Composting

A simple step that leads to gardening success, composting is one of our winter projects. Anything biodegradable goes in, which mainly includes kitchen scraps, animal by-products, and garden debris. When you are working with 20 acres, that's a lot of leaves! Shredded, they create an a heavy insulating layer that traps the heat and speeds up the decomposing. Every now and then, the pile gets turned, adding oxygen to the equation, which also speeds up the decomposition.
In the spring, the compost is added to the vegetable gardens.

Baskets of Bounty

After a summer of experimenting, we had learned a lot and even plenty to show for our work.
Fresh grapes...
... picked...then pressed to make our first-ever wine!
Hoards of gourds!!
Trellised swan (goose) gourds...
Mini gourds...And bottleneck gourds...And a variety of tomatoes...

Last Year's Spring Goats

Though we had two large goats already,three more arrived in the spring.They do their part eating leftovers from the kitchen and brush clean-up.

Leftovers that aren't appealing to the goats are usually devoured by our hungry chickens.

A peak at last year's work

The spring was a lot of preparation work. Ten+ raised beds were dug, ready for planting once the frost date past. The plants themselves were started early in the spring, both indoors and in the greenhouse.We planted summer squash, a medley of herbs, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, beans, a mix of hot peppers, pumpkins, winter squash, gourds, eggplants, and lots of marigolds.
An unripe heirloom tomato.
Our pumpkin patch in the summer months.
A bed of young mixed greens under row cover (to keep the rabbits off).We even attempted some late in the season greenhouse tomato plants.The first yield started with an early crop of sugar snap peas.In the spring, the orchard was planted. By mid-July, everything looked healthy.
Some of the apple trees...
And a little peach tree.