The diagram didn't come out as legible as I'd like it...my graphic arts skills are wanting.  But there's a rough idea of my massive project, almost twice the area we had last year.

Where?

With strikes and playoffs, it's been crazy enough.  But then, there's the garden.  I ordered my seeds Sunday night, express shipping, and got them Tuesday.  Since, I've planted 2 1/2 lbs. of corn seed, and lots of carrots and other little stuff.  The company left another lb. of corn seed out of my order, so I'm waiting on that to arrive, and I THINK that the remaining area will hold that much...maybe.  I may have a little more seed than I need, but it'll be close.

With fierce winds starting Wed. afternoon and on through the night, my tomato plants took a real beating.  We need to get some plastic up on the fence as a partial windblock.  Chloe, the pig, got loose due to human error...kids were playing with the piglets (attempting), and left the fence improperly closed.  She got into the garden, but fortunately didn't touch the plants.  The dogs knocked down a section of temporary fence in order to chase the pig.  Fortunately, though, no casualties, and dd coaxed Chloe back to her pen with some feed.

I still have beans and peas to plant.  I ordered a pound of each, which is probably much more than I have room to plant.  However, that will have to wait until dh gets a breather to help me with the set up we have in the area for stringing.  We're using parts from metal frame pools which met untimely ends.  I just need dh to figure out how he wants to stabilize it.  I had things pieced together, but the wind (predictably) took it down.

Radishes, planted Saturday, have begun to poke through.  Radishes are great encouragers.  With such a short germination time, they let you know that things are fine!  Shouldn't be long before other things start sprouting.  Unfortunately, though, I see lots of tomatillos popping up everywhere.  That's the sequel to my post, "Tomatoes in my garden", but I haven't completed it.  They reseed something fierce, and will take over everything.  So as soon as they're big enough to identify, we'll be pulling like crazy.  Those and the Bermuda grass. 

We MAY have ducklings any day.  The first set never hatched.  One broken egg was enough to send dd into gagging fits.  Those eggs were confiscated, but another hen was allowed to set a nest.  Yesterday, as I was preparing meatloaf for dinner, I cracked a duck egg.  As I was cracking it, I noticed the dark tint to areas of the shell.  Uh oh!  Too late, I realized what I was seeing, a partly formed duckling.  Didn't wait to find out if it stunk, and for a moment, was grateful for the sinus trouble I'd been having lately.  Definitely, I'm glad I crack eggs into a separate bowl before adding to the recipe in process. 

That's life on the ranch these days, gearing up for a ball game tonight, as our team is now in the "losing bracket".  Winds are expected, which could make it a tough game.  However, we've played in the wind before.  We'll be facing the team we beat last Saturday, hope it goes well. 

Blessings!

Finally...

We've been re-doing the fencing, decreasing the goat area to make room for more corn, and finally are at the place where we can plant.  I'm still sore from a week of leveling and organizing the areas.  Goat manure is really good fertilizer, so I expect great things out of the new area.  The block wall dh started along one edge incorporates parts from a trampoline as posts, the block wall being 2 blocks high, and the posts being used for field fencing.  We'll do more block as we're able on other edges, but this is a big step out of the way. 

I was able to get 12 tomato plants and 9 pepper plants in Saturday night.  Also a couple each of watermelon, cantaloupe, and zucchini plants.  The rest of the squash, watermelon, and cantaloupe were planted (seeds).  Yesterday, I got my cucumber seed, Jahrradale pumpkin, and some assorted broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, and spinach seed in.  DD helped with radishes and carrots, and the little boys helped with green onion and basil.  I think I also got some Swiss chard and beets planted. 

I have an order in for the remaining seed that I need.  It may seem late, but we've planted some things late May to mid-June the last couple of years, and those things did pretty much as well as the things planted prior.  With corn, especially, I've found that the plants from mid-June catch up with the end of May plants, and produce right around the same time.  Anything much after that doesn't do well.  Same with my squash and pumpkins, so I think we're good.  I didn't have tomatillo seed, but I won't be surprised is wild tomatillos sprout;  I ordered some seed, and I'll pull the reseeded plants...don't want to replay last year's mess.  We're going to try to do more beans and peas this year, and we're looking at ways to create a shading or greenhouse over the tomato area!  It's an ambitious project, to say the least. 

