I am now keeping our vehicles topped off with fuel whenever possible. I just got my monthly Azure Standard order, and I am trying buckwheat out as a whole grain to add to the rotation. Buckwheat has a great nutritional profile and has a small amount of protein. The wild lettuce is trying to bolt, so I will be harvesting some for salads before it gets too bitter. Wild lettuce is a beneficial weed that is actually really healthy. It is slightly bitter like arugula, but not quite as bad if you pick it young enough. Since it is a weed, it pretty much plants and grows itself, I just stopped trying to get rid of it and started eating it instead. The theme this week is getting ready for fire season and summer. This week we will finish mowing the grass around the trailers and tractors for fire season. I do miss having the goats at the house to do this job for me. They ARE mowing the grass at the farm and loving it. The rabbit barn will get moved to a more shady spot this week, which I am hiring help for. Also decluttering my farm/gardening stuff. Farms all have junk piles, but it got a little out of hand last year as my life was unraveling month after month. These piles are hard to mow around and can trap wildfire embers, starting a new fire. What is a "wild or weedy" plant that you use or are curious to try?

Our operation would not exist without excellent mothers, so Mother's Day is a big celebration around here. So from our 52+ moms here, we wish you a special and restful day.

Post your "learning curve" for this week and what you would try next time.... So we can all learn. Mine is in the comments...

My last "regular" job was night shift on a very rural ambulance as a tech. We were the only ambulance covering 1500 square miles, and the nearest hospital is 20 miles west of our western border (95 miles from our eastern border). For 50% of our calls, it was just me and my driver who only had basic CPR training. Although I rarely needed it at work, triage is a skill I use at least weekly for the ranch. Every Sunday morning I plan out my week, identify bottlenecks for time or resources and plan how to navigate it. This is fully knowing that there WILL be things that derail the schedule. Early in the morning I walk through the animals at home, doing a quick visual scan for abnormal behavior or obvious injury. Also, making sure everyone is in the spot they are supposed to be (goat life). Then, if needed, I could triage what to do when and what resources I would need. Fast noticing is a skill is developed over time, and it's usefulness isn't limited to medical stuff. If you grew up in a rough home, sadly, you are likely already good at this. It is also sometimes an autistic superpower. The professional name for this skill is situational awareness. It is the ability to quickly notice and evaluate your surroundings including the behavior of other people, identity things that are not "normal" and decide what you need to do to either stay safe or alter the undesirable possible outcome. An example would be if you were at a farmers market with your small kids. You notice that several stalls away, there is a man acting very aggressively with a vendor. You choose to casually go the other way and skip that row until later. Another situation is that you notice a small child wandered off from its parents and is heading towards a road. You step in front of the child to redirect the movement. The faster you are able to notice, the more time you have to evaluate, and therefore, make a better choice. You can also develop awareness over long time periods. I know that right now I am dependent on the feed store for rabbit food and I know my demand will go up once the next round of moms have babies. I also know that the price of feed is tied closely to the price of fuel, so I need to respond now to avoid issues in June.

A record percentage of the US is facing a drought this summer, including Florida and Georgia. My area typically only gets 16" of precipitation for the whole year. Most of that is snow between Thanksgiving and March. Prior to this area, I have lived in two deserts since 1997. It is a given that we HAVE to have watering solutions for gardening. Here are the basics of what you can do now to make it easier to keep things green all summer. 1. Add organic matter to your soil. For every 1% increase in organic matter, you increase the soils ability to hold water by 10%. This is things like straw, manure, wood shavings, dried leaves. I put it on top every fall so it has time to decompose, but you can also mix it in before you plant. (No dig methods for the win!) 2. Mulch on top. I use old straw or used pine wood shavings because it is easy to transport and use. Mulch protects the soil from big temperature fluctuations, keeps water from evaporating, creates habitat for earthworms and good bugs, and eventually becomes more organic matter. 3. Use drip irrigation whenever possible. Targeted watering means fewer weeds. Drip also reduces the total amount of water used. Make sure the drip line is under the mulch, so it stays cool and the water goes right to the plants. I prefer the drip line that has holes every 6" or 1 ft. We have a high mineral content in our water and it plugs up the drip tape style in a single season. Don't be intimidated by drip irrigation. Just think of it as grown up Legos or those popbead necklaces from the late 80s (IYKYK). Lay it out before you connect the lines, and always go from bigger to smaller lines. What water saving techniques are you considering this year?