May on the Homestead

As the month of May draws to a close, I thought I’d give an update on happenings around the homestead. It didn’t feel like there was much to report this month with all the rain. I started a lot of seedlings, got a lot of potatoes and onions planted, and had the neighbor come over with his tractor to plow the field again. I spent a lot of time waiting for the rain to stop. This last weekend of May, however, things really started happening. We hauled two loads of manure from a dairy with the help of our friend’s old Forest Service truck, and I finally got to drive one which was a life goal realized (although I always thought it would be in conjunction with working for the Forest Service.) We hoed up a lot of rows and planted a lot of starts out in the field, and fed ourselves at the end of those long days with kale, mustard greens, lettuce and radishes from the garden. Salad days are here again!

Everywhere you look, seedlings are germinating and popping up all over the garden. I planted a lot of flowers this year, and it will be exciting to have the neighborhood honeybees come over and enjoy them all Summer long.

The greenhouse is a happenin’ place right now. I took a lot of things out to plant in the field and garden beds this weekend. As soon as the rest of the seedlings are out in the field, these beds will be planted in tomatoes and peppers.

When I was pulling little weeds out of the garden beds, I checked on my Easter egg radishes and found some the size of golf balls! I really love fresh radishes, so for me this was as exciting as…well, an Easter egg hunt! Just look at all those colors.

 A bird’s eye view of the field and half of the garden taken from the roof. This was before we got going with planting on Sunday.

The potatoes are coming along nicely. There are three long rows with 5 varieties, and hopefully enough potatoes to last the year. From the looks of it now, there should be a whole lot of potatoes.

My husband spent a lot of time out there hoeing and planting rows. We got the last of the storage onions in, the gourds, the pumpkins, the melons, the cucumbers and the tomatoes. It looks like the corn, beans and squash are going in together out of necessity, because we’re running out of room out there! I hear they grow well in that configuration, so it should work out nicely.

Not to brag, but here’s my nettle patch. All right, it’s shameless nettle bragging. I think the manure from the chicken coop seeps out and fertilizes them. They’re taller than my children!

And speaking of those chickens, here are some of the Spring pullets enjoying the sunshine. With my dream of having chickens all over the place finally realized, I can say that I’ve made it in life.

Last but not least, the kids got out last year’s scarecrow and got him all fixed up for his post out in the field. He got new straw stuffing, his lost glove was returned, and some fancy new chicken feathers were tucked in his hat. Now all he has to do is stand out there watching the crops grow, and looking menacing to marauding birds. I’d say that Scarecrow has a pretty good life, wouldn’t you?