The garden space is almost finished for the fourth time in as many years, but this year by gosh I am going to have a garden!!! Year one; drought. To hot for anything to grow well, although we did get a few beans and some tomatoes. Year two; goats and chickens. Every day was a battle to keep the goats from jumping the garden fence or just pushing through it) and eating everything in sight. What they didn't eat they trampled, and what they ignored the chickens and ducks happily took care of. My only crop that year was okra. Year three; floods. The garden plot was the new swimming pool in town. Weeks of tilling, soil additions, row spacing, seed planting and twine tying was swept away in moments by torrential rains. Somewhere down current in the lake there are dozens of row markers floating around.
So with high hopes we are planting again! The garden plot has been raised 1' along with the site for the greenhouse I will have some day, a trench of sorts has been dug along the flood plane to divert excess water, gravel filled tires have been placed as a berm (and as the new strawberry bed), and drainage to and from the pond has been improved to alleviate back flow. Whew! The chickens were happily helping find worms in the newly turned soil and spreading the barn compost for me. They do make driving the tractor a little tricky though.
Finally, we come to the highlight story of the month. Babies!! Sophie, as the white goat is now known, gave us two precious kids, one male and one female just after Valentine's day. Mama and kids are doing well, but there has been a learning curve with this one as I will document in the next blog post. Until then, enjoy the pics.
Thanks for stopping by Heeby Jeeby Chickens! Have a blessed day and happy farming.
