The Bread Trials

Bread is another area that continues to show me up. I have never baked one of those mouth-wateringly fluffy loaves that so many others seem to have no problems producing. I carefully weigh and take temperatures each time...but still, no success. It's disheartening to put all day into making something that no one wants to eat in the end, so I gave up for a while. Now that we have pounds and pounds of wheat, I decided to give it another shot...and had another flop. This particular loaf was more like a wheat brick. At least the hens enjoy eating my mistakes.

Sprouts

The seedlings are coming up nicely now and seem to be doing ok - though the damping-off fungus is just itching to raise it's ugly head. I have to leave the cover off the tray, and water next to the seedlings or the ugly white hairs start creeping over them. So far, I believe I may have lost one borage seedling. It has yet to poke through the soil, and white hairs are criss-crossing over the soil where we planted it. The other borage seedlings have all sprouted, along with a few sunflowers, one of the nasturtiums, and a few more tomatoes. They are currently in a very sunny window, but we're going to rig up a real light for them this weekend. Hopefully my other seeds will get here soon, I'm really looking forward to starting the strawberries!

Seed-starting

I am really terrible at it! For three years now I've started seeds and to date I've lost nearly all of my seedlings to damping-off. I planted seeds a few days back. The borage seeds are just starting to sprout and already I can see the thin white hairs that indicate damping-off. I have the seedling tray sitting in on the sill of an open window. I put a few drops of garlic water on the hairs themselves to try to curb the growth until the soil dries out enough to kill the fungus. At least I have plenty of seeds year - guess I'll just continue to practice until I finally get it right.

Sign of Spring

Our apple tree is going gangbusters with the blossoms this year! I probably will not let it produce at the rate it wants to (average 15-20 blooms per branch tip!), but wish I could! It's nice to see that the tree seems to approve of the care it is receiving. What is telling is that I haven't seen a single honey bee around the flowers...After our new trees get settled in and start blooming we will be starting up a little hive of our own.

Gearing up for veggies!

My son was sick today so while he napped, I was able to get some things done outside during daylight hours. I got the vegetable/flower bed in the front filled with compost. I started prep on the other bed (weed removal). I was able to plant the goji berry bushes and the last loquat tree. I even decided to get a little crazy and start some seeds. Cherokee purple tomatoes, borage, nasturtiums, asparagus, and giant sunflowers are now beginning the germination process in a flat inside, while outside, I planted a bush-type cowpea and borage seed next to each new tree. The larger trees will become trellises for the more normal, vining type. It will be interesting to see how they do.

Long day

After work and a DMV visit, I got 9 fruit trees in the ground. I was very impressed with the root systems on these bare-root trees. Still have to plant two blueberry bushes, two passion flower vines, and a loquat tree (all potted) but that can wait for another day - I am beat!

Pictures of Goaties

Finally, a few pictures. This is chunky-monkey Daisy back in January. She's is a bit larger now. In the past she has only had singles and twins, and I believe the same will be true this time around - I'm fine with that as long as there's a doeling in there! She is not as steep in the rump as this picture would lead you to believe.

And little Sierra with one of our pecan trees. This little girl has enough energy for 3 or 4 goats. She momentarily paused, so I was able to get a picture before she started zooming around again. She is the spitting-image of her daddy who is out of the top-milk-producing doe at one of the more well-known ND farms in the area. Daisy was bred to Sierra's sire's littermate brother. I have high hopes for my girls and what they will produce for our family!

And finally, a picture of Sierra being a pest. Daisy just stood there - poor thing!