Stone Hill Homestead

It was never about the food. A garden holds its own romance but in the end, the animals won out. Half of my original garden space now belongs Cookie Dough and Oreo for their winter quarters.

The other half is presided over by Freckles and Wilma who magnanimously allow Aggie, Sid, Eddie, Smoke Tail, and Sheila to live with them. The call ducks live where they want all the time, and in winter, even the geese scoot over for them. The personality packed into their little bodies is made way for even by the geese.

Before pigs and waterfowl it had been chickens and a pair of goats. That particular pair of goats has long been gone and the chickens are no longer housed there, however, they do visit the waterfowl and clean up after the pigs on a daily basis, weather permitting their fastidious footsies to venture that far from their own coop.

I found my Murray McMurray catalog and upon paging through it realize there aren’t any birds in there that I need. I’m familiar with more chicken breeds than some would consider normal. I wouldn’t trade my mutt geese for anybody else’s fancy breeds. And I have a trio of perfectly serviceable royal palm turkeys. For today, I really don’t need any new birds.

Someday when I’m an old lady, I’ll have a flock of bantams. But first I have to figure out a sustainable way of keeping them from drowning in Freyja’s water tub. It’s always the bantams or the heavy breeds doing that. Also, I want a flock of blue laced wyandottes. Today? My flocks are plentiful and sufficient.

But the thing is, I want a garden again–a vegetable garden. But where? Even if we banished the aforementioned animals, the sunshine in those places was never adequate. Tomatoes ripened late and pumpkins and squashes had to be brought in early.

I’m not entirely without solutions though. A few less flowers. Put veggies in the kitchen garden. Freyja has provided me with a lovely compost/manure pile. I’ll figure it out. I want pumpkins again.

It still won’t be about the food. It’s about the joy and the beauty. But that’s not to say it shouldn’t be about the food, or won’t be one day…I won’t know til I try it.