Turkey day

Yesterday we butchered our three turkeys. It went well; poultry is pretty easy to turn into food. It always amazes me how quickly it goes from being our animal to something we can put on the table. Our four year old was especially fond of the turkeys so he wasn't happy that we were going to be eating them. I really liked our turkeys; I think they imprinted on humans because they really liked us. As chicks they would peep when we left the room, and as they grew they would follow us around. I know they have a reputation for stupidity, but I found them to be really sweet, though a little simple. It is never easy killing one of our animals, but at least I know that our meat had a great life roaming free and a fast death.

Sorry the blog has been so quiet. Between all the work that needs to be done on the house, land and garden, plus my homeschooled kids' social life, there just hasn't been much time. Finally we have some sun and the plants are really growing! Unfortunately so are the weeds...

After 4 1/2 years without a computer, we finally have internet. It took us a very long time to get the internet lines put in (we had other priorities!), and have been blogging from our library or a family member's computer, but last week our local communications co-op came out to hook us up. We are pretty excited but also a little cautious about its potential as a time-waster. Here are some pictures our daughter has recently taken:

Countdown to the market!

Our first market of the year will be this coming Saturday, June 5th, from 10-2! We have been having very cool, wet weather, and it is supposed to be raining Saturday, but we will be there! We should have our goats milk soap, lettuce, greens, radishes, green onions, possibly strawberries, and more. All grown organically and hand made by us! Please come out and support the market!

Wet, wet, wet!

We've had lots of rain this week. Everything is very soggy, and the slugs are loving it! I am liking that I don't need to worry about watering though. We had a busy weekend working on house stuff; Brian poured and tiled the mudroom floor and I worked on lime plastering. I just couldn't bring myself to get soaked working in the garden, and I don't like weeding when the ground is so saturated any way. Our new chicks and baby goats are growing fast, and the turkeys are getting huge! Here are some new garden photos:

More kids!

This week the boys came running in announcing that there were two more baby goats in the goat house! Our oldest goat, Nettle, kidded for her fourth time. She is a pro-mama, so she was already licking and talking to her babies, then birthed her placenta a promtly ate it up! No mess to clean up for us. I have a good connection with her so I sat down next to her while she licked her babies and nuzzled me. My other milk goat, Rose, is a little less lovey, so I give her lots of space to bond with her kids, but Nettle is happy to let me be with them. Her udders were pretty full and low, which makes it harder for the new kids to latch, so I helped them get the hang of nursing. I was struck by how peaceful it is spending time with my animals. I need to remember that feeling the next time they sneak through a fence or when I struggle to trim their hooves!

Ugh, Slugs!

We have been blessed so far with very few pest problems. We get our aphids here and there but nothing terrible. But here in the cool, moist Pacific Northwest; slugs are always an issue. They can cause serious damage to our new sprouting seeds in one night. We had some tomatoes in our cold frame and Brian pulled them in when he saw some slug damage. Of course that meant bringing lots of slugs, beetles and even a snake into the house with the pots! I just know that the weather will warm up, the plants will get bigger and the slugs will be less of an issue, but right now they are driving us crazy!