Loving my new life

I love our little community, our house in the country and being at home with my boys.

In just over a year I've gotten to know some wonderful people in our area and even those I don't know always smile and say hello as you pass.  So different to the stone faced city folk I used walk by in malls and lunch bars when I was in an office job.

After moving I got out and involved in a local playgroup for the benefit both myself and the kids.  I even took on the job as Treasurer in the new year which keeps me very busy sometimes, which is something I thrive on.  Especially over winter when the garden is slow, no chicks are hatching and the fruit trees are sleeping.

I am very excited about the growing season ahead.  Since rearranging my vege garden it is now about 32 square meters, a lot bigger than the old 13.  My broad beans are nearly a meter tall and flowering which should give me a good crop in spring and Papa Bear brought me some potato and garlic to plant this week.  I hope to have some new potatoes for Christmas.

The vege garden chicken tractor is working really well, the hens do a very thorough job and leave a very clean and fertilised soil to plant in.  My compost bin system has been started, made out of upright pallets.  The first is a little over half full and when I turned it this afternoon it was lovely and hot with good fungi and microbe activity.  I should have loads of compost to plant pumkins, lettuce, corn and beans in in the spring.

I planted some beetroot, carrots, parsley, chives, coriander, kale, broccoli and cauliflower a couple of months ago which have slowly established through the cold weather and all look very healthy.  I planted some rhubard too and I'm sure some have sprouted, though I'm not completly sure.  I've never grown it from seed before I don't know what it looks like as a baby.

The blog has been quiet over the last few weeks due to my boys having chicken pox, colds and ear infections.  I was lucky enough to have both my boys get a quite mild cases of chicken pox.  We got through relatively drama free by giving regular warm baths with baking soda or oats wrapped in a cloth to sooth their itchy sores.  Even taking 20 minutes to do it at midnight helped us all through the night in the long run.  Mr 4 didn't eat much for a few days until Mumma realized he had pox in his mouth so food was very soft for a few days which got him eating well again.  I'm glad we don't have to do it again though.

Today has been cold and blustery so I'm off to put on a pot of hearty pumpkin and barley soup for dinner.