Around the Farm and Garden – May 2014

Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

May is busy, busy, busy – mostly prepping the gardens for summer. We also have been busy with the aquaponics, installing a pond & keeping critters.

 

Gardening for Food

There has been lots of weed pullin’, ground tillin’ & seed plantin’ this month.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Making rows for herb seeds.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Typically Farmer John does the food type gardening, while I do the flowers. This year, though, I planted one row in the garden. It’s mostly herbs that I hope to cook with & share with the chickens.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

We planted a ton of squash, gourds & pumpkins this year.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Flower Beds

The flowers are blooming & the bees and wasps are loving it.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Aquaponics

The Aquaponics system is coming along, but not quite yet at its full potential.

Farmer John plumbed the entire system, ran it for a couple weeks, then redid it all.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

We received our tiny tilapia. Yippey!
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Goats

I love, love watching the kids play with the goats. There are lots of laughs.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Oh Sven! Apparently creeping phlox is yummy to goats. I put him back in his fenced area right after taking this pic.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Ducks

We moved the ducks out of the garden & into the goats fenced area. I also got them a new pool to swim in.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Unfortunately, they squeeze out of the goat fence & prefer to swim in the pond.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Quail

Our quail are very low maintenance – until one day Mr. Quail got out. He had gone to a place where I couldn’t reach him to put him back. I recruited my boys to come help me, but they couldn’t reach Mr. Quail either. And, he didn’t like being out. He called & called for his lady friend. Eventually, he moved and we were able to grab him & reunite him with Mrs. Quail.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Chicken Keeping

Of all our critters, the chickens take the most time. I’m sure part of that is because of the amount of chickens we have & the number of coops. Most of the work I don’t mind doing & some of it I even enjoy – like collecting eggs. But, I don’t enjoy cleaning coops. Does anyone enjoy that chore?

 

More chicks hatched this month.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

New Pond

I spent a bit of time in the mornings & a bit of time at night completing the new pond in the Bird Village.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Random Pic of Good Ol’ Country Living

Ridgetop Farm and Garden | May 2014 Update

 

Summer, here we come!