Homestead Update - Bee Sting, Rain & Colleens Birthday

in #homestead7 years ago

 Here we are again, its Friday! Pretty slow week on the homestead as it  rained the 5 out of seven days, I believe we have about 5” of rain for  the week.  We have lived in South Central Kentucky for two full years  now and we have dubbed the first two weeks of July Monsoon Season!  The  first year we got 14” of rain and last year we got 12” so we are little  short this year but that’s OK.  What is nice is it is coming in ½” to  1” events, this helps keep the plants in our garden from stressing out  too bad.  There are some signs of stress by nothing like last year, I  think is also helps that we most have everything planted in bales so it  is up off the ground. 

 My lovely wife is a 4th of July Baby! I won’t tell ya how old she is,  but she is doing great even though the hell she has been through in the  past three or four years, fighting off three strokes and dealing with a  blood disorder that will eventually lead to Leukemia (in 20 years or  so). 

Guess what the weather was like???? 

It Rained….. 

We  made the best of it though, we drove the 45 minutes to the nearest town  with the movie theater, there was not a lot to choose from but we found  a pretty good one call “Champion”  It’s a Christian movie with a car  racing sub-plot.  Kinda predictable but good.  By the way I love the  movie ticket prices down here, up in the most corrupt state in the  world, Illinois $12.00 is the going ticket price, $3.00 down here, ya  can’t beat that! When we got back home I cooked a great (if I  don’t say so myself) streak dinner with baked sweet potatoes and grilled  veggies, it was a hit!  

 Like I said it rained and rained but the neighbor managed to get off  some fire works, but it was really foggy which made for a neat effect  and the echo off the mountains was really cool!  Check out this short  video you have to listen to the frog for a minute or so….

https://www.facebook.com/colleen.brummelbrowning/posts/10154921961106379 


 

Animal Update....

We  added a rooster to our egg layer flock, our hens were getting a little  bitchy and needed some testosterone to even things out.  See my previous blog for all the details! 

 


The Chicks are growing pretty quick take a look! 

 

Garden Update...

In the garden things are progressing well I think we will tell the story in pictures here we go!Lettuce bed Two transplanted 

 Lettuce bed One going to seed for next year’s crop 

 If you have never had Kentucky Purple Pole Beans (they come in a bush  bean too) you have to try them, by far the best green been you can eat,  they are purple when you pick them but turn green when you cook them,  dam good!  

 Pumpkin or squash? 

 This is a squash flower, and if you look real close you will see a honey bee inside! 

 Round two squash plants with baby squash 

 Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!  I am guessing we will have about 300lbs this year! 

 

Self Sustainability...

We also got some food  preservation done, Colleen picked a bunch of blackberries and we put up  some preserves.  Along with putting up frozen beans and making some Mesquite Seasoning, see previous post here…. 

 I got stung by a bee! Right on top of my ear! 

 Ouch!

Last and surely not least we bottled some beer!  Boy its good! 

 That’s all for this week, we hope ya all have a great weekend, happy homesteading.  Let us know what you think in the comments.


Thanks,

Bob & Colleen Browning


 Check us out at…..

Follow us on STEEMIT: https://steemit.com/@svfarms

And Facebook: www.facebook.com/Serenity-Valley-Farms-167719676966401/

And on Instagram: www.instagram.com/serenityvalleyfarmers/

Check out our Website: www.serenityvalleyfarms.us  


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What an inspiration. Definitely going to try the purple pole beans. The ones I grew, (first time) are too tough to chew, and not as pretty either. I am sure these pictures of gardens and animals is a lot of work. Best wishes for continued energy.

Well thank you! we work hard on it, but it is a labor of love. We found that is you let the purple beans get too big they get tough, we try and pick them at 4 to 5 inches. Best of luck the next time you plant them!

As I plan on starting my own homestead here in the near future all your information is so valuable and useful. Thank you and looking forward to more content from you :)

Well that's exiting, it can be very challenging, if there is anything we can do to help you along please let us know! Best of luck....

Thank you for your words really appreciate it. We have a big team so it should be achievable. Teamwork makes the dream work.

@svfarms,
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This was a wonderful read! You went into a lot of great details about your farm, and posted lots of great photos too! Keep up the great work!

Reply to this soon, and I will nominate your post to the team! Thanks!

That's great to hear, thanks for the boost, we can always use a little help!

added you to my weekly blog of who I am nominating if you would like to check it out! Congrats again!

Thanks! Really appreciate it...

Wonderful, I will be nominating you today! Thanks and Keep up the awesome posts they are really fun to read!

This is a great post . Informative and a fun way to se what is going on in your world. 300 pounds of tomatoes is pretty impressive! Best! 🐓🐓

I will be trying to do one very Friday, so keep checking back! Thanks....

I have to try to start some pumpkins again this weekend. A squash beetle got my plants. Soooo, annoying and disappointing. I have yet to see any of my squash flowers turn to tiny squash, so am a little jealous of your pictures.

I am patiently waiting on my first big tomato to turn from being green. It is slowly getting there.

Thanks for the update.

We had that problem last year, very disappointing... We added a bird houses around the garden, planted more flowers to attract the beneficial insects. The bird really help keep the pest issue under control, I would guess we have a bout 25% of the issue we had previously. Good luck to you, never give up!

Well, I think we have plenty of birds. I don't think they are doing their job. Of course, they might be afraid that if they hang around on the ground too long, the hawks will get them.

I created a whole section for wild flowers to attract good insects, but that has been more weed looking and less flowers.

Yup, never give up!

Wow you guys. the farm is looking amazing and those are some beautiful pictures. TYFS!

Thanks, homesteading has its ups and downs, but we are pretty happy with the progress we have made this year! Good Luck on your homestead....

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Lovely post. I think it would be cool to be born on the 4th of July! Thanks for all of the upclose pictures of your veggies!

It make your birthday a pretty big deal! She loves it....

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