Now We Can Call It Spring!

We're letting the sheep out on pasture now, and Brian is farming!

He's getting the ground ready for soybeans to go in.

We set up the poultry net for the laying flock and moved them out there.

We integrated the first two batches of chicks (that I hatched) in to the layer flock. The first ones won't start laying until mid-June.

I am so, so proud of our Buff Chantecler rooster. He's right there is the middle of all the new, young birds and he's not terrorizing them at all! <3 him!

Can't a girl get a little privacy!?

Pooh Bear is starting to shed!

The calves are wondering when they get to come outside. Soon!

The broiler chicks are still in the barn. They're not feathered out enough to go on pasture yet.

I almost forgot to introduce you to our two new additions: calves!

I saved the best for last. This is the view through our bay window.

To see who else is strolling today head on over to Quiet Country House.

Starting Seeds

You may remember my seed starting schedule…

To start indoors:

• Tomatoes start 4/1 plant out by 6/1
• Eggplant start 4/1 out by 6/1 (or dc 6/1)
• Cukes start 5/1 out by 6/1 (or dc 6/1)
• Pumpkins start 5/8 out by 6/1 (or direct seed 6/1)

I finished planting the tomatoes and eggplant on Saturday.  I’m running about 2 weeks behind but I’m not too worried about it with our crazy weather.  The pics below shows 4 flats germinating.

Once they sprout they go under the light.  The one on the bottom here is celery that I planted on Saturday.  Instead of using cells I spread an inch or two of mix in the tray, sprinkled the seeds over it, and patted the mix down with my hand.  I’ve never grown celery before so I’m excited to see if it works!  The tray on top is a batch of Amish Paste seedlings that I started a couple weeks ago.  The other tray is an experiment so to say.  I spilled a whole flat that had just been planted with Jersey Giant tomato seeds.  To salvage them I scooped up the mix and spread it thinly in a tray.  So far 3 sprouts have popped up.  I’ll transfer them to cells once they’re a little bigger.

A close up of the Amish Paste seedlings.  I’m trying 4 different varieties of tomato this year: Rutgers, Big Month, Jersey Giant, and Amish Paste.  I was happy with the APs last year but I was impressed with the size of our neighbors.  The bigger tomatoes made processing go faster.  I’d like to settle on one variety that I like the best so that next year I can save seed.

How are your seeds coming along?