Garlic Archives - A Country Girl's Heart -Beats that Matter

July 15, 2020July 20, 2020

Seasons ~ Summer 2020

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Summers bring heat and humidity to northern Indiana. While I enjoy warm sun on my skin, I do not like the sweat, dripping days of high humidity. I have high expectations for summer 2020 homestead goals I want to complete no matter how I try not to.

My biggest health challenge in summer involves drinking enough water, napping and resting when I need to in order to feel good enough to work hard. Perhaps I need to define good enough. I need to be able to function with out getting light headed every time I squat down and stand up or running out of breath after only working for 30 min.

To complete a task, I must not be exhausted when I begin. If I am exhausted after, well now, I joyfully see a job complete and happily rest. I bring you my list of hopeful goals for the summer of 2020 at CG Heartbeats Farm.

Animals in Summer 2020

Chicken Goals

Work projects for the chickens involves cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Here is the list:

Pen cleaning
Deep clean incubators
Clean empty brooders

Continue reading to learn where I moved roosters, hens and grow outs into new pens. I have a few Swedish Flower Hen chickens who I will be moving in the coming weeks.

Hatching plans are limited to am going to setting a few Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner eggs and Silver Gray Dorking eggs through the month of August. I may make a few exceptions, but I will be cutting back on the number of chicks I hatch until September

Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners

Sadly, I lost 2 of my 3 remaining hens leaving only one hen here with Cisco and Clinch. I added the 2 cross bred hens to their pen for at least the next couple months. The crossbred hens lay a completely different egg to make keeping the eggs separate easy. Knowing which egg a hen lays preserves the breed integrity.

Combining the pens reduces chore time. I took a planned trip the beginning of July and wanted to make chores easier for those kind people caring for the animals and gardens while I was away.

Silver Gray Dorkings

The Silver Gray Dorkings have shown little fertility this year so I switched up the rooster with the Silver Gray Dorking hens. I have not updated the web page yet, but here is the new pens info.

Rooster Cogburn joined his daughter who hatched in January 2019. A younger son of his joined the SGD hens of Pen # 1. I lost both Mr. and Mrs. McLintock earlier this year. I am excited about testing the eggs in a few weeks.

Did you know I wait 6 weeks after switching roosters to incubate the eggs? Unless a hen or hens did not have a rooster with them for the previous 6 weeks, in that case, I do not wait.

Swedish Flower Hens

I am excited to announce a new pen of Swedish Flower Hens here at CG Heartbeats Farm. I am currently deciding on a name for the rooster and the web page is only started. Check out the video showing the pretty flock of blue based Swedish Flower Hens making up pen # 11

Apache, the rooster of pen # 8 passed earlier in 2020, but not before I hatched a son to take his place. At the moment I am unable to offer crested Swedish Flower hens until Apache’s son grows up enough to cover the hens. I hatched and raised an additional hen from Pen # 7 to join pen # 8. She is a pretty black based hen with sno leopard highlights on her neck.

Aneta

My Great Pyrenees puppy brings joy to my life. She rarely is unhappy, wagging her tail, appearing to smile broadly in welcome. Her puppy behavior includes chewing on anything in her reach, but she barks deeply, as if already an adult.

Aneta is not allowed to run unattended, but on a couple occasions her collar came loose. I walked outside to find her hanging out on the farm. I am happy to say she did not run off. At 4 months old she is still a young pup. Behaviors may change and I continue to learn and enjoy her.

She is not especially fond of a bath. Ah, it looks like we will be training for bath time this summer. She certainly needs them after her digging exploits. The first bath removed much of the hidden dirt. A week later she appears to be in need of bath number 2.

Horses

Drifter, Bo, Cider, Rosie, and Dusty continue to enjoy life living a horse’s life out to pasture. I desire to ride again this summer, but I have not figured out how to fit horse time into my schedule.

Gardening Summer 2020

As the Black raspberries began to ripen, I have enjoyed picking and depositing directly into my mouth, thus far. When I had enough picked, I froze all I did not eat for later use.

Garlic Scapes

Raising food in summertime requires watering, weed pulling, and monitoring plants as the grow and produce. Harvest and food preservation happen during summer months too. I almost daily inspect the gardens for plant development, and of course pull weeds. I do not seem to ever pull all the weeds, but I celebrate those I do.

For the first time you may order garlic online to be shipped in September. Click on a variety of your choice to begin the process.

Spanish Rojo Garlic smaller in size has an earthy flavor.

Montana Garlic has a mild flavor and 6 cloves per bulb.

Click on the garlic of your choice to pre-order your selection.

Music Garlic is mild similar to Montana in flavor.

German Garlic provides a strong flavor for stews and other cooking projects.

Limited availibility of all varieties.

Grapes

I watched tiny grapes appear and disappear on the grape plants this past spring. Something removed them. An insect? What ever the culprit, I only have 3 grapes ripening on the largest of the grape plants. I am disappointed as I crave those delicious Concord Grapes. You can bet I am going to savor the 3 I hopefully eat.

I know I want to make the task of setting up a trellis a high priority this fall. The grape seedlings I planted are currently leafless. I hope the roots are growing and will survive. I plan to continue working with the grapes for a future harvest. In the mean time I will also eat the wild grapes growing around the farm.

General Farm Work and Area Clean Up

There are always areas around the farm that need to be cleaned up. The heat of summer does not lend to daylong outside work for me. While I desire to tackle these projects, truthfully, they may get put on the backburner for the pressing jobs like weeding, watering, harvesting and preserving. Fence building and pasture maintenance fall into this time slot as well.

Transplanting Trees

I had a few crab apple trees pop up around the current tree. I want to transplant a couple one to the center of the circle portion of our driveway.

Online

Because a part of my homesteading journey includes sharing my journey homesteading with a chonic illness, I want to tell you about my website summer 2020 homestead goals.

Chick Hatching Practices

In the coming 2 months I plan to complete the finishing touches on the digital course Chick Hatching Practices teaching folks new to hatching chickens how simple and easy the process can be.

Updating to breed and pen page info

Changes to the different pens of Swedish Flower Hens, Silver Gray Dorkings, and Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner create a needed update to the differnet website pages.

You Tube videos

I want to continue adding a weekly video to the CG Heartbeats Farm You Tube Channel. Use the link below to subscribe so you do not miss a video. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6vCR-u2f0ucynCHJWylqVw

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April 25, 2020April 25, 2020

5 Reasons to Shop Local Farmers Markets

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I recently learned of a story telling how a great uncle hauled cucumbers into a local town about 7 to 10 miles from the homestead. Here sat large wooden barrels where cucumbers soaked to be hauled off on the train as pickles.

A picture of the place my great uncle hauled pickles. I wonder if my Grandpa did too.

It must have taken an entire day to drive with horses pulling a wagon loaded with cucumbers almost 10 miles, unload the cucumbers and drive home. Imagine the time involved in hand picking all those cucumbers before somebody in the family needed to spend an entire day hauling a load to town. Yet, in those days it was worth it? Our American society needs were different during that time.

I heard my great uncle had the following to say about hauling pickles:

“He said his Dad was one best pickle sorter and the pickle factory knew it. They always had him unloaded ahead rest of the wagons they knew he always had the best sorted pickle.”

These ‘days gone by’ marked the beginning of the industrialized and global market we know today. While some changes are good, others sadden me. Why does a farmer today need money from the government to survive when he or she produces one of the most important commodities for human life: food?

In our current crisis why does a farmer find themselves reliant on a global economy for income when neighbors need to eat? These same neighbors purchase food that may or may not have even been produced in our own country.

