THEY HAVE SHIPPED!

[SMonroe1990]

That is crazy. Glad to hear that he is excited. I mentioned to my 4 year old that we were getting a package in the mail. She asked if it was a toy for her and when I said it was more chicks her face lit up and she was all happy. She kind of knows that all things eventually die. She had a lizard that passed away which we showed her and let her say bye to. We also explained that it was just his time to go. The one chick we had to put down we did the same way. I want her to know that it's just a part of life. It doesn't seem to bother her too much and I don't know if its because she doesnt fully understand or what not.

 

[leahlefler]

That is crazy. Glad to hear that he is excited. I mentioned to my 4 year old that we were getting a package in the mail. She asked if it was a toy for her and when I said it was more chicks her face lit up and she was all happy. She kind of knows that all things eventually die. She had a lizard that passed away which we showed her and let her say bye to. We also explained that it was just his time to go. The one chick we had to put down we did the same way. I want her to know that it's just a part of life. It doesn't seem to bother her too much and I don't know if its because she doesnt fully understand or what not.

My kids are the same way. Very matter of fact. Our neighbor is a big hunter, too, so they have seen dead deer and that sort of thing. They didn't take the baby chicks too badly last week - they were sad, but handled it well. We didn't make a big deal of it, just said that we are all sad and that it is awful, but sometimes things like this happen. They may have been weak to begin with for some reason, too, since they were only in shipping for about 18 hours and still all died.

 

[SMonroe1990]

Yeah. I don't see any point in beating around the bush with stuff like that. Might as well get them used to it now especially if they are going to have their own pets. I know it still hurts when you lose one but at least you don't have to explain it when they are older. My dad hunts, my daughter has never seen a dead deer (dad is getting old, eye sight not what it used to be) but I plan on having her help when I process my chickens after they are done with their laying years. She can do some plucking at least. She already loves to help bake and cook which is good and I plan on having a huge garden with her next year so she can learn about that also. I want to raise her so she can be self sufficient if it ever comes down to where people need to be. I don't want her to be one of those children that doesn't realize where her food comes from.

 

[leahlefler]

We are the same way. I have three raised garden beds and we're going to add more. My kids have raised watermelons, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, tomatillos, etc. I want them to know where their food comes from. They also are more likely to try and to eat veggies they have grown!

 

[SMonroe1990]

I agree with that.. I had DH try homegrown lettuce last year and he actually liked it! Of course he was raised where all vegetables are "rabbit food". He took after his dad with that one. His mom luckily isn't that way. Often times I find him trying to leaving veggies and stuff off our daughters plate or getting a tad upset when she's eating more of the fruits and veggies she is given than the meat. I always have to tell him that I'd rather her eat the fruit and veggies and throw the meat away rather than the other way around. I think he gets a tad offended but his eating habits arent that wonderful. I have tried growing watermelon so many times and just dont get anything. Any tips?

 

[leahlefler]

I agree with that.. I had DH try homegrown lettuce last year and he actually liked it! Of course he was raised where all vegetables are "rabbit food". He took after his dad with that one. His mom luckily isn't that way. Often times I find him trying to leaving veggies and stuff off our daughters plate or getting a tad upset when she's eating more of the fruits and veggies she is given than the meat. I always have to tell him that I'd rather her eat the fruit and veggies and throw the meat away rather than the other way around. I think he gets a tad offended but his eating habits arent that wonderful. I have tried growing watermelon so many times and just dont get anything. Any tips?

We grew two types - sugar baby and orange tendersweet. Both did well. But we had a warm, dry summer that year (they're desert plants, after all). The raised bed may have helped. They barely ripened before the first frost. Sugar babies are a good one to try, though. Smallish plants and smallish melons, but they're sweet and have a fairly short ripening time. This summer has been so wet and cold, though... my cantaloupe seeds did NOTHING this year.

 

[SMonroe1990]

we didn't do our garden this year unfortunately. I'll keep that type in mind for next year though. When we had our garden last year we did really well with the potatoes, onions, lettuce, zucchini, yellow squash, and garlic. I also bought a couple apple trees and blueberry bushes last year. Our property has raspberry and blackberry bushes around it already and I even tried some strawberries. Our tomatoes and peppers sucked last year. The tomatoes was just because someone kept saying they would get something to stake them up with and it never happened and then the peppers it seemed like something was eating them. We did get a couple jalapenos though which made awesome jalapeno poppers.

 

[kattington]

My tracking just now updated that they scanned it in Cleveland at 8:49 last night.

I can't believe your PO closes at noon! I just checked, and ours is open until 4pm. I called the PO. They were nice and said they would call right away. My girls are so excited. We just moved to this house with 2+ acres last week. We had raised bed gardens and a strawberry bed at our old house, but nothing here yet. I need to get a compost bin set up and our garden started. Also need to build the chickies coop in the barn and add a run. So much to do!

 

[leahlefler]

We made a compost bin this year. It is working well. It is in the backyard now against the woods and we're putting kitchen scraps and yard waste into it. We'll put chicken waste into it, too, once we have chicken waste!

 

[Dizzywitch]

we didn't do our garden this year unfortunately.  I'll keep that type in mind for next year though.  When we had our garden last year we did really well with the potatoes, onions, lettuce, zucchini, yellow squash, and garlic.  I also bought a couple apple trees and blueberry bushes last year.  Our property has raspberry and blackberry bushes around it already and I even tried some strawberries.  Our tomatoes and peppers sucked last year.  The tomatoes was just because someone kept saying they would get something to stake them up with and it never happened and then the peppers it seemed like something was eating them.  We did get a couple jalapenos though which made awesome jalapeno poppers.

Hope you don't mind me jumping in but try Epsom salt with your tomatoes. Someone told me about it a couple of years ago and I went from pathetic no producing plants to a tomato jungle this year. I tried it on my peppers and melons and they're taking off as well.