Homestead Update

Things are moving along on the Homestead!

Shortly after planting in the hoop house a few hard frosts led us to believe we had successfully killed the plants we were so sure would bring big harvest.

We filling empty plastic bottles with hot water and placed them next to anything with even a hint of life. We began to cover everything with plastic at night. I think we were all impressed at how much our efforts paid off.

Currently we are growing tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, onions, carrots, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, basil, spinach and lettuce.

I have finally finished planting outside and along with more onions, carrots, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and lettuce, I have planted peas, beans, potatoes, buttercup squash, pumpkin, canteloupe, watermelon and corn.

Keeping my fingers crossed the moles and prarie dogs don't eat everything before we do.

I love our chickens :) They are very excited when they see a human since they associate us with food scraps. They are well fed, that's for sure.

In return we are getting 2-3 eggs per day. They roost/sleep on the top rung of the chicken ladder and are laying their eggs in the far right nesting box.

6 Iron Horses... and 3 cabooses

Memorial Day weekend was the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. You may remember my post about the ride last year... This year Patricia, Ryan and I were able to rope 3 other friends (all from sea level) into doing the ride with us. Thanks to the great weather, an occasional tail wind and the grill master (yes, that's Dave) waiting for us in Silverton - it was a fabulous day!

The Boston crew (Tanya, Darrin & Reid and Johnny, Sarah & Samantha) rented an RV and drove down from Denver. They were quite a sight to see driving over Red Mountain Pass between Silverton and Ouray. Nice skills Darrin!!

Our first stop in Ouray was for a celebratory beer at The Mr. Grumpy Pants Brewing Company, which literally seems like you are drinking beer in some guys garage/living room turned pub. I

Next stop was of course the Hot Springs, followed by Mouses Chocolate, dinner and a good night's sleep.

It really doesn't get much better than that!

Sunday we headed back to Durango, arriving just in time to see the cruiser crit, followed by the womens' and mens' crit. During the crit, the professional competitors race in a figure 8 loop through town for 1 hour. I know an hour might sound long, but it was an exciting event to watch!

Monday morning Dave, Patricia and I headed to Cortez to pick up the dogs from the kennel and stop by Seven Meadow's Farm for a tour. We are members of their CSA program (community supported agriculture) and support the owners local restaurant in Cortez as well. The Farm was very inspirational...but best of all, there were weeds in all of their garden beds!!! How comforting that even people who farm organically for a living have just as many weeds as I do!

Speaking of weeds.... I spent all weekend in the garden trying to get rid of them so I could finally plant our future harvest! Update soon...