One million...I mean, thousand strawberry plants

Last Wednesday, we were getting ready to go to town, when the Feed & Seed called and said our strawberry plants that we ordered had arrived...All 1000 of them! So, we switched gears and prepared to plant strawberries. Some friends came to our rescue by volunteering to help. I don't know how long it would have taken us without their help (a LONG time), but thanks to them, we got the job done in a day. The garden was REALLY muddy that day, and we all got covered in mud, but it was fun anyway.

With strawberries, you have to be patient. We won't get any berries from them this year, but next spring, Lord willing, we'll have lots.

-Tricia Ann

Jacob doing a mud-version of his famous River Dance act

Gimli

He looks so tame...Don't let this fool you...

"Who me? Why, I'm an angel!"

"Somebody's been digging holes in my pen."

A Productive Day

Tricia Ann and Jacob build another brooder.Pop pop lends a helping hand.

Tricia Ann and I cut out canvas pieces for the sides to shelter the baby chicks from the elements.

Looking over the farm plat.

Priceless....

~Trish

A Garden Jig...

No, it's not a dance. (Though I've probably been known to dance in the garden.) It's a little contraption that I read about in Eliot Coleman's book, New Organic Grower's Four Season Harvest. Philip looked at the photos in the book and customized one for our garden. You simply lay it on the row where you want to plant, apply a bit of pressure, and voila! It makes small indentations for your seed at just the right spacing!You'll have to look closely to see the 12 little, correctly-spaced holes...

Here's a closeup of one of the holes. Just pop in your seed and cover it up.

~Trish

Beaverdam Creek: A Sneak-Peek

We're pleased to announce that our farm has a name and our website is almost finished. With all the activity that springtime requires, it's hard to find the time to get inside long enough to do computer work. We just need a few more rainy days, though, to add on the finishing touches. Tricia Ann is doing the graphic design, and Jacob is in charge of the programming. Click here for a preview, and let us know what you think.

~Trish

The Harvest Grill

Some friends of ours recently opened a new restaurant called the Harvest Grill. We ate there one night last week. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very nice. If you're ever up in our neck of the woods, you should visit to the Harvest Grill for one of their juicy steaks or some of their delicious shrimp scampi.

Two pretty waitresses

Hmmm...What flavor should I get?

Hickman County Facial

One evening, we had a barbecue picnic with some of our friends. Just before we ate, one of the little girls walked through the mud-hole that used to be a little pond, and sank down about six inches. She got out, but her shoes didn't. A certain 14-year-old young man volunteered to rescue the distraught little girl's shoes. Balancing on a log, he made his way out to the middle of the mud and pulled out the first shoe. It made a sucking noise, and he threw the shoe to safety on solid ground; however, he was so busy keeping his balance that he did not pay attention to where he was throwing it. The shoe flew right over my head, and slung mud all over me. I was covered in it! It was so hysterical, I thought we were all going to die of laughter.

I was requested to post this picture because it is so "blog-able". It does not do justice to the amount of mud, mostly because I had wiped a lot off my face by the time it was taken. Anyway, here it is.

Tricia Ann

Garden Prep

We've been busy getting the garden ready to plant. Jacob and Daddy bought a plow and a disc for the tractor. They've spent quite a bit of time breaking up the ground, which is always difficult the first year. After plowing and discing, they tilled it once or twice and then they made the rows. I've already planted a few tomato and pepper transplants, and I hope to plant the rest of the garden soon.

Tricia Ann

Okay...Where is the real dirt?
Something must be amiss. This dirt is not RED!

There's only one word to describe it...BIG!

Measuring rows

New Brooder

As a starting note, I want to mention that we had one of the best games of soccer ever (in my opinion) yesterday evening. Nay, not only one of the best games of soccer, but one of the best games of any sort ever. Whether the other participants of the game had such a capital time as I, I know not. I think part of my enjoyment was due to the fact that my dad played. Always fun.

Over the course of last week, Dad and I designed and built a new brooder (based on a Polyface brooder) capable of accomodating ~175 chicks. They occupants of the brooder seem to like it well enough.

Jacob,
who just realized his starting note was longer than the supposed substance of the post.

Trenching

A couple weeks ago, Daddy rented a trenching tractor to dig a trench for the underground power lines. Some friends came to help us, and it took almost two days to finish it. It was a hot and tedious job, but I think the guys had fun doing it. We then put conduit in the bottom of the trench and ran a rope through it so the power company could pull the wire through. We also had to cut down some trees between the power pole at the road and the one at the top of our hill.

We now have power!

Tricia Ann

Jacob driving the trencher

Yep...there it is.

Neoteric occurrences

Wow. A lot has been going on. I don't really even know where to start.

We bought a camper/trailer. That was a biggie. We are completely moved out of the house in town. This family has been more than kind in providing us with shelter whilst we try to get our trailer livable.

One of my buddies and I put up a couple of strands of barbed wire to keep out the neighbor's cows, and in the midst of our labors, some more friends showed up and lent us a hand. Thanks, y'all.

Moo.

Stretch it

Staple it

Untangle it

Untangle it some more

Hand the demanding people the tools

The driveway is nearly finished. It looks very good. Hopefully we can get the trailer up the hill next week.

"Jolly good day, don't you think?"

Yesterday me and my gang cleaned out the barn and were successfully able to avoid Reba G. ;) There was an entire room filled with old clothes, corn cobs, corn husks, and other trinkets. Burn it we did. Burned it dead. Oh! Three of us young folks took CLEPs yesterday and all passed! That was a relief. Last night was movie night. We watched one of my favorties...Remember the Titans. I have no clue what we are doing today, but I'd better get busy doing it.

Jacob

Fleetwood Avion

Our new home. Kind of reminds me of The Long, Long Trailer.

Jacob

Closed

We are thanking the Lord for a smooth closing on the 73 acre property on Sulphur Creek Rd.

Many thanks to our agent for his real estate expertise, detective skills, off-road driving maneuvers, and many hours of showing property to us. Wait...It'd be more like many, many, many, many, many--"Through yet?!?!?!"--manymanyhours showing property to us. We had a lot of fun. Thanks for sticking with us.

Thanks to everyone for your support, counsel, and prayers. Please continue to pray as we try figure out what to do next!

Jacob

View Larger Map

Land Photos

We have a signed contract on a beautiful 73-acre piece of land. We hope to close this week. I'm so thankful that we finally found some property that met all of our requirements. It's amazing how the Lord worked it all out; just in the nick of time, too. Here are some photos.

Tricia Ann

On top of the hill

I love this old barn!
In the loft

Exploring with four-wheeled machinery :)

Alabama Trip

On Saturday, we went to this wedding in Alabama. Some friends of ours picked us up in their 15-passenger van, and we made the four-hour trip together. We had a fun ride. We just barely arrived in time to change into our fancy clothes. The wedding was beautiful and we saw quite a few of our acquaintances at the reception. Here are some pictures we took afterwards.