I didn't start a large variety of seeds this year. But we started a large number. We have Rosa Bianca Eggplant, a variety of heirloom tomatoes and peppers including a Chocolate pepper that appears to have a really crummy germination rate. I also start a few dozen rainbow swiss chard. And we also have tomatilloes. Our tomatilloes last year just made delicious salsa verde. We want to make a lot of that and can it this year.
I got a canner the end of last summer and have been experimenting with it over the winter. It definitely takes some time to feel comfortable with it. I recently canned a lot of dried beans. Dried beans are so much cheaper than canned so we never buy canned. But it gets old having to soak them before each use or soak and freeze and then thaw bags of them. So this will be a convenience food.
I have my two sweet little girls laying here next to me. They are watching Cinderella. Eudora says she plans to marry a prince when she grows up. LOL
David is on a planting spree right now. We have planted or are planting now apples, pears, figs, mulberries, kiwi, juneberry, currants, blueberries, autumn olive, cherries, strawberries and asparagus. We also just cut down a tree today that will be inoculated with Shitake mushroom spawn. I can't wait. I've always wanted to grow mushrooms.
Our chickens are laying well. They had been averaging about 9 eggs a day but that has gone up recently with as much as 13 in a day. With the amount we spend on feed that comes to between .50 and .66 per dozen. We are able to feed them pretty cheaply because they eat all our scraps.
Next week we have a poultry order shipping the day after my birthday. It's a whopping 77 birds. We are getting mostly chickens but several ducks and turkeys as well. We'd love to raise our own Christmas and Thanksgiving turkey with a couple more for the freezer. And the ducks, well we have had ducks before and they are just adorable. We have a spot for a nice little pond back by the chicken coop that we plan to excavate for them. I'd like to get a rain water catchment system set up on the coop roof that redirects to the pond only a couple of yards a way to keep it filled. The pond will also double as a water storage system for the garden.
We have lots of plans but not enough time and energy. But we get a little bit more done each year. I was just showing David today the solar shower at Path to Freedom. That would be so nice to have and David said it looks pretty simple for him to make. We all get so grimy working outside this time of year. I think showering outdoors is so nice anyway when we have been able to do it at the beach.
We lost the camera for over month but found it yesterday. I'll have to eventually get around to posting some pictures on here of what we are doing.
