#Epic39

Well it's official, now you all know how old I am!  As the last year in my thirties, I wanted to make it an epic year.  But starting off about 8 weeks ago (birthday date), I didn't know what that would look like.  You can come up with all the usual things like exotic travel, skydiving, and learning to fly a plane which I want to do, but it's starting to become more than that.  I'm starting to recognize just the small little things that are making my life epic. We launched the Discovery Homes website, plus our Etsy store is up and running, so that's where I've been for a month.
The one thing that has been epic at the house is the garden!  You all know what a tough start we had with the weather and warmth, but it has really turned around.  We've got some new comers to our garden scene as well as some old favorites, but let me show you how they are all doing.

The very first garlic crop ever.  Totally can't complain.  I put in 17 cloves, and got between 13-15 garlic bulbs.

First season of the artichoke as well.  I didn't get too many from my 12 plants, however pretty impressed for season one.

The cantaloupe was sweeter and more juicy than anything in the store.

Another new crop to our garden this year was cauliflower.  Planted 5 plants, already roasted and ate 2 heads.  Yum!

The cucumber crop has been incredible.  This is pickle batch number 3, and still have more on the vines.

It's definitely cool season crop time, and the broccoli is growing like crazy.  Pick it, roast it, and eat it for the perfect addition to dinner.

These ladies are the center of our garden this year, and are making a plethora of eggs.  We are getting an average of 6-8 eggs per day.  Perfect addition to our little homestead.

A bumper crop of pumpkins have been harvested this year.  We planted them in the front flower bed due to lack of room, and they thrived here.  We have at least 30 pumpkins of varying varieties.

Using them for little fall decoration outside..

and inside.

Usually when fall is over we throw these guys out for the deer, however this year I will cut up and save many of them for the chickens to eat during the winter.






Looking forward to sharing with you all the things I find to make my 39th year epic.  No matter what your epic looks like, make your life the best it can be.

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It's Official Our First Egg

This is always a busy time of the year with the garden in full production and new chickens just starting to lay eggs, there is always something to keep up on.  We are so excited, got our first egg last night and another this morning.  Woo Hoo!

Apparently a little dance in front of the camera was in order.
So we better start talking about where these girls are laying. My husband made some great nesting boxes.

Here they are!  This was made from all left over wood from the construction of our chicken coop which definitely helps the bottom line.  Waste not want not.

First box underway.  We measured each box to be 1 foot by 1 foot square by 18 inches deep.  It's funny because we thought that might be too small only to find when we installed these in the coop, three or four chickens would sleep together in one.  Who knew.

We used left over screws from another project to secure the sides of the box together,

as well as the dividers between each box.

Last but not least we cut a small piece and attached it with a hinge and hook and eye to make sure that no eggs rolled out, and to keep the bedding in.

Box set number two was made exactly the same, and we attached them together using the 2x4 legs which also got them off the ground.

Installed inside the coop, they are ready to be used.  Well they were actually slept in for at least a month, but the day finally came for their intended purpose.

Loving our little flock!

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Nice chicken coop if I do say so myself

We finished it. The chicken coop is now totally finished.  The girls have been out there for awhile, however the final step was the roof, and it finally got put on within the last two weeks.  The spring was a cold one here, and it took us much longer than we thought to get this thing going.

But here she is.  I think it turned out pretty good, and the chickens seem to be happy, which is really what matters right?

Here are the drawings my hubby created so we could get a materials list, etc.  We made a 10'x12' shed.  The chickens get half, and the other half we made into a tool shed for gardening supplies and chicken food storage.

We actually started building the walls inside our barn so we could keep working with all the rain.

Time to make the floor...
We used 2x4's for the floor structure, and then covered them with sheeting.  They are attached to 4 4x4's concreted into the ground.

It's building day.  These were the first two fabricated walls we put up.  We framed the other two walls, but didn't side them because of the windows.  Needed to install those first.

Truss day.  See the weather in the background?  Yikes!

