Not only does a milk cow give us all of the dairy products we can imagine, she gives plenty of manure too! Some folks might not think that is a good thing, but we do. On a homestead, one can never have too much poop. But we’ve already spread the last big pile on the garden, so when Will needed to move this last pile this weekend when the weather was so nice, we decided to make another huge compost pile out of it. We need to fertilize and mulch the fruit trees in the orchard this spring, and I’m sure we can find plenty of other good uses for it. So Will spent a couple hours with the tractor moving the pile from the driveway around to a convenient spot next to the orchard/chicken yard gate. Now we have this huge pile, 9 feet high, tightly packed, and steaming nicely. You’d be surprised how quickly it turns to nice rotted compost — our black gold.

I’ve been busy writing and getting seeds sorted. This week I’ll be starting our first peppers and some petunias. They take forever to get large and we want to set out lusty, strong plants this spring. I’ve got three big totes full of seeds, but it seems like every year we order more to try so we can trial different varieties. Who knows when we’ll discover another “favorite”?

Yesterday, we went south to pick up a Bourbon Red tom turkey. We’ve been looking for a tom for our one hen for a long time. The farm we picked him up from was only 25 miles from our son, Bill’s, house, so we combined a visit with a poultry pickup. I got to play with my grandson, Mason, and hold my new granddaughter, Ava. What an enjoyable way to spend a day! To top it off, my son, David drove down and back, so Will got a break too. — Jackie

5 COMMENTS

  1. Aww. Ava is too cute in her striped pants and baby hat :). SO glad she is doing well. You and your whole family continue to provide inspiration.

  2. Joyce,

    Ava was early and weighed in at 4 pounds and 15 ounces. But she is growing fast. And way cute!!!

    Jackie

  4. Of all the beautiful and informative pictures you have shared with us…THIS is my favorite. How beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing your life with so many folks. BHM is wonderful, but YOU are an inspiration, a fire and an absolute to so many. Thank you, Shannon

  5. can’t see the baby,but i just know you did a lot of loving on her. i don’t remember if you said how much she weighed. they do grow up way too fast.

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