New Intimidating Row Garden

When we decided to put in a new garden in the north field, we expected to have so much space that we would have to plant cover crops in some of it. Well guess what? I am out of space and all the area not yet planted is slated for planting with seeds that I have stacked up all over the place. I honestly didn't see that one coming. This garden has intimidated me from the beginning. My husband wanted to weed with a rototiller and I wanted a no-till garden with permanent planting areas accessible by paths around them. That way, once established, there would be no walking in the wide rows and no need to till and disturb the microbial underworld of the dirt. We compromised. His corn rows he could do with as he pleased. My area I could try my new method. We have worked very hard on this area in the last few days. We installed fencing (farm fencing) around the perimeter and electrified it. There are 50 or more cows on our place as of this past week and I don't want deer helping themselves. So far, so good.

 

Later today or tomorrow we are picking up some wood shavings to put in all the permanent paths to keep our feet out of the mud and further define the planting beds from the walkways. I think that will make it look very nice. You can also see my Aquadomes at work in the garden. They are filled with water and are protecting 20 of the tomato plants so far. The others are just going to have to tough it out without them. 24 was the max the budget could handle this year. Maybe more next year. The long rows towards the top of the picture are 70 foot long rows for Doyle's corn. I hope to have that planted later today or tomorrow. I have a little more space to the east of the main walkway that you can't see in this picture. I need to define those areas before I show them to you. I am planting as much from seed as possible this year and only bought tomato and pepper plants. Next year I will start those from seed too.

MEAT CHICKEN UPDATE

  

Things are going well with the meat chickens we have growing in the barn. They hatched on the 5th of May and journeyed from Madison, Nebraska to rural Idaho. They all showed up alive and I am happy to say we have yet to lose one. Knock on wood! This type of chicken is hybridized to grow lightening fast and therefor  have a high mortality rate. This bothers me so, to maximize the health of these guys, we take their food from them 12 hours each night and give it back in the morning. That should help to keep them from eating themselves to death. I am still coming to terms with raising my own meat but I do still feel that they have a better life here with us than in a huge farm for factory use and subsequent grocery store sale. Healthier eating too! That is really the main goal here, to provide safe and healthy food for my family.