At least with the tar paper on the roof, the chickens could move in.  Nice and dry.

Next up, the chicken run.

Perfect hangout outside, and we made them a little shade structure out of an old pallet.
Don't mind all the clover, the big veggie garden is coming along, but slower than I hoped, however the chickens really seem to like clover. Eat away my friends, eat away!

Growing like weeds.  Looking forward to the eggs!

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Last 5% is in

The weather in Colorado this year is just crazy.  With a high of 65 degrees and a flood advisory in place for a portion of the weekend, more rain is on the way.  Trying to get the last 5% of my garden planted has been a tough go.  Last week I used my sprouting method to get my pumpkins going so I could plant them this week.  We relaxed over the weekend at our place near Wheatland, WY, and I was ready to plants these sprouts once we got back this week.  One more problem besides the weather, the place I purchase my dirt for my raised beds didn't have any.  Due to the weather as well, they are behind on making it.  So I had to improvise where I put the rest of my veggies, because my big garden without dirt in the raised beds is no good.

The front flower bed was the only place I had left with dirt to put in my veggies. This has been a big project to beautify the front of the house, and it's not quite full of flowers just yet, perfect space for the veggies, sort of.

These guys were so ready to get into the ground.  Planted the white pumpkin, a large pumpkin, and of coarse the knotty pumpkin.

Still have to figure out how to keep the deer away, and build them a trellis to grow up instead of out, but there in.

Finished it off by planting zucchini, yellow squash, and green beans.










Hopefully by the time the second round of planting happens later in the summer for the fall harvest, the big garden will have dirt in its raised beds, and ready to take a few plants.  Cross your fingers!

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The Garden is in!

Ok, so I know that it's a little behind schedule for my garden to be in just last week, but Colorado has had an unusually cold wet spring.  It snowed on Mother's day, for the second year in a row, and then didn't warm up much after that.  But last week I got 95% of all my seedlings in.

Cucumber seedlings are doing great.

Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage are in

All the herbs got planted, basil included

The strawberry patch is on it's way to a great productive season

The blackberry patch is growing

Dream garden is coming along, slow but sure. The chicken coop is in, and the ladies are very happy.  Got the fence up along the back of the garden, sprinkler line and electric trenched in and buried, and more work is going in.  Stay tuned.

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Veggies Galore

Started planting a few more veggies and fruits to give them a head start before everything starts going into the ground.

So hear's what we have so far this season...

Cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, red and yellow onions, artichokes, tomatoes, peppers, and herbs.

So I wanted to give a few things some extra time to grow.  I could have just sowed these in the ground in a couple of weeks, but now I'll be ahead of the game a little.

Here's the method I use to sprout these little babies.  I take a paper towel, and get it damp, not dripping wet.  Place how ever many seeds you like on the damp towel.

Wrap them up in a little package, and place them in a labeled plastic baggie, and I just left them on my kitchen counter out of the way.

These cucumbers took about a week to burst out of their shells.  I like this method too because there are always some that don't sprout, and now you know which ones they are.

Took the little sprouts, and planted them in my homemade pots, and they officially have a great head start.

I did this with cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, butternut squash, acorn squash, watermelon, and some decorative gourds.

The big new veggie garden is well underway. The perimeter is just about finished, and ready for a chicken coop build and raised beds.  Much work to go, but we are well on our way.

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Member of the Family is Gone

This week I had to finally put down my very first pet!  After another cat, one dog, one husband, two kids, twelve chickens, and at least six moves, she has been around the block with me!

Boomer (the black cat) passed away last year about this time, but my Zowie was still hanging in there, and she had a good nineteen years!

Little throw back to 2007 when my daughter was little, and Zowie paraded around the house.  She really wasn't very nice to anyone but me, but the kids tried and tried.  They loved her. 

You will be missed!  The house feels empty without you, and the little homestead we are creating feels a little bit more empty without our matriarch watching over it all.

Rest In Peace!

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