In the meantime, the turkeys are getting big.  The duck eggs haven't produced any chicks.  The chickens haven't turned out to be very good brooders either.  We tried handling the piglets last night, and they are so skittish.   They hide behind their mama, and you have to chase her a bit to get them separated enough to catch one.  There are 4 girls, 2 boys.  DH has a new area he's fencing for the pigs so we can take down the remaining block from Chloe's current pen; we'll reuse the block for the garden fencing. 

Lazy days of summer?  I think not!

Blessings from the ranch!

Dizzy Dog?



Sunshine on my tummy makes me sleepy!


A perfect sunning spot!




I love my food dish!

Another busy weekend here in the good ol' hot Nevada desert, where we hopped into the hundreds yesterday, 104 here,Vegas was as high as 109.  We're supposed to have a couple more days of the heat, then drop dramatically into the 70's and 80's for a few days...YIKES!!!!!

Friday, we were able to put up the above ground pool...we had to replace last years' due to the damage that occurred last fall when a big wind took it for a ride, turning it upside down over the garden.  We won't be draining this one.  DH got the area level, got the tarp and liner positioned with our assistance, then handed the directions over to the eldest 3 kiddos, who successfully assembled the thing with only a couple of challenges here and there.  It filled overnight, and on through Saturday morning while we went to the baseball games.  We arrived home just at the right time, to a full (just about ready to run over but not quite) pool.  We got to enjoy the 70 degree water that afternoon, and again yesterday, though it had warmed up to a slightly more comfortable 74 degrees!  Fun!  Practical homeschooling in action.  Public schools value teachers' use of cooperative learning activities, but having the kids assemble something so big, with so many parts, and do so successfully, is much more practical!  They did the same last weekend when they replaced the mat and pad on the trampoline!

In Baseball News:

DS's team won their game against a team they had previously lost to twice.  DS  had a great hit to left field, everyone heard the bat crack the ball.  It was fantastic!  Three more games, then playoffs!  Friday's paper normally has the little league scores, but not last Friday.  An oversight?  Perhaps, but then again, maybe the number one team didn't want their first loss noticed!  They were losing their game when we left the field Saturday.  The opposing team had them down in a previous game, but fireworks erupted over an umpire's call, the coach lost it, the ump ejected him and another parent, and the game ended up being lost.  I don't think so this time. 

In Ranchy News: 

The piglets are quite active, though skittish.  DD is anxiously awaiting my conclusion of this post so she can research some.  She's already counting her share of any $$$ from selling off the babies, so she needs to find details on how old before they can go!  Quite the business girl!  I still haven't gotten pics, better do it before she sells them!  Now, though, they are out in the pen, and easier to view.

Blessings!

PIGLETS!

Chloe gave birth to seven, one of which is dead, the other six living.  All black, no indications of any other splashes of color.  We'll have to research a tinge to see if we should wait to handle them, so for now, we're not sure how many boys and girls.  For you animal enthusiasts, the piglets' eyes are open, and they're mobile, but shivering while mom is out of the little house part of the shelter to eat.  Lots of biology first hand at the Ranch! 


Blessings!

P.S.  I'll post a picture when I get a chance to take one! 

Saturday was long, started way too early, but baseball was a blast.  Gametime was 8:00 AM, so needless to say, the troops had to be up and doing their chores EARLY!  DH took 11 yo early, they had to be at the field by 7:30, the rest of us got there just at the start.  Unloaded the vehicle and watched from the fence as the first batter got on base, and then 11 yo hit the first pitch that came his way.  A nice double to get things going!  The kids were really hitting well and fielding well!  During a later inning, the opposing team had a beautiful hit out toward left field.  Third baseman stuck his arm out and caught the ball!  It was great!  DS walked, and hit another ball just inside the third base line to get a single in later innings.  I don't remember the exact score, but it was a 10 run lead, as the league has a rule at this level limiting scoring to 5 runs per inning, and limiting a win to a 10 run maximum. 

