It is nearing summer and the days have become exceedingly busy around our homestead. We have four children and that always makes life super busy and exciting, but summer time brings a reduced school load and an increased chore load. Summer is usually an exceptionally busy time with building projects, adding new design elements to our homestead, and of course fellowshipping with friends and family. For some reason there never seems to be enough time in the day; or week, or month for that matter!

Spring and summer are chick starting season and we have a bunch of chicks growing out in a small pen in preparation for joining our regular flock later in the summer.

This batch of chicks has six male Black Austrolorps which will allow us to forgo ordering that particular breed of chicks from a hatchery again. When we placed our original order of 50 Austrolorps I thought that I had ordered males as well, however that did not turn out to be the case. With the new chicks we are remedying that deficiency. Next spring we should be hatching our own chicks that will continue our flocks as well as provide a product to offer to other homesteaders. We are thankful to receive all of the eggs that we need from our birds as well as wonderful chicken on our table. We hope to provide all our own chicken needs next year, and we were very close this year.

We acquired a baby bull calf from a friend two weeks ago that will provide beef for our family within a year.

He is doing wonderfully and eating well and we look forward to raising him. We keep him in a stall at the moment because he is still young yet and may not fare well with the others. Most likely we will keep him in a stall until after he has been made a steer and recovered. Our oldest cow Clarabelle is a Dexter and gave birth to her first calf in April. We named her first calf Maisy as it was a heifer and we intend to keep her to grow our heard. Maisy has the benefit of her mother and is growing fantastically with only minor oversight from us. The last cow that we have out in our small pasture is a Holstein/Angus steer that we are raising for a family member.

We also got a fresh batch of young guineas today. I just love having guineas around the house. While they aren’t the prettiest birds to look at they certainly are good at keeping the insects in check most notably the deer tick which can potentially carry Lyme disease. Lately there have been warnings that ticks could also be carrying other more dangerous diseases, so be careful when you’re out there. Getting some guineas for your homestead isn’t a bad idea either. Guineas have a unique call that makes them very good at warning you of guests whether expected or not, and hatching their eggs can provide you with another product for your homestead.

The heat has been on the rise this week and is likely to continue as summer is beginning to take hold here in the Carolinas. The gardens are doing better than I expected and that is likely owed to the heavy layers of compost and mulch that we have been looking into since reading about Jean Pain. We do have some irrigation going, but I am beginning to think that we may need to employ some of the methods used in the desert environment to aid us during the dreadfully hot days of summer. I will be looking into utilizing sunken beds and shade cloth to provide a cooler micro-climate for growing. Brush clearing will be an ongoing process around the homestead providing us with wonderful brushwood compost and it’s many products during the summer months, but the work slows considerably do to the heat and humidity. We are also slowly completing our barn, but forgoing the use of credit makes it sometime slower than we would like. Still, I think that it is wise to stay away from using other people’s money at interest because it is always far more expensive than patience.

I am sure that this is not nearly as informative as something else that I could have written, but sometimes is nice just to talk about the things that are happening. I am sure that others out there are busy doing just as we are; slowly building a homestead to provide for their family’s needs as well as provide some income. We hope to do this in a way that reflects our love for God and our respect for His creation by using Permaculture design techniques and good Stewardship principles. Until next time take comfort in knowing:

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” Genesis 8:22