I have lots of news for this week! A few months ago, Cam and I set a goal to move to a place with 5 acres or more by 2021. We have started to look at homes and acreage just so we can get a feel for what’s out there.
Backyard of one of the houses we looked at.
Last week Cameron’s parents were here and we took them to come look at a few places with us. It was good to have a second opinion.
We saw two houses, one with 5 acres and a larger home and one with 30 acres and a small home. We also looked at a 27-acre piece of raw land.
None of them were “the one”. The 5 acre one was nice but had more of a neighborhood feel, which is what I really want to avoid. I want to be able to have chickens and other animals if I want them and not feel bad about the noise.
The smaller house with 30 acres was way overpriced and only about 10 acres of the 30 was usable land.
The 27 acres had a shop with no house and it was really dreamy. It had a great view and lots of space for a garden. Unfortunately it is located behind two other large properties and had no electric, no well, and no septic… yet. Cost was also high.
Our plan is to finish up the projects we have in our home this winter to get it ready to sell by August or September of 2020. It will be a busy year!
In the garden:
I have a bunny family just outside the garden that I had seen earlier in the year. It didn’t cause any trouble at first but I saw the bunny again recently and it was in my large garden! The garden is fenced with 1×2 inch wire fencing but that’s no match for a determined bunny.
From a midnight trip to the garden
Then last night, I went out to my small garden to check for cutworms because my radishes were disappearing. I did see evidence of some cutworm damage. But right when I walked in I saw something skitter away. It was the bunny! A very small one that was not afraid of me at all.
I tried to chase it out and it wouldn’t leave! But it did show me where it was getting in. The smaller original garden we put up has chicken wire along the bottom two feet but the bunny had found an opening where the pieces met. I finally got the bunny out and then filled the hole.
Radish damage from bugs and bunnies!
I looked over at my radishes and realized that there was more than just cutworm and cabbageworm damage happening. I think the bunny had a nibble too. Now I think that garden is secure but I still need to protect my plants in the large garden.
Harvesting: (I should just say, see image above. Haha!) Watermelon, butternut squash, cowpeas, lemon squash, roma tomatoes, cherokee purple tomatoes, kelloggs breakfast tomatoes, black cherry, sungold, matt’s wild cherry and bing tomatoes. We also have poblano peppers, banana peppers, emerald giant peppers and jalepenos. Many varieties of dried beans are coming too.
Planted:
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More beets, but this was in the garden where the bunny attacked so I see very few that still have tops left.
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Planted dazzling blue, blue curled scotch, and vates kale (I think… I need to double check what my markers say outside!)
In the kitchen:
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Pressure canned 5 quart jars of chicken broth
