This week we were expecting to get a lot of rain; the forecast was for rain from Tuesday to Thursday. Thursday showed a chance of 0.8 inches, which a good amount in the Arizona desert. Water is always a consideration when you are trying to homestead in the desert. Unfortunately, we ended up with very little rain. We started out well with 0.12 inches on Tuesday, but got only 0.03 during the rest of the storm. From what I read and observed driving for work, all around us there was rain, rain and more rain. We somehow ended up in a bubble of no water.
We still do have some flowers in the yard in spite of the lack of water. Wildflowers in the desert really don’t need much to grow.
A tiny orange flower with my finger for scale
I really want to do gardening, but have a long way to go to get a real garden set up. So, I am working with pots and a few smaller areas. So far I have tomatoes and kale that have sprouted in the pots. I didn’t mark what seeds I planted for the tomatoes so we will have tomato surprise.
I also started some of our favorite types of tomatoes, Wagner Blue Green and Yellow Pear Tomato. I bought them a bit late because I didn’t see the seed in the Baker Creek catalog. I did finally think of searching their website and saw the seeds. I bought the Wagner Blue Green, and the Yellow Pear were given as free seeds.
Wagner Blue Green Tomato
Our chickens are still doing pretty good. The original chicks we bought are getting big and were not happy in their boxes in the house anymore. We put them in the coop with no access to the run at first. Yesterday we opened up the run, but they are all very uncertain about being outside on the dirt. 4 of the 6 went into the run, but only for a little while.
From Left to Right: Charmander – Gold Sex Link, Bzzt (or Zee) and Cheetoh – Speckled Sussex, Peckachu – Easter Egger, and Carmen – California White From Left to Right: Cheetoh, one of our Speckled Sussex, Peckachu, our oldest Easter Egger, and Carmen – California White Charmander – gold sex link and Carmen – our oldest California White Carmen seems to like getting her picture taken!
The three smaller chicks will probably go into the coop in a chick box at the end of this week. We are supposed to have some cold days, so we will keep them in the house a bit longer.
Thunderbird – California White, Phoenix – California White, and Smokey Jr. – Easter Egger
We went to Triple L feed store in Marana, AZ yesterday. I made the mistake of bringing Lynn into the store, and of course they have the chicks right in the front. She saw some tiny gray fluff balls and decided she wants them. They are Blue Wyandotte chickens, and the pictures I see of them are pretty. I told her no yesterday, but I think I will be going to buy some chicks tomorrow. What is a homestead without a crazy chicken lady?
-Joshua
Just LOVE following your geeky homestead selves!! Sending love. ???????
Thank you Mrs Pena!