Homestead Update - March

Things are really happening fast this spring and I realized that trying to cram all of the information into a monthly blog isn't feasible. Therefore, I will try to catch you up on some things and then post more regularly on individual events. 

March

The month of March was focused on three main things:

1. Moving the animals outdoors. 

We kept the chickens and rabbits in our greenhouse on deep bedding over the winter months. I really like this setup as it provides better shelter for the animals, develops composted material, is closer to the house and we have fewer issues with frozen water. 

As the weather improved, the chickens were becoming adventurous and started escaping the temporary fencing. It was a decision of fixing the temporary enclosure or moving them outdoors. We moved them outdoors. 

They seemed excited to run around on green grass again. Even if it was just barely turing green.

The rabbit took a bit longer to adjust but she now loves being back outdoors. 

We started looking at the bedding that the animals were using. It hadn't composted as much as I had hoped. I think we needed to start with deeper bedding to allow for more weight and warmth over the winter. We will try to add more depth before we start this process again next year.

In the meantime, we needed to speed up the process. We formed compost piles and started flipping them every few days. 

We discovered that we needed more "green" to add to our "brown" for a balanced compost pile. This was remedied by adding grass clippings. 

 2. Planting seeds.

The next focus was planting seeds for our garden. I love starting seeds and watching them germinate. For me, the process brings hope and promise to a new year. This year, we ran into a few problems.

We discovered that while the greenhouse was a great winter housing option for the animals, it wasn't sealed enough for plant starts. The combination of dog invader, high winds and what was to be temporary doors simply let too much of the captured daytime solar energy escape during the night. We then experienced fluctuations in spring weather temperatures that exacerbated the situation. We simply could not keep these delicate plants in the greenhouse for any length of time. The process of moving plants to and from the greenhouse is time consuming and frustrating. 

I decided to start the seeds indoors. They lived in my kitchen until they sprouted, then I moved them under grow lights in my heated garage. I discovered that while the garage heater does an amazing job, it does dry out the room. We struggled to maintain the necessary humidity that the plants needed to thrive. 

My kids joined the process and we have been living alongside potting soil, seedlings, trays and other gardening equipment in our main living space. This was tolerable at first. As the temperature continues to fluctuate and sustained spring weather is slow to arrive, this situation is becoming cluttered and maddening. 

I have resigned myself to the fact that I may simply have to purchase most of my plants this year. We will work on fixing some of these issues for next year. 

 3. Setting up perimeter fencing.

When a neighboring female dog goes into heat, it is a powerful attraction to a male dog. Our dog decided that he wanted to visit all of his neighbors and didn't mind stopping traffic in the process. It became a dangerous situation, and we couldn't let it continue. We tied him the house when we weren't outdoors, but this wasn't a great solution for anyone. 

We spent a lot of our efforts in repairing and building new perimeter fences. Luckily for us, we had some great help. 

The boys learned a lot during this hands-on project. 

Bonus activity! - We received new baby chicks

We ordered these chicks months ago and during all of our other activities, were almost surprised by their arrival. We love welcoming new animals on the property.

 The hubby completed the brooder just in time!

We are making a lot of changes on the property in the upcoming year, so you may want to sign up for our newsletter for updates to avoid missing anything! You can sign up at the bottom of the main page of the website.