More on the Garden

I've been planning more with the garden, collecting items for the next step in construction.

I've got four young Moscovie hen ducks who are laying up a storm. But my barn is still stuffering from a rodent infestation. Baby birds don't have much of a chance against any kind of predators. It's not a good idea to raise them in the barn.

But I can raise them in pens, outside the barn. I did it before, had great success raising both ducklings and chicks.

This is the new idea. Collect up some fence panels, get a water barrel, and put the momma ducks and babies close to the house, but far from the barn. Double fence the low pens, give each hen ducks some space and let the ducklings grow up.

I'm gonna need to get a rainwater source. Make a new rain barrel, and have everything ready by the time the duck eggs hatch. Should be August, if I remember correctly.

Start with a rain barrel. Get the fence panels down to the garden, with the gate and some posts. Fix the old pen panels, find stakes to hold the pens together, then shade the pens from the hot July sun.

I have 30 days to get this together. Let's see if I can make it happen.

Garden Projects

These days, I haven’t got the strength or the energy of my youth. So I pick my projects carefully. Riding a horse once a week has brought back a measure of my old strength, and ambition. Since I laid my old horses to rest, my pastures have been empty, the grass too high and the farm too quiet.

So I acquired some alpacas from a very nice woman who had some breeders to retire. I just want fleece, so these ladies are perfect for me. They’ve surprised me with their constant travels around the farm several times a day. A pasture that held 3 horses and 7 alpacas, yet was still lush enough to cause problems, isn’t gonna have any trouble supporting 5 browsing elderly alpacas. I love the way they constantly nibble on the fence line. They are slowly eating down the brambles, roses and little trees that I had to have removed at quite a considerable expense.

Which brings me to the current project: I want a raised bed garden, one that doesn’t need constant weeding, one that will produce food for winter, herbs, berries and some fruit, too. We picked up our first load of woodchips, and the ladies got a nice layer for their leanto. I gave a small load to the chickens, but they need a lot more. Since this is a city of Elizabethtown perk to the people, we can get wood chips whenever we need them.

That’s likely to mean a trip a week for awhile. The goal is 4 raised garden beds. I want plenty of room to plant kitchen herbs, like garlic, onion, shallots, carrots and potatoes. Fall crops, to start, because it’s gonna take time to get all this set up. Then next spring, it wil be a snap to get it going.

As for why I’m going to all this trouble, well, I don’t live in a vacuum, and I’m quite worried about the near future. Not just for myself, but for the people around me, things are difficult and times are hard. I sell my eggs, and a few plants, at a Farmer’s Market. I plan to use that money to invest in the garden, to buy plants and trees. This garden spot is quite large, and I have plenty of room. It’s time to get it up and running, just in case things on the east coast get really, really weird this fall.

I’d like to garden organically, but my farmer neighbor uses more sprays than I can keep track of. He’s got the biggest sprayer I’ve ever seen, a monstrous device that has a 40’ wingspan.

Mothra has nothing on that big creature.

Everyone has to adapt to their environment. In their own way, and at their own time, so I’m adapting.