Yesterday I completed a new outside no frills chainlink pen. I put Sagittarius (the Nigerian Dwarf  buck) in it last night and I put the orps and rocks in this mrning. he chickens went  in kicking and screaming. I actually got a mass of chicken shit in my boots and had to change socks. They squacked and screamed all the way in. They were unreasonable litle bastards the whole way in. Afer the morning feed I tied off Capricorn and Aquarius in the pen with him. They are the rescue Boer/Nubian cross goats. They are also known as Shithead and Asshole on many days. Sag moved back and froth between goats butting heads all afternoon. Apparently nothing was solved between those three, so we try it again tomorrow. Nancy found a large amount of free lumber in Sumrall that we picked up. This should give us enough wood, minus the 4x4's to build actual stalls for the horses. I don't think I will ever finish the garden beds.

So last Sunday I had a completely lazy do nothing day. Then it rained all day Monday. The rest of the week? Filled with other projects. I don't think I will ever get this bed dug. I need to because I am planting broccoli tonight. I made a new friend though.

Garden wise this day was a bust. We received a message Friday afternoon that a Collie was at the Southern Pines Animal shelter and was scheduled to be put down Monday. Houston Collie Rescue  contacted Nancy about us picking the dog up and transporting her to Purvis for her long ride to Houston and her waiting family. Long story short, Texas Collie Rescue jumped the gun abd made arrangements for her to be picked up by a foster family in Hattiesburg to await transport to Texas. I'll be going back Wednesday to make sure she is on her way.  I think I could sleep for a week.

Let me start again. The pond garden project is moving slow. Let me rephrase...it is moving at a snails pace. I've decided on hugelkulture beds. More on that later.

    What got me into gardening/farming? Growing up my parents had fairly decent sized gardens off and on, mostly when mom didn't work. In our first house we had a huge one, plus we helped tend gardens at both of my grandmothers. I absolutely hated the shelling and picking. Hated. By the time I got old enough to maybe appreciate the planting part we had to move. Dad had a thing for other women, especially other mens wives. I never really gave much thought to it though occasionally I would try to sprout acorns I would find or pine seeds. The bug bit me later in life.

    I discovered a buried interest sometime after my daughter expressed an interest in Wicca. How did one lead to the other you might ask...well I am getting there. I decided to do some research before I let her explore this belief. In my research I discovered all kinds of herbal and gardening groups on Yahoo. It was here that I first heard the terms Permaculture and Natural Farming. As I joined groups and read further I discovered the work of Holzer, Jeavons and Fukuoka, just to name a few. Over the years of success and failures of small gardens, mostly along the steps of apartments I have found waht I want to do, and I am finally in the place I can do it. Now if I can just squeeze a few more hours out of each day...

Rain and more rain...

After another two days of serious rain the big hole has about 4 to six inches of standing water. Most of it is toward the center...hopefully once everything is planted the plans will suck up most of the water pretty quick. Tomorrow I start planting.

Rain, rain, rain

Was planning to work in the big hole in the ground, but the rain put a stop to that. I already have little lettuce sprouts poking their heads up. I will play with posting some pictures tomorrow of the garden, and my cute little seedlings!

Well it is a start anyway.

The big ass garden pond project is off to a slow start, but it is off to a start. I have a great heap of chicken and duckshit mixed with straw that soon will be spread throughout the garden area. White clover will grow very well down ther and the bees, they will be happy. I have decided to use untreated 2x4 to frame 4x4, 4x6, and 4x8 beds. Here in South Mississippi they will not last long, but they will frame the beds long enough for what I need. This will ensure anyone visiting will not walk on the beds. After the boards rot the beds will have a distinctive shape that you just can't miss. I'm not sure Fukuoka would have agreed with me, but I think this will work just fine here.