Busiest Week Ever!

     It has been radio silence here for a couple days at Homegrown Philosofood so today I needed to post some updates as things are piling up. The title might be overselling it a bit, but it was a very busy week. Classes started back in earnest so that takes up a fair bit of time as one might imagine. I have two classes and a supervised research course this semester so as much as I hate to say it, I'm already looking forward to summer, at least for the free time aspect. So without further ado here is a roundup of some things that have been going on.

     I'm an uncle! My beautiful wife and I drove down this weekend to her brother and his wife and to visit their newly born beautiful baby girl, Ella. We are both so excited to have a lovely little niece and can't wait to spend more time with her over the coming years. It was fun to get to spend time with family, especially since we were visiting on my wife's birthday. It's funny now how the birthday's line up on the 15th, 16th, and 17th for my brother in law, his daughter, and my wife respectively.


     The rabbits are growing at the usual lightspeed rabbit growth rate. As of today they are 11 days old and now look like this:

Far cry from the pink, hairless, ping pong ball sized bunnies they were just 11 short days ago.

With their incredible growth rate they will reach butcher weight in just over 7 weeks. Even if they dress out at just 2 lbs each (they should be 2.5-3lbs) that is 16 lbs. worth of meat for the freezer with our actual head count of 8. The birthing palace got moved today to an area of the side yard that I finally cleared out. That side yard will eventually be rabbit central as there will be a covered area with several hutches. One step at a time.

    If you remember the introduction to the homestead part I and the diagram depicting dogland, aka the area of the backyard dedicated to running and playing for the dogs, then this picture should be pretty cool. It is for me anyway.

Dogland Fence!

Yes! Dogland has a real fence now. Previously there was just a run of rabbit cage wire staked with bamboo posts at several locations. It worked but it was pretty janky. Now we have a real fence (real gate soon to follow lol). The fence posts are intentionally high as they will be used to incorporate a large trellising structure for maximizing yields from vining crops like gourds, cucumbers, and pole beans. I'm psyched to have this project (mostly) done.

     I also did a LOT of planting this weekend. I redid two large areas out front, busted a water pipe, fixed a water pipe (smacks forehead, post coming soon), and started a lot of new seeds. In fact, I dug into the shed and found a bunch of 12 pack seed flats I didn't know I had in addition to some 6 packs I knew I did, and I started even more seeds than I did in the planting day post. I am actually starting to hit the limit of my little hoop house. Check this out:

Hoophouse full of cell packs with lots of new seeds started.

Of the things I planted on the 4th I have violet jasper tomatoes, mammoth dill, and several flower varieties already popping out. The peppers and eggplant may take a little while given how cool it has been lately, but no worries, as they will kick into gear soon enough. 

      So that's all for now, I need to get some sleep. I have some great posts in the works right now including a DIY medicine cabinet and how I clear and plant a new area. Oh yeah and also a video post about my accidental water pipe breakage/fixage that I had to do as a result of clearing that area. So until next time, take care and keep on planting, spring is just around the corner.