We Have PEEPS!
We have PEEPS! Now it is really starting to feel like a homestead around here!
Not that it hasn’t been homesteady all along. I mean we have been working on our garden for the past several weeks, and that is actually really going well. This past weekend we planted spinach, chard, mache, 2 kinds of carrots, 2 kinds of beets, 3 types of onions, nasturtiums, green peas, lettuces, turnips and radishes. Also sage, rosemary and dill – oh and the ever present marigolds. Garden gems for the organic gardener! Not to mention blueberry, raspberries, elderberry, lingonberry and currant bushes. As well as apricot and chestnut trees. We also have tomatoes, peppers and eggplants growing inside right now. We are doing a companion planting garden, and are really excited to see the tops of beets already emerging, as well as onion starters sprouting and either radishes or turnips starting in less than a week. My stepdaughters were here last weekend and even got in on the action. Thanks Rachel and Gwen!
I joked on facebook earlier that today I connected with my Irish roots earlier, by digging 75 feet worth of potato trenches by hand. Good hard work that will hopefully yield hundreds of heirloom varieties – over 8 different kinds. Those will be going in the ground tomorrow. Then this weekend the hot plants – tomatoes, peppers, cukes and melons. Probably squashes if we can squeeze them in.
It has been non-stop work since we got here 6 weeks ago. But it is so nice to see how much we have accomplished – all for an important end -FOOD.
But today was the day I have really been waiting for!!! My first livestock! A recent passion that has just been growing since we got out to the country. I placed my order for peeps 4 weeks ago – just weeks after arriving. I was not messing around. I got 3 different varieties – Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks and Silver Laced Wyandottes (which I was told not to expect, so I only ordered 2) I ended up getting all, including the Wyandottes, but not the rooster I had ordered. We were expecting them tomorrow, but they arrived a day early. So we spent a rushed hour putting the final touches their brooder, where they will stay for the next 3-4 weeks, until it is consistently warm enough for them to be outside in their coop that we have yet to build. Just another project to do here on the farm!
When you get peeps, you have to show them how to drink water by dipping their beaks into the water. When we got them home, they enjoyed the first water and food of their lives, having been born yesterday morning, immediately packed into boxes and shipped out. So we really are raising them by hand. Such a privilege. I hope they enjoy their life at Thistlemoon Meadows!
Peter G @ Souvlaki For The Soul - June 3, 2010 at 10:08 pm
How exciting….great to see your gardens and planting are going full steam ahead! And those chicks look so cute…so envious of those fresh eggs you will enjoy!
Toontz - June 3, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Make sure you take pictures of them every few days…they grow so fast! Did I ever tell you that I raised a couple of chicks in my bedroom closet when I was little? My mom just wanted us to have the experience. Then we had to give them away, but it was still so much fun.
peter - June 3, 2010 at 10:32 pm
This IS an exciting phase of your farming days. Thank goodness they are only pretty as chicks…they will be,well you know. 😉
pixen - June 3, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Awww… they are so cute! Love your farm too 🙂 Reminded me those kiddy years with my mom’s coup. Btw, are you going to sit around with your PEEPS all day? 😀 My red grape seed from South Africa started to grow last week… i hope to have their leaves and fruits to make dolmades.
Please photos upload ok? I agreed with Toontz..it will be nice to have picts of growth stages of animals and plants for references.
Thank you for sharing your happiness 🙂
kat - June 3, 2010 at 11:00 pm
that is so cool!
Ivy - June 4, 2010 at 3:28 am
All this is so exciting; This is just the life I was always dreaming of.
bellini valli - June 4, 2010 at 8:52 am
Such an exciting time Jenn creating your own path.
Alta - June 4, 2010 at 9:03 am
Hooray peeps! How exciting. I love what you’ve done so far with your garden, and now you’ll have perfect little bug-eaters!
Happy Cook - June 4, 2010 at 9:14 am
Wowo they look so so cute, reminds me of back home .
Lookslike you are anjoying beeing a home veg gardner. I so wish I had a garden,but we live in a apartment …
Arlene (MOM) - June 4, 2010 at 9:33 am
This is just fantastic. I love watching it unfold and take shape before my eyes. I am so impressed with you and Roberto for taking this all on and with big SMILES on your faces. Your own Garden of Eden……
Are you going to name your peeps?
