New Adventures

One of our mutual dreams and goals back before we were married was to have a small farm where we could grow and raise nourishing food to feed the family we hoped to have one day. Now four years later we have a family, a garden, and as of this weekend, we finally have our jersey cow.

Our two year old is so excited to have a cow and a source for our very own fresh milk. He asks about the cow every day and has taken it as his responsibility to help dad milk in the evenings. After watching the routine only one time, he knew all there was to know about taking care of the milk after bringing it back into the house.

We started the cow on the pasture but after the first night when she just paced the fence line and bawled, we felt it was better for both the cow and our neighbors to put her in the barn to get her comfortable with us and her new surroundings before expecting her to stay calm out in the wide open by herself. She has been doing much better in the barn! We can't wait to get her out on the fresh spring grass though!

She is a very friendly cow who willingly follows and sticks by Aaron. She had been bottle-fed as a calf and somewhat babied by her previous owner. It's nice that we haven't had to work to get her to like people, but she's still not very comfortable with us milking her yet. She's got some stubborn mother in her that won't let all her milk down because we're not her babies! Hopefully she'll get used to the idea before too long, because we're certainly not overloaded with milk at our current yield of +/- 1 gallon a day. And I can't wait to have extra cream for butter! Now we're talking about getting another small animal so the cow isn't all alone out there. We enjoyed raising a lamb last summer, but haven't decided what else we'll get this year, or if we'll be adding to our farm for sure just yet.

Transplanting to Bigger Pots

Our tomato plants have taken off and are growing like crazy! It was high time we transplanted them into bigger pots before their roots were all intertwined in one big knot, so that's what my garden helper and I did over the weekend. 

Last year when I transplanted tomatoes, I used the little biodegradable cardboard cups. Those things can be pretty pricey, and we didn't have very good success with them, so I opted for a free pot option this year. 

We've been getting locally made butter in these little 16-oz. plastic containers. Instead of throwing them out, I saved them to use as transplant pots! Between these and some other random 16-oz. sour cream containers, I had more than enough for this years' crop. 

One of the biggest issues we had last year with the biodegradable pots were that we had a hard time controlling the moisture. The pots ended up soaking up all the water and rotting, leaving the soil inside either really wet or dry. Maybe I just didn't know how to take care of them, but one fail was enough for me to try something different.

In effort to get my watering and moisture levels better, I poked about 6 holes in the bottom of each of the containers with a nut pick. I made the holes more at the bend of the container rather than directly on the bottom so they wouldn't create a seal as they soaked up water. My idea was not just to drain excess water, but to be able to get watered from the bottom, so they could soak up just as much as they needed, and also to encourage the roots to grow deeper to find the water source. This should also eliminate any stem rot due to overwatering.

I started the seeds in these little Jiffy starter pellets (the best way to start seeds in my experience!) You can see the roots were ready for more soil! 

And this is what they looked like re-potted.

Here is what I used for transplant soil. I had told myself last year (after an unsuccessful growing season while using it) that I wouldn't be buying this stuff again, but I didn't know what else to get. Since I'd heard good things about it from other gardeners, I decided to give it another shot. And I went big and bought a cubic foot of it! It was much cheaper in bigger quantities and I figured between this year and next it'd get used. (Providing it actually did well for me this time!) 

So far I think it has been a major success. I am loving my new watering method! These plastic containers have worked so well! I'm beginning to wonder if it wasn't the cardboard pots that were my problem before, and not the soil.

My little buddy was a great help transplanting our seedlings. He has so enjoyed being a part of the gardening process! I was a little nervous letting him help with the fragile little plants at first, but we had extra and I wanted him to be able to help and learn, and he did really well! I could hand him the plants and leave him to do the rest on his own. He was so careful! 

Sadly, our peppers aren't doing so swell. They are only this tall after 5 weeks!!! Some of them just popped out of the soil a week ago. I'm kind of disappointed, since I need peppers but have never done well with them. I think I'll have to change my ways next year and either start them a month or two earlier or else put a heat lamp up. I'm tempted to go out and buy a couple plants from a greenhouse just to raise our chances of harvesting some.