Why Local Farmer’s Markets Today

CG Heartbeats Farm table at a 2019 Market

Here is where I see a huge value in a local farmers market, not only do you support families in the community where you live, you are also able to gain first hand knowledge of practices used to produce the food you eat.

I am not sure how you think about this, but I hate it when I read ingredients on a package to realize there are several that I do not know what they are or why I want to put that inside of myself.

Does it take longer to cook your own food? Maybe, but not always. It is rather, a mind set shift. I would like to use garlic as an example. Until I began raising my own garlic, I always used the dry stuff that came in a shake out container.

Fresh Garlic vs. Dried Store Garlic Powder

Easy to open the cupboard and dump. But not much more work to use real garlic once you have a process in place. Mine looks like this:

Granted this does involve a few additional steps. Key in this process is a good garlic press. I have tried a few different ones. I highly recommend a quality hand garlic press to help the process go smoothly. The whole process takes me less than 5 minutes.

We just decided that it takes about 5 minuets or less to use real garlic, so what is the motivation behind adding a few more minuets to cooking a meal?

Health Benefits and Flavor

Health benefits first prompted me to start growing my own garlic. I found that it grows well here at CG Heartbeats Farm and most varieties grow rather large.

Order Garlic

Grown with no chemicals at CG Heartbeats Farm

Excited to offer shipped garlic.
Now order and pay for online.
Garlic ships in September and October
Limited to the lower 48 states in the US.

**Click Here** or on **above picture** to order / pre-order garlic. 2020 garlic crop ships in September or October.

Order Today

Using fresh food enhances flavor dramatically. This applies anytime a person uses a fresh food, even home processed (frozen, canned, or dried) over some similar product processed in _______ (Who knows? Fill in the blank.)

These days I find it most unfortunate the difficulty of knowing truly where food came from. A label may only read a location in the United States where a package was distributed from. I feel a disappointed at the lack of disclosure on several different factors of many food options today.
~ M. Graber

5 Reasons for Shopping Local Farmers Market

Here are my top reasons for choosing to shop at local farmers market. We can all utilize our local markets as often as possible.

What reasons would you add to what I listed above? Leave a comment sharing why you find local farmers markets important.

Shop Online at Local Farmers Market

Relevant to our current call to social distance, a new way to shop at local farmers markets has emerged. Online shopping with local pick up. One market in Culver, Indiana uses a web company called Local Line. CG Heartbeats Farm now offers online ordering as a part of Culver Farmers Market. Check it out if you are in or near Marshall County Indiana as this site is for local sales ONLY! https://www.localline.ca/cg-heartbeats-farm

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April 5, 2020April 5, 2020

Seasons ~ Spring 2020

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As I wrote the seasonal farm update, I found a few additional words relevant to the current world crisis. I share a little of this past weeks emotional struggle and growth.

Looking ahead to the coming three months, I see uncertainties. Wondering how long self-isolation will be suggested. What changes will be in places after this is over? Will it be over in the next 3 months? How will income be impacted in the coming months and years? Will I be infected, if so, will I be one that can not fight it off since statistically I am in a at risk group? These questions stem from fear of the unknown, I believe.

Here are a few other questions I am asking myself as I think further. How am I able to help others during this time? What seeds do I need to plant now to best serve my local community? What is the best way to connect with those in need of food and resources that I am able to offer? What are the best resources I am able to offer? How do I connect with others who need the information and may not be local? What shifts do I need to make to accommodate the fact my spouse does not get up and go to work every day? What does the Lord want me to do with my resources during this pandemic to serve His purposes?

All these questions float around in my head daily or some version of them. What follows is a list of my human ideas that I hope become seeds themselves as I look for ways to answer the above questions in the coming months. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts using the form below. I will share the form again at the end of this post.

Seeds from Baker Creek

Baker Creek Seeds generously allowed me to choose 10 seed packs last fall. I am going to plant and document their planting, growing, and harvesting progress. What ten did I pick?

Be sure to subscribe to CG Heartbeats newsletter so you do not miss a blog post when I share my experience planting and growing these seeds. There are a few cool freebies available when you do.

Planting Indoor Seeds

I sorted through my seed packets choosing which need to be started indoors and which will be sown directly outdoors. Most of what I want to start indoors are herbs.

Planting Outdoor Seeds

It is too early based on the average last frost date in northern Indiana, to plant seeds outdoors. My indoor ‘greenhouse’ space is limited. I am about 6 weeks away from the middle of May which is the recommended time to plant in our area.

Garden Spaces

I feel super blessed and excited to know I have additional garden space to begin the growing season this year. Close to 3 times last year space along with 3 times as much garlic planted as I planted last year.

This year you have the option of ordering garlic online.

Grape Plants

I intend to prune a fledgling grape vine, using those cutting to produce additional plants. The time has arrived to install a trellis to support the growing vines. Heartbeats Farm has 5 total grape plants started. I lost 2 last year and added 2.

Garlic and Wood Chips

I may not have enough wood chips from the wood shed area to cover all the garlic gardens. If not, I guess I will be pulling more weeds in the coming months.

You will be able to order garlic and have it shipped to you this year. It will ship in September and October. Here is the link to one of the varieties I have set up now.

Container Garden Area

The designated container garden area needs grooming in the worst way. Additional containers will provide space to plant seeds. I think a few of the seed varieties from Baker Creek will be a good fit for the container garden area.

I would like to create at least on covered container garden, but that project is still in the works.

Pruning Black Raspberries

The time of year has arrived when the Black Raspberries need pruning. Want a FREE printable on how to prune Black Raspberries, click below.

Do you want to learn how to prune your Black Raspberries? Get your FREE printable of How to Prune Black Raspberries today!

An Online Farmers Market

At least one local farmers market I have attended in the past now offers an online buying option with a local pick up time. I like the idea of a shorter window to be available for folks. It will better utilize my time, but it sadly will take away from a customers ability to pick out their products and limit customer conversations. In this current situation, not a bad thing, but that is one of the best parts about the market, personal conversations.

Chicken Pens

Tis the season to once again relocate the outdoor, semi-portable chicken pens. Once again, they will be providing a valuable service of killing off the sod to create garden space while enjoying life outdoors.

Cutting Scrub Trees

I do my best to stay away from using roundup. At the same time, I have not done the best job of keeping new grow removed in various areas. The result has been unwanted trees growing. It is once again time to remove them. We worked on this last fall, but did not get them all. With Brian off work, this is an excellent time to tackle this job.

Emotions

Being completely honest here, I struggle to gather thoughts and words to describe what plans I want to formulate for the coming months, based on the unknowns I mentioned in the first and second paragraph of this post. I believe there is potential with our current world events to step up and make a difference. I daily pray over where He is calling me to do to serve.

Emotions Take 2

I took the last 2 days to first, rant at my husband (that did not last 2 days), followed by (yes 2 whole days) of prayer, praise, and soul searching. I spent time working outdoors soaking up sunshine (see the link below on Instagram). I sat by the campfire last night and relaxed more than I have in weeks. I finally found peace in my heart and words to share a good part of what I was thinking with my spouse this afternoon.

Amazing to me is the fact that I purchased a book last summer titled Joy in the Midst. An 8-week Bible study on Philippians that I started in January. I like to take my time with my studies and soak in the truths I am learning. Right now, I am looking at how to handle conflict the way God intended. I peeked ahead to the coming days. Why was I surprised the lessons looked at worry? I need to study this right now in the middle of the struggle.

