CHICKENS & VEGE GARDEN

Who doesn't love chickens???? Our chicken run is now right behind the vege garden, this makes it so easy to get rid of unwanted veges and waste. The chook pen used to be at the other end of the garden, so it makes more sense here.

As you can see above the vege garden opens into the chook pen and then out to this large paddock that they have free access to daily, lots of insects and worms out here. Having them here also keeps insects down in the vege garden.

This pic is from the hilltop where the goats milking shed is, from here you can see the green house and chook pen surrounding it. We have 23 chickens and one rooster. 10 are ones we hatched and raised ourselves and should be starting to lay soon....

We have had a sprinkle of rain in the last 24hrs which makes everything nice and green, also makes it a good day to be working in the vege garden. At the moment we are harvesting cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum, chilli, zucchini and asparagus....Lots of salad food perfect for the weather we are having.

Today I planted out the garlic bed, now I already have some shallots planted in here but they will be havested soon and more garlic will go in. The potatoes are down the other end of the vege garden as I will be planting onions in the next bed and they shouldn't be planted close together. I have planted my own garlic that I saved from last year,I also got some from Diggers club called Italian Late and New Zealand Red... Not sure what mine are as I just saved them and forgot to mark them so I called them Mandy's Mix hahahaha....

Soon to go in beetroot, carrots, cabbages and lots of brassicas, also broad beans..... Such a wonderful time to be in the garden as it starts to get cooler.... Have a great week all, we are heading to Brisbane on the weekend to watch our grandson Mason Swim....Really looking forward to seeing them all... Blessings Mandy

FARMSTAND

Hello and welcome.... I thought I might show you our little Farmstand/roadside stall that we have out the front.... Its easy to see look for the PINK house...

Yes Pink, I have always wanted a pink house,but that is for another post when it is all done.

We have all sorts of seasonal goodies in our Farmstand, the last couple of weeks I have been busy making chutney... Beetroot, Mango' Choko' and Eggplant...Yes eggplant, sounds awful I know but it is actually really nice has a caramel flavour to it as it has Indian spices in it..

This summer has seen so many eggplants, beetroot, chokos and cucumbers...The vege garden has done well through the heat really.. We also have our eggs that we sell...lots and lots of eggs from our lovely ladies.

Blue,green,white,brown and I am sure some have a pink tinge maybe I am just wishing....

I have also been drying herbs and making tea, the tea has been really successful. The one we have at the moment has Lime verbina, lemon grass with blue butterfly flower that make it a wonderful deepblue colour. It is great hot or cold. I like to add lots of ice on a hot day... so refreshing.... We also sell..

Dishclothes made from 100% cotton so just throw them in the wash every couple of days...

Lip Balm...made from coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax..

SOAP

CANDLES

FLOWERS...This summer has seen some beatuiful blooms in the garden so I am glad to share them.. Really whatever we have excess off we put out in the stall. All the money we make goes into buying grain for the animals..We may be small here but all the animals have a job to do and nothing goes to waste.

Our veges and fruit are all chemical free, so anything I make is chemical free as well... If you live close buy come for a drive one weekend and stop at other farm roadside stands on the way...Bring an old book you have finished reading and swap it in our Book Swap Libary it is out every day.... Do you have an excess in your garden that you could sell to help with feed or seed bills...I hope I inspire you to give it a go...

I started with flowers on a table in our driveway.....Some times starting is the hardest part what ever it is... We are OPEN WEEKENDS ONLY, this suits us as we are home. You make yours to suit what days you would like... Have a great and blessed week all. Mandy