Stace and I attended the Mother Earth Fair in Belton Texas at the Expo Center on February 19, 2022. We had bought tickets for the 2021 Mother Warth Fair, but it was cancelled due to Covid. Bummer!!!!! We got an early start the morning of the fair. Not knowing what to expect since it was the first time for us to attend the fair. We arrived an hour early…but was able to get an upfront parking spot. LOL! The people that put the fair on are very punctual. The did not open the doors until straight up 9:00 AM. There were a few speakers we really wanted to talk to. We start walking around looking at all the booths until the first class started. We met some very nice people. I have to say we came away with some good information. Here are a few exhibitors we talked to.
Brown's Bee Removal and Apiary is owned by Wes and Jessica Brown. They both are super nice people and gave us so much information about beekeeping. Go to their website and check out their products. We also received some great information from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. If you have farm or ranching land, contact them at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension for information on how they can help you. Pure Elderberry Juice from River Hills Harvest. After tasting the Elderberry juice, we liked it and had to buy a bottle. You only take a tablespoon a day for boosting the immune system. We need all the help we can get with booting our immune system. There were so many more exhibitors there, but these are the few that we liked. All in all, I would say we had a great time. We plan on going back next year. Some links may be affiliated. By purchasing an item from an affiliate link, I receive a small commission—but you are not charged more or less by clicking or purchasing through the link. Thank you for supporting us! SOME OF OUR POST THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU:
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It's never too early to add fruit trees to your home garden. Just think of the rewards you will receive.
There is an old saying, " the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. the second-best time is now." I think this little pearl of wisdom is especially true when it comes to fruit trees.
It's too easy to put off buying and planting trees. They can be expensive and there's always so much else to do. When thinking about fruit trees, it's also easy to twist one's logic: "It might be seven years before I'd get fruit, so why bother?" But guess what, you'll be waiting a whole lot longer if you never plant those trees.
Here's my advice for selecting and growing fruit trees.
Don't Put It Off
The sooner you plant your fruit trees, the sooner they'll produce. Since it's going to take a minimum of two to five or more years for them to produce fruit. It's never too soon to get started. If a fruit tree is more than your budget can bear, you might consider starting them from seed.
Do Your Research
Some trees are self-pollinating (most nectarines, peaches, sour cherries). Others require another variety of the same fruit to pollinate (most apples, pears, plums). It's best to plant cross-pollinators no more than fifty feet apart. If you're lucky, a near neighbor has planted a cross-pollinator close by. Timing is everything when it comes to pollination bloom at the same time of year.
It's also important to know the best time to plant. Most nurseries ship based on appropriate planting time for your area; however, if you're buying locally, you need to learn all you can about favorable planting conditions.
Learn about hole depth and width, watering needs, pruning requirements. There's plenty to learn. If your tree doesn't come with these instructions, search the internet. Just be sure your sources are reliable.
Know Which Trees To Select For Your Planting Zone
As much as you may wish it were true, you can't grow every kind of fruit in every climate. Apples, for instance, require a dormant season. Frost and citrus don't mix. And while there are folks who push the limits, it's a lot of learning and work to grow fruit in an uninviting climate. To find out whether you can grow your favorite fruit where you live, check with your local extension service.
Protect Your Trees
A young tree's bark is especially susceptible to damage, yet it's appealing to hungry deer. Be safe and use some kind of tree wrap or guard. You can purchase netting, tubing, or paper or burlap wrap. Or you can be creative and make your own tree guard. When we planted our Alvacado trees we used left-over fencing from the goat pens.
Nothing is more disappointing than discovering that just before your fruit fully ripened, something got to it before you did. We have lost so much to the deer. We are planning on putting up deer fencing this year. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed that it works.
Be Sure You Have Enough Space
Think about Height
You need to think about how you'll harvest your fruit, also. Do you really want to climb an extension ladder braced against tree limbs to collect your fruit? Or to prune your trees? That can be dangerous, especially for aging gardeners. When they're available, consider dwarf or semi-dwarf trees instead of the larger standard ones to make care and harvesting simpler.
Siting Is Important
Soil for fruit trees should have plenty of nutrients, and you may need to add amendments in any case. Plant where drainage is good. and plant where your trees are ensured a minimum of five hours of sunlight each day.
What Size Orchard?
If you over plant, you're not as likely to keep up with necessary maintenance. Consider which fruits your family is most likely to eat, which are the most versatile, how much fruit you really need. There's no reason to plant and entire peace orchard if your harvest will serve your family. (On the other hand, remember that peaches can be dried for late winter eating, preserved as peach preserves and more.