I did not orchestrate or plan this, but I am thankful for it. I have carried a belief for the last 3 to 4 weeks a few layers deep from all my surface thoughts. A belief that there is opportunity happening all around me. I need to be looking for it and responding when I see it. Opportunity to help others, to grow personally and grow my tiny little business. Opportunity to shift my way of thinking, opportunities to let go and create space for new. I do not know what they all are, but I do not want to be full of worry and uncertainness missing out on the possibilities.

On a practical note, I took a look around me as I spent time outside. I took mental inventory of the available resources. Here are additional updates I may make in the coming months.

Providing Locally Raised Food

A roadside stand to sell produce, eggs and perhaps a few crafts may meet the needs of a local market. An online store with local pickup may be another option. At least one local farmers market has already made this shift.

Logging out the Woods

Finding ways to bring in unconventional income in the coming months. This would provide an additional one-time income.

Current Conclusion

In closing, I do not need to look far and see the abundance of ways to be thankful. First and foremost, I am thankful for the work of the Word of God in my life. The growth and opportunity might not be obvious if I allow my thoughts to dart back and forth in worry. However, that deep seated belief keeps pushing up like a planted seed, opportunity awaits.

Where do you see opportunity for good around you?

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March 25, 2020March 25, 2020

Seasons ~ Winter 2020

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The first day of Spring came and went with out a thought in my brain that I should write a post about winter accomplishments and progress and a second post sharing the goals here at CG Heartbeats Farm for spring. I enjoy looing back to find encouragement and I get excited thinking of the next 3 months to work, plant, and all of the beauty that comes with spring.

Hatching Eggs

I set hatching eggs the last week in November and really have not slowed down since. I plan to stop setting eggs in June. I had a few hatches that did not go well in terms of numbers. One hatch only resulted in one chick. I felt disappointed, but I learned.

I started looking closer at the size of the air pocket as that can be affected by humidity levels. As I seen a rapid change in the air pockets, I added a small amount of water to the incubators. My hatch rates improved. I have since went back to completely dry hatches. I will continue to do better at monitoring the air pockets of the eggs and humidity in the hatching room.

For those who follow this blog and have inquired about Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners and Silver Gray Dorkings, no good news, yet. The Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners hens have not started laying yet. The Silver Gray Dorking eggs remain infertile. I may need to switch out roosters for a younger one. I hate to do that as Rooster Cogburn has developed into a beautiful boy.

In March, the first crested Swedish Flower Hen chicks hatched from Apache’s Pen. I am looking forward to watching them grow. I picked out 4 crested from the 7 chicks and 4 weeks later I was right on. As to whether they are male or female, well I am not as proficient at that.

If you want to learn about the crested pen at CG Heartbeats Farm use the link below:

Swedish Flower Hen ~ Pen # 8

Hatching Course

I worked hard over the last few months to finish writing and setting up a course Chick Hatching Practices, to teach others to hatch chicken eggs. I struggled with a title at first. Hatching chicks does not happen perfectly every time, similar to all ventures in life there is always more to learn. This course teaches the basics with worksheets to help each person meet their personal chicken goals.

Purchase now and receive the E-book, Plan Your Hatch as a bonus.

The course content is already available with additional videos, resources, and printables to be added soon. Begin today!

The material is available now, but I will be adding additional worksheets, printables and videos to what is already there. A huge benefit to purchasing Chick Hatching Practices now includes a low price of $19.99 and immediate access to a Facebook group that allows for space to ask questions of myself and others taking the course. If you are planning to hatch eggs in the coming weeks for the first time or know someone who is, check out Chick Hatching Practices for yourself or share with a friend.

Singing

In January I enjoyed the fun of singing with my Mom and Shelia Mullet at a local Jam. It was a lot of fun to spend time with my Mom while praising and worshiping the Lord.

Fiddlin’ Around

I came across an old fiddle and zither online that was for sale. It was a bit of a spur of the moment purchase, but I was intrigued with the zither and the fiddle seemed to call my name. Turned out the fiddle was ¾ size not a full. My fiddle is a full, but I hope the ¾ size may be easier on my neck and shoulder. Time will tell.

The fiddle has gone for needed repairs, but I am told it is finished and plays nice. I look forward to trying it out myself. In the meantime, I have begun playing my full-sized fiddle again. Practicing describes the activity in a better light. I am in need of a rebuild myself when it comes to playing a fiddle.

Chicken Pens

Our rather mild winter, here in northern Indiana, allowed me to leave chickens in the outdoor pens much of the time. The result? More garden space. I am excited to plan just where I will be planting seeds in regard to shadows, sunlight, soil type, and drainage.

My Dad offered me a pen he no longer used and wanted to get rid of. He even delivered it and helped with the toughest part of setting it up. I am thankful for another pen to kill sod and a place to house chickens outdoors.

Garlic

As I write this post the garlic is up 3 inches in most places. Over the last few months, I have kept the hay chaff hauled out of the barn onto the garlic gardens. I did not get many woodchips out there yet. But there are more to haul.

Horses

Rosie, who turns 25 next month, came through winter. I debated last fall if she could. Last Saturday, I turned her and Dusty in the yard to eat a bit of spring grass that has started growing. She took off galloping. That did my heart good and put a big smile on my face.

South Gate Crossing

My friend Julie from Blooms on 800 and I attended a training (Growing herbs and Patio Plants) put on by Bushel Craft Farm at South Gate Crossing. Ginger was on the list for discussion. I have been wanting to plant ginger since last summer. I had no idea I would end up taking some home to plant.

I learned a bit about growing ginger and we each left with a start of Ginger and Jerusalem Artichoke.

To date only the Jerusalem Artichoke sports green shoots, but I gently pulled back the dirt around the ginger finding that it too has begun growing beneath the surface.

A Changing World

Who know a month ago how rapidly our world would seem different? We are in the midst of it now. I hope. My days remain relatively the same. I have chickens to feed, a website to blog on and run, horses, cats and a dog to care for. I refrain from my occasional neighborly visits for now. I probably check in with family a little more often.

The green grass is starting to grow and that looks like money in the bank to me. The faster the grass comes in the sooner I need to feed and purchase less hay.

This morning I took a walk in the woods and along the creek. All is as it should be with spring coming on. There are tiny green plants starting to emerge on the floor of the woods. Water continues to sing as it flows along. The birds sang and the raspberries snagged at my cloths as they always do. I felt peace.

In January I started a workbook study of Philippians titled Joy in the Midst. I am learning and growing although for now it is likely beneath the surface. These past 3 months were good ones and I am thankful for the opportunity to live them.

NOTE: This page or post contains affiliate links. When you click and make a purchase I earn a portion of the money you spend at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support.

Read in this blog post about my go to incubator in 2019. I include tips I use with this incubator.

The Janoel 12 incubator with chicks I hatched from Pen # 7.

Click on either picture. Purchase your own.

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January 13, 2020January 10, 2020

A Homestead Vision for 2020

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Honestly, I intended to write this post last week. It did not happen; in that regard I am getting a slow start to my 2020 planning. I do have quite a few ideas bouncing around in my head and heart. In this post I am going to combine looking back at 2019 and what progresses were made her at CG Heartbeats Farm to build on goals for 2020

On the Website

Hatching Course

The idea to teach others how to hatch chicken eggs came to me as early as 3 or more years ago. I have always had a passion for baby animals. I wrote about that in blog series titled ‘New Life’. I actually put pen to paper or rather started typing on my computer in early 2018. I am committed to finishing this in the coming weeks.

The Practice of Hatching Chicken eggs is just that practice. I will continue to add to the course titled ‘Chick Hatching Practices’ sharing new information as I learn it.

