Arthur & Martha Brunson

Oakwood Cemetery 4.29.10

Overgrown Turnip Greens!

Hello! Somehow my turnip greens did it again! Last year this happened several time also.
Every time, I would cut them back and they'd shoot right back up!
Rather than thick and leafy, I'm getting tall and spindly!

Chicks~ Day 3

Got up this morning to find one more dead chick. Very sad, but a hazard of farm life, I suppose.
We still have about 20 lively chicks bopping around in their make-shift home.

Rain Garden is Starting to Bloom

Good evening! So nice to see you!
This is my rain garden to catch the run-off from the drive.

Video of Baby Chicks! (turn off music player and click play on video feed!)

Day Old Chicks!

Well, Hello!
Today is a big day at Whispering Hills Homestead. Today the day old chicks we ordered from Murray McMurray's arrived! I picked them up from the post office this morning.
In all the confusion I forgot to buy a waterer for chicks and had to pick that up. Also, I did not realize they have to be kept at an even 95 degrees for a week. Well, I had left them locked in my pantry and allowed for plenty of ventilation!
So, tonight Matt and I made a run to Big R in Morris for antibiotics and a thermometer.
We've got a lightbulb over them for now, but the temp in the box is only 70 degrees! I've got a fire going in the stove. We mmay be overheated thos week, but we have to keep these babies alive!

Amazing Service!

Hi! Just wanted to tell you about truly amazing service I received at Tyson Motors in Shorewwod.
I took my Jeep in for service at 8:15am and was in line behind everyone who had brought their cars in at 7:45am. It was a long line and I needed an oil change, tune-up and a new ball bearing for a tire!
when I explained to Anthony that I needed to pick my son up at school at 2:10pm, he was willing to move me up in the line. My Jeep was ready for pick-p at 12:30pm!
It runs beautifully now and I was able to run some errands for work before I picked up Matt at school.
Kudos Anthony Lawler for Awesome Service!

Farm Help

Howdy! Nice of you to drop by! Come around back and see what we're up to.
Today Matt is helping me to turn over the sod. Once turned over, we are removing any dandelions to the garbage toter and composting the grass. My compost pile is almost knee high already and it's only about a month old!
After the sod and weeds are removed, we retill the ground, then we are planting dwarf blue kale and transplanting onions and garlic.
Hopefully the onions and garlic will deter the groundhogs!

When You Give Unselfishly...

Welcome back. Today Matt is dropping food off at MorningStar Mission.
I can't begin to tell you how proud I am to see my 9-year-old son care enough about the wellbeing of others to take the time to do this. It's just beyond description.
He has set up a collection point at work and educated others as to the need.
It is a blessing to our entire family to give this way!

Help Pilcher Park!

Why be a Cub Scout?

Have you ever wondered about Cub Scouts? What do they do? What do they stand for?
My son is Bear Cub Scout getting ready to bridge up to Webelo Cub Scouts in May. He has gained an amazing amount of self-confidence and skill just from being in Scouting since the fall of 2009.
Matt has built a wooden tool box, learned the joy of hiling with a group, studied astronomy and tried to get a few friends to join.
Scouting bases a lot on character, honesty and truthfulness.
Webelos stands for "we'll be loyal scouts."

Chicken Coop Going Up...

Well, hello! Welcome. Some around back and let's look at the new chicken coop. It's slowly coming together.
Candi cut the closet doors in half crosswise using our circular saw. She's getting to be quite precise about her carpentry skills!
Next we predrilled holes in the wall panels and the posts and screwed the sides to the posts.
Our next step will be to attach the 4th side with hinges. Then we still need to add the floor, ceiling and roof. The plan is to have the coop and run finished by this weekend and add chickens and a rooster.
I'd like it all done for Candi's birthday on Monday.

The New Pond

Good evening!
Have you ever noticed how therapeutic it is to sit beside a crick?
Have you ever thought about all the water running down the drain from your washer or shower?
Our pond is a grey-water pond/ crick. Right now it is fed by our washing machine drain and we will add the tub drain soon. Ass the washer hits the spin cycle water rushes out the pipe in the foundation into the upper pond.
As each pond refills, it overflows into the pond below and, eventually, through my garden.
This seriously cuts down on watering and I've never seen vegetables grow the way grey water makes them grow!
What is your grey water conservation technique?

Recycling What We Have...

