It's Time to Get Ready for Spring!!

     I was going to do a new year new start post but what do you know it's almost February now.  The days have been flying by and before we know it our weekend is over and it's back to the grind and another week has passed.  Since we didn't get a chance to process the log load last year we've picked up doing that again.  We need to keep our little ones warm so we have to process at least half a cord a week.  Plus now that spring is getting closer, I'm counting down the days until I get to begin my seedlings. 

     Our hopes for this year is that we get truck loads of vegetables.  Our goal is to provide fresh veggies to our family and friends.  Not everyone has the opportunity to grow their own veggies so we look forward to sharing.  We've been putting in a lot of sweat and time the last few years in the garden and haven't got out of it what we want.  Our plan of attack for this year is a few changes. First of all we've decided to build raised beds.  Our soil is a gardener's nightmare, it's ridiculously hard and I don't think there's enough alpaca poo to break it down and improve it.  Now we'll be able to bring in some beautiful soil and also build barriers over the beds to keep those pesky animals away from our crop.  Plus for our tomato plants we're going to put up some shade cloth.  Year after year we get tomatoes but they don't ripen.  I've looked up a couple of reasons for this and one of them is too much heat, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this works. One of my big goals is to can tomatoes this summer until I can't stand the sight of them.

     One of our other missions we've been saying we're going to do and have yet to accomplish is an orchard.  I've put in an order for 8 fruit trees. We picked apple, peaches, cherries and pears to start out.  I know it will be a few years before we get to enjoy their harvest but it will definitely be worth the wait.  I was able to get my hands in the dirt a little by planting some bulbs.  I'm so thrilled to see the color they'll add to our scenery.  I'm hoping the bees and butterflies love them too.

     We are slowly chipping away at our winter to do list.  Our greenhouse is in need of some attention, along with trimming trees on the homestead and a few other odds and ends.  With the rain and a baby it can be challenging to get outside and get things done.  While the baby naps and the clouds clear up we run out and get it done, even sometimes in the freezing rain because that's life on the homestead.