No Till Pumpkin Patch Update

Well, here we are in about week 8 of our pumpkin patch and I must say I'm a little worried of how this will all turn out.  I realized not that long ago that I won't be able to use round up.  I thought that the grass would grow back next year, like it does every year after it dies. BUT, I have heard that it probably won't grow back, but weeds will.  SO, I have decided NOT to use round up at all.  My only line of defence against weeds and grass overtaking the pumpkin plants, is mowing.  Which I would gladly do, if we didn't just break the belt on our tractor for the 3rd time in just over a month!  It's $70 every time to replace it.  I'm hoping to find a push mower at the town wide garage sale this Saturday so that I can mow a few more times as the plants grow and spread.

All I can see in my mind now is pumpkins growing in an over-grown field. It might just be a great big mess by the time it's done.

On a happier note, it all looks good right now.  And here are some pictures.  The first 2 are from a week and a half ago and the last 3 are from today.  The taller plants are the sunflowers I planted in the middle.

 

 

 

In regards to mowing, I have learned a lesson about the "hills".  If I were to do this again, instead of hilling up the dirt, the way they say to do for planting pumpkin seeds, I would pat the dirt flat in the hole we dug.  I would make sure the dirt was about 2 inches below the grass. That way, it would be very easy to mow right up to the young plants, without disrupting any of the hill.  Also, it would retain water in there.

 

I will keep you updated on how this patch is doing.

New Baby Donkey - Birth Problems and Natural Remedy

We had a wonderful new addition to our barnyard today.  Molly finally gave birth to her baby.  I say finally, because Molly was pregnant for 13 1/2 months!  It seemed like the baby was never going to come.
But our joy soon turned turned to worry.  The baby was born with something terribly wrong with it's bottom lip. We just thought it was some kind of birth defect. You can see it in the pictures below.

What a beautiful donkey, eh?  We didn't know what to do, but we weren't extremely worried because he was nursing with no problems and Molly was being such a good mama. Remember last year when Molly had Jemima, she wouldn't let her nurse.

I took the pictures of him (we think it's a boy, it's hard to see there just yet) and sent them to a friend of ours that has lots of horses to see if she had any suggestions. If not, we were going to show the vet tomorrow to see what he says.

Our friend, Monica, called us tonight and said she and her husband would like to come over and see the donkey in person.  When they came they had an idea that might help the little guy.  Monica thought it might have been a PROLAPSED lip.  Meaning, some kind of trauma during birth caused the lip to swell up.

She had seen this when cows give birth and prolapse.  She had also seen an old farmer treat this condition by rubbing the prolapsed area with sugar to get the swelling down, then putting the body back in the right places.

So, Monica poured warm water on the lip to get it moist again as it was pretty dry. Then she rubbed a fair amount of sugar on his lip which brought down the swelling almost immediately. Next she gently pushed the lip back up into position and held it there for about 10 mins.

When she let go, the swelling was gone and his lip was staying in place!  His lip is kind of stretched out, so it's pretty loose and it seems his bottom jaw is extended a bit, but we will keep an eye on him, it might get better on it's own.

We don't know yet if this was a complete fix for him, but it seems to have really helped.  I am SO grateful to Monica for taking the time to come and for the information she had learned from that old farmer years ago.

And I am thankful to God for helping this little guy, who we have already fallen in love with.

This post is linked up to 1840 Farm, The Prairie Homestead

June Activities Continued

This post brings us up to the end of June.  This is when we get to enjoy our local stampede and all it's extra activities.  And an added bonus, Larry's family came for a visit.

Getting ready for the parade with Larry's parents

Rebekah and I sat on the sunny side of the street

The beginning of the parade

Enjoying free BBQ at a local butcher shop

At the rodeo

At the chuck wagons. We were at the very top of the stands in row 48, but they were great seats! Thanks again to Larry's brother in law and sister.

Rebekah, sporting her new cowgirl hat that she bought at the Stampede.



Jacob giving a tour to his Uncle.  He had given one to his Aunt first, then he said to Uncle, "I guess it can be your turn now".

Everyone enjoying our big deck and each other's company.  That is Larry's sister and brother-in-law with us.

Larry, giving everyone a tour on the wagon.

So, you can see that we have been busy, but it has been such a blessing to enjoy each other and all God has brought our way.

June Activities

We have been so busy lately, but, it's been a good busy. Because, we've been busy doing things as a family and really enjoying our summer.

To start off, we participated in our homeschool field day. This is the first year it wasn't at our place, but we really enjoyed it all the same.

Jacob in the "Sack Race"

Ben in the "Dress Up Relay"

Rebekah in the "Sack Race"

We headed out to family camp next and had a blast!

Ben and Larry in the peddle boat

Jacob having a snack with a new friend

Rebekah playing around on the slide

Ben getting a drink from our room

Right after family camp we did get a little busy. Larry was working, I was at the Stampede Farmers' Market and the kids were at their first job.

The kids were working at the Ag Center putting balloons on the course for the Mounted Shooters event.  They worked 4 days and about 19 hours just running non stop. They did such a great job and I am so proud of them.

The kids putting out the balloons

The Mounted Shooter, shooting the balloons

Here is my table at the Famers' market

There is much, much more, but I will have to do another post.
Have a great day!