Friday, March 8, 2013

The Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #99


A note from Farmgirl Friday creator Deb- 
How can this be? Where did the last 99 Fridays go? All over the blogishpere that's where!
Frankly, Heidi, Dolly and I are honored and humbled by how long The Farmgirl Friday Blog hop has continued to thrive and grow! 

You have yourselves to thank for so many wonderful posts shared over the last 99 weeks! It's you who keep'um coming back for more and we thank you from the bottom of our farmgirl hearts! 
We want to show you how much we appreciate you for sharing your talents and know-how so come back next week for a chance to enter three separate giveaways sure to get your farmgirl hearts all a flutter!  

 Farmgirls love anything to do with homesteading, keeping chicken's, embroidering, sewing, knitting, spinning, quilting, natural home remedies for health care and cleaning, horses, goats, cows, organic gardening and cooking, caring for their loved ones and friends and are community minded. Re-purposing and UP-cycling are high on their list of " fun things to do too! Our resident "FARM-BOYS ' ( Clint the Redeemed Gardner and Rob of Bepa's Garden ) bring wheelbarrow's full of good organic gardening tips to this hop and we are honored to have them join in the fun each week!   

Your Farmgirl Friday Hostesses~  


Dolly of Hibiscus House and Dolly is Cooking and me of course!

It's still snowing in some parts ( like here ) and folks are still working on inside projects to pass the time in a fun and frugal way!


My Farmgirl Update- 
Our farm is slowly taking shape...

The kitchen...
The kitchen is almost complete.  Our hardwood floors finally came in this week.  Yippee!!!  They're now sitting in a bedroom waiting to be installed by my dear worn hubby.  I am loving the new giant farmhouse sink.  It sure came in handy when I set out to cook down some bees wax this week.  What a mess.  

In my garden...
Rain has been beating on the roof all night long and it shows no signs of stopping now.  However, we did manage to till under some more green manure (cover crop of clovers) into our new garden bed yesterday before the rain began.  I also finally took the plunge to remediate my high soil pH.  I broadcast elemental sulpher, which was scary to me somehow.  I have never had soil with a pH of 8.0+ before so this is a new challenge.  I did not even trust my own tests so I had them redone by a professional, and it turns out I was right, it is that high.  If I followed the instructions correctly I will have lowered the pH by one whole point within a short time.  Whew!  I sure hope this works.  Time will tell.

Projects...
Jerry and I began digging post holes for a new more animal friendly fence for goats, dogs and chickens.  Most of our 7 acres are fenced for cattle, so atleast when the cow comes she'll be happy, but barbed wire does not keep shih tzu and chickens in or neighbor dogs out.  

Our grown son Jon is driving up today to help speed up the digging and maybe get started on some fencing this weekend, if the weather cooperates that is.  Otherwise, we will get to enjoy some long overdue time with our boy indoors.  

Last week I completed several important transplants, and this week I made time to start a few seeds indoors ie; squashes, herbs, and perennial flowers for my honey bee garden.

In the coop...
My little broody salmon faverolle is still sitting on those eggs, though a few of my girls have been demonstrating poor manners.  They are smarter than people realize.  Once they figured out that I was not removing the eggs from the nest box that she is in, they began to crowd her and are laying new eggs right on top of her. Ugh!  Silly girls.  I marked the eggs she's incubating with permanent markers so now I just sneak out the unmarked eggs.  Soon they'll adapt again I am sure.   

Though I have more nest boxes than I have read I need ie: I have a 3:1 bird to nestbox ratio, I have recently observed that I am having an occasional egg layed on the ground outside the boxes.  That's not good.  At our old place they had 6 boxes and I never saw this happen.  Lately though, they're all laying at about the same time and when all boxes are full, somebody is left out of luck.  Jerry is going to have to make me another row of nest boxes.  Until then, I added a simple nest box curtain as described by The Chicken Chick in her post HERE.  I am hopeful they'll enjoy the extra privacy and maybe move those eggs along quicker so the other girls can get into boxes to lay too.

Now, for our FEATURED FARMGIRLS... You can see Deb's decor inspired picks HERE, Dolly's selections HERE, and here's my pick below, it's a FEATURED FARMBOY... 


Image from Bepa's Garden blog
I was intrigued by the post Starting Seeds in Soil Blocks by Rob of Bepa's Garden blog.  I have long been curious to try this method.  As Rob notes, it's inexpensive, and you can even make your own seed starting medium as he does, that's FREE.  I just need to get me one of those soil block makers and I can try this method. Maybe this fall?  Thanks Rob for sharing such a helpful tutorial full of images and resources for more  information too.

Now it's your turn to link up for your weekly dose of farmgirl soul food!
 Here are the rules for the Farmgirl/guy Blog Hop! 

1.) Write a post about your farmgirl lifestyle and brag a little about your farmgirl talents while your at it! Share what being a farmgirl means to you. Include lots of photos of your farm, crafts, animals,  quilts, home decor projects and thrifty make overs, your backyard garden, chicken coop, recipes, studio or workshop. You get the idea!
2). Leave your entry in the  Linky tools space to your  Farmgirl Friday post.
3). Please include the Farmgirl Friday button ( or link back here ) in your post and remember to share this hop with all of your blogging friends!
4.) Enter up to three entries per hop! 

 DON'T BE SHY~  
Be sure to leave a note if you're new to the hop! If you haven't clicked that follow button yet, please join us and be sure to stop by our FACEBOOK page and like us there too! 
As always, thank you for your continued participation and welcome new friends and followers!

Don't forget to grab your FEATURED FARMGIRL BUTTON if you've been featured!



Now let's get HOPPING!!!





2 comments:

  1. Heidi, Such a busy and fun time at your new place. I hope you enjoy your time with Jon this weekend. My Hens never quit laying in the box where other hens are setting on eggs..they all fuss and want to lay in the same nest no matter how many available nest boxes there are..funny things hens..I put a new house in an old pen and the 2 hens that came with it now old and new want to lay where? On the floor in front of the boxes...they are funny things..I have laughed at yours laying on the setting hen..Can't wait to read of your adventures and aren't we having fun with the Farmgirl Friday? Love ya

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    1. Thanks Dolly. Now I know I am not the only one with silly hens. My hubby and son are outside digging holes for posts during this break in rain. It's rained for three days straight almost constantly. I know we need the rain, but it hampers my ability to get things done outside and that frustrates me.

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My email address is whitewolfsummitfarmgirl@gmail.com.