Welcome back! Come around back and see our new project.
Lately we've been constructing a chicken coop and a run. The run is an old dog run we bought off someone for $50.
The wood for the walls, floor and roof are made from old closet doors.
We are repurposing everything possible. Not only does it save money, it also is a very 'green' way to live.
What have you repurposed at your house?

No-Till Garden

Hi! Welcome back! A lot going on here as usual. Check out what I'm doing out back.
This is a fresh attempt at no-till gardening. First I layed down cardboad. Then I spread year old compost over it. This compost was so beautiful! It was the richest I've ever seen.
In my little no-till area I planted peas. My first patch of peas this season. We love peas, so I will be planting many more.
What is your favorite veggie?

Starting to Stack Firewood!

Good Afternoon! Welcome to our humble homestead. Always glad when friends stop by!
This is, actually the spot where our tent was last year. Too slanted to put the tent there again, but perfect for firewood.
We laid out black plastic tarp first as a weed barrier, the pallets to keep the wood off the ground. We are trying to not just know where things are and how much we have, but look more organized too.
I am dedicating one pallet to kindling alone as we really ran short of that item this last winter. The other pallets will be firewood stacked neatly as high as possible, but so we can easily maneuver it ourselves.
Handy to the door and easily accessable are the keys to this project!

Leveling a New Spot for the Tent

Hi! So happy you're here! Come out back and see what we're up to now.
Last year our tent was on an incline closer to the house. We literally rolled into eachother all night. Although hillarious, it was uncomfortable.
This year we've decided to move the tent to the back of the lot. There's an incline there also, so we're using extra dirt to level it out a bit. We dump a bucket or two, then rake and repeat.
Soon we can put up our tent and have "The Great American Backyard Camp-out" all summer!
Camping Rocks!

Last Year's Garden...

Hi! Glad you stopped by! This is what remains of last years garden. As you can see, I fenced more than I could till alone. LOL my eyes were bigger than my shovel, I guess! Even so, I plan to plant as large an area this year.
If I don't reach for the clouds, I must happily trudge along with nothing!

It's Blooming Beautiful!

Good afternoon! It's so nice that you wandered by today.
Would you look at the front parkway? Isn't it lovely with all the daffodills blooming? I'm so glad they finally came up. It's so hard to wait for things to bloom in the spring!
Now to wait for the lillies and iris to bloom~ and I still have many flowers to transplant into our parkway.
What is the prettiest flower in your parkway? Do you plant edibles in yours?

Adding Roses

Good Morning! Glad you could come to visit with me today! What a treat this is.
Today we are setting out more rose bushes to add a little zip to the front garden bed. We are putting in five total~ 1 red, 1 magenta and 2 light pink.
A little manure and compost patted around and a good rain tonight. We should have beautiful roses in no time!

Starting the Alley Parkay!

Welcome back! So nice to see you this evening. As you can see I've been playing in the alley~ working a bit at cleaning it up.
My goal is to have the perimiter so nice the city leaves me alone when they inspect the neighborhood on foot this summer. I am concentrating on the front and back parkways as well as putting in the crops and getting chickens up and running!
My plan along the alley is to stack the old railroad ties that came with the property. Then I want a neat row of logs (preferrably pine) standing up out side the railroad ties. Inside the railroad ties is a deep bed for roses.
I'm hoping this will be very beautiful, woodsy and thorny when finished.

More Mulch!

Hi! Yes, I bought more mulch! Another seven bags on the front parkway.
I am only mulching the parts that I won't be changing this year. The area nearest the street is finished until the city comes through and finishes the curb. Wondering if they'll leave me with a curb across half of my front parkway?

The Pond as it Was

Hi! Welcome back to our humble homestead! Shall we grab an iced tea and wander around back?
This was our second attempt at a grey water pond. Although it was an improvement over the first, it was still a rough design with flaws (like the sides collapsing).
It did, however, attract a lot of birds and butterflies and our garden grew out of control.
Watch for coming updates on the new pond!

Oakwood Cemetery

We stopped by to spruce-up since we can't be here for the clean-up day!

Knowing Your Area

Hello. Glad to see you. Have a seat and lets chat.
I was just going over my map. Trying a new plan for exploring our area with my family this year. Let me know what you think, please.
I took out a map of our area and drew circles with a one mile radius from:
home
work
favorite parks
Grandma's farm
then I drew a two mile circles around each.
My theory is that we absolutely MUST KNOW the area one mile form home at minimum. Then one mile from work and our favorite hang-outs. The two mile circles are important, too, but down the road a bit.
I found it interesting how some of the one mile circles intersected!
What do your circles look like?