5 Acres & A Dream: 2025

July 30, 2025

Garden Notes: July 2025

Rainfall

1st: 0.26"
9th: 0.91"
10th: 0.74"
11th: 0.07"
12th: 0.7"
15th: 0.14"
20th: 0.14"
28th: 0.17"
29th: 1.24
31st: 0.03"
Total: 4.4 inches

Temperature

range of nighttime lows: 67 to 74°F (19.4 to 23.3°C)
range of daytime highs: 85 to 95°F (29.4 to 35°C)

Garden Notes

Schedule:

mornings picking
afternoons processing

The garden is pretty much in survival mode because it's so hot and dry. We had a break from these kinds of temps over the past couple of years, but this summer is another hot one. It's making me rethink something I wrote about years ago, that I need to plan my garden more around spring and early summer, and fall and winter.

Harvested

slicing tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
cucumbers
blueberries
mulberries
beets
Swiss chard
lambs quarter
kale
buckwheat
oregano
rosemary
thyme
sage
okra
potatoes
bell peppers
pears
asparagus

Preserved

blueberries, frozen
blueberry jam, canned (from the last of last year's frozen blueberries)
mulberries, frozen
wheat berries, frozen
greens (lambs quarter, kale, & Swiss chard), canned
pizza sauce, canned
mulberry/fig jam, canned (figs from our neighbor)
pear vinegar

Photos

Both slicing tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are doing well with regular watering

Field corn

Blueberries ready to go into the freezer

More blueberry pie!

Okra. In the lower right corner are echinicea, yarrow, and oregano.

Oven roasted okra and new potatoes. I didn't plant a potato crop, I just
planted sprouted pantry potatoes. We got enough for a couple of meals.

Honeybee on buckwheat flowers. Buckwheat is very attractive to pollinators.

I hope everyone is having a more comfortable summer than we are! I hope ya'll are getting enough rain!

Garden Notes: July 2025 © July 2025

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

July 25, 2025

New Kid On the Block

Or maybe it's new kid in the barn. We don't usually have a kidding this late in the summer, but here she is.

Minutes old

This is Sky's little doe. I had hoped for a late summer or early fall kidding to lengthen our milk supply, so I'm really happy about this.

24 hours old

The last time I bred Sky she didn't settle. I knew the mating was successful, but five months later, no kid. So I was a bit unsure this time. Sky is my oldest doe, eight years old, and this time as I watched for signs of pregnancy, I didn't see them. She was always fat, so that wasn't a clue, and her udder remained unchanged. Until the other day.

Wednesday I went to the barn for afternoon chores but Sky didn't come to her feeder like she usually does. I found her lying down behind the hay feeder, unwilling to get up. I coaxed her to stand and it was immediately obvious that her udder was very full. Plus the discharge was a sure-fire clue. I put her in the kidding stall and about an hour later, she had her little doe.

Sky is a very happy mama! She's always loved having babies. For now, they are in the kidding stall. Newborn kids usually spend the first couple of days sleeping a lot. Once she's steady on her feet and Sky is willing, I'll let them out for a supervised nose-to-nose meeting with the other goats.

New Kid On the Block © July 2025

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

July 20, 2025

A New Book For My Homestead How-To Series

If you read my Permies Kickstarter post, then you may have caught that I mentioned a surprise. And here it is! A new book for my The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos. This one is volume 15 and is entitled

How To Grow Grain On the Homestead

Growing wheat and other grains on a homestead scale

Here's my official blurb:

When Leigh Tate started homesteading, one of her goals was to grow as much of her family's food as possible. Her previous food growing experience included vegetables, fruits, poultry, and dairy. Grains, however, were more intimidating, especially considering how grain is grown in modern times. Yet grain growing is an ancient art which is found in all civilizations and cultures. Leigh reckoned that if the generations of the past could do it, then so could she.

How To Grow Grain On the Homestead pulls together her years of experiments, experience, and research. She covers selecting grains, planting, growing, harvesting, threshing, winnowing, and storage, all on a small homestead scale, and without expensive modern equipment. If you are interested in growing your own grain, she can will help you get started too.

Chapters:

Introduction
Why Should You Consider Growing Grain?
What Equipment Will You Need?

Harvesting
Threshing
Winnowing

What Grains Can You Grow?

Amaranth
Barley
Buckwheat
Corn (Maize)
Millet
Oats
Quinoa
Rice
Rye
Sorghum
Wheat

Getting Started: Start Small & Experiment
Recommended Resources

List price is $3.99

Available from:

Permies.com in PDF format
Kindle format

ePub format:

Questions? I'm happy to answer them. And for a complete list of all the titles in The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos (and more!) please visit my book website, Kikobian Books.

