Grama Sue's Rainbow Farm: March 2012

Sunday, March 25, 2012

My Day

Watered tomatoes and elderberries, got gas and went to the store, tried to go to church, but it was canceled, planted potatoes, re-potted rosemary and put little pots of it all through the garden, re-potted stevia - now have 7 plants instead of 1 if they all make it, did some weeding, played with grandson, worked on building new garden bed, transplanted sage and lemon grass, peeled last year's tomatoes for chili, cooked two meals, got another chapter done in my Bible names translation project, uploaded a video on youtube and used it in a blog post, went for a ride with my old farmer, visited with friends, caught up on facebook ... How was your day?

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Feeding Baby Lambs

Our grandson was helping Grampa Tom feed the baby lambs this morning. Click on the link to watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjS4bBr9PuI&context=C4ba8d89ADvjVQa1PpcFOMBthTENfgI7vX6R7oSsn4fuUiqL9kEto=

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Still Crazy & Plastic Bottle Greenhouse Update

So today, we planted sweet corn, more green beans, peanuts, acorn squash, luffa and daffodils. I also started some basil, kohlrabi, mallow and evening primrose inside the house that I will put out just as soon as they are up. I could probably plant them directly outside, but I want to be able to place the plants here and there where I want them. It's just easier to place plants than to thin plants that are started in the ground. Sure do hope the last frost is past! The fruit trees are budding and the magnolia tree is beautiful!

One of the kids I tutored came up with 2 big bags of empty 2 liter bottles for my plastic bottle green house. Thank you Amanda! I decided the 2 liter bottles ought to be made into panels that are at least 6 foot tall. The donation I received along with the few that I already had made almost 2 six foot stacks. I will need 11 stacks to make a 3 1/2 foot wide panel. Keep em coming folks!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Wow Spring!

This warm weather has us going a little crazy. We planted green beans, egg plant, watermelon and squash today. If it doesn't rain to much tonight, I think I'll plant the peanuts I bought last week right into the ground tomorrow. It's the middle of March ... yes, we are crazy!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Monday, March 19, 2012

Want to see what being hen pecked is really all about? Check out my You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-draMIzSGoM&context=C4ba8d89ADvjVQa1PpcFOMBthTENfgI7vX6R7oSsn4fuUiqL9kEto=

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Mighty Chicken Man

My grandson is learning how to handle chickens! Chickens like to peck. If kids don't know how to handle them they can get hurt. It's important to help kids understand how to handle them. Click on the link to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNy0qn5s5Cs&context=C4ba8d89ADvjVQa1PpcFOMBthTENfgI7vX6R7oSsn4fuUiqL9kEto=

Friday, March 16, 2012

Spring Has Sprung!

Upper 70s in March!!! Last year, I couldn't plant outside until May! We've been really busy. I put a few tomato plants and some basil in this makeshift greenhouse the other day. The tomatoes don't look so good today, but hopefully they will pull out of it. They are the ones I've had in the house all winter.

We've got lots of stuff in the ground now ... beets, carrots, onions, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, kale, chard, radishes, kohlrabi ... I bought a few cabbage plants today. I'll try to get them in the ground this weekend.

Grampa Tom has been having lots of fun with the lambs. The picture above is of some that have mommies, but Grampa has 4 lambs that he has been feeding with a bottle. It's funny because when he feeds the lambs the new chickens come up and peck at him. He's so henpecked!

Here's the other 3 that he's feeding. They were done eating when I got out there today, but Grampa is very talented. He holds 3 bottles at a time!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Thursday, March 8, 2012

February 1st Garden

Remember the garden bed I planted on February 1st? It is starting to peak out! Not as soon as I hoped, but it will have a 2-3 week head start on the next one I plant. That makes me happy!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Blogging Dreams

Whoa! I just happened to check on a blog that I started playing with back in 2009. It's just a little blog with 11 posts about my floor plan creation hobby. I love creating floor plans and would some day like to possibly sell my plans. One day I was praying about this and I got the impression that I ought to go ahead and put some of my work out there on a blog. I put a few of them out there, but the last couple of years have been terribly hectic, so I haven't done much with it and I've pretty much ignored it for over a year. There's been over 2000 page views on it! People looked at it yesterday and 171 pages have been viewed in the last month! The URL is http://gramasuesfloorplans.blogspot.com/ if you want to go check it out.

Right now I'm purely an amateur blogger, but I have aspirations to one day turn pro. Grama Sue's Floor Plan Play Land will definitely be one I have to work on developing. Someday ... Why can't there be 48 hours in every day?

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Beyond the Paycheck

The Rebel. That's what my neighbor dubbed me when I was a teen. Still am. Grampa Tom was always the black sheep too ... We’re a couple of radicals who are fiercely independent. The idea of punching a time clock really goes against the grain of our personalities. This blog will chronicle our journey away from the paycheck.

Grampa Tom had a great job managing a farm that gave him the freedom to set his own hours and a steady source of income. After 10 years his boss decided to give up the stress of overseeing the farm and rented out the ground. We couldn’t blame her, but it left us out in the cold. It’s not the first time he’s had a really good job that evaporated through no fault of his own. Our kids are grown. He’s a fantastic farmer and we’ve managed to accumulate a few acres over the years. We figure it’s time he struck out on his own.

Me – I haven’t held what you would call a regular job in years. I got into Avon full-time several years ago, then I started babysitting and homeschooling other people’s kids. I've also done elder care for many, many years and I'm the duly elected tax assessor for the local tax district.

We've always wanted an Old McDonald's type of farm. Grampa's main focus right now is pasture raised eggs and garden veggies. He is very interested in producing pasture raised poultry and milking cows but we're not set up for that yet. Need some more land and buildings! This little 3 acres here ain't quite enough for all dem critters! We have lots of chickens a couple of dogs, and way to many cats. We also raise cows, pigs, sheep, geese and turkeys, but these aren't always on the farm.

I'm focusing on egg noodles, baked goods and herbs for the moment. I'd love to work more on crafts to sell at farmer's markets and craft shows, but there's only so much time in a day! I often think about how great it would be to live 900 years like they did in pre-flood days. There is so much I want to do and learn! I know I've got eternity, but it seems my time on earth is disappearing in a flash! At best, there's only 30 or 40 years left to go!

Hope you enjoy this little window into our lives and our farm!

Grama Sue's Rainbow Farm

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