It’s been unusually dry this spring, so the small shower we got today was greatly appreciated. My daughter took some beautiful shots around the farm as the sun was setting…
Spring rains
Horses on the horizon
The girls have been working their way toward getting horses and their day may be coming…
Earlier this month we trenched water and electric to the back field in preparation for the barn.
Hopefully soon we will be adding electric fencing and a run-in for our future horses to escape the bad weather. We’ll be working on those this coming month. For now, we are “leasing” a quarter horse named Lena. Leasing a horse is kinda like owning it because you can ride anytime, and in exchange, pay for room and board at the barn.
The girls have been taking horse care/riding lessons for a while and we’ve been talking about getting horses for years. We decided to lease Lena since we aren’t sure if she’s just the right horse for us, so we can “try before we buy”.
The babies have arrived
We got such a fun variety of colors and markings this year! 10 baby goats. Two sets of twins and two sets of triplets!
Happy Resurrection Day
Look what we found Easter morning? Triplets! Cookie, the very round goat that was ready to pop in the last post, gave birth to three kids in the wee hours of Easter morning. By the time we found them, they were all dried off, walking around and nursing without any issues. We were blessed with two light colored does and a dark baby buck!
About ready to pop!
Our goat gals are just about ready to give birth to their kids. They are due within two weeks. Cookie, the goat shown above, naturally has a “hay belly”, or a very round belly, but she is pushing the limits right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had triplets. Twins are pretty regular with goats, especially if it’s not their first time. We have yet to have triplets, so we’ll see…
The others are due at the same time, but aren’t quite as barrel-like as Cookie.
Elf always has a streamlined physique. She is finally starting to look pregnant.
My mini greenhouse
So, when my seedlings get too big to cover with plastic wrap or those clear plastic covers that come from the store with the “seed starting kit”, I find big clear plastic bags and completely enclose my fluorescent lights and plant trays. The lights create a nice warmth and the bag keeps the moisture inside.
I just cut little slits in the plastic bags and run the hanging chains right through them.
The plants seem to love their mini-green. I make sure to water them everyday with a spray bottle. I just heavily spritz them like a light rain. If I find they need more water, I’ll pour a half inch or less water in the bottom of the tray to bottom-water them. When they get about 5-6 inches tall, I gently brush my hand over the tops of them to replicate a breeze to help strengthen their stems. They seem to love it ❤️
Seed Setting
It’s time! Time to get those seeds started for the long growing or cold season veggies. We have tomatoes, peppers and eggplant started inside and will be planted outside after the the last frost date (around Mother’s Day for us).
We also started some of the cold weather seeds inside which we will probably be putting outside this week since they can handle the cold weather. I started red and green cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts in styrofoam cups which I will tear off the bottom half before putting them in the garden so their roots can grow down into the soil. In the bright white cups, I’m less likely to hoe them over when the spring weeds start popping up.
I poke drainage holes in the cups before filling with dirt.
Label, label, label the pots. I always think that I’ll remember what I planted and where, but I inevitably forget, even a few days later. I used popsicle sticks this year, but writing right on the cup works too!
After making sure the dirt is plenty moist, I cover the tray with cling wrap. The deep trays that I use are actually restaurant busboy trays that I found in the foodservice aisle at Sams Club. The cling wrap helps prevents evaporation and works as a mini greenhouse.
In previous years, I’ve tried just setting my plants in a sunny window and end up with weak, spindly plants. Instead, I use a 4 foot fluorescent workshop light hanging from thin chains from tiny hooks in my ceiling. Using chains, I can start with the lights low over the trays and move up as needed. When the lights are too far way from the plants, the stems tend to grow long and thin. I want thick stocky stems, so I keep the light just out of reach of the plants. When the plants get tall enough to almost touch the lights, I simply adjust the hooks on the chain to raise the light a bit. I leave the hooks in my ceiling all year, and just hang the light on the chains when I’m growing seedlings.
I make room for the plants to grow on my hutch right in my dining room because, for me, the farther out of sight they are, the farther they are from my mind, and I NEED to make sure they get spritzed with water each day. In my next post I’ll show what I do when the plants outgrow their cling wrap or “greenhouse” cover.
Spring is on the Way!
As winter is drawing to a close and we see ever so slight hints that spring is around the corner, our farm starts to come alive from its winter hibernation. We trade in our snow boots for mucking boots, and trudging through snow piles for romping through the muddy puddles left by the thawing snow. Along with the mess of winter’s exit, we have the introduction of new life. This year, our teen daughters have ventured into breeding Holland Lop bunnies! They have an adorable blue buck and a broken brown tort doe. It’s a whole new language that we’re still learning.
Apparently, first time mom bunnies tend to lose their first litter, so we were surprised to find five living baby bunnies! They had chosen the specific buck and doe for the color variations that they could produce, so it was fun to see what she actually gave birth to. After a few days of looking like baby rats, they started growing in their fur and we found 2 jet black, one black and white, and a blue tort (which is a blend of blue (which is really grey with a blue hue) and black like a tortoise shell).
Sadly, we lost one of the baby buns at about a week, and another at 3 weeks. I think we are going to find out that maybe that’s just a part of rabbitry, and first time moms. The three remaining babies are going to be going to their new homes right around April 1st! And not long after, we will be in kidding season for our four mom goats!
Sable Creek Farm 