A New Book For My Homestead How-To Series

July 17, 2025

Product Review: Portable 2-in-1 Electric Toothbrush and Water Flosser

When I was first asked to review this product, I reflected back to the unimpressive electric toothbrushes of the past. But it was the water flosser that caught my attention. Both Dan and I have commented that as we get older, food seems to get stuck in our teeth more that it used to. Especially when one doesn't have perfectly straight teeth. I do floss daily, but the promise of good deep cleaning of my teeth and gums (including getting rid of plaque!) was too good to pass up.

Marchpower 2-in-1 Electric Toothbrush with Water Flosser 2.0

Plus, it's made by Marchpower. I've reviewed their cooling comforter (very welcome this summer) and their rechargeable fan, which I've been very happy with. So I was willing to try this product too.

Things I liked immediately:

Paper owner's manual (always a plus)
It's hefty, i.e. not lightweight or flimsy feeling
It's compact and would be easy to travel with (comes with a nice carry bag)
It's waterproof
USB charging cord included (Type C) It's compatible with phones and computers but I was able to charge it from our solar charging station.
Stated long battery life, as in up to 25 days (probably less for two of us, I'll have to let you know.)
Replacement brushes are readily available (link to buy them at Amazon)

Very compact. It would be easy to travel with.

Initial charging time was less than the stated two hours. Then it was time to give it a try.

It comes with a choice of toothbrush heads (hard and soft) and a nozzle for cleaning plaque and food particles between the teeth.

Completely assembled with toothbrush and water reservoir.

Water flosser nozzle

Operation is with two buttons, one for the brush and the other for the flosser nozzle. Each has a choice of three modes: normal for daily cleaning, soft for sensitive teeth and gums, and pulse for whitening and stain removal.

The built-in water reservoir was easy to fill and set up. Something else I like is that the water hose in the reservoir isn't made of flimsy plastic, it's steel.

The reservoir holds 110 mls, and a flexible hose is included in the box for anyone who wants to use a larger container for more water. But I found it no trouble to refill the reservoir as needed.

I had to play around with it to explore all the modes. I have sensitive teeth so I chose the brush and modes for sensitive teeth. The brush can be used with or without the water flowing. It seemed a little strange using a vibrating toothbrush, but it did an excellent job and I'm happy to have a good product to help with our dental health. I would definitely recommend it.

Here's the link to take a look on Amazon. You'll find a lot more good information there.

Marchpower 2-in-1 Electric Toothbrush with Water Flosser 2.0

And! Here's a 10% off coupon code - VV44QG36. The coupon expires November 30, 2025, so you'll be able to use it for holiday gifts!

Product Review: Portable 2-in-1 Electric Toothbrush and Water Flosser

July 11, 2025

Hopefully Coming Soon, The Willow Feeder Movie

This is another really clever project by Paul Wheaton and the Permies.com team. I'm really interested in this one because it addresses something we don't hear talked about much any more: pollution. Specifically, pollution of our precious waterways by sewage waste. The team has come up with a brilliant idea to help address this: the Willow Feeder. What they want to do is to make a Willow Feeder movie.

What's a Willow Feeder? Good question. This short introductory video does a great job of explaining.

They've started a Kickstarter, and if successful, the movie will happen!

What do you get for supporting the Kickstarter?

Donation level rewards:

$1 - Willow Feeder eBook, a gob of Paul Wheaton podcasts, and access to the Secret Inner Circle forum at permies.com.
$10 - the above + Willow Feeder movie (streaming)
$20 - the above + tiny download
$30 - the above + jumbo download
$45 - the above + willow feeder plans
$65 - the above + your name in the movie!

And! There are early bird goodies.

Early Bird goodies include:

The Kickstarter will run for a month, but early bird goodies offer expires Monday, July 14th (2pm MT).

Here's the link for more information:

Kickstarter: Healing Our Rivers and Oceans From Home.

Hopefully Coming Soon, The Willow Feeder Movie

July 4, 2025

Blueberry Pie on the 4th of July

Blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream.

July is blueberry month! And every year, I start blueberry season off with a fresh blueberry pie. What better way to celebrate Independence Day! Very American!

For dinner? Pizza!

Pepperoni and black olive pizza (Dan's favorite) with homemade mozzarella.

Sometimes we can see fireworks over the tree tops from our front porch. We'll give that a go when it gets dark. That's about the extent of our going anywhere or doing anything for the holiday.

What about you? Planning anything special? Do you have favorite 4th of July foods or activities? No matter how you spend the day, I wish you a blessed one.