Garlic Purchase

I am in the process of setting up product pages for garlic that I raise to make it available to those who are not local. Garlic ships and keeps well. Here at home, I use the previous years garlic well into the March and sometimes even April or longer.

Order and Pay for Hatching Eggs, Chicks and Birds

Hatching egg purchases, chicks and birds paid for through the website is in the works. I always encourage anyone with questions to reach out via email using maria@dontclipmywings.com. I do my best to respond to each question or comment as soon as I possibly can. Planning ahead helps everyone get the best results.

Stories of Farm Life

I shared the first story from the homestead titled Beats that Matter. My goal is to share this type of story every Friday. These will be heartwarming and heart wrenching stories. Important to life, the little moments that touch us deep down.

There are joys and sorrows in life, no more than on the farm caring for animals. I am excited to encourage others to use the hashtag #beatsthatmatter on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Each week I will share some of the moments or the #beatsthatmatter captured on film.

In Addition

I am working on ideas to bring FREE information, checklists and printable forms relevant to homesteading. One goal of the website is to encourage others to produce their own food where they are, using what they have.

On The Homestead

Chicken Pens

Last year I went from 2 outdoor pens to 6. I desire to increase that number this year. All of the current outdoor pens are portable to kill off sod, creating garden space. My goal for this year is to create 2 permanent outside pens complete with runs.

Gardening Space

I have already increased the gardening space, but with the chicken pens moved to a new location this past fall I will be adding another 10’by 20’ space in time for planting. The pens will be moved again in the spring increasing the space again this fall. I planted 350 bulbs of garlic nearly tripling last years crop and the plan for this year is to triple that number again.

I have 10 seed packages from Baker Creek Seeds to try out this coming season. One of them is Kentucky peanuts. I am excited to try these and to grow sorghum and flax. These last 2 may help me raise my own chicken feed in the future. That is a big expense here, purchasing feed. The more I can grow myself the better for the birds and the pocket book in my mind. To be tested out in the future.

Breeding Programs

Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner

The Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners continue to challenge me when it comes to producing chicks. The hens are 3 years old. The current roosters Cisco and Clinch show promise. I did produce a group of chicks from the hens late last summer using a Swedish Flower Hen rooster. That was largely to prove to me that the hens could in fact produce a chick. Now I wait for the hens to start laying again. I lost 2 hens from this group in December. The are getting older and hope to hatch replacements or purchase more this year. I am not ready to give up on them yet.

Swedish Flower Hen

The fertility in the Swedish Flower Hens has not been an issue at all and are rather easy to add to the flock. I often use incubators, but have raised chicks with broody hens as well. My goals for this breed vary a bit by pen. Cherokee has been chosen to add size to his flock, while other pens are grouped for different reasons.

These 2 beauties are a part of Shoshone’s Pen or Pen # 5

Silver Gray Dorking

This year the Silver Gray Dorkings also lack good fertility, although that has not been the case in the past. The parent stock are just over 3 years old and I wonder if the roosters are falling off in their fertility as they age. I will be switching out roosters with a younger one to see if that improves fertility. I will be looking to add additional Silver Gray Dorkings from another farm.

Container Gardens

I used buckets last year to grow sweet potatoes. I will do the same this year and plan to grow other vegetables in containers as well.

A Cow

I have been casually looking for a cow for that last 3 years. A big goal this year is to actually purchase one. I have changed my mind from a Scottish Highland to a Jersey with the intent to breed for a mini Jersey.

Livestock Guard Dog

While predator loss has been minimal, I also would like to add a livestock guard dog to the homestead. The coyotes seem to be rather brave and I would feel better with a LGD on the loose. Champ, the heeler is gaining in age almost 10 and he will be needing assistance in doing the great job he has so far.

Additional Fencing

I have supplies accumulated to improve current fencing and add more. What I have lacked is energy to complete the project. I know I felt better over all in 2019 compared to 2018 so thinking positive, I have fencing on my list again for 2020. I intend to not only improve existing fence, but construct new fence lines creating additional pasture space.

Barn Renovations

The one barn here either needs to come down or be renovated. I prefer the latter, but the more time that passes the harder time I have seeing that a worth while venture.

Tidy the Property and House

In my focus on other areas last year, I look around and see many places that I have not kept up on when it comes to de-cluttering, organization, and clean up. This applies to house, barn and yard. I want to focus on that in 2020, as well. There are projects started that need to be finished. It seems that a few goals from 2019 carry forward to 2020. That is ok. Progress was made last year with out a doubt and I will celebrate that.

Farmer’s Markets

I took a break from attending markets in the last quarter of 2019. I believe I need to focus on working on the homestead itself in at least the first quarter of 2020. At that point I will evaluate where I am at. I truly enjoy the markets, but currently have little prepared to take. My time needs to be focused on the above-mentioned tasks for the first quarter at least. What are your plans for the coming year to shift to living more of a homestead lifestyle? Producing your own food? I would be excited to share in your goals, dreams and progress.

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December 22, 2019December 22, 2019

Winter Season ~ Goals

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Winter Solstice

The shortest day of the year has come and gone, Winter Solstice being yesterday. I do not mind the short amount of sunlight as much as I do the days of temperatures below 20 degrees (and lower) that often follows in January and February. Being honest I hope for one of those winters when the temps hit a high above 32 degrees at least once or twice a week. Life caring for animals becomes much easier when above freezing.

Christmas, only days away now, seems to fade quickly by mid-January. As I look ahead to the coming months of colder weather and snow, I think about what goals and plans provide growth on the homestead. I think of ideas that I can share here on the blog where we can grow our homesteads together.

If you have followed me here at CG Heartbeats Farm you know that 3 rare chicken breeds make up a part of the current focus. The prolific Swedish Flower Hens, unique Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners and beautiful Silver Gray Dorkings keep me hopping. In the last year I struggled to produce Silver Gray Dorkings (hatching 3) and Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners (hatching 0).

As I look to the coming months, improvements will be on my mind. I know this year I need to take a look at the 15 breeding pens of Swedish Flower Hens and make cuts. I am going into this winter with around 30 pens. That means 30 frozen water containers. Honestly the word that comes to mind with that fact is, YUK! I committed to telling myself that ‘there is no such thing as too cold, just not enough or warm enough clothes, for this winter’.

What to look for on the blog in the first 3 months of 2020:

1) Chick Hatching Practices, a course sharing the basics of how to hatch chicks, including preparing to hatch and brooder ideas and immediate care for the first week.
2) Info on the specific breeds I raise
3) General chicken info
4) Seeds selection and garden planning
5) Homestead planning in terms of layout and how I intend to put to use what I have. Perhaps even a quest post or two on how others use their land to the best of its ability. Do you want to share a post here telling how you have put your homestead to use? Shoot me an email at maria@dontclipmywings.com or use the form provided below.

Farmer’s Markets in the first quarter of 2020?

In the coming months I debate attending local farmers markets. I believe in their importance. I enjoy connecting with other vendors and customers. I met amazing folks when attending farmers markets. For now, I am taking a break to focus my attention on the homestead itself and this website. I look forward to attending at least 1 market on a regular basis in 2020. I may wait until summer to begin attending.

Winter Homestead Goals

I want to pick up where I left off, walking the property and giving thought to the best uses of the land. I came up with a few neat ideas last year, but as the markets went into full swing, I became distracted with the every day work. Those daily walks shorted into simple checks of all the current vegetables and chickens.

I hope to move cement blocks to provide a wall where I have already increased the level of the container garden I am building. 2019 marks the 3^rd year that I emptied buckets of sweet potatoes to create this raised bed.

