Another month out of the way too fast. We don’t know about anyone else, but here at the Silly Couple homestead, the month of February went by in a blur. And, as we begin March and reflect on everything that happened in February, we want to really consider our homesteading goals. With that in mind, let’s look at the biggest priorities.
Improving Our Goat Skills
February had its ups and down when it came to owning goats. We quickly realized, despite our prep, that we were not at all prepared to get goats onto the homestead. Despite this, we rolled with the punches and quickly responded to situations as they arose. No one was hurt (well, Joseph may have been hurt a bit, but he doesn’t matter). More importantly, we got a crash course in just how energetic goats can be.
Most important, we greatly improved our ability to milk Delilah during February. We started out basically getting no milk from here. Since she was still nursing her doelings, that wasn’t too big a deal. But, now we’ve gotten down some consistency, our goal in March is to really work on milking her more quickly so we can get more milk.
Of course, beyond just getting better at milking Delilah, we want to make sure we are doing everything right as Nigerian dwarf goat owners. Chief among that, we will be trimming the girls hooves for the first time this month. So, fingers crossed that goes smoothly! We’ve read our share on it and watched some videos. And, just in case we’ll have some wound care equipment at the ready. But, we’re hopeful things will work out. After all, trimming hooves is an integral part of owning any type of goat.
Getting A Beehive Ready
Our bees are ordered and should be arriving in April. This means we want to ensure we not only have all the supplies ready for when they arrive. It also means we need to get a hive in place and get ready to populate it with bees. We’ve done our research and feel mostly prepared to welcome them to their new home. But, as we’ve learned from our goats, that probably means we have no idea what we’re doing.
With that in mind, we plan to get the hive in place at least a couple weeks before the bees arrive. And, more important, we want to due some extra research to prepare ourselves for their arrival. If anyone has any tips for first-time bee owners, please drop them in the comments below. We’d love to have any insight as we work towards our homesteading goals.
Adding Fruits to the Property
This past weekend, we took a step towards another big homesteading goal -growing our own fruit. In fact, we drove over to the E Hernandez Family Nursery in Chiefland and picked up a total of five plants. This includes: oranges, eureka lemons, key limes, blueberries, and blackberries. We’re not sure whether one of any of these plants is enough long-term, but we decided we’d start with these five to ensure we were really ready to plant fresh trees.
While Joseph has a fair amount of experience growing vegetables from seeds, neither of us have ever planted a fruit tree or berry bush before. So, we figure it’s best to take our time and get these staples established before we go too big. Regardless, we’ll need to plant these babies in March, so make sure to check back on how that goes.
Building a New Chicken Brooder?
Though this may not happen in March, it’s definitely on the radar this year. As we got the goats setup and the hot weather is back in full swing, we are reminded just how many bugs call this place home. And, what better way to combat flies and mosquitoes than to bring in more chickens?
Specifically, we’re looking to go full free range on some of these new backyard chickens, which we hope isn’t a mistake. See, one of the reasons we built such a big run is to ensure our chickens would feel they had enough room to roam without exposing them to dangerous predators. Sure, our livestock guardian dog Jadzia is out there to help, but that doesn’t entirely prevent a predator from going after our birds.
Despite this, we think of the hackneyed saying “no risk, no reward” and feel we have to try it out. Our plan is most likely to get another half dozen pullets and when they get old enough allow at least three of them to be 100% free range. If they all seem to do well, maybe we’ll consider letting more out in the future.
Working On Our Homesteading Goals
Maybe this doesn’t seem like a lot, but when we look ahead in March, I’d say we’re keeping a health pace. Our homesteading goals are always to take our time and progressively get more self-sufficient. With all that’s going on in the world today, we imagine we’re not alone in that desire either.
So, whether you’re interested in following our journey to learn from our mistakes, or just looking for a good laugh, we hope you come back next week for more. Until then, we’ll see you around the homestead!