Bethune Catholic

So, what's been going on? Plenty! Our family milk cow was delivered on Saturday morning. She needs some love, but is already looking better. We don't have a barn up for her yet (just a temporary shelter if she wants it), but we are working on it. She is warming up to us slowly. She is supposedly due to calf in the May-June time frame. She was dried off this winter due to illness of the owner. Take a look at her!

Later on Saturday Number 3 Son and I took a trip to Sumter, SC to take a look at a possible gilt addition to the hog herd. We spent several hours touring his place. He has a Duroc Boar, two Tamworth Sows and a several Yorkshire Sows. Those Tamworths look good. Eventually I would like to have only heritage breeds ... but that can wait. We did pick out a Duroc-Yorkshire cross gilt and will get her this coming Saturday.

Our new kids are thriving. Here are a couple pictures moments after birth.

I bought a tiller I can't afford yesterday. It was great deal, and our tiny cultivator was just not meant to till the size garden we are planting.

I tilled a couple sections yesterday. We need to get our onions, beets, sugar snap peas and cabbage into the ground this week.

Our neighbor who has been so generous with his excess/over ripe water melon and corn is letting us plant on two sections of his land. Both sections by themselves are 2-3 times bigger than our old garden area. This will give us an opportunity to really supplement our livestock feed and maybe even eliminate some of the feed bill.

We will still use the old garden site for a family garden, but will now be able to grow some legumes in bulk. Lots of work to do, but we (at least Mrs. Curley & I) are excited.

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Which brings me around to the last point. Ash Wednesday is fast upon us. I need to spend more time in prayer, and I have much work to do around here in the next weeks (as outlined above). Thus, this will be my last post for a while. I don't really know if I will post at all during Lent-although this isn't meant to be a formal 'blogfast', but don't count on much coming out of here.

I spend way too much time in front of the computer with little profit (financial or spiritual), so it's time to cut back. Just practically, the economy is tough right now, and it doesn't make sense to spend time on doing things which don't help support the household.

I am hoping the investments and efforts we have been putting into our small holding here will help us in these tight times to feed ourselves and anyone else in need. We have been working towards this goal. I am drawn constantly to Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day's vision (as noted in my header).

Now it is time to get going.

I pray all who happen to this page have a spiritually profitable Lenten season.

Our Lady of Joyful Hope, pray for us!

Oremus pro invicem!