Tee ball wasn't quite as intense, but 5 yo did great, now fielding well, and hitting well also.  He is very deliberate when he throws.  Stopping, taking a look, stepping and throwing, he is getting much better.  7 yo had a day off from games, but we'll have 3 games and a birthday in a two day span this week.

Around the "ranch", it's been a battle with the elements, as winds were horrid for a couple of days when we intended to get our garden wall redone.  We got a good start, but that wind was something.  The gray crested duck is still faithfully tending her nest, and dd noticed another set of eggs forming, and will be allowing for another nest.  We have a hefty supply of eggs in the house for  food, so it will take a while to work through those, anyways.  The chickens are also still tending their clutch of eggs, so perhaps in another week we'll see some new chicks and ducklings!  Chloe the pig looks bigger by the day, still no piglets, though.  The puppies all found new homes, with the exception of the two the family picked to keep.  "Caspian" and "Eowyn" are getting pretty active around the yard!  They're really cute!

My favorite purple blooms are coming out...the mesquite trees are so pretty, especially those with purple blooms.  There's still a chill in the morning air, but once that sun is up, it's toasty.  Thankfully, a good swamp cooler keeps things comfortable!  If only there were a device to keep little boys from accident prone activities. 

That's the latest from the "ranch", where we're tending to wildlife and wild boys.  Blessings!

Trixie and pups...we'll be giving away all but 2 this week!



Chloe, the pig...due anytime!





Check out that nifty nest...the grey crested duck has been keeping the eggs warm.  She made the nest, up close you can see better, but it's nicely rounded.  Dh thought maybe the kids made it.  Nope...it was the duck!

7 yo got his first hit in their game Saturday.  He hasn't played baseball before, and he's coming along slowly, but surely, as he gets his timing down bit by bit.   He can be aloof when he gets out among the other kids, and likes to goof off some.  He's usually swinging his bat too soon or too late.  Needless to say, the hit surprised both him and Coach!  It wasn't a huge hit, didn't get real far from homeplate, but it was a hit, it was fair, and it was his!  It took a moment to realize what had happened, then he ran to first.  The grin on his face was priceless, and I didn't have my camera.  Darn.  He stood facing second base, ready to run, and his face was all smiles!

Tee ball is fun, and there is some maturing now as the kids no longer swarm the ball when it's hit.  Batting is more sure, throws more accurate, and 5 yo is having fun!

Minors is really exciting for 11 yo, he's supposed to catch the first 2 innings in this week's game, then he'll get a chance to pitch.  He's got a tire nailed up to a board out back so he can practice. 

In the meantime, ranchy life is going busily along.  We got the rest of the pine trees planted, and are waiting to see if the small ones go back on sale.  DH got the garden roto-tilled last night, tough in the wind, but the winds got much worse after he finished.  We're looking at stealing some of the goat space for more corn planting.  The goats easily have as much space as some homes sit on, so they won't miss a little bit.

We picked up a female potbelly, a new wife for Arnold.  Unfortunately for him, she's pregnant, so he won't have her close until after the babies are born.  We also picked up a new rooster for our previously leaderless flock.  The kids have noticed a broody hen, so we're going to give her a chance to hatch a clutch of eggs, and the ducks, as well, are tending to a nest.  The kids are keeping track of expected hatch dates.  Nice science study, as we'll see how the different fowl handle nesting, parenting, and such.  Also great for comparing the time it takes for each to hatch.  Genetics, as there are different breeds in each case.  Will the male's characteristics prevail?  The male duck is a mallard, whereas there are 4 different breeds of females.  Our rooster is Rhode Island Red, while there are also Auracana and Plymouth Rock hens. 

The puppies are 4 weeks, very cute.  They are quite mobile, and if I get a chance later, I'll try to get a couple of pictures up.  Most are named, though we certainly won't be keeping all 8 of them. 

