Gardner’s California Homestead

[Baymule]

Beehives! That is so cool......until your dog gets too close and wrecks everything you just planted trying to rub the bees off. Poor puppy! LOL

 

[thistlebloom]

Beautiful bee pictures! Sorry your pup was so unhelpful, poor thing. She's pretty cute though. Hope you can get new starts going this year.

 

[GardnerHomestead]

Beehives! That is so cool......until your dog gets too close and wrecks everything you just planted trying to rub the bees off. Poor puppy! LOL

Lol I have lots of seeds so I will start again. She’s a little swelled up but she will be alright. She seems to find trouble naturally lol

 

[GardnerHomestead]

Beautiful bee pictures! Sorry your pup was so unhelpful, poor thing. She's pretty cute though. Hope you can get new starts going this year.

We love her so much. First lab we have ever had. Great dogs, goofy as can be lol

 

[BYH Project Manager]

Hello! I am an avid reader on this site but don’t comment much. I would love to become more involved and figured a journal would be a good way to start.

My husband and I have known each other since we were children, raised in the same small town, went to the same school and have been together 18 years this year. We both have day jobs and have three children and bought our miniature homestead in May 2018. We own 2 1/2 acres of semi flat paradise. Before this we lived in “town” on a tiny lot but managed to raise chickens, Flemish giants, and a small container garden. We always wanted to become more self sufficient and this property was our dream. When we moved here the property had been neglected for quite a few years. The previous owners had built the house 60 years ago and in the last 10-15 years hadn’t been able to keep up with the maintenance. His brother and nephew still own the adjacent acreage and have given us a lot of cool history on the property.

Now to the most important part: the animals. When we got here the house came with two chickens. We quickly realized the coop wasn’t predator proof but not before raccoons took off with our inherited birds. When we got the coop reinforced I ordered 15 Lavender Orpingtons. We have a farm mastiff (English mastiff) and a 6 month old lab puppy. Three (slacker) barn cats.

After alot of research and fencing and preparation we got our first three Nigerian dwarf doelings. Quickly followed by three adult does who’s owners were moving and needed a new home. Eventually we added two bucklings, sadly last fall a mountain lion took one boy. We currently have had 4 babies born this spring. Bringing our current total to 11 Talk about a crash course in goat ownership.

We are also about 4 weeks into our first meat bird venture. They are growing like weeds and we are very excited to be able to provide our family with fresh meat.

Anyway this has gotten really long lol. Here’s some random pictures that give a little glimpse into our crazy life.View attachment 70970View attachment 70971View attachment 70972View attachment 70973View attachment 70974View attachment 70975View attachment 70976View attachment 70977View attachment 70978View attachment 70979

@GardnerHomestead congrats, your homestead has been featured on our homepage! Keep up the brilliant work!

 

[bethh]

Its been awhile, the kids aren't in school anymore and I'm working from home most of the time now so trying to get used to the new normal has been interesting. Its been really nice being home with them and the animals, but teaching 1st, 4th and 5th grade have proven difficult for me. We are doing what we can, and I have been trying to include alot of life skills into my "homeschooling". We have been baking alot, made a sourdough starter and been trying out new recipes. Measuring out stuff is math right? The common core kills me, and by the time they go back to school they will know the old way. Sorry teachers Getting alot done around the property, repainting the chicken coop, getting my garden squared away.

We butchered our meat chickens this last weekend. Kids helped with plucking and did great for their first time. Ended up with 19 birds in the end. Ate our first one for Easter sunday, amazing! there is nothing tastier than a homegrown chicken.

Kidding season is over as of last night my last doe had twin bucklings. Salt and Pepper.
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My favorite doe Selena Goatmez gave us twin girls on the first of April. We will be keeping both. Sugar and Cinnamon.

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I have 16 lavender orpington eggs in the incubator right now on a trial run (new incubator!) they should be hatching this Friday . If all goes well i will put in another 42 when those hatch. The demand for chicks is so high right now I ordered some leghorns and olive eggers about 6 weeks ago and they arent available til 5/12. Will be nice to add some color to my eggs.

In other news our farm cat has been really busy
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Daddy goat Oreo does alot of the babysitting around here. Its extremely cute lol.

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Wow, your Oreo looks very much like my Cash. I can’t wait to see the babies he produces. Had to share. Hope you don’t mind. Glad I came across your journal. I finally started one myself.

 

[bethh]

Rather than working on my morning chores, I just sat here reading your journal. I will enjoy following along. The lessons nature teaches us is invaluable. Recently we put up more fencing (eventually we will be experts), to keep the LGDs out of the garden beds around our patio. Planted them with flowers and veggies and are loving the look. Yesterday the chickens decided to come check it all out. Chased them out with a hose. Think they will be getting their wings clipped to discourage flying over the fence.

 

[GardnerHomestead]

He does look very similar! What a handsome boy. Oreo has thrown a lot of color this year I’m very impressed with him. And he passed his blue eyes to all but one of his kids.

 

[GardnerHomestead]

Rather than working on my morning chores, I just sat here reading your journal. I will enjoy following along. The lessons nature teaches us is invaluable. Recently we put up more fencing (eventually we will be experts), to keep the LGDs out of the garden beds around our patio. Planted them with flowers and veggies and are loving the look. Yesterday the chickens decided to come check it all out. Chased them out with a hose. Think they will be getting their wings clipped to discourage flying over the fence.

My husband has put up so much fencing lol I’m pretty sure he is an expert. Freshly rolled dirt is like a chicken magnet. We have about an 8 foot fence around our garden. Mostly to keep deer out but the chickens will do almost as much damage. We regularly clip ours. I love LGDs. Our mastiff is pretty dog aggressive but when he passes I would love to get one (or two)

 

[GardnerHomestead]

Spring is my favorite time of year and very much the busiest. The area I live in is only green for a few months (if we are lucky) so it’s also IMO the prettiest time. The kids (4 legged and 2 legged alike) are growing like weeds. All the spring kids (only 4 legged) are sold for the year. We traded our last buckling for a GOS piglet. So once everyone is weaned we will be pig parents!! Very new and exciting territory for us.

We put our garden in, so far we have strawberries, pumpkins, jalapeños, carrots, squash, tomatoes, bell pepper, watermelon, And green beans. The Kids were a huge help
With the strawberries as that is what they want the most lol.

We obtained two guinea hens which are actually really cool. The baby goats are intrigued and follow them around and chase them often.

Got rid of our big mean rooster. It just wasn’t worth keeping him around and have to worry about getting attacked if you turn around. I’m sure he will make someone a lovely meal. Good riddance. The hens seem much more at ease and can now free range while we are out there working. I wanted to switch up the genes in my flock soon anyway.

The weather has been warm, burn season is going to be over soon so we will get that done this weekend. Have a HUGE pile to burn. We cleared all the metal fencing/scraps from the pile and recycled them. We have a huge thistle problem this year. So I’ve been removing them from the main yard and around the coop by hand but there’s thousands of plants in the pasture that we are just doing to mow down before they seed. Hopefully it helps control it. The goats won’t eat it. Hope everyone has a great weekend!