Cleaning chicken pens (it is an ongoing thing around here)

Hatch Chicken Eggs

CG Heartbeats Farm now has three Janoel 12 incubators and an Incuview to hatch eggs. No bragging here, but it is a fun to have options to provide chicks for others who do not want to hatch their own. I would like to add the Nurture Right 360 in the coming months. This is how I provide chicks and fill orders for those shopping.

Read in this blog post about my go to incubator in 2019. I include tips I use with this incubator.

The Janoel 12 incubator with chicks I hatched from Pen # 7.

Click on either picture. Purchase your own.

I am excited for the Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners hens to start laying again. I picked up Cisco and Clinch last summer (2019). They were not mature enough to cover hens until November and by then the hens were in a molt. I am looking forward to hatching eggs with Cisco and Clinch covering the hens.

Clinch on the left and Cisco on the right.

For the first time CG Heartbeats Farm will offer crested Swedish Flower Hens from Apache and his hens. This pen currently consists of 2 hens from Pen 7 and a crested rooster (Apache) out of eggs I hatched from My Flower Farm (Lisa). The way the crested gene works eggs from this pen has a 50% chance of producing a crested chick. I plan to add additional hens to this pen in 2020 as I raise hens from Pen # 7. I would have more already, but I sold a few I raised.

Selling Eggs

Did you notice you can order and pay for eggs through the website now? I intend to set it up so that you are able to order eggs from each pen. At the moment it is only Swedish Flower Hen hatching eggs in general, but I want to make each pen available in quantities of 6, 12, 18, or 24. In this way a person can customize their order. Look for this feature coming soon. Until the other breeds are producing better, they will continue to be an unpaid wait list.

Starting Grape Plants

I have one grape plant needing to be pruned, with those cuttings I intend to start additional plants in the coming months. I want to produce Concord grapes for the simple fact, I like to eat them!! No marketing strategy in mind, just my taste buds driving my desire. I have fond memories of drinking homemade (and home canned) grape juice while eating popcorn at my grandma’s house on Sunday evening. Fond memories may drive my interest in producing Concord grapes.

I will continue with raising heirloom tomatoes, even though I do not know what variety they are. I like them too much to change to a different variety this year. My thoughts go like this: I may save seeds from the current variety (unknown) and in 2021 try a new variety, saving the seeds from 2020 to use in 2022.

Homestead in General

I have a few carryover projects from fall that if the ground doesn’t freeze, I would be trilled to finish.

Constructing support for the one grape plant that has flourished. The other ones are coming along slowly.
Fence work for horse pastures and cattle that I plan to purchase.
Work on the container garden area.
Set up additional outdoor pens for spring and the occasional nice winter day.
Condense indoor pens to make room for the extreme cold weather days.

I have 10 different seed packets donated by Baker Creek seeds. Three that I am excited to try are Flax, Sorghum, Peanuts. The fun part of this for me is that each of these have the potential to set me up for my own seeds as these are all heirloom plants. I can save seed and increase my crop in the coming years much in the same way I did with the 5 garlic varieties. Look for a blog post(s) in the fall of 2020 on these 10 different seeds I will be trying here at CG Heartbeats Farm. I will be starting these plants indoors in the coming months to give them a head start on the growing season.

What homestead expectations, goals, or dreams do have for the coming months? Leave a comment at the bottom or use this form to send an email.

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August 8, 2019August 15, 2019

Homestead Diary ~ Week 1

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Although I have been around animals my entire life, I feel like a newbie many times in this homesteading journey. New lessons with new species, raising animals in a new way, new goals aside from living an equestrian lifestyle, learning what it means to have an online business are all changes I have chosen for this season of my life. Thus, getting real about what a month of the journey really looks like feels scary and vulnerable. Here goes as I diving in head first.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Yes! I love a new month and a new morning! AM chores completed I headed into town to work online. I was excited for the work I wanted to do on the hatching course. I ended up with a bad low sugar level. I ate and waited until it was safe for me to drive. During this time, I focused the best I could on the online work I wanted to get done. Once home, I took a long nap, before heading out for evening chores. I hate these disruptions to my day, but I am learning to be thankful for all the good. It seems a lesson that, while I can see progress, is a mental battle I continue to fight.

Friday, August 2, 2019

I awoke feeling terrible. As I lay in bed I thought, “I am do not have to do much today. I am staying right here! Oh wait! I have a meeting planned to send pullets to a new home. I need to stay consistent with my social media posts. I need a box or two for the pullets to travel in. I need to go to town.” I groaned inwardly. Slowly, I began my day. When the above mentioned was completed and chores attended to. I rested the remainder of the day. On this day I felt blessed and thankful that while I needed to attend to certain items of business, I could rest with out feeling any quilt. Rest I did.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Normally, I attend the Culver Farmer’s Market, but I still not feeling good, choose to stay home. To be completely honest, I want to share I also felt a bit overwhelmed with what I have not been getting done around here and online. I squash thoughts tempting me to waste energy wishing I felt better. I know the best thing for me today is rest. After the daily quiet time of writing what I am thankful for and reading a chapter in a book by Kathy Lee Gifford titled, The Rock, The Road, and the Rabbi, with a cup of coffee, I headed outside to feed the horses, cats and share an IG story and post. My first stop was checking if the Swedish Flower Hen of Pair # 2 was indeed broody. YES! She was. I decided since I was moving slow anyway to put out the broody hen and her chicks, the 5- 4/5-week old chicks and the 4 from pen #7. I began the work of watering and feeding chicken pens. In the mix I watered the potted cherry tomato plants and some of the sweet potatoes. At some point I added 7 eggs to the 4 or 5 the broody hen had already laid. I have been saving her eggs and leaving a few in with her, hoping she would go broody a second time this year. Feeling so blessed that she did, especially given the fact the coons had eaten her chicks.

Brian and I grabbed a bite to eat and then I was back outside feeding chickens. This process stretched on into the afternoon. I say I was moving slow….I started this at 10 am and it was now 4 pm. I spent an hour working on a blog post I am putting together. Then back outside to find Kit Kat was shadowing me and meowing intensely. ‘Now what does she want,’ I wondered. I looked closer at her, feeling under her belly. I now suspected she was close to having kittens. She likes to show me where she is having her kittens. I spent the next several minutes with her coming and going in the underbrush next to the house. Yes, this is one of those areas that need work here. Anyway, she settled down in a corner. I will keep checking on her this evening, but I am certain she is having kittens. I tamed her when she was feral and it took me 8 weeks to even touch her. Unfortunately, I did not get her fixed and now our cat population has taken off. Several cats have been fixed here and she is one of the next ones on the list. It feels like slow progress. But it is progress. I gathered eggs which I do through out the day. Relationships with animals bring joy to my heart and to be honest at times pain. I wrote a bit more and headed back outside until dark. Chores consisted of bringing in the chicks and grow outs I had put in cages outside earlier in the day, feeding horses, and watering the garden near the chickens. I finally transplanted the cherry tomato plants where one of the garlic gardens had been near the house.

3 sister garden plot, behind is the heritage tomato plants
out of site are the yellow and white onions and carrots

I found myself remembering the joying of riding bareback on a horse at a walk. For the first time in years I longed to ride. One of my goals for this year was to start riding again. I do not believe I have been on a horse since 2017, 2 years ago. That year I only rode two times, once in WY at Shoshone Lodge and Guest Ranch and another time in Alberta, Canada. I determined I would ride Navajo Bo. If I get into the reasons why I could write an entire post telling the story of each horse I was not riding. I found Bo’s bridle. Oh dear, that was a mess. I decided to put a halter together with reins that had snaps on them. That is how I learned to ride a horse, bareback with a halter and 2 lead ropes snapped to the halter. Yep, why not start over the same way. If you want to read more about the time, I spent with Bo last night, check out her FB page where I posted a bit about it.

