Getting Back in the Saddle- With a Baby in Tow

The beautiful, sunny month of May brought lots of new beginnings and fresh opportunities to our little homestead. Life since last September has been so difficult, but as I sit here typing with a swaddled newborn sleeping right next to me, I’m ready to keep moving forward. Here’s a few highlights of what’s been happening here at Iveyshire.

A Family of Six

My fourth journey with Hyperemesis Gravidarum finally came to an end when our sweet baby girl was born a couple weeks ago. She is healthy, adorable, and has been breastfeeding like a champ since she was 20 minutes old. The other kids are absolutely in love with their new sister, though our 3 year old keeps asking when she’s going to be able to walk, talk, and play with him. Newborns are pretty boring when you were expecting a playmate.

We knew that having another baby meant I’d be out of commission for a while as far as the blog and homestead were concerned, so I am SO ready to dive back into all of it. One of the hardest parts of this pregnancy was wanting to get outside to take care of the animals, or do some yard work, and simply not being able to.

Planting Season

Thanks to a little help and encouragement from friends and family, I was able to get a decent amount of seeds started for this year’s veggie garden. Going off what I learned from last year, I started them a bit earlier for our planting zone, 6b. The peppers were started in mid-February, and tomatoes in mid-March. This timing seemed to work out much better than last year, when the peppers were too small and the tomatoes too big by the time the last frost date finally rolled around. Everything else in the garden is being direct sown.

Since the majority of my time is now spent caring for a newborn, this year’s garden certainly isn’t going to be very organized or well-groomed. But nevertheless, I’m getting some seeds in the ground and will be happy with whatever harvest we get.

My husband wanted to try something new this summer, so he’s taken charge of growing a small crop of sweet corn in our field. It’s already a few inches tall and seems to be pretty happy!

Pig Husbandry

Our first attempt with breeding our pigs didn’t pan out, unfortunately. The sows were growing well, and a couple of them seemed to be showing signs of being pregnant; but their estimated due date came and went with no piglets. It’s a bit of a bummer to have to wait longer, of course, but we have the females back in with the boars, and will hopefully have some piglets by the fall.

More to Come

I’m so happy to be back at the blog again, and look forward to sharing all our upcoming summer adventures with everyone.

Remember you can also follow our homestead on Instagram @iveyshireblog.

Have a great day, y’all!

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