::ready for summer::

I am ready for summer!  Here are a few things we did last year that I hope we get to again.  

Riding horses and donkeys.

Look how happy Teddy is to have her patting him. 

 

Last summer we fostered a litter of 12 puppies.  I was getting that "I need a baby animal/person around here" feeling.  I decided I wanted to breed lab puppies but then I started feeling a little guilty about all the puppies in shelters.  So I got in touch with a rescue that was happy to work with us, Hearts for Dogs Rescue.  If anyone ever needs a rescue use them!  They were wonderful.

We went to animals control and got to pick our litter of puppies.  We picked 5 week old puppies that had been taken from a neglectful home.  There were so many we had to take them out in a shopping cart!  Lily thought we had won the lottery.  

They were skinny and full of worms and flea's.  But we nursed them along and they quickly got fat and sleek.  Max did a good job of socializing them.  

MORE ZOO!!!  Can't wait!  We tried to fake it during the winter, but the zoo just sucks in the winter.

My kids love that crazy trampoline.  They jump on it every day.  See the bucket to help them get up there?

Great photo op moments for me!

COUNTY FAIR!  I really do love 4-H and I can't wait to do fair again this year.  I really can't wait till Lily is old enough to do fair.  She might do the "Little Miss" contest this year.  Emma is going to do a bunch of projects this year!

Emma and Shealyn.  That little Shealyn didn't know anything about farm life till this year.  She is Josh's ex-wive's boyfriend's daughter (got that?) and I just love her.  She is brave and willing to learn.  I love working with her.  She and Emma split the animals to show at fair.  

Here they are lined up for the final judging.  First and second place!  On goats that I bred and they trained.  It was a proud day.

CAMPING!!!  We love camping.  We have a silly old fun boat that Josh keep together with duct tape.  It isn't fancy but it is fun.  We are trying to take it out at least once a week and to go camping at least twice a month.  

I am also joining a pool this year so that the kids can get lots of healthy exercise.  They love that kind of stuff.

::garden spread sheet 2010::

baby max age 18 months - playing on the swing set

Don't laugh.  You know I love lists.  This is one of my better ones.  Please keep in mind that I have no experience and this could be very wrong and bad but I did put in a lot of research into it.  I used several different books and online resources.    

May 16 - last frost

Plant	Start	Plant	Harvest	Location	Spacing	Number of Plants
Green Beans 60 days	Seed	May 10	July 9th	Front Garden	Pole 6 per pole, thin to 3	1-2 teepee
Soy beans 70 days	Seed - bush	May 10 May 24	July 19th Aug 2	Front Garden	18 inches	4 plants 4 plants
Blueberry	Bag	May 5		Kids window	4-6 feet	4 bushes
Broccoli 75-85 days	Plants fall = July 1	April 14th Aug 10th	?? Sept 16	Front garden	16-18 inches	3 plants 3 plants
Carrots 60 days	Spring seed Fall seed	April 1st & 4/14 July24 & 8/1	6/1 & 6/15 9/22 & 10/6	SFG	16 per SF	2 X 16  =  32 plants
Corn Early 70 days	Seed	May 10 May 24 June 7th	July 19 August 2 August 16	Back bed 1	9in apart 24-36in rows apart	40 seeds 12 plants each set
Corn Mid 80 days	Seed	May 10 May 24 June 7th	July 29 August 12 August 26	Back bed 2	9in apart 24-36in rows apart	40 seeds 12 plants each set
Cucumbers 55 days	Seed	May 16	July 9th	Front Garden	36-42 inches	3 plants
Shooting Cucumbers	Lowes plants	May 16	As ready	Front Garden	36 inches	1 plant
Garlic	Fall	Bulb	Mid summer 2011	Front garden	4 inch	LOTS!!!!!!!
Lettuce 50 days	March 22 April 5th	April 12 April 26	May 11 May 25	SFG  (Replace with Cilantro)	4 per SF	4 X 2 = 8 4 X 2 = 8
Muskmelon Bush style 73 days	April 3 Far from cucumbers	May 16	June 13th	Front Garden	36- 42 inches	6 plants
White Onion 90 days	Starter	April 12	Late summer	Front Garden	3 inches apart rows - 12 in apart	24 plants+++
Bunching Onions 60days	Seed	April 12	Pencil sized	SFG  16 per square	SFG	2 squares 16 X 2 = 32 plants
Peas 65 days	Seed	March 16	May 20th Then cilantro	Front Garden	1 inch apart 12 inch rows Bracing	12 plants
Jalapeno pepper 75 days	April 26	May 10	July 26	SFG  1 per square	SFG	2 plants
Pumpkin Small 100days	seed	May 16		Back bed 1	3 transplants 5 foot apart 10 ft apart	2-3 per vine 9 vines
Pumpkin Medium 110days	Seed	May 16		Back bed 1	3 transplants 5 foot apart 10 ft apart	2-3 per vine 9 vines
Pumpkin White 100days	Weed	May 16		Back bed 1	3 transplants 5 foot apart 10 ft apart	2-3 per vine 6 vines
Spinach	Seed	April 5th April 19th May 3rd	May 24th June 7th June 21st	SFG	SFG 9 per square	1 square each round
Strawberry	Plants	May 16	As ready	SFG  4 per square	SFG	LOTS
Tomato Early 50 days	Plants Bamboo trellis	May 16	As ready	Front Garden	42 inches	2
Tomato Medium  65 days	Plants Bamboo trellis	May 16	As ready	Front Garden	42 inches	2
Tomato Late 85 days	Plants Bamboo trellis	May 16	As ready	Front Garden	42 inches	1
Watermelon Bush	April 3 ???	May 16		Back bed with corn	36-42 inches	4 plants
HERBS
Basil	April 3	May 16	12 weeks	SFG  1 per square	SFG	2
Chives	Plants	April 17	NA	Front Garden		bed
Cilantro	Seeds	May 16	5 weeks4	SFG	1 per square
Oregano Perinial	Plant	May 16	16 weeks	SFG? = 1per Front garden		2
Parsley	ASAP!	April 10	14 weeks	SFG	4 per square
Rosemary	Plants	In pot	Winter inside	Pot	Pot	1