When I went to feed the dogs, I called softly to Kit Kat and shortly she appeared with a messy rear end. Yep, she had birthed kittens. Her belly still felt hard in one spot. Perhaps she wasn’t quite done. I gave her food and water. She hung out with me for a while before returning to her babies. I heard them fussing a couple times. I felt good, peaceful and happy with the enjoyment of my day.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

One of my goals in the last few years is to make Sunday a day of rest. It does not always look quite the same. I did not do much other then care for animals, write, and hang out at home. The broody hen was still on her eggs.

Monday, August 5, 2019

The temps were forecasted to be in the high 80’s. In the mornings after my quiet time or devotions, I started making a schedule for my day. On Mondays this takes a bit longer as I also brain dump of what I want to get done for the week. AM chores include feeding chickens, gathering eggs, horses, cats and dogs, checking gardens and potted plants. I found a few beans (Jacob Cattle Beans) ready to harvest. This morning I took a look at the wild grapes and even ate a few that looked sort of ripe. I hope the tart taste diminishes as they ripen more. If not, I will still eat them, and I am going to be looking for a way to use them. I dove into a daydream imagining where I would keep a cow. I think I forgot to mention I have been in conversation concerning a Jersey cow, bred to a mini Jersey. While I feel drawn to Scottish Highlands and American Milking Devon, at this time the Jersey/Mini Jersey seems like a better fit for the immediate time frame. In all it doesn’t sound like all that takes much time, but 3 hours flew by. The afternoon was spent working on the computer. Brian decided to address the slow water flow and needed my help so after starting house chores, I helped him. One or two more tasks before I was done for the might.

I cleaned the music variety of garlic I want to sell and kept back what I will plant for next years crop and my own use. Not only do I use for cooking, I also put cloves in the chicken water from time to time to boost their immune system. PM chores took close to an hour. It is 10 PM as I write this and I will be going back out to finish up a few things. I felt refreshed today after a day of rest.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

I desperately needed to work on laundry. First thing I did was get a load started. AM chores went faster today and I found time to wash a quart sized water container for Cisco. When I first brought them home, I had given him a little plastic container and I found myself filling repeatedly through out the day. I felt good knowing this 5 min act would be saving me time in the coming weeks. A lunch time I continued to work on laundry. I usually enjoy laundry, but I have found a way to look forward to it. I pile up a few loads that are ready to be folded then listen to one or two podcasts while I fold. The times flies by fast, I have learned something new and the laundry is folded and put away. I spent 20 min writing out the content for a video I want to add to the course I am working on. Out to wash eggs and load the car for the Culver’s Farmer’s Market. I had this, last minute, idea to stop a local Dollar store on the way. I wanted to get brown paper bags and blank stickers to write on and stick on the bags when I sold garlic. I found regular plain brown lunch bags and shipping labels. I was hoping for a fancier bag and a cute cut to the stickers, but I spent $2.14 on them, so who am I to be picky. Down the road I intend to pay to have printed stickers with the info I want to share. I did the math sitting at the market later in the evening: I cut one shipping label in 4 strips for the egg carton labels. 18 labels cost $1 so each label cost around .05 cents. Divided by 4 (4 strips) that is around 1 cent per shipping label. The quote I currently have for pre-printed egg labels is around 34 cents a label. Of course, they would look much prettier. For now, I will use these, but future goals include pre-printed labels. As for the garlic bags, I will continue to use the shipping labels, but as I sat here writing I remembered I have several sets of ‘fancy’ cut scissors in my craft box. Now that would make for some fancier looking labels. I intend to get them out for today market in Bremen, Indiana.

Leaving the dollar store, I began feeling anxious. At first, I chalked it up to worrying about being late to market, but no amount of self-talk made it go away. I realized my sugar levels must be dropping. I started eating the snack foods I had purchased at the Dollar store. I took a different route since I had gone into town on my way. In my path ahead I seen a traffic backed up for a train. Oh, not now! As I sat there waiting on a train that was NOT moving, eating cause my sugar, I am not sure how much time had gone by. I looked at my phone to check the time and to my dismay it was after 5 pm. I wanted to go home and be done for the night! Instead I text a couple different friends that were at the market to get directions how to get around the train. I did eventually get to the market. I want to give a big shout out to my friend Julie and Blooms on 800. She helped me get unloaded and set up. The market proved slow and my sales were $0. But I decided to look at it from the perspective that, as I sat there, I worked on my egg labels and spent time with my friend. I enjoyed the cool breezes coming off of Lake Maxinkuckee. We chatted as I helped her load her van. Driving home, I fought off negative thoughts of my evening. Even this morning I needed to chase them away. I made progress yesterday even if no sales. Julie shared helpful ideas how to give my market table a new look. It is August and I have been sporting the spring look. I am overdue for a change. Chores went well and all the animals looked good, giving a good feeling. I was tired, but looking forward to feeling rested in the morning.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Bremen Farmer’s Market takes place from 4 pm to 7 pm on Wednesdays. I spent around 4 hours going through my morning routine: devotional and quiet time, am chores, and checking the plants. Next off to town looking for what I needed to change the display at the markets. I admit I found pleasure in shopping at a local dollar store. Ideas of what the table could look like as I browsed through items. The final look came together when I arrived at the market. I picked flowers, and grabbed garlic that was still drying, cleaned a coffee cup tree that I have not been using. Off to the Bremen Farmer’s Market and another evening of visiting with patrons and friends. The small crowd produced a few sales for me. Check out the slide show of the new display below.

At home I unloaded the car, rested 20 minutes before heading out to complete PM chores. Unfortunately, Prince Charming (the cat) snuck out the door and it was well past midnight before I located him to bring him in. He seemed to think he was on a grand adventure. I was reminded of how the Jesus shared the parable of the shepherd who would leave the fold and go look for the one lost sheep. I thought, ‘I know how overjoyed I will feel when I have Prince Charming safe in my arms and back in the house. Imagine how overjoyed the Lord is when a lost soul returns to Him. No greater love…..’

This completes the first 7 days of August. Did any parts of my last week stand out to you? Send me an email telling me about it. Send your email to maria@dontclipmywings.com or click here

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June 21, 2019June 21, 2019

Summer 2019

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Spring of 2019 is nearing its end, although some days have reminded me that it is indeed still spring as the temps have been unseasonably cool. In this post, I am going to share some of my homestead goals for the coming summer months and take a look back at the past three here on CG Heartbeats Farm.

A Look back at Spring 2019

Our Indiana spring produced a lot of rain. The saturated ground has created a delay in getting crops seeded, including on this homestead. While I have planted some seeds, there are several that still need to be planted. The big hold up is getting the ground ready as my plan was to have some ground plowed. There are a couple back up ideas floating around in my head that will be decided on soon.

I am excited about trying a new to me way of planting corn, beans and a third cover plant. Right now, I am using watermelon and squash, but more on that later this year. For now, here is a picture of what it looked like as of the beginning of June.

My first 3 Sisters Garden… This picture was taken June 10. Would you believe now, 10 days later, the plants have doubled in size!!

Using wood chips has proved effective in week control in the garlic gardens. I planted candy onions in between the rows of garlic. So far it appears to be working well. The garlic will be harvested in another 3 to 4 weeks.