Be Attentive
Fruit trees crave attention, some more than other. Again, research is imperative to see how much care specific trees require. All of them need mulching, pruning, fertilizing, and regular and frequent watering. You also must be diligent in protecting your trees from pests and diseases. Fall clean-up is essential.
What rewards your family will reap if you add fruit trees to your garden. There's no time like the present to get started.
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Also, we would like to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a short note or a comment. Blessings, Margarita & Stace It’s hard to believe January 1, of 2022 has arrived so quickly. Take hold of the day folks. Take hold of every day. Life is too short. Grab a cup of coffee and take hold of the day by starting with thanking God for the day and reading our blogpost of 2022. How many of you are make New Year Resolutions? Such as lose weight, exercise daily, eat more vegetables, try harder, be better, and so on. It is exhausting right? And for the record, just how long do those new year resolutions last? This year, I am trying something new. Rather than burden myself with a laundry list of personal resolutions that end up choking me with guilt, I am turning the resolutions towards another goal…our home and farm. What better benefactor of my good intentions than the farm? In my mind, resolutions are just another word for goals. And goals my friends, are attainable. 20 New Year Homestead Resolutions
So that’s it for goals. We have a few finishing up things from last year, but everything else now falls under fine tuning and seasonal routine. I’m not sure how far we’ll get this year but seeing some long-term projects finally nearing completion is very motivating. How about you? Any specific things you hope to accomplish in the upcoming year? Are you making plans? Or are you just going to enjoy the year as it comes? Some links may be affiliated. By purchasing an item from an affiliate link, I receive a small commission—but you are not charged more or less by clicking or purchasing through the link. Thank you for supporting us! SOME OF OUR POST THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU:
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Also, we would like to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a short note or a comment. Blessings, Margarita & Stace Our neighbor Debbie brought us a Poinsettia for Christmas. We are so blessed to have such good neighbors. Poinsettias are a true holiday tradition. The poinsettia is so beautiful with its deep red color. It got me to thinking. But just how did this seasonal plant become associated with Christmas? Is it because of the deep red of the leaves? I decided to do a little research on poinsettias. The Legend Of The Poinsettia In addition to Christmas trees, poinsettias have long been used to decorate the holiday season. Also know by its Spanish name of "Fores de Noche Buena", or "flower of the holy night" and the Latin name of "Euphorbia pulcherrima", the poinsettia's beauty is almost as intriguing as some of the legends that surround it. Why The Association With Christmas? Some say it's because the scarlet petal-like bracts represent the star of Bethlehem. Others believe it's more magical and involves a young Mexican girl named Pepita. The legend goes like this: Pepita wanted more than anything to present to the Christ Child a special gift on Christmas Eve, but she had no money. Crying as she walked to church, she saw an angel who instructed her to gather weeds from the roadside and present them to the Christ Child. Pepita took the angel's advice and gathered a bouquet of weeds to take to the church. Upon entering the church, she placed the weeds at the feet of the Christ Child, and suddenly, her humble weeds burst into brilliant red blooms. I remember this story from school. I think I was in the 3rd grade when we learned about it. I'm telling my age...that was the early 70's. Another Story... Another story attributes poinsettia's popularity to Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Ambassador to Mexico. Ambassador Poinsett was so attracted to these crimson-leaved native Mexican plants that he transplanted some to his greenhouses in South Carolina. There, he grew and propagated them, sharing cuttings and plants with many horticultural friends. The date of his death, December 12th, marks National Poinsettia Day. Poinsettia Facts And Trivia
Hope you enjoy the Poinsettia Legend as much as I have. Have a Blessed Christmas! Some links may be affiliated. By purchasing an item from an affiliate link, I receive a small commission—but you are not charged more or less by clicking or purchasing through the link. Thank you for supporting us! SOME OF OUR POST THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU:
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A few weeks ago Stace and I was talking about how the seasons are changing. He said according to both almanacs we are going to have a mild winter.
Stop...what there is two Almanacs? I had not idea. So I did some digging and sure enough Stace was right. "Yes, I'm saying Stace was right". I found some interesting facts about the Almanac. I want to share with you what I found.
TWO FARMERS ALMANACS?
You can recognize The Old Farmer’s Almanac by the yellow cover and the large red digits in the center indicating the year of publication. The cover is essentially unchanged since the 1850s.
When this Almanac was first published by Robert B. Thomas in Massachusetts in 1792, there were other almanacs—there always have been a few farmer’s almanacs published. Most were regional publications, selling in local areas and reporting on local items (court dates, rates of postage, distance between towns, and the like).
