Wow – here it is the middle of April, and I’m just now getting to the March update. Yikes!
March was a great month, garden speaking. I actually got my spring garden in on time! I planted a lot really, and am happy to report that potatoes, peas, beets, kale, spinach and arugula are all up already. Some of my lettuce didn’t come up so I’m thinking I’ll have to replant it.
A switch must have flipped for the chickens, since March 1st, we’ve collected 99 eggs. Ninety-nine!
Plant Something: Potatoes, Alaskan sugar peas, blue curled kale and red Russian kale, yellow cylindrical beets, Ringmaster onions, spinach, arugula, Boston lettuce, red romaine, Tom Thumb lettuce, Little Gem lettuce, peas and oats cover crop blend in the chicken area.
Harvest Something: Eggs: 99!! Enough spinach for a pizza and for Emmett to graze on.
Preserve Something: Froze 1# pizza dough.
Waste Not: Scraps given to chickens and/or compost pile.
Want Not: At the beginning of March, we bought a case of pasta, and at the end of the month we ordered some olive oil in bulk. Also, the neighbor gave us steel posts so we could get started on the last run of the fence, and two old rusty iron tractor seats that we plan to turn into a garden bench.
Eat the Food: From the Pantry we’ve eaten peach preserves, peanut butter, strawberry jam, pasta, nuts, plum lavender jam, the last of the dried tomatoes and pickles, pickles, pickles. From the freezer: elk flat steak, bell peppers, tomatoes, corn, black bean burgers, peaches, elk back strap, turkey stock, and pizza dough.
Build Community: In March, we hosted our second potluck and a seed swap. It was great to get to know friends a bit better and I got some new seeds (peas, cilantro and hollyhocks). We helped the neighbor get started on a new raised bed in his front yard.
Skill Up: Our neighbor showed Rick how to properly sand and paint steel posts.
We are headed into one of the busiest times of the year for homesteaders. The planting season is in full swing. We had the warmest March I can remember, not one drop of precipitation in what is normally Colorado’s snowiest month, and it is being followed by a chilly April so far. But everything seems to be growing well, and I’ve certainly gotten the planting itch!
How are things coming along at your homestead?
The Lazy Homesteader 
I love the categories you made, they really encompass everything I want to acheive each month on the homestead. We’re enjoying a warm Spring here in Eastern North Dakota but are still (at least) 3-4 weeks away from setting out seedlings. So many things have germninated in the basement and are yearning for warm outdoor sun, I just need to tell them all to be patient and wait for guaranteed warm weather….
I’ve actually managed to stay up to date on my ID Challengs posts – it’s really helped me think about what I’m doing from week to week. I’ve at least managed to plant something every week, and my southern garden is in full swing. Here’s last week’s post:
http://jessieimproved.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/independence-days-challenge-2012-week-9-and-some-sad-news/
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I’m a fellow member of Monroe CSA and have a husband who hunts elk here and there. Do you share elk recipes in any of your posts? (this is the first I’ve read.) I’ve had trouble in the past with the elk being too tough no matter my recipe. Hope all is well in your garden. Look forward to following your posts.
Hi Lillian. I will work on posting some game recipes. The trick I have found is to make sure you don’t overcook it. Game meat is very lean and if you overcook it, it will be TOUGH! Keep it rare and it will be much better.