Playing in the Dirt

That's what we've been doing for the past week. We will start planting some of the pecans tomorrow. If the weather forecast holds, we will finish planting over 6,000 nuts in the pots by the middle of next week. And then we will sleep for a week. Just kidding:).

This is one pile of dirt (hubby hauled in fourteen). Unfortunately, they are full of roots, so we have to sift the dirt first. Hubby dumps a tractor bucket full of the stuff through these old baker's racks and they do the job after we clear the roots off the top of the racks.
Then we take it into the designated area in the tractor bucket and begin filling pots. With the bucket, the dirt is at a good height to fill without hurting our backs--which is great since this is such a long project!

Two people fill and two people put them in their holders we made with the fencing. Tomorrow, we will start putting nuts in as we fill. The pots that have already been packed with dirt will have to be planted, which I think will be a slower job. So far, we have about 2500 pots filled. This is definitely a learning project and we hope to get more efficient as we go.

Everyone have a great weekend!

First Tree

Above is a picture of our first pecan tree! OK, it doesn't look like much, I agree, but at least we know that the ones my brother planted in the ground are sprouting.

My husband has hauled in 20 yards of dirt, so far, this week. We will be putting the rest of the pecans in pots sometime in the next 2-3 weeks and then. . .wait and see if they come up.

The weather today was beautiful and I spent most of my time transferring my strawberries to a new raised bed. They flooded last year and I lost over half of them, but they've been busy making babies, so I'm hoping for a fair crop this season and making preserves and jam with my own berries.

Have any of you made strawberry preserves with honey? A friend told me her aunt used to make it that way.

Country Sampler

For anyone interested, Country Sampler has started a new forum. I loved their old one, but could rarely get logged on to it. I love all the ideas the members share--and LOTS of great pictures. If you're a fan of the magazine, click HERE and you can go to the forum.

Have a great weekend!

My Crocus Is Blooming

Someone asked when I was going to start blogging again, and I jokingly answered, "When my crocus bloom." Well, they are blooming and here I am! I've enjoyed clicking around and reading your blogs during my time off.

My dad was in the hospital again after Christmas. The medicine they had him on caused him to have internal bleeding and he had to have several units of blood. He is just now starting to feel some better.

We have been busy with a lot of projects. We are building a new well house and need to do some repairs/modifications on the chicken house, as well as build a shelter for the goats we plan to get in the near future.

The biggest project we are working on is pictured above. Pig races, you're thinking? Well, no, but that was my first thought when I saw the posts and fencing, LOL! There will be pots of dirt in each section of the fencing. We are having to wait for the ground to dry before we can get enough dirt.

This is a joint effort with my brother to join our two farms together. He has been taking classes on pecan growing and we are partnering with him.

We are going to plant the pecans (which have been stratifying for a few months) in a couple of weeks and (if they come up) they will be planted in the 'orchards' next fall. Then, they will have to be grafted in another year. After that we have to keep them alive until they are firmly established. A lot of sweat and labor, but if it works out for us, our first harvest will be in about ten years. If nothing else, it is a new adventure for all of us! I'll be sharing more about this venture as we progress.