incubator on our first try so we are hopeful that this can become a possible revenue stream.
The baby ducks are on the homestead! I posted before that I am not a chicken person. I like them, but I don’t love them. But these ducks? I absolutely adore them. I have always wanted ducks and finally got them. Unfortunately we already lost 2 due to the cold and it has reaffirmed that we must get the chicken coop built and get them in it.
Jared is working on the building the coop. We tried a metal shed for the coop and it blew away. The metal bent and due to the damage, we are turning it into a yard shed. But we are not ready to give up on it. It really is the perfect size and has a durability that I hope will be better than wood. Especially since wood is still so expensive. I think where we put it was a bad spot because as the wind comes up from the pond, it smacks right into the shed. So we will try again.
The Garden Is Going In
I planted my seedlings too early and now they are outgrowing their pots and I don’t have big enough pots to transplant all of them. So we are praying for clear weather and no freak cold snaps. But it’s Georgia so who knows. We also laid down the woven ground cover to help with weeds. I hate, loathe, despise weeding. So hopefully this will work.
We went ahead and planted our peas and carrots into the main garden. We also went ahead and planted our grapes, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and asparagus. I ordered plants that were ready to fruit so fingers crossed we will be good to go there.
Over the coming weeks we will be putting in our potatoes, herbs, and other plants that do okay in cooler weather. I am hopeful that we can get our peppers, tomatoes, and other warm weather crops in soon. We bought the majority of our seeds from Eden Brothers and Territorial Seed Company. But we also bought seeds and plants from Baker Creek and local big box stores.
What’s Next?
As spring continues and we move into summer we will be continuing the garden and coop. But we are planning on expanding the goat pastures and get our meat chickens ordered. We also plan on ordering our turkeys when the coop is done and built. We may also go ahead with our pigs this year but we are also considering only getting one or the other.
We are also hoping to get more land cleared and firewood cut. We need to get about 3 cords of wood for the winter but we are going to cut 5 just to be safe. I don’t like it when supplies run low so more is better in my opinion.
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My name is Leigh and I am the owner of Steel Raven Farms. I am also the mom of two wonderful boys, wife to a pretty nifty man for the last 15 years and paramedic to boot. We want to bring you along on our crazy journey of Homesteading and all that entails!
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