Happy Valentine's Day from The Little Red Homestead!

 
   I've been dragging my feet on an updated post for three weeks now. I believe I have a case of the "winter blues" since I've been sleeping 9+ hours a day and eating my weight in food daily. (either that or my husband finally knocked me up). But thanks to the wave of gorgeous weather we're having I've been more active again this week. 

 
Firstly I want to wish anyone who reads this a happy Valentine's Day. I don't typically brag about myself but I went 22 years without a kiss, candy, a date, or a boyfriend on Valentine's Day so I'm going to brag! Kent and I have actually been married exactly 18 months tomorrow too. He took off work and we went to the zoo while it was completely empty and 65 degrees. Which he followed by taking me to my favorite, and only decent, pizza restaurant in Texas- Olivella's in Highland Park. And just when the day couldn't have gotten better we hit Society Bakery on Greenville Ave. I really though that was the end of it but then last night I also got two dozen roses and a brand new tiller! I'm one very excited wife today! 



My husband and I have been tilling our flowerbeds by hand
using a pickaxe, which has been a nightmare to say the least. But the tiller is going to make a world of difference. Instead of just doing the boxes we're also going to till about 1/4 an acre now. More room = more food for us. My seedlings have really started popping up this week too. I don't usually start seeds because A] I'm impatient and B] I've spent $150 on organic heirloom seeds and had maybe a 50% germination rate in the past. This is my first really successful year with seeds but I'm also a lot more educated about cultivation and farming in general than I was even a year ago. My Mortgage Lifter tomatoes were the first to rear their pretty green heads. Which, as an avid tomato enthusiast, is very exciting. Mortgage Lifters are know for their enormous size and flavor. I see a lot of salsa in our future considering my jalapenos, onions, and cilantro have also started poking through.

This is Paprika "tolerating" human attention

   I've also been trying to find homes for the excess roosters we have from last summer. My mother-in-law and I didn't know how to sex chicks last summer and boy has it come back to bite us in the ass. We were up to 14 roosters briefly. I'm attaching a really helpful link about sexing chicks so you don't make the same mistakes we did: 

http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/reprod/ReproTech/Feathersex/sld006.htm

   Starting chicks ourselves has been a really wonderful experience in general however. The chickens I was given are tolerant of human interaction but I'd hardly call them friendly. However, the chicks we raised and handled daily are very friendly. I really spoiled our Mille fleur rooster to a fault. He demands to do morning chores while perched on my shoulder or head. He also coo's while you pet him. The hens have just started laying the last couple weeks which was great news since my New Hampshire Reds have reached 3 1/2 years old and are no longer laying age. 

   I'm most likely going to update again this weekend with a review of the Cub Cadet tiller and some pictures of the garden "in progress."  But for now I hope you have a wonderful weekend and Valentine's Day. 





-Colleen P. & the Little Red Homestead