luna acres

We spent most of the weekend in town, celebrating Easter with our friends and family. I tried to make up for lost time today. Cleaned the house, caught up laundry, we moved the ducks, and I planted a bunch of seeds for the garden. Tonight we fixed the pull-cord on the tiller, we are making progress! Until next time, Angela Kelly

baby bunnies more babies storm hangin out It was a beautiful early spring weekend!  We got the tiller up and running, pulled the wheels off which need to be replaced.  The front yard has been cleaned of the trash, sticks,  and graveyard of deer bones which always seem to accumulate over the winter.  Loaded the back porch with firewood.  Spent some time enjoying the animals.  The baby bunnies are getting their fur and opening their eyes.  We also made time this weekend to hang out with friends (Amy and Savannah, my favorites, always)  as well as family, Jonathan's mom Penny,  plus both of my grandmothers, which was a special treat for me.  The time always goes by too fast, back to work tomorrow,  but the days are growing longer and longer,  giving us time in the evening to enjoy our little paradise.  Spring is here, everyone! the pretty girls ducky duck ducks the b...

Last year I was too late to start the early season plants, but not this time!  I even used my farmers almanac calender to plan the dates to start seeds!  I sure hope this broccoli grows!  It's like a little sneak peak of spring... Until next time, Angela Kelly

It was a beautiful snow, light and fluffy. After tending to all the animals I decided to start planning the garden for spring. I have quite a pile of seeds leftover from last year, so that's a good start. I also narrowed a shopping list of flower seeds for the weddings (my sister Amy's and best friend Savannah's.) I filled out the calendar with all the planting dates to match the almanac calendar. Also, since working on the field on Sunday, I am super motivated to get a goat. I spent a good bit of the day looking at fencing supplies online, although I know what I need, but hauling 16 foot cattle panels is always a challenge. I fixed dinner tonight, which is unusual (Mom usually makes dinner because Dad likes to eat at precisely five o'clock) and I enjoyed it very much. We had pork chops, mashed potatoes, carrots, salad, and homemade apple bread. That was my favorite part. I have leftovers for breakfast tomorrow, and a whole loaf frozen for later. I love cooking. ...

 Success - Onions. We got about 150 onions, yellow white and red. Failure - Storage. Most of them rotted before we could eat them.  We need to work on a better drying rack, location, and dry cold storage for after that. Failure - The pumpkin vines all got a blight and died before any pumpkins formed. :( Failure - Watermelon and two other kinds of melons all grew but the fruits never reached maturity. Success - The small warted gourd mixture I planted went crazy. We sold a few,  decorated with a bunch, and are drying out some to try to make little bird houses and things. Success - The six tomato plants we bought as transplants did really well. We didn't stake them up very well, but they gave us more than we could eat anyways. We sold some of the extra, but I really wish we had tried to can or freeze some. Failure - The direct seeded tomato plants didn't do much, just a handful of cherry tomatoes,  although they were delicious. Success - The yellow squash and zucchini ...

yellow squash zucchini plants gourds - the end of the garden in about the center of the photo our first melon!  The garden is going strong, despite being pretty weedy from all the rain and sunshine. We have had more yellow squash and zucchini than we can eat, plus some tomatoes and today I saw our first few melons hidden in the vines! The gourds have taken over and stretch out through the field past the garden's edge. This summer has been a great first year for our garden, we know lots of things to do differently next time, but had tons of good food to eat regardless. Life is in the adventure. Live simply, Angela

My amazing nieces and nephew helped me harvest some vegetables from the garden yesterday. They have been staying with us for a few days, and it is so nice to see them. We came back with a full laundry basket and a half of onions (red, white, and yellow) squash, zucchini, beets, carrots, and tomatoes. They were all quite tasty (the rabbits enjoyed the beet leaves) and Jonathan made me a great repurposed drying rack for the onions and beats (and soon enough, potatoes.)  Thank you, first garden, you have taught us much already. (BTW apologies for the crappy cell phone pictures, I lost my camera, temporarily.) Oh yeah, and this morning I woke up to our first eggs from our beautiful hens. Yay! Live simply, Angela and Jonathan

the smallest bun-buns bird baths always interested - our three pretty hens the first squash of summer climbing cucumbers and zucchini a small harvest from the week We have not been incredibly productive on the farm these past few weeks, not nearly as much as we should have been, but things are rolling along as they always do, regardless of our efforts (and lackthereof.) The garden has started to produce beautiful squash, zucchini, beets, and onions, which we have been enjoying on a nearly daily basis. The rabbits are growing fast and we should have 30 plus to eat or sell by the end of summer. The hens should begin to bless us with eggs within the month. The mushroom baskets are all pinning and we should have a nice and timely harvest for market next Thursday.  Yes, despite our efforts, mother nature keeps us moving forward. Live simply, Angela and Jonathan 

I read in a book I use as my ultimate compilation of knowledge and wisdom of all things gardening,  Dirty Knees, printed in nearby Rockbridge county, that is is often said that one  has "made garden" when everything is planted in a day or weekend.  We made garden this weekend. old picture, more to come of the progress we have made Live simply, Angela Kelly

April showers seem to be here to stay, making us a big wet mess- but we're adapting. chicks. I'm not sure what breed they are yet, but those two little ones are growing very slowly. The Pekin ducklings seems to protect the smaller Rouens constantly, even from my camera cloudy onions (and weeds) hello there bunnies bunnies bunnies flowers, in an amazingly rocky flower bed Live simply, Angela and Jonathan

There's been lots of little projects, growth, achievements... the garlic grows more every day our white rock chicks are getting fat the pekins are obviously much bigger than the rouens the little layers bunny pile but the biggest step of all... we finally have a greenhouse. at long last Live simply, Angela and Jonathan