Please show more photos as your garden and peeps grow.
The Hungry Mouse - June 4, 2010 at 10:16 am
OMG, love them! Best of luck with them. Your place sounds idyllic!
+Jessie
Lori @ RecipeGirl - June 4, 2010 at 10:35 am
You’re livin’ the dream, Jenn!! I love this post. I can feel your excitement about all of this, and I wish I had this life too! Have fun!!!
Dragon - June 4, 2010 at 11:01 am
Congratulations momma!
5 Star Foodie - June 4, 2010 at 11:15 am
How cute! And so much fun! It reminds me of my childhood – every year around this time we would get a bunch of little peeps like this to bring to the countryside and help raise them there on a farm in the summer.
Rosa - June 4, 2010 at 11:39 am
OMG, they are sooooo cute! A great home! I also want a garden and peeps…
Cheers,
Rosa
vanillasugar - June 4, 2010 at 12:04 pm
BABIES!
i want to come visit and get inspired to plant something. lol
ok i doubt i will ever plant, but i can feel your excitement way over here.
take good care of those precious babies.
kat - June 4, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Oh wow, what cute little bundles! Everything looks & sounds so great, you are going to have an amazing harvest!
Laurie - June 4, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Congratulations!! How fun.. it’s so wonderful being a new parent! 🙂
And your homestead looks awesome too!
maybelles mom - June 4, 2010 at 8:10 pm
SO exciting. my husband jokes that I am gonzo about chickens. We are trying a more modest garden then you, but we are going for variety–6 types of beans, 5 tomatoes or so, 2 spinachs, 2 kales, 3 eggplants, 2 okras, 2 squashes.
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten Free - June 4, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Jenn!! Wow!! Your chicks are adorable. And, I am totally envious of your garden. We’re trying but so far it’s not looking great.
I know you commented on my blog that we were just a couple of hours form each other when I was traveling…I am so bad with geography. I wish I would have put two and two together. Someday we’ll finally meet.
Keep the fabulous posts coming!!
Sue - June 5, 2010 at 12:27 am
Congratulations on your new babies!!! What are you naming them?
nina - June 5, 2010 at 7:53 am
I agree with Lori, this must be so amazing to live the dream……your hard work now will just be awarded with all the lovely organic produce!!!
Johanna GGG - June 5, 2010 at 9:01 am
congratulations – have been a bit behind with my catching up with blogs and just read about your move to Thistledown Meadows – it sounds amazing – good luck with the big change and with the little chicks – they look so gorgeous – I bet you just want to sit and watch them all day
Stella - June 5, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Hey Jenn, I’m sure you already know that I think this is awesome (smile). I need to put some marigolds in my Mom’s organic garden soon too-thanks for the reminder.
Oh, and the chics are cute-so cute…
Bob - June 6, 2010 at 9:23 am
Loving the new garden.
We’ve hatched and raised chicks for the last three years I think but we were not going to try this year until all our chickens were wiped out in a fox attack. Three new chickens later and we’ve got a hen that’s gone broody so we’ll see whether she can hatch any eggs for us.
erin :: the olive notes - June 6, 2010 at 9:58 am
this is awesome!!! Looks like you’re settling in so naturally 🙂
tasteofbeirut - June 7, 2010 at 11:21 am
so cute! Love that garden and all your planting! did you plant purslane?
redkathy - June 7, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Hi Jen, looks like life is good! Love the baby chicks. Reminds me of Easter. My dad bought chicks from a local farmer when I was really young. What a wonderful surprise to wake up to on Easter morning! Plus we got to visit the farm afterward.
jenn (Bread + Butter) - June 8, 2010 at 3:27 pm
I remember seeing you post this on fb. Little chicks are sooooo cute!!! It was that same day I saw a little baby rooster. 🙂
I so wish i had a backyard right now. I want to grow my own little garden. Oh, the day that will happen, i’d be so happy.
Maria - June 10, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Oh wow, I am so jelaous of how much you will be able to grow for yourselves! What a great opportunity!
Aggie - June 16, 2010 at 8:06 am
So excited about your garden, your chicks, and your new LIFE! This totally suits you Jenn and I couldn’t be happier for you!!