Homestead Life

Getting Ready for Spring!


Winter’s on the Way Out!

Well, for some folks spring weather is already warming your faces and gardens. Spring bulbs are blooming and you’re out working in the garden. For northern Illinois, where I live, these are all daydreams and wishful thinking! But today is March 1st and we only have 20 days left until the first day of spring…woot! As a teaser, the weather channel is calling for some thawing temps this coming week. I am so ready!

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Gearing up for Gardening!

Of course, I won’t be out in the garden for awhile. But I am getting ready to start my seedlings indoors soon. My seed orders have all been received, organized, and sorted according to planting times. I have some new perennial fruits for my homestead coming this spring, including ever bearing strawberries, a new variety of raspberry, bush cherries and Manchurian apricots. All of the varieties I chose can be propagated to bring with us when we eventually move to a new homestead. It helped me to justify the expense. ๐Ÿ™‚


Spring Chicks ๐Ÿ™‚

I have a clutch of eggs in the incubator as I write. These are fertile eggs from my mixed breed flock. They are bound for Trogg’s Hollow Farm down the road from me. Marcy and Trogg run an all natural CSA and their menagerie of farm animals keeps growing. I’m not helping much by hatching chicks for them!



I have some exciting things planned for the next couple of weeks and you can be a part of it! Stop by tomorrow for a new giveaway sponsored by my blogging buddy Janet from Timber Creek Farm! Shhh, I can’t tell you what she is giving away yet, but if you have chicks coming this spring you will love this giveaway! Check back on Monday to find out what’s up!

Don't let your little plants stay wet!
Baby basil.

 

 


And So Much More…

I have so much that I’ll need to do when the weather warms up. The garden needs to be cleaned up and tilled. I’d like to plant spinach and kale in my little greenhouse in a few weeks. There are some older laying hens that need to be culled when I get a day that is reasonably warm. I’m not above butchering in subzero temps, but I’d really rather not! Before I know it the homestead will be in full spring work mode and I’m so looking forward to it.

What’s the weather like where you are? Are you gardening yet? Or are you still in the grips of winter?

 

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16 Comments on “Getting Ready for Spring!

  1. Hi Kathy…you’ve been a busy lady! All the babies coming soon sounds like so much fun ๐Ÿ™‚ I tried to go to your site, but google is being wonky. Thanks for stopping to visit and share all the fun in the works on your homestead! I’m with you on the warmer days, lol!

  2. We are still buried under mountains of snow here in west Michigan! It is hard to believe we will ever get warm enough to actually melt it all! We are expecting lots of baby bunnies over the next two days; from 5 doe! We are building a few new brooders for turkeys, ducks, geese and chickens! Can’t wait to have all the babies around. We started sweet potatoes back in January and they are growing gangbusters! Just getting started on seedlings and we have a newly built cold-frame from repurposed pallet wood and windows! Lots more too! Can’t hardly wait until warmer days actual let us get outside!

  3. Oups! I have make an error in my previous message. If my outside thermometer indicated 24 Celsius I would not complain. It was 24 C yesterday evening a 48 degree error lolll Good day!

  4. Supposed to get some snow tonight, so thoughts of spring are on hold for several more days! Though the days are definitely longer and more birds are singing!

    1. Chin up, Katie! I am definitely enjoying the longer days and I am looking forward to robins arriving…but, we just got more snow too. Enjoy your Sunday!

  5. We are still in the grips of winter, although I was at my Nanna’s farm cleaning today and I could definitely feel spring coming! Sure there is still snow on the ground, and more coming tomorrow, but I swear I could just smell spring! We got our chicks a week ago, and my seedlings are starting, and MAN I am looking forward to the coming year!

    1. I hear you, Bekah! It felt like spring was on its way yesterday and now we have some extra snow and the temps are dropping…but we’ll get through this too! Thanks for stopping by ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Hello Lisa,

    After two weeks with temperatures just below 0 Celsius, or over, we fell in winter to 24C when I am writing this short message ( 9:00 PM). I’m lucky I have something to do with my seedlings and other small carpentry and cabinet work for my daughter. Have nothing to do, I would find winter long and depressing. It is a privilege that life brings us when we can do things by yourself. Moving, working with his hands as well as with his head, breathe the outside air, being surrounded by some animals, have a family to love, all that keeps us sane …. the temperature is forgotten . Good weekend.

    1. That’s great Pierre! Keep up the great work…your daughter will treasure those homemade projects for years to come. ๐Ÿ™‚ I know that I love to have the things my Dad has made for me!

  7. Aside from waiting out the storm headed our way, we are loading up on manure from the cattle barn. Every time the weather cooperates, we head to the cattle barn to load up. My manure pile looks great out there right now. . . will look lovely with one foot of snow on top of it (that’s what we are supposed to get) and when the time is right….on my garden beds. I do have some seedlings started and my husband and I put together the great plant-starting structure that’s on the Old Word Garden’s site I found on the Homeacre Hop. Thanks, BTW!!!

    1. Hi Lorraine,
      Best wishes with getting all that lovely manure moved and composted for your garden! I’ll admit, I’m always a bit envious of anyone with a nice pile of manure! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Glad you found helpful advice on The HomeAcre Hop! Their seed starting set up is great!

  8. I should have started my seeds sooner, but better late than never. We’re diggin’ out raised beds today and replacing the soil. I can’t wait to get them planted. Have a great weekend.

    1. Hi Toni,
      A lot of people just start them right in their beds…so you’re doing great. ๐Ÿ™‚ Don’t sweat the small stuff! Digging out your raised beds, however, sounds like you’ll be sweating anyway! Have fun and enjoy the smell of dirt!

  9. Hi Kaye,
    I just saw that you are getting the worst storm in something like two years right now! Wow…when it rains it pours ๐Ÿ™

    My first thought was lettuce or spinach, sowed fairly thin. I haven’t had too many problems with downy mildew on them. I can certainly understand why you don’t want to waste any space! The other possibility would be to put some containers in that spot (you could put your plastic down first to prevent soil splashing up and to heat the soil) then you could plant whatever your heart desires in some fresh potting soil.

    I hope this helps! Best wishes and let me know how your empty spot fills in!

  10. We are getting soaked here this weekend. You may have heard about the drought in CA. I pulled out my sweet peas two days ago. They had either white or grey mold, and I’m wondering if I can plant anything there. My space is limited, and I have cucumber seedlings ready to put in the ground. I’d love to pop them in there, but planted cukes there last summer and they all got downy mildew. I got a couple of bowls of good cukes before the plants were decimated. Any advice? Hate for this rain-soaked amended soil to go to waste. Would rather not attempt to solarize it and keep plastic covering my front yard for a month. Thanks!

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