Van's Journal

Bird houses? Well kinda'. Our friend Chris, a biologist with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept., stopped by the farm and gave us a few Wood Duck Boxes. We'll place them on poles in various spots within our seven acres of wetlands. While we have a pretty good duck population already, we're looking forward to this experience as well. Maybe we'll get a "Kodak Moment" or two. Every spring, beginning in about May, we get three or four "broods" (baby duckings in groups of 5-12) swimming about the ponds. So cool to see them develop over the course of the summer. And no we don't hunt them.


Lots going on here at the farm over the past few weeks. Here we are spreading our second broadcasting of dolomitic limestone. This application of lime raises our native acidic soil pH to a more neutral reading, ideally near the 6.5 level. A neutral pH allows better nutrient uptake by the plants.





Cutting salad greens with scissors. These guys are surely thinking when are we going to get a machine that does this?













Aah! Baby tomato plants are so happy to be basking in the afternoon sun. This variety is known as "Early Girl", a vine growing (indeterminate) type. Hopefully these will be fruit bearing by mid May, weather permitting.





Speaking of loving the sun! These little piggies are enjoying their version of "spring break." Plenty of relaxation in the sunshine with lots of food! Sorry guys, your pen is an alcohol free zone.








In our last post, we showed you the Baby Rock Cornish chicks that we acquired. Now about two weeks old, they have about doubled in size, i.e. my son holding a chick. Hopefully this weekend they'll be introduced to their new home, a "movable chicken coup" aka a "chicken tractor." The theory is the chicks can range feed, spreading their "personal fertilizer" along the way. After a few days in the same spot, the coup will be dragged a few feet forward, providing a cleaner living environment and helping our soil along the way. FYI these are broilers, so we cannot get too attached as they'll be ready in about five more weeks.


Back in December we decided to clear another acre or so on a nice sandy knoll located in front of our farm house. The cut trees go to the mill to make newspaper, so the next time you're reading a paper ....? In any event, we'll hopefully be able to get some of this ground planted this spring. The trees in the background are adjacent to one of our ponds. Perhaps a great place for a picnic?