The Weekly Digs #195

In the Garden

This week it rained and rained. After the ice melted and then the rain came all the ground was so saturated our pastures were super muddy. Aside from getting into the tunnel to weed and lay down some compost, we didn’t do much else in the garden.

Notable garden things:

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• Garlic is coming up and looking great!
• No seeds from my soil block plantings I started last week have sprouted yet. I’m not surprised since it’s been cold and wet. The beauty of this outdoor method is that the seeds will sprout when the timing is right.

Homestead Happenings

We have been able to check off and work on a couple projects around the homestead this week. 

#1. Between Cam and the kids, they fixed all the chicken tractor wheels. The problem with the wheels was that the hub bearing popped out because the wheels have an offset hub. 

They took the wheel frame apart and then put an axle shaft collar tight against the bearing to prevent the bearing from popping out again. Then they assembled the wheel frame as it was previously. 

They roll as smooth as butter now. (FYI I had Cam dictate this all to me since I really had no idea what they were doing out there.)

#2 Cam started a woodworking project for the kitchen. It will all be documented for a future Youtube video coming out in March. Maybe I’ll keep it a surprise until then. It’s simple but going to be beautiful I hope! 

#3 The kids did a bunch of baking this week. I don’t buy the kids processed foods (crackers, cereal, granola bars, potato chips, fruit snacks, etc.) unless we have an event like a trip, which is rare. Our deal with the kids is that if they would like to eat those things, they can buy them with their own money (and they do sometimes!).

Might sound harsh, but honestly knowing what I now know, the food companies make all the junk food as addictive as possible. It is so bad for human health. Eating processed, pesticide, and herbicide laden industrial foods are the whole reason I woke up one day with excruciating stomach pain and acid reflux that took years to figure out and heal.

I didn’t want to ban the store bought treats all together because I was afraid at some point my kids would binge eat it when they left our house haha. But for the most part, because they get junk food sparingly they have appreciation that homemade and homegrown things taste better.

So when they get a craving for a sweet, they just make it at home. It’s been such a good way for them to learn to be proficient cooks! And I always feel like if you’re craving a treat, you’ll know if you really want it if you’re willing to put the work in to make it.

Garden Planning and Baby Gender

As far as what I’ve been up to, my pregnancy related nausea came back this week and it was pretty awful. I did manage to finish editing a YT video, if you haven’t seen it yet you can watch it HERE. 

I also spent some time wrapping up our garden plan and posted about it HERE. 

Thankfully, I’m feeling better now. I don’t know why all the sudden I was sick, but based on how I felt I don’t think it was a virus. No one else in the family was ill so that was the telltale sign that it was a pregnancy thing. 

I also promised to share the baby’s gender here first! 

Ready?!

It’s a BOY!

To be honest, I thought for sure it was a girl just based on how sick I was. I was very sick with Noelle too, but now I’m thinking the fact that I was sick with her and this one must just be related to the fact that I was older with both. 

Noelle was pretty bummed since she will still be the only girl in the family, but we keep reminding her that it means she doesn’t have to share as many things 🙂 It’s exciting either way! We had a couple ideas for girls names but nothing for a boy yet… They are tougher to decide on in my opinion.

Other good news is also that based on the ultrasound, the baby is healthy. I always have a ton of anxiety surrounding all that but it’s good to have some peace of mind now. 

Randomly this week, Cam went out and surprised me by buying a crib. I had told him which one I found that I liked and it was available locally so he just brought it home one day. All the sudden, between the ultrasound and the crib, everything felt more real. We still are about 3 full months away but the time is going by fast now.