Birds v Garden, and what else is going on at the homestead

Between the birds either eating the leaves off the plants, or the doves eating the newly planted seeds, my patience were being tested to their limit.  I thought all would be good once I put up the bird netting over their two favorite beds, this morning I found the corn bed had been dug up and a few of the plants dug out  and left aside... the culprit -  a stray cat did its part to "fertilize' the garden.  And so began my day.............

A few days ago I was able to acquire about 40 yards of wood chips from the church next door, they had two huge trees cut down and the contractor kindly offered to bring over all the chips left by the chainsaw cutting.  I never thought I could be so excited about receiving wood chips! 




Today is the day the chicks are supposed to be delivered..... again.  Called the farm store, no chicken delivery yet, probably tomorrow they say.  At least this time my name is on the list.

About all I can do in the garden now is daily weeding and watching things grow.  So it's time for me to start getting my canning and freezing supplies ready for harvest time.  The local strawberry season is nearly here and I plan to go pick my own to make into jam.  Next year I plan to add fruit to the garden. 

We have about 1/4 acre which can be used for our little farm.  The house is set right in the center of our 3/8 acre lot.  The back section is for vegetable garden, chickens and goats.  The front section will be used for our dwarf orchard of cherry, peach, apple trees, and blueberry bushes. Strawberries will be located in the garden area at the south side of the house.  The back vegetable garden will also be expanded next year to add at least three more raised beds.

Satellite view from more than 2 years ago.  I can't wait for it to go around again so it shows all the changes we've made.  The shadows are pointing north.

The white cups in the tomato bed contain new tomato seedlings which I needed to replace all the plants that the birds ate.

These hoops are now covered with bird netting.

The urn in the background is where I have planted cherry tomatoes which should  grow to drape down the outside of the urn.








All for now...............Happy Homesteading!