That's the way things are shaping up here on the ranch, busy with baseball, braving the dust and the winds, and hoping to get that garden going soon.

Blessings!

When you homeschool, learning is a 24/7 experience.  Our lessons this week?  Things like herd/flock management, transplanting of trees, labor and economics, etc.  Biology, Zoology...amazing that you can experience these subjects, rather than just skim through a textbook writer's summary in order to pass a test and never again care about some of the matter.  Amazing!  Life on our small ranch is an investment in real life experience that weighs far greater in the balances than that contained within the walls and confines of the institution known as public school.  And we realize how truly blessed we are at this point in time to have the opportunity through the Lord's provision to be engaging in the experiences and activities of late.  While not all homeschoolers want or have the opportunity to do some of these things, God can and does bless and gift each family uniquely!  Some of the blogs I visit testify to the fantastic scenery and sights visited, experiences gained, and it's so much fun to travel those routes through your writings and photos...I hope those who visit here get a chuckle or two out of our experiences as well!

I thought I'd give a virtual field trip around the "ranch", giving an up to date view of the animals (more than 50 now, including goldfish...unless Crush gets a hankering for goldfish today!).  Likewise, the current # of trees on the property exceeds 50.  DH has been telling me we had room for well over a hundred, and I didn't stop to realize that he's right, until we took a gander!

The goat herd:

We gained a couple more last week, a doe and a wether.  They're small, not sure if they're pygmy, or mixed, or what, but definitely a small variety.  Dottie is the brown and white, and Matches is the black and white.  This brings our grand total to 6.  Oreo is our first, a doe, nubian mix.  Starbuck, the biggest, seems to be the leader.  He's a nubian and a wether.  The mostly black pair are Hershey ( a wether) and Tootsie Roll (a doe).  Not completely sure of their breed either.

The Gang!



Starbuck


Matches and Dottie


Arnold

...We haven't found a new mate for him yet since the demise of "Bac'n Bits" last fall.  One feed store sells potbelly pigs for nearly 150$...not gonna do that!  The main feed store we use sometimes has them, we'll see!


7 ducks, plenty of eggs!  Yum!


3 Turkey Chicks, approximately 1 month old.


3 more turkey chicks, a few days old.

No chicken pics for now!


Molly Puppy Rose Bud...great personality!


The babies...



And the parents!



And just for Kristy, a shot of Crush, along with *some* of his companions!



And another view!

Out front, we have 12 little pine trees to plant, holes being dug for those and another 12, which we hope to purchase and plant later in the week, as Star Nursery has a pretty good deal on them.  Of course, this means lots of work for the family, and Daddy is paying a per hole fee, so there's lots of motivation!  That's our family economic stimulus package! 

Additional work cropped up, thanks to a freecycle offer!  Someone offered their fruit trees, if we'd dig them up.  We ended up with 11 fruit trees to transplant out front.  A pluot, a pear, an apricot, a peach, a fuji apple, and several nectarine trees.  Monday, needless to say, was a HUGE work day...11 extra holes had to be dug during the day, we went and got the trees that afternoon (this went pretty quickly), and dh came home and planted, with the girls' help, while the boys and I went on to baseball practice.  Poor 11 yo was worn out by the end of it all, as he's playing catcher, and got little break during practice. 




So far so good! 


A couple of the fruit trees went in amidst a pine tree area!


And of course, the Salt Cedar, Mesquite, whatever exactly it is, is starting to get nice and green, which means that those gorgeous purple blooms are just around the corner!  We definitely have our own view of the 4 seasons here, and though the color changes aren't as spectacular as some places, it is lovely and interesting!  That's life as we work around the ranch, enjoy the weather, and gear up for a busy springtime!

Blessings!

Since Kristi asked...here are puppies and mama, Trixie...

