So, I feel like I've spent too much time whining lately. This is my "I'm grateful" post. My head is screwed back on straight, the future looks bright, and there are some really good things happening at the farm these days.
First of all, even though I'm watering like a demon right now, we've had some rain this summer (one day in June, and one day in July) but it was enough to make a HUGE difference in the well. It is still FULL!!!! It's really a joy to go peek in it, and there is water almost to the top, even though I've just been watering for two hours straight. Most people are complaining about our weather this summer.... I think it's been just perfect. Not too hot,and enough rain to keep the well full.
Second, and this is really cool... I keep all my grocery reciepts, and have since I moved to the farm. I like to know how my grocery bill is coming down, and by how much. In June, my bill was just over $22. Yep, you heard it right! $22!! Most of that was chocolate;-) July, it was closer to about $50, as I had to get some staples like olive oil and balsalmic vinegar. All I can say is WOW. What a great feeling! I am so much closer to becoming self sustaining.
My little ducks are doing well. The first 5 that were born are huge, and they will be big enough soon to let them out of the ex pen and into the field to forage without worry of ravens eating them. Of the second batch of 11, one of them was weak and died, but I still have 10 really healthy little ducklings in my bathroom.
I've been through 3 different incubators, had failure after failure with breeding chicks, and pretty much gave up. I put a bunch of eggs in my latest incubator a while ago. You are supposed to turn the eggs three times a day. I did it ONCE the whole time. I kept forgetting to unplug the incubator, assuming that this batch was doomed to be a failure, too. Much to my surprise, I had four little chicks born a couple of nights ago! I was astounded. Three of them are Dorking crosses, and one is a pure dorking. So, now I am stoked to try it again! I may try one more batch this fall, and even try to remember to turn them regularly, then I'll do more in the spring. I have also given some eggs to my friend Amanda to hatch out for me, thinking I was going to fail again... so hopefully I will have some more Dorkings come along. It would be nice to breed my own Dorkings instead of having to buy more chicks each year. Plus, I'm hoping to have enough that I can sell the babies, and make a bit of extra money to help pay for the feed.
Next, I am grateful for all the people who have come into my life to offer so much help and support. This week, my friends Dirk and Nicole deserve a mention. They are the farmers in nearby Lantzville, who the town wants to shut down... just because they are growing veggies instead of having an annoyingly perfect lawn. There are a lot of people out there that hate veggies! Anyway, Dirk and Nicole have helped me immensely. They are always there to answer the zillion questions I have, inspire me to work a bit better and harder, and sell me lots of seed garlic at a skookum deal to help me get my numbers up, so maybe I can make a profit next year. They also gave me a bunch of seed potatoes to plant now, so I will have a second fall crop.
That's the all the good stuff I have time for today... more coming!
Sweet tooth
4 months ago
