April on the Homestead

Because every garden needs some pretties.

The month began with several weeks of rain, which kept me out of the garden. When I finally did emerge from the house, I was depressed to see most of my seedlings had been devoured by slugs and snails - my two great gardening nemeses. You see, especially in the spring, if I don't get out in the garden every day and hand pick slugs and snails and feed them to the chickens, they obliterate my garden in a very short time. I know this...so shame on me. (I do also sprinkle Sluggo or Cory's around my garden, but it quickly stops working if it's raining.)

I lost my desire to garden for about 2 weeks. Then I finally got my act together and restarted some seeds to replace my lost seedlings. So yes, my garden is behind.

BUT the peas are growing well, and my spinach and beets and carrots are still around. I had some leftover lettuce and kale seedlings, which I transplanted. And I've been harvesting lots of radishes, plus herbs - including chives, sage, and oregano.

Seedlings (that slugs and snails love).

Last week, I sowed some warm weather vegetables and herbs: yard long beans, green beans, squash (zucchini, patty pan, butternut, and buttercup), basil, chamomile, and cilantro. I also started some flower seeds: marigolds, allysum and calendula. Tomatoes will come next; I'll buy small plants next month.

My 7 year old daughter has been jealously guarding her own little garden - a pot near our front porch. Last month, she chose and started the seeds - carrots, lettuce, and California poppies. Last weekend, she planted them out and every day, without me reminding her, she checks to see if the pot needs watering, then uses the watering can, if necessary. It's fun to watch and it makes her feel very proud.

The blueberries have started to grow berries!

In the meantime, the chicks have outgrown their awkward look and are now living outside full time. My husband made our old chicken run secure, added a perch, and covered it partially with a tarp. They live quite happily there, coming out to forage most days. They are still nervous when they aren't contained and only forage in one small area of the yard. We are teaching them about what we jokingly call the Blue Hoe God - a blue plastic toy hoe we use to herd our chickens. The grown up hens don't much like the new girls - which is why we keep the flocks separated. The big girls continue to lay sporadically, and we hope to butcher them next month.