One of the pooches delivered a litter of puppies yesterday.  Our Palm Sunday arrivals total 8!  5 boys, 3 girls.  Hubby would like to keep 3...good to have a nice patrol network!  As long as they don't touch the chickens and ducks.  She didn't pick a particularly springy day to have them, as a cold system moved in with lots of wind.  Still, mama and pups seem to be doing well.

Other signs of spring include the bunnies:  both jack rabbits and cotton tails appear to be plentiful.  Our neighbor dug up a burrough of bunny babies the other day, asked for our help since we were more "rustic" than he.  That, in and of itself was funny...we thought he was more the hillbilly type, but he was sad for the bunnies because he didn't know what to do for them and didn't want them to perish.  Hubby suggested he take them to the vet or at least ask the vet what to do.  The whole thing did trigger a quick internet search for info on the part of animal-loving dd.  Remember the day when we would have to check Worldbook Encyclopedia or visit the library for such research?  Ah, the good old days.

Out for an evening walk last week, we heard quite the coyote chorus.  Hubby figured they were announcing the arrival of the pups.  We picked up a great coyote puppet (coy-co-te, according to youngest dd) when we went through Death Valley in Feb., and picked up a wonderful Jack Rabbit puppet and owl finger puppet a couple of weeks ago when we went with family...this was DH's birthday gift.  We opened presents last night, though today is the big day.  Normally, we skip corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's day, as hubby loves tacos.  However, with baseball practice during the dinner hour tonight, we opted for a taco laden weekend, enough for leftovers for a couple more days for dh, and will get the corned beef going in the early afternoon.  Yum!

Hope your last week of winter is not too blustery, and that you are blessed as you prepare for an early Easter! 

Blessings from the Ranch!

We had a baby red slider turtle, but he (Squirt) died the other day.  We're not sure what happened, but he had seemed sluggish.  Crush, the big turtle, was batting him about the tank, we suppose he was trying to get him to respond.  Crush seemed sad and slow.  The two often played or basked together. 

We picked up another companion for him at the feed store.  It's not legal to sell the babies, but apparently they can be given away.  You just pay 15 or so dollars for a small container of turtle food. 
When we put the new turtle in, Crush was quickly curious, batting the intruder about, and getting close, face to face, and running his claws over the baby turtle numerous times with  a sort of vibrating motion.  It was as if he was feeling his new acquaintance.  Really interesting.

The feed store ALSO had baby chicks in!  We picked up 4 turkey chicks, looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner already!  Let's see how well we do this year.  Lessons learned last year?  Turkeys need the right feed.  Turkeys will drown in duck water.  Turkeys will kill ducks.  Turkeys are DUMB...not hardy...hear it from more than one source, and experience agrees with the reports.

We don't really need ducks or chickens at the moment.  The 3 hens that survived last year's massacre may be starting to lay again, and the 5 hens we picked up at the feed store in December all seem to be laying now.  Down the road, maybe we can get a structure together to raise chickens for meat, but until then, I think we're good.  Between chicken and duck eggs, I'm well stocked.  Easily twice a week I'm serving eggs for dinner, and even so, unable to use all that we have on hand.  The kids are adjusting to Duck eggs, though there is a difference in texture when you scramble them.  I still think they're way yummier than chicken eggs!

Maybe I'll pick up a small incubator at the feed store, that might allow us to slowly increase either flock, chickens or ducks.  Regardless, spring is fast approaching.  Morning temps still at or below freezing, but trees are starting to bloom and animals are on the move...mostly jack rabbits.  Gardening is still a ways off, and we're re-thinking the fencing.  Can't really plant tomatoes and peppers 'til the end of April or so, not without expecting to lose them to frost, and we've learned that corn and other veggies won't much thrive if we plant before mid to late May.  So right now, still just planning, though the warmer weather could easily fool us!

Hope everyone's spring is shaping up well!  Blessings from the ranch!

Proverbs Mom commented some time back on my great great grandfather's notes at the end of his poetry book, Lyrics of the Lariat.  Thought I'd just make a  quick note on the preceeding entries...they range from months to years old, and I have left them on the backburner, sharing with those I thought they might touch.  I currently have friends going through various trials, whether in church environment or in life challenges, and am posting these as encouragement to them. 