When this Almanac was founded, we had an agrarian society; that is, everyone grew their own food (there were no groceries as well stocked as we have today). People needed and looked for advice on maintaining farms and fields, planting, tending, and harvesting as well as, weather. Astronomy was long an interest of people of that day (they had no TVs or radio to amuse themselves in the evenings); they wanted to know the time of the sun rise and set, the Moon phases, when high tide would be, and the like. They wanted recipes for their garden produce, as were general interest news and amusing stories—all of which were found in our Almanac.
Other almanacs provided similar information—and still do. But ours provided information that was “new, useful, and entertaining” and so survived to become the oldest continuously published periodical in North America. In the 1848, it officially became the OLD Farmer’s Almanac.
What is the difference between the Farmer’s Almanac and Old Farmer’s Almanac?
Let’s start with the original, “The Old Farmer’s Almanac”… You see, “The Old Farmer’s Almanac” follows a “secret formula” that takes into consideration solar science, climatology, and meteorology. Conversely, “The Farmer’s Almanac,” uses an astronomical and mathematical formula developed in 1818 for its predictions.
Which Farmers almanac is more accurate?
The Old Farmer’s Almanac had a mild and wet winter forecast. The winter had temps a little above average. The Farmers’ Almanac has these dramatic headlines each winter and The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s headline are more mundane, but much more accurate.
How do farmers almanacs work?
The Farmers’ Almanac will only state publicly that their method is an “exclusive mathematical and astronomical formula, that relies on sunspot activity, tidal action, planetary position (astrology) and many other factors”. The Almanac’s forecaster is referred to by the pseudonym Caleb Weather bee.
Which Farmers almanac is better?
Both books claim to have secret formulas for predicting the weather the most accurately, with The Old Farmer’s Almanac claiming it has an accuracy of 80 percent.
Are there two farmers Almanac?
There are 2 big almanacs. The Farmer’s Almanac is probably the most famous across the U.S. for the general public because this is the one the media is always quoting. It is not the most popular one for sales though. On Amazon, the Farmers’ Almanac ranks #19 under Almanacs and Yearbooks.
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Also we would like to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a short note or a comment. Blessings, Margarita & Stace Let's get our family involved in starting a little garden. I'm sure you have some pots hiding in the barn or garage. All you need is a little patch of dirt. By now I'm sure you know I grew up on a working farm. I loved the smell of tilled earth, and planting the seeds and watching them grow into large plants. Our farm was south of San Antonio. We can grow plants from seeds or from little plants that you can buy at a garden center. Even Walmart has plants or seeds you can buy. You can buy a bundle of onion sets for very little money. All you really need to know is that the root end goes down. This can be a fun way to grow some food for your family and make a few memories. Some of my favorite things to eat from the garden are tomatoes, green beans, squash or eggplant. Today I am going to take some potatoes that have sprouted eyes and plant them in a pot in my front yard. Tiny new potatoes are so good in a mess of fresh green beans. I have two white potatoes and a few red ones. These will taste so good in a couple of months. Sweet potatoes are easy to grow too. Cooking with herbs is a wonderful way to add flavor to your meals. I have one little seedling of basil that I am going to add to one of my front porch pots and then sprinkle seeds in the pot for a few more plants to transplant to other pots in a few weeks. One of the things to remember about growing herbs is to pinch the top out of them to keep them from going to seed. This also keeps the plants from getting leggy. When you pinch the top out of a plant it helps to make more branches. Squash is an easy plant to grow too. The more you pick the fruit of a squash; the more squash it will give you. We all love tomatoes. My favorite variety of tomato is a Roma. It is an oval tomato which is great for making sauces and salads. It is not a huge plant. Children love to plant and eat little grape tomatoes or Tommy toes ( small cherry tomatoes). Strawberry plants grow quickly and produce fruit that children can pick. Put the plants in a strawberry pot or in a raised bed. They will make runners (more plants) and the plants will live for several years. Go buy some seeds today! Don't forget to get some marigold seeds. Marigolds are great companion plants for any garden. They help to keep bugs away. Have fun today! Enjoy digging in the dirt. You will reap the fruits of your labor in no time. Some links may be affiliated. By purchasing an item from an affiliate link, I receive a small commission—but you are not charged more or less by clicking or purchasing through the link. Thank you for supporting us! HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER UPDATES? WE WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO BE PART OF OUR TAILSPIN FARMS FAMILY AND RECEIVE OUR NEWS RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX. Blessings,