Blueberry Pie on the 4th of July © July 2025

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

June 29, 2025

Garden Notes: June 2025

Rainfall

5th: 0.01"
7th: 0.31"
8th: 0.19"
12th: 0.11"
13th: 0.51"
14th: 0.02"
16th: sprinkle
17th: 0.25"
19th: thunder
24th: 0.17"
25th: sprinkle
26th: 0.32"
28th: 0.03"
29th: 0.12"
Total: 2.05 inches

Temperature

range of nighttime lows: 57 to 72°F (14 to 22°C)
range of daytime highs: 79 to 95°F (26 to 35°C)

Weather Notes:

Fortunately, it hasn't gotten as hot as our weather forecasts have predicted!
Small rainfall amounts are welcome, but tend to evaporate out of the ground quickly.
With the fairly frequent rain showers, the humidity has been high and so has the heat index!

Garden Notes

Every day has been busy with preserving. The month began with daily picking and canning of peaches, cucumber pickles, or greens. I've been able to rotate these in a way to keep busy but not overwhelmed.
Sadly, something ate all of my dill transplants so I've had to buy dill for the pickles.
The peas are about done. I'll have plenty of seed to save for next year. I should try some of the dried ones in soup this winter. Maybe make a pea powder?
Lettuce all bolted by the end of the month, but little Swiss chard leaves are nice in salad.
Cherry tomatoes came on toward the end of the month, so our salads are now mostly cucumber and tomato.

Planted

sweet potato squash
buckwheat
sweet potato slips

Harvested

peaches
lettuce, cultivated
lettuce, wild
snow peas
lambs quarter
Swiss chard
oregano
mulberries
cucumbers
daikon radish
broccoli bites
beets
carrot
blueberries
cherry tomatoes
slicing tomatoes
Egyptian walking onions

Preserved

peaches, canned
peach vinegar
peach jam
greens (mix of chard, kale, and lambs quarter), canned
cucumber pickles, canned
mulberries, frozen
wheat berries, frozen

Photos

Garden pickings from early June

Garden pickings from late June

Jars of canned cucumber pickles

Bucket of peaches

Peaches and mulberries for breakfast

Jars of canned peaches

Making and canning peach jam

Bell pepper plant in the African keyhole garden

Preparing greens for canning: lambs quarter, kale, and Swiss card

Simmering greens for hot pack canning

Volunteer carrot. It grew in one of my greenhouse containers. It became a carrot raisin salad.

Wheat harvest

Preparing wheat for threshing. I use the dryer & golf ball method.

How's everyone else's garden doing?

Garden Notes: June 2025 © June 2025

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

June 22, 2025

Solar Ventilation For the Little Chickens' Coop

One last touch for the little chicken's coop was a small fan for ventilation. It's in a mostly shaded spot, except for a little sun in the morning. But Dan was concerned about helping keep the air fresh in the coop, so he added a ventilation fan.

The fan he used came from an old 12-volt travel cooler. He used these coolers when he was on over-the-road truck driver. While they aren't true refrigerators, they keep the cooler contents cool by forcing air over a small fan with aluminum fins. It won't actually cool the coop, but it will help keep a modest air flow going and that's the point. He just used what we had!

The fan is powered by a 20-watt solar panel, attached to one of the barn window covers.

It gets good sun in the afternoon, which is the hottest part of the day. Dan mentioned hooking the fan to a battery to run it at night, so that's a future possibility.

No complaints from the chickens, at any rate.

Solar Ventilation For the Little Chickens' Coop © June 2025

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

June 14, 2025

Expanding Our Little Chickens' Territory

Once our little chickens got into the routine of sleeping in their chicken coop (rather than under it), we opened the lower door and let them out to explore their yard.

Our possible rooster is looking more roosterish. His comb is the most pronounced of
all the chicks, he's bigger, his legs are thicker, and he has hints of curled tail feathers.

They all come back to the coop at night, where they are safe from nighttime predators (skunks, opossums, owls, and raccoons).

Typically, chickens start laying eggs around 5 months old. So hopefully in September I'll have our first pullet eggs to who you.

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

June 6, 2025

Moving Day for Little Chickens

At about five-weeks old, our little Buff Orpingtons are fully feathered and look like miniature chickens rather than chicks.

Plus, they were starting to perch on the rim of their box.

I didn't want them hopping out of their pen, where they could inadvertently get stepped on by goats. So it was time to move them to the coop portion of the converted chicken tractor.

It's roomier than their box. For the first couple of days, all the openings were screened off so they could look out and get used to their new surroundings.

Then I removed the screen from the door to let them see what outside is like.

The ramp gives them access to the enclosed area under the coop. Soon we'll open the front and let them roam in their new chicken yard. I just want to make sure they know to go back to the coop at night.

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com