Sweet Potatoes

9 Sweet Potato plants with 3 more to be added this week.

I used 3 different methods to start sweet potatoes this year. I, spontaneously, tried removing the sprig from the potato and planting it directly in soil. To my surprise, the little plant thrived. Thus when it was time to plant sweet potatoes in buckets I removed springs from a potato and planted them directly into the soil. They are doing well. Look for more info on this year’s sweet potato crop on this web site after harvest this fall.

Shipping Chicks

I shipped chicks for the first time this year. This is a first for my journey and I look forward to successfully shipping additional chicks in the future. If you want to pre-order chicks(deposit required) or have your name added to the list(no charge) be sure to send an email.

Shipping Eggs

I have continued shipping eggs and to the credit of the Post Office, the eggs arrived in great condition for every shipment this year.

Broody Hen

A Swedish Flower Hen went broody for her second time. One of my breeding goals is to increase the number of broody hens in my flock. As I understand this is a genetic trait. I intend to keep all pullets from the group of six chicks she hatched to add to my breeding stock. The first time this pretty hen went broody she was less than a year old and there was no rooster in her pen, yet. I ended up giving her fertile eggs from another pen. You can read about how that ended up in the blog post titled: A Broody Swedish Flower Hen Breeding goals aside, I find the tenderness demonstrated between a momma and her babies endearing and the beauty of it all warms my heart a way nothing else does.

Silver Gray Dorking

I am excited the fertility has improved in the Silver Gray Dorking eggs over earlier this year. It is not as good as last year, unfortunately, but then summer isn’t over. Due to the eggs not staying viable long enough to hatch, my next step is going to be adjusting the temperature on the incubator slightly.

Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner

I am still facing difficulty with fertility in the Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiners, unfortunately. I intend to continue to work with this pretty breed.

Grapes

I admit to feeling a bit disappointed to ending up with only an additional 2 grape plants after caring for almost 20 starts over the winter. I will say I am happy to have 2 more plants in the ground outside. My latest experiment, if you will, is taking this year’s new growth from a grape plant outside and placing into a jar of water. My hope is that it will grow roots. Look for a coming post about the process.

Summer 2019 Thoughts

Finish Planting

For a stretch of several weeks northern Indiana experienced excessive rain. The first round produced over 5 inches in less than a week. After the ground was saturated, the rain continued to fall almost daily, or often nightly. Thankfully, I was able to get some seed in the ground as I mentioned above. I find I enjoy this venture, planting and learning as I go. Onion bulb(yellow and white), potatoes, carrots,

Attending local farmer’s markets in Bremen and Culver

One of CG Heartbeats Farm spring market display.

Last year I attended a local farmer’s market for the first time in Bremen, Indiana. I also attended another on in Nappanee, Indiana on Saturdays. Over the winter, I found a local indoor market to attend in Culver, Indiana and have continued to attend their outside market. Their summer market occurs on Sat and Tue. CG Heartbeats Farm plans to have a vendor booth at Culver on Tuesdays (5 pm to 7 pm), Bremen on Wednesday’s (4 pm to 7 pm) and back at Culver on Saturday mornings (9 am to 1 pm). Products available include seasonal items such as black raspberries, black raspberry plants, mint plants, farm fresh eggs, 4 varieties of garlic, soup beans, decorative and edible popcorn, black walnut tree seedlings, popular tree seedlings,

Maintaining Gardens

Keeping up with weeds and my case, the weeds are actually grass that works hard to take over, seems to be continuous, but using wood chips and chaff, helps to keep them at bay.

Pasture Maintenance

Summer always brings the need for pasture maintenance. Mowing down weeds (I do not use chemicals on the pastures) and keeping the fence rows cleaned out seem to be 2 jobs that I am always behind on. There are new fences to construct if I am to continue with my plans. These jobs are a bit tougher for me now as I work to balance my activity level with getting enough rest.

Black Raspberries

I am looking forward to eating these soon! The extras will go to the local farmers markets and my freezer!

This spring I pruned 3 of my 4 Black Raspberry patches. I am impressed with the berries that are appearing on the pruned plants. I will also be offering black raspberry plants for sale at the farmers markets I attend. One of my goals is to also look into shipping plants and selling from this website.

Garlic Scapes

Notice the curl on the top of the garlic plants? These curled tops are the scapes.

As of this week the garlic scapes are almost ready to harvest. Garlic scapes, you may ask? These are the top part of a garlic plant that will produce a flower and seed if not removed. The plants energy is directed into producing a larger garlic bulb instead.

Ongoing Projects

There are always chicken pens to clean. I have started a new manure pile leaving the previous one to compost. I started work on a container garden area, but the progress has slowed in the last 6 weeks. I want to continue working in the beds near the house. They were intended to be flower beds, but I have been using them for planting vegetables too. There is an area back of the chicken barn that needs to have old boards removed to the burn pile. The hold up is I want to remove the hardware on the boards It seems I have accomplished that step, yet.

Personal Goals

One of my personal goals for this year is to spend some time riding again, even if it is only a short jaunt in the round pen or around the pasture. I intend to enjoy these summer months. A final (personal) goal is to begin playing fiddle again, perhaps practicing on my fiddle again would be more accurate. What are your summer plans? Leave a comment below to share your plans.

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November 5, 2018July 22, 2020

Garlic: Year 3

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This fall marks the third year I have planted garlic. The first year(fall of 2016) I planted about 6 cloves of 3 different varieties for a total of 18. When I harvested in 2017 I kept what I raised to either plant or use. Year #2 (2017) I planted around 18-20 cloves (each) of the same 3 varieties. I only sold a few of the 2018 crop choosing instead to save most of the bulbs harvested to plant and use personally for human consumption and for putting in the chickens water. If you are unfamiliar with planting garlic, one planted clove grows into a bulb of garlic. Each bulb has 4 to 9 cloves depending on the variety.

Using what I have:

The entire homestead project has been largely using what I have available. Although some money has been invested along the way, most money has been invested into the chicken project. I have looked and continue to look for heritage vegetables that are sustainable and do not require seeds to be repurchased every year. One of my biggest struggles has been ground to plant in. Yes I have 11 acres at my disposal, and it grow grass abundantly. The grass has a fantastic root system that makes gardening a challenge for me. At this time I have not found a local person to turn the sod for me(with a plow). I will need to invest in a tiller of sorts, sooner than later as I grow the garden project. I do not want to fight weeds and grass roots with only my energy (which seems lacking) and a shovel. Even in the large flower bed, it is the grass that has taken over. I had a help a couple years in a row and still the grass returned. The benefit was that at least the ground had been worked in the flower bed and was easier to dig in compared to the lawn. This was where I planted my first garlic, a small section of what was previously a flower bed. My Dad helped me prep the ground the first year. We went over the ground with spades, removing as many of the roots as we could. It was a project that took approximately one afternoon. 18 cloves of garlic planted!

Area where garlic was planted in 2016 and harvested in 2017. The space was probably less than 3 ft. by 3 ft.

Year 2: I spent more time prepping the ground, but had not started early enough as cold weather was upon me. Hardneck Garlic needs to be in the ground before the ground freezes. While I did work to remove more of the roots, I knew I left some. It was either leave some roots and not plant the garlic in time or I would miss getting it planted altogether. I tripled the amount planted and was able to spare a few to select customers in the summer of 2018. I share the planting process and more about the first and second Garlic seasons in a previous blog post titled: Garlic

Year 3: This year I added a forth variety called Spanish Rojo or Spanish Red. The other three varieties remain the same as the past two years: German, Music, and Montana. As I have said, this marks the 3rd fall I am planting garlic. I intend to again increase numbers planted to about between 10 and 140 cloves. Of course I need more room to plant the higher numbers. After consideration I decided to once again use the flower bed expanding the area, and add another spot on the farm as well.

