Sorry we have been so quiet but we have had an exciting week! Earlier this month, we had our first road side plant sale. Although a lot of interest was expressed in buying plants, we actually had very few sales. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
New Field
A few months ago, we had mentioned to a friend that we were approaching the limits of what we could do on our property with our gardens and beehives. Well, our friend spoke with friends of his that live down the road. They live on the last remaining part of the original Cole Harbour farm land. After meeting with them, they said they were interested in having us work a small bit of the land and they want to have bees on their property!
And that is what we have been doing. This is an amazing opportunity for us in so many ways. While it allows us to expand, the biggest opportunity in our mind is that it gives us a chance to learn some skills associated with farming a field instead of solely in raised beds. I rented a tiller and spend a day tilling the 1800 square foot area and building the rows. Then we were able to do most of the planting in a day.
Since I wasn’t able to sell most of my extra seedlings, I was able to plant them in this new space! Meaning that we already have a lot of plants above ground!
I was also given a tray of tomato seedlings so we planted a 90 foot row of tomatoes!
We are hoping to install two hives down there next year.
As the use of this space has been gifted to us, we want to use it to benefit our community. As such, our intent this year is to grow and sell our produce it in a ‘self-serve, by-donation’ stand at the end of our driveway. The profits will then be sent to local food banks or shelters.
And the new growing space isn’t the only new development for us…
Bawk! Bawk!
That’s right, we are getting chickens! The order for 12 laying hens was placed yesterday and they will be available in approximately eight weeks. Due to the current by-laws in the area, we cannot keep the hens here but my parents are also interested in keeping some hens so we are teaming up with them to have a small flock.
I will be working with my father to design and build a chicken coop for 12 hens. I’ve never kept chickens before so let me know if you have any suggestions or advice for the coop!
This past week has been a chaotic mess of playing in the dirt, planning our field, planting the field, researching chickens, and today is a baking day. Now I need to get back to catching up on my normal chores.
The Red Tree Homestead 