Tag Archives | homesteading

In the Garden…

Hello!

Our Butternuts are ready, the vines have started to die down and we’ve begun harvesting! Richard and Kye planted these towards the end of last year. We had an old trampoline pit from years ago, we filled it up with compost, grass cuttings and horse manure and planted seedlings. They’ve done so well!

The potatoes are almost ready, just a few more weeks to go.

Ahhh, these have been my favourite so far! Buttery and delicious!

We also tried growing black tomatoes, full of flavour! It’s really exciting to be growing our own food again, the price of veggies is astronomical at the moment, so I get such a sense of accomplishment and pride when I walk out into our garden and pick food for our table. I’ve also sewn wheatgrass seeds in trays, we’re going to start juicing again as soon as it’s ready, I can’t wait.

The rains have come! We are still experiencing a drought but the Vaal Dam is about 65% full. We’ve been collecting rainwater under our downpipes, I can’t believe how quickly the drums fill up and we are recycling our grey water.

And… here’s a photo of Lou ♥

Have a lovely week x

6

Hello Again

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It’s been a while since I last posted, our phone cables were stolen and most of our neighbourhood was without phones lines and internet for almost a month. I am very grateful to have it back now and wanted to share a little of what we’ve been up to. September is my birthday month and Jenna gave me these exquisite Delphiniums as a gift. I loved having hem greeting me each time I walked into the lounge.

growtoeat

Another birthday gift, a subscription, Grow to Eat, this one from my hubby, such a wonderful magazine!!

eggs

Now that winter is officially over, our chickens have finished their moulting and are back to laying profusely. I always find it a little strange how, as soon as the weather begins to cool, they start to moult…

prayingmantids

Many months ago, a female Praying Mantis appeared in the entrance hall of our home and layed a chrysalis (also called a ootheca, I had no idea!) right by the front door. I had given up hope of them ever hatching as months and months had passed and then suddenly there were hundreds.

waterresevoiur

The Vaal Dam is almost empty, there is no rain in sight and water restrictions have been imposed. I need to find a way to save our garden and veggie patch. I’ve started placing these water bottles near the base of our larger plants. Small holes are made at the base of the bottle so that the water can slowly leak out, almost like drip irrigation. An idea from the magazine above. It’s working exceptionally well so far! If you have any other ideas, please do let me know in the comments.

lou

Of course, I had to include a photo of Lou. I find him extremely photogenic and adore him!! He always seems so wise 🙂

bouganvilliea

Our Bougainvillea seems to love the hot, dry weather, its blooms are incredibly vivid this year.

Thanks so much for reading our story and say hi in the comments if you have some time 🙂

I’m off to plant a few more mini reservoirs out in the garden.

14

The Rain is Here!

Sunflower

Hello!

We’ve been so busy with exams etc… that I haven’t had much time to pop in here to post about what we been up to, so I thought I’d share a little of what’s been happening. This beautiful sunflower self-seeded and popped up in our little garden by our front door, it makes me happy each time I see it!

Lou

We have a new family member! Meet Lou, we thought she was a she but today we discovered she is actually a he! He is the cutest little guy, very active and quite mischievous indeed! So far we’ve introduced him to Olive and she seems to tolerate him but our other cat Charlie is not interested in a new family member at all. We’ll have to give him some time to get used to Lou.

Lunch

Lunch!

Veggies

Our veggie garden growing just outside my kitchen, it’s worked so well, the birds haven’t touched our spinach for the first time ever! Yay!

Pepper

I’m so proud of this pepper, it’s absolutely huge and bi-coloured!

Roman

We all attended a Roman themed party on Saturday night, it was such fun to dress up!

Squash

These Souties Squash also self-seeded in the front garden along with the Sunflower, I can’t wait to taste them! (the squash that is!)

Storm

We have been experiencing the most terrific thunderstorms this week! It literally hasn’t rained for weeks and now, the rain seems to be here!! Thank goodness, my poor garden is saved 🙂

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Portrait Saturday, Chickens

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Our chickens are growing up fast and will soon start laying eggs, most of the older ones are moulting so we are experiencing a bit of a dry season as far as eggs are going. I’ve had to buy free range eggs from the shop but they aren’t anything like the eggs our girls lay. Two of the younger ones have had slight colds but they are improving each day. Winter is approaching fast here, the mornings and evenings are COLD, its’ so strange how chickens start moulting just as the temperature starts dropping. At least they’ll have their feathers by the time winter’s in full swing.

We also gave them a huge new pile of straw today, they love it, scratching around finding all sorts of bugs. We just put the bale in the middle of their pen, they climb on top of it and scratch and spread it out all over the place. I really do believe they rather enjoy doing that.

Hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday, I’m busy transferring all of Jenna’s scout badges from her old shirt to her new one, (there are a LOT of badges:)

See you soon…

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