Garlic beginning to grow in the early months of 2018

This spring, in a section next to the garlic, I worked removing grass, roots and a few weeds. Here I planted four tomato plants. I did need to weed a little from time to time, but as the tomato plants grew they provided enough ground cover to keep the unwanted growth at bay. These produced many little tomatoes both grape and super sweet varieties. I took some to the farmers markets and shared with friends. I also enjoyed many delicious tomato sandwiches, even though they were the small tomatoes.

In the last couple weeks as I began to prepare the ground to plant garlic I have certainly seen a reduction of roots, weeds and grass thanks to the ground cover provided by the tomato plants.

Instead, I found myself picking up an extreme amount of tiny tomatoes to avoid the seed springing to life new tomatoes plants next year. I am sure I did not get every single one. Should they appear in the 2019 growing season I have a plan. I intend to feed the young plants to the chickens who I learned enjoy eating the tomato plant leaves. A bonus use of unwanted plants in my opinion.

Beginning to prepare the soil in the fall of 2018.

The picture below shows last years space and the additional space in the flower bed. This picture was taken before transplanting some of the Day Lillys.

I had a chicken pen that was approximately 5 ft x 5 ft where the sod finally appeared to be almost non exsistent this fall. I moved the panels to a new location giving the chickens new ground and the homestead an additional place to plant. With the sod almost completely gone I began turning the dirt over. Trilled with how soft the soil, I did find some roots under the surface.

No matter, the work proved considerably easier compared to digging up sod. If I did not share previously, I currently have not a plow or cultivator. My ‘tools’ consist of myself, a shovel, wheelbarrow and other non-motorized gardening implements. I also have almost no money invested in the garlic venture, only the initial garlic cloves. The chickens did a wonderful job and by next year they will have removed more sod for me to increase the garden. In 2017 I set the chicken pens up specifically where I want a garden. It has felt like a long process, but I was hesitate to leave the chickens out for any length of time. Now that I have housed select pens outside I am seeing much faster progress in sod removal.

The pen in its new location and the dirt turned in the old location.

For the 2019 growing season I will plant garlic in the 5ft. x 5 ft. space the chickens cleared for the homestead.

About half of the garlic is planted in this picture.

As I have in years past after the garlic is planted I cover with hay chaff. (Using what I have) and later in the season as wood chips become available from the wood shed I added wood chips all to help reduce the unwanted plant growth among the garlic plants.

Garlic Scapes and Pesto

I want to add that this past growing season(2018) I made use of the garlic scapes when I removed them from the plants in June. I made pesto from the scapes. All who enjoy the taste of garlic gave the pesto positive reviews.

Here is the ingredient list I used:

garlic scapes chopped
parmesan cheese
coconut oil
salt and pepper to taste

The scapes, removed usually in June, allow the energy of the plant to grow bigger bulbs. Below is a picture of the flower that develops into seeds if the scapes are not removed.

I am looking forward to next years harvest garlic harvest. I think the harvest is the most exciting part for me. The Spanish Rojo smelled good and I am certain I will enjoy eating it next year. I feel pretty happy when planting the cloves too.

Preparing the ground is a bit of a drag for me and the hardest work of the whole process. As I write this I have about half of this years garlic planted. My progress this past week came to halt as probably close to 2 inches of rain has fallen. I am waiting for the ground to dry out. When I see the forecast includes lows in the 20’s for 3 nights in a row, I plant the garlic despite unwanted roots and moisture.

Please share your experiences with fresh garlic in the comments below.

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October 24, 2018

Seasons: Fall 2018

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Most farmer’s markets ended in our area with the month of September. The Fall Season officially started on Saturday Sept. 22 this year. Changes are in the air!! A look around for the first two weeks showed only the beginning of the transformation yet to come. The fun of each season: Even though they repeat every year no two are alike. At first temperatures were warm with many a sunshiny day. This weather pattern changed and as of mid October highs have been in the 50’s with lows in the 30’s and 40’s.

Some flowers are dying off in the late summer(September)while others are only beginning to bloom indicating the changes to come.

I recall as a child enjoying horseback rides along the dirt back roads enjoying the colors fall brings. Lately I have not been riding as often, but I still enjoy the colors. I recently took the short drive down one of the few dirt roads left from my childhood I used to ride on. Many memories can be recalled from era spent on horseback along this dirt road of my life. One of the first was my sister and I getting bucked off our pony, Glady, while riding double. Another involved riding Glady in tight circles at a walk envisioning that myself a barrel racer at a rodeo. The third was driving our pony Rebel Breeze when snow covered the road in a stone boat with a bale of hay for a seat. The landscape has changed in the last 25 plus years, but the feeling of a dirt road, lined with majestic trees displaying pretty fall colors consistently brings a peaceful feeling to my heart.

Blooming flowers around the farm and down local roads this year are pictured through out this post.

I recently visited Pigeon Forge, TN and the Smoky Mountains. Some of the same flower that grow here were also in blossom in the State Park in both TN and North Carolina.

I welcome the sometime cooler days and even the rainy one. By this time of the year I find myself over the humid, hot air I welcomed only a few months earlier. How fickle I am.

Hard neck garlic is planted in the fall before the ground freezes. Not to be confused with a frost as we sometimes experience many frosts before the ground actually freezes. My thoughts have turned to where the garlic will be planted this year. I am going to be planting more than I have in the past so new ground needs to be prepared. The soil needs to be worked, weeded and prepared where the garlic was planted last year. I intend to include a larger area there as well.

I recently finished harvesting the sweet potatoes I grew in buckets. The crop was not as productive as it has been in the past. While a few were large, many did not grow as big. Perhaps I did not leave enough time for the root development in the water this spring to allow for larger root development before planting. Note to self: Start indoors earlier and plant outside earlier. I used the same general process as I have in the past. Want to read about my previous experience with planting sweet potatoes. Click on the blog post titled: Growing Sweet Potatoes in a Bucket. I get excited to think that most people, no matter how large or small their property is, can grow sweet potatoes. Even someone who owns a small lot or has patio access with adequate sunlight has options using buckets and fertile soil.

I enjoy fresh air, kittens playing, kittens playing and horses in all their displays of beauty, beautiful fall colors at the moment, pretty flowers and the way I see the homestead SLOWLY making process. Fall brings a different smell to the air, the rustle of leaves falling in the woods, and the sound of farm machinery harvesting and drying crops.

I like how fall tickles all of my senses

The feel of a cool brisk morning air and the warmth of afternoon sunshine. The gritty dirt in hand as I work preparing soil for planting.

The sight of pretty colors developing and eventually, for a short time, vivid display of all that is fall.

The sound of combines and crop dryers running both near and far sometimes late into the night. Birds chirping, the rustles of leaves when walking in the woods and the sound of leaves falling when the wind blows.

My favorite flavor has been baked sweet potatoes smothered in butter and salt. I seem to enjoy coffee more as the weather turns colder, chi has been another fall favorite hot drink of mine this year.

The fall season has a smell all its own both in the woods and across the farm and country air. It seems clean and fresh despite the fact we are facing the inevitable coming black and white of winter months.

How do you enjoy fall with all of your senses? Be sure to leave a comment below.

Life on the farm this 2018 Fall Season

This morning dawned with pretty sunshine and the second (or third) hard frost of the season. I am looking forward to digging into an outdoor project this afternoon. I recently listed the projects I want to work on before the ground actually freezes and the snow flies. Some must be done and others have less importance. I was brain dumping and they are in no particular order.

Have you read my previous blog on seasons?

Check it out by clicking below:

Roots and Wings: Seasons

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