Quick hit: Fast growing.

Yesterday was incredibly busy so I don't really have much of a post for today, and didn't get much done homesteading wise. We did go out with the Critter, and he got to look over a corn field that hasn't been plowed yet this year, and was fascinated. 

On the homestead Boris is doing a lot better. We're guessing he must have pulled  muscles or something of the like. He's limping, and struggling to stay upright as you can see from his posture. We're glad to see him recovering relatively rapidly given the degree of fight and injury he dealt with. We just keep making sure that he's in at night, and out during the day when it isn't raining.
Last but not least, the seedlings are doing very well. Perhaps a bit too well honestly on the tomato front. As you can see Below the tomato seedlings are shooting up fast, and some are almost in contact with the roof of the mini greenhouse they're in. When that happens the top will have to come off. The pepper seedlings are still very small, so we'll see. We may have to set up a second working area and transplant to larger pots soon. That's all for today, we'll be back Tuesday!

So many seedlings!

Our seedlings have come up! It's a really joyful thing to watch the first seedlings come up inside, and see them doing well. Right now most of what has been started inside is tomatoes, peppers, or eggplant. We started a good variety of various seeds this year and I'm looking forward to seeing how they come out, and being able to share a lot of seedlings. One of the main differences in our seedling starting right now is that we have the seedlings up on the baby clothing rack that used to be our seedling station. It works though!

An hour here and there.

I figured I'd start with Boris and his hens. He dragged himself all the way over to the garden and back to the ramp a couple times yesterday. He's still badly injured, but it doesn't look like he's going to die of his injuries. Even if this is how he lives the rest of his life, he's earned sticking around and us giving him care for the rest of that time instead of us butchering him for meat as we usually would for a non productive animal on our property.

Boris's stand.

This has been an eventful weekend, and at least some of what got done is what we were aiming to get done. One of our two seedling trays has been started, and I'm really happy about that. The reason I haven't gotten the second one started yet is because I don't have enough things that need started yet! I mean, I could start amaranth inside, and probably will start some in the second tray, but I realized we are basically out of tomato seeds after I failed to properly save tomato seeds last year. Yay for toddler sleep induced haze! 

That said, there are other things we got work done on, and things that happened that were a huge surprise.

Thursday? Chickens doing work.

I'm sorry about yesterday, with schedule wonkyness I ended up forgetting that yesterday was Thursday until the evening. Lately the weather has been lovely, and this weekend is going to be thoroughly spring like, and that'll be nice. We may be able to get some good work done around the homestead. Now, of course, 70 degree temperatures during the day doesn't mean we aren't to planting season yet, patience is going to be the best thing for us. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be getting seeds started inside, and prepping beds outside.

Thoughts about sustainability and Transylvania.

Over this past weekend my father and stepmother visited, and beyond just having a good time with them, and spending a lot of time with the Critter we had some interesting conversations. One of them was how much easier it is to do what we're trying to do here in Romania, specifically in Transylvania. My step mother is from Transylvania, and she and my father live there over the summers, and it is fascinating to hear about the differences in how life works there. I suspect she isn't wrong, that it would be easier to be a small farmer there than it is here, especially given how the villages are organized.

There is an interesting video online about how different the area is, and how important the sustainability that it still maintains as a holistic system is. The specific part of this video that I think folks would enjoy listening to is Prince Charles speaking to the interviewer starting at 7:45 in this video.

I think that Prince Charles's point is very well put, and I agree that we really do need to learn that Agri-Industry isn't the only answer. Sorry for the short post, but I think that Prince Charles said what I'm thinking about this.

Of course, maintaining that lifestyle gets harder and harder every day, though it is increasingly important that it is more focused on.

I'd love discussion if folks have thoughts on this.

Quick Hit: Rabbit Reflection

Today I'm looking back, and doing a little reminiscing as we come into spring and start rabbit breeding. Three years ago we already had kits on the ground. This year we're starting very late in breeding, but given everything else that makes sense. This year we've been handling a very strange winter, a small person, and hutches that needed serious cleaning. Now that we've done that, we can get started.

Of course, around three years ago we also learned a lesson, one that continued for a few days that has led to us pushing our first breedings back. Of course, we'd meant to breed earlier than this but have just had a lot going on. Interestingly actually the Lady of the House has been making new friends and found someone with an interesting similar experience. She met someone who started doing meat rabbits, and stopped after precisely the same experience we had with Dawn's litter getting killed by the roof springing a leak. It makes me wonder just how frequent deaths due to something like that are in this area.

Of course if everything was hard all the time, and nothing went well we wouldn't have continued, and much like the Lady of the House's friend, we'd have stopped. Instead we have a lot of good time with really cute kits. Of course we also have some really good food too.

All of this reminiscing is to say, breeding starts this weekend. In a month we're going to have new baby rabbit photos to share on the blog at the same time we're also going to be in a waking world of blooming plants, and the early stages of an edible garden.

It's been a hard year, and I'm looking forward to this new spring ushering in rejuvenation of success with rabbits, as well as the earth coming back to life.

Happy Spring! Time for cleaning and snow.

Happy Spring! As you probably know there's been some significant snow fall up here. It was quite a transition for us since it was warm and rainy on Saturday followed suddenly by snow on both Sunday and a Monday.