Margarita & Stace I thought I would share some of the flowers that we are getting to enjoy. With all this rain we have been blessed with everything growing and blooming like crazy. Every time we go out to the yard it seems like the plants are growing so much over night. I sure y'all are having the same. Don't miss a thing! Sign up to get updates delivered to you inbox. Blessings,
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AuthorI'm Margarita. A Christian, Wife, mother of three, & grandmother "Mimi" of three. I create blog post about our life on the farm. Archives
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The Goat Management Binder
$15.00
The Goat Management Binder This binder will help you keep your goats health records organized and more. Remembering all the identifications and medical records for each goat is difficult so I quickly learned that I needed to write down our goat herd information. We created all the pages for our goat heard. This system works for us. I think our Goat Management Bind will help you with your recordkeeping. This eBook has 24 pages Print our the pages, fill in your goat information and place in a binder of your choice. When all of your goat information is kept in one place it saves time in case of an emergency. Homemaking / Home Management Binder
$15.00
Digital Homemaking / Home Management Binder I'm excited to share with you my Homemaking / Home Management Binder. This is a beautiful simple binder to write your Weekly task for you home. You can use every day over and over. You will get: Faith based / Proverbs 31 Women Weekly Cleaning Schedule Organizing your home Daily Chores Monthly Plan Meal Planner Grocery List Bill Tracker Savings Tracker Vacation Budget 20 pages 8.5"x11" letter size that matches any printer Unlimited prints (personal use) Instant download and get started PDF Printable Enjoy getting organized with our Homemaking / Home Management Binder ** THIS IS A DIGITAL PRODUCT. ** NO PHYSICAL PRODUCT WILL BE SHIPPED. Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. * You may print the files as many times as you like for your own personal use. * Sharing this product is not allowed. ** We do not accept returns, exchanges, or cancellations, but please contact me if you have any problems with your order. Instant Download Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. Farm/ Livestock Management Binder
$25.00
Farm / Livestock Management Binder In this binder you can log all your livestock needs and help you stay organized with all records. Such as: *Goats *Chickens *Horses *Medications *Purchases of Livestock *Sold Livestock Our Farm / Livestock Management Binder is 24 pages. Print our the pages, fill in your Livestock information and place in a binder of your choice. When all of your Livestock information is kept in one place it saves time in case of an emergency. Gardening In the South
$20.00
Gardening In the South E-Book Learn about Gardening in South Texas Zone 8 In our e-book we cover Fruit trees, Perennials & Pollinator, Garden checklist, What months to plant. Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. I don't accept returns, exchanges, or cancellations. But please contact me if you have any problems with your order. Thank you for shopping with us! Margarita Common Goat Medications
$20.00
Common Goat Medications We give you goat medications that we use for our goats. Included: Common Goat Medications & Easy to Understand Dosages General Information on Injection Wormers Antibiotics Anti-Inflammatories & Hormones' Injectable Vitamins and Minerals Oral Treatments You will get: 13 pages - eBook Unlimited prints (personal use) Instant download and get started PDF Printable ** THIS IS A DIGITAL PRODUCT. ** NO PHYSICAL PRODUCT WILL BE SHIPPED. Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. * You may print the files as many times as you like for your own personal use. * Sharing this product is not allowed. ** We do not accept returns, exchanges, or cancellations, but please contact me if you have any problems with your order. Instant Download Your files will be available to download once payment is confirmed. Thank you for shopping with us. Crochet Cup Sleeve Cozy
$6.00
Only a few left! Pretty cup cozy for both hot and iced beverage cups. It will slide up over a standard size non handle travel cups or store-bought coffee cups. They are great at protecting hands from the heat and cold of the travel mug/cup. *100% cotton yarn. * Colors may vary due to stock so message me if you prefer something specific. *Machine washable and dryer safe on low heat. *All Cozy’s make a great gift for literally anyone! *If you don’t see one you love don’t hesitate to message me! I love creating new products. Thank you for visiting our store. Handmade Goat Milk & Honey Soap
$7.00
Handmade Goat Milk & Honey Soap 4 oz. bar. Benefits from goat milk & honey - it's moisturizing, clarifying, and naturally antibacterial. Goat milk & Honey Soap has always been a favorite, it smells divine, and there are loads of skin benefits. Goat milk & Honey Soap hydrates and nourishes dry skin. It doesn't leave your skin feeling dry. Ingredients: Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauretha Sulfate, Stearic Acid, Lauric Acid, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Goat Milk, Honey Titanium Dioxide. Due to the handmade nature of our soaps and fragrance oil added, all bars vary in color. |
Handcrafted items made with love.
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Tailspin Farms
2273 FM 1681 Stockdale, Texas 78160 |
210-771-7205
Email - mcgoats@tspinfarms.com |