July Happenings At Healing Homestead

Peafowl

Good news, bad news with the India blue peacock saga! The good news is that Azure, my male peacock and Penelope, my female peahen have bonded beautifully. The bad news is that the other two peahens, Pineapple and Petunia have run away. The good news, Pineapple is free ranging at another friends farm about seven miles aways. The good news, one bonded pair of peafowl are plenty loud enough, haha!

Cucumbers

You know me, Farmer Katy, runs a little late, so if you’re reading this (September 16th) there is still time to plant a winter garden in zone 7 (Middle Tennessee)! My winter garden will get planted late as well because my summer garden was planted late and that’s why I have all of these beautiful cucumbers in the middle of July! Make sure to check out my YouTube on tying these cucumber plants. Cucumbers may be my favorite because I love fermented dill pickles! Actually, I love ANYTHING fermented (except kimchi).

Barn Cats

Stormy has been lonely with out Mouser. I contacted the family that gave me Stormy and Mouser and they gave me Stormy’s brothers, Slade and Tips. Since they were already very social cats, I only kept them confined one week versus three to learn their new barn. So far they are great mousers. Stormy is still warming to them, I may have been projecting my feelings onto her, she may have preferred being a solo barn cat.

July Homestead Projects

We completed some fun projects in the month of July! Fun as in they are FINALLY off my list! Three of which have been on my list for years! Every time I drive up the driveway, it would drive me nuts that they barn window stickers were still on, so I got out my ladder, and FINALLY scraped all 12 of them off. In Christmas of 2022, my sister gave us an amazing Healing Homestead sign and we FINALLY installed it! After a year of the gutters sitting on the deck, we FINALLY installed them! Watch our annual sheep shearing on my YouTube.

Smell The Roses

All of this hard work is in vain if we don’t take time to sit back and enjoy what we’ve accomplished. We had perfect weather for fishing, swimming, and reading by the pond. Even the puppies, Copper and Tiny, decided they could slow down and relax a little now that they are officially one year old!

Foraging

I welcome rain at Healing Homestead because that means it’s time to go play in the woods and do some foraging and mushroom hunting. We had some great finds with a beautiful and fragrant Spider Lily, some choice edible mushrooms, and even Self Heal, a wondrously medicinal plant. Plus, the rain refreshed the Buck Branch Creek.

Homesteader’s Alliance: Survival Skills

A month wouldn’t be complete without hosting the Homesteader’s Alliance of Lawrence County, Tennessee. July we had Joey Achando and Dick McKinley teach us survival skills. We learned how to orient a compass to a map, key pieces that should be in every survival kit, and why a lighter makes so much more sense than trying to start a fire with a flint. Make sure to join our Facebook group for more info: Homesteader’s Alliance: Lawrence County, Tennessee