Blessings from the ranch!

We took a trip into our "backyard"...Death Valley and beyond.  I'll post more when I get a moment or two, but it was sort of an exploration in order to find some possible fishing territory, along with other possibilities.  Inyo County is very diverse, containing both the lowest point (Badwater in Death Valley) and highest (Mount Whitney) in the continental United States.  The flowers are beginning to bloom in Death Valley, lots of yellow!  Found a great Coyote puppet for dh!  Many more cool puppets, check the options out at Folkmanis.com if you are into doing puppet shows!  The highest point we came across in death valley was nearly 5000 ft. followed by a quick descent on a 9% grade.  Interesting math explorations ahead!  We came through some extremely lovely, if nervewracking (for the girls) sights.  On the other side, we checked out the Lone Pine Visitor's Center, this is where I purchased the puppet!  Interesting display related to the water plight of the area due to the Los Angeles aqua duct...maybe Nevada could learn a thing or two?  Or not?


After a dinner break, we drove on, thinking we'd get coffee at a Starbucks or something in Independence, it must be big since it's circle on the map was bigger.  Not!  It's the county seat, hence the bigger circle, we discovered in our literature picked up at the visitor's center.  On to Big Pine, and we headed to the mountains...an evening/night drive, we panicked slightly when the road narrowed to one lane for both directions, but breathed sighs of relief when it quickly widened back to two lanes.  Not much traffic, but good road.  We'll look into a springtime trip when the snow is less or gone, to see the ancient bristlecone pine forest and other sights, perhaps to check out Fish lake.  It was a beautiful moonlit drive, and we were home by 9.  Long drive, took lots in, the kids did really well for so much car time.  There's lots of promise for future adventures!

We're recovering, though there was another "puking" incident last night.  I'll eventually catch up on tags, awards, and such.  In the meantime, the weather is beautiful, mid to upper 60's in the afternoons.  3 boys are getting ready for baseball season, another couple weeks and we may be running again.  Our ducks are laying regular...6 eggs per day.  The chickens we got at the feed store a couple of months ago, well they're up to about 2 eggs per day (5 hens plus 3 of our original hens, all 3 of whom quit laying after our rooster died last fall).  Duck eggs are very rich, creamier than the chicken eggs.  The kids are getting a little more accustomed, the flavor isn't bad, but it's different, and there's a little bit of a mental block for some of them.  The nice thing is that our egg supply is up again.  The 3 Khaki Campbells started laying in January, and from what I've read, they lay as many as 300 eggs per year.  Now that's good production!


Not long, and we'll be seeing chicks in the feed stores.  Looking forward to getting more chickens, and to making another go at the turkeys, hopefully more successful with experience under our belts!  But we don't need to get them, really, until May or so to have ready for the holidays.

Anyways, that's life on the ranch for now, getting some fresh air, resting our voices, and re-grouping for spring!

Blessings!

My voice!  It's been bad for days.  The sore throat is mostly better, but I'm still barely squeaking out directions.  My reading lessons are on hold, to the chagrin of the boys, as one was fixin' to finish 100 Easy Lessons in the next week or so.  He'll just have to wait.  The most volume I had all day was immediately after eating hot soup...and it didn't last long.  Oh, well.


Check out those new pictures up top!  13 yo took the big one, 9 yo took the smaller snowy scene!  We have some gorgeous mountain views...every direction, and just fantastic after a good snow.  We haven't gotten any snow ourselves, thus far, and it hasn't been as cold as last winter, really, when we were in the single digits many mornings.  We've only been below 20 a few days, and mostly between 20 and 30 in the mornings.  It was actually pretty sunny this afternoon...made me long for garden days.  Speaking of which, one of my favorite nurseries emailed today to say that their new catalog is coming real soon!  Can't wait for some good outdoor time!

Stay warm, and stay healthy.  Stay clear of Kristy's town...there's a sign by the bridge!

Blessings from the ranch!