What We Did the Last Two Days

We've kept busy. Phil put up new fencing for the pigs down in the forest, and there they are, happily rooting and sleeping. He managed to separate out the calves and nurse cow Bethany, along with Fern, and sent them to join the yearling heifers in the lower pasture. Bianca and Red (now called Snowman, his "proper" name) are still near the house. I plan to start milking Bianca again tomorrow, and hopefully she'll produce some for our personal consumption. She's bawling, but she'll get over it.

The sheep and goats Phil moved to another pen, and now, with the animals fenced and separated in different locations, he's ready to start plowing and tilling. (First, though, he's raking the surface, to get rid of the sticks and rocks.)

The animal management and new fence building has been a massive undertaking: he's carried 16' fence panels through deep ravines, strung up electric netting and taken it down. But, at the end, he said, "Animal moving today has gone so smoothly!" What a blessing.

I planted one of the lasagna garden beds with carrots and radishes yesterday. Before we left Colorado, we bought an Earthway seeder, which drops seeds into the little furrow plowed, and covers the soil again, while marking the proper row as we walk. I had attempted to use it when we first moved here, and there was just no way: my garden bed had about 1/2" of soil, and 3 inches of hay; 1/4" peat moss, and another 3" of hay, with a scattering of soil on the top. When I tried to plow a furrow, the entire bed shifted and slid.

Now, though, with the extra composted manure to build up the beds, the Earthway was a delight. No more random scattering of carrot and radish seeds for me!

I've spent hours in the greenhouse. Today was a day for seeding flowers. I've never had any success with flowers, other than a few cosmos, nasturtiums, and marigolds, but the vivid colors and interesting textures keep calling from seed catalog pages, so I planted statice, strawflower, gomphrena (globe amaranth), borage, echinacea, and lavender. Most aren't good for eating, but I think they will be good for my soul, and good for the bees and other flying pollinators, so I earnestly hope they grow well.