Giveaway and upcoming events

I am so sorry I haven't posted on here lately! We've had a LOT of goats giving birth, and prior to yesterday, our total stood at 23 does and only 2 bucks. Then Charlotte changed all that during my goats "Breeding and Birthing" class yesterday when she gave birth to triplet bucks. If anyone were going to have triplet bucks, it is good that it was Charlotte because she was my best milker last year, producing six pounds a day at her peak (almost three quarts) and producing more than 900 pounds of milk in nine months. So if you need a herd sire with a milky pedigree, these are your boys.

Most of you will probably agree that I can't write about babies without giving you pictures. Unfortunately I haven't taken any pictures yet, but once I do, I will post about the babies. In the meantime, I thought I'd update you on what's coming up on the farm.

But first -- I'm hosting a giveaway of the awesome book Idiot's Guide to Small-Space Gardening by Chris McLaughlin over on my book blog. The deadline is midnight tonight (Sunday), so please scoot on over there and leave a comment for your chance to win. This book is especially great for people living in the city, but I personally have started to employ some of the ideas -- like growing vertically -- because it just makes life easier.

Classes on the farm
Yesterday was our first class of 2012, and we're just getting started! On Saturday, March 3, we have classes coming up in home dairy, soapmaking, and homesteading. And we'll be hosting more goat classes on March 24 -- basic goat care in the morning and the breeding and birth in the afternoon. Two goats are due around that time, but no guarantees either of them will be as thoughtful as Charlotte to give everyone a live demonstration of the process. For more info on these classes, click here. And I'm currently talking to someone about doing a beekeeping class on the farm at the end of April.

Homesteading Conference
I'm excited to tell you that Cathy Lafrenz and I will be doing the Homesteading Conference at Illinois Valley Community College in Ogelsby, IL, on Saturday, March 17. Last year, we had 31 people show up, and we had an awesome time, so we're doing it again! And we are having Richard McGinnis join us to talk about beekeeping. For more information on the homesteading conference, click here. In April, I will also be teaching classes at IVCC in cheesemaking and breadbaking.

And if you'd like to keep track of other events as they are added, you can follow me on the Homegrown and Handmade Facebook page and the Antiquity Oaks Facebook page, as well as the Events page of the Homegrown and Handmade website. In the coming months, I will be heading out to Iowa and Washington State, as well as Pennsylvania again in September.

Time for more kids!

Alexandria is due any day now. She'll be at day 145 on Friday, so she could give birth anytime between now and next Wednesday or Thursday. I've only had two does go to day 151. In honor of her impending motherhood, I've decided to give away an autographed copy of Homegrown and Handmade, which will be in stores in the next week or so. It's already available on Amazon and BN.com.

Here's the deal --

• In the comment section of the blog (HERE, not on Facebook), post the date you think she will give birth.
• If more than one person guesses the correct date, the first tie-breaker is number of kids.
• If more than one person guesses the correct date and number of kids, the second tie-breaker will be genders of kids.

So, tell me the date you think Alexandria will kid, as well as the number of kids, and the gender of the kids! You can post your guess until midnight central time Saturday, but only one guess per person. I'll let everyone know as soon as the blessed event occurs!

Good luck!

Visit with author of "Complete Idiot's Guide to Composting"

If your attempts at gardening have not been all that successful, don't give up. I grew great plots of weeds for years before I finally got it figured out. And I'm still learning more every year. My biggest mistake was that I thought I could just plant seeds and they'd grow. Ha! Then I heard that compost was a good organic fertilizer, so I figured you just pile things up, and they rot, right? Well, yeah, sort of.

Today we have a visit from Chris McLaughlin, author of The Complete Idiots Guide to Composting. If you want to grow organically, this is one of those skills that you simply must acquire. And it's a great way to make a lot of your garbage magically disappear. I had a few questions for Chris, so here goes --

Deborah: How did you get interested in gardening?

Chris: I started gardening when I was 14 years old...so, several years ago for sure *grin*. I had a couple of tomato plants, and marigolds the first time around. I was surprised how much I enjoyed watching plants mature.

Deborah: How or when did you start writing?

Chris: I started writing in the 4th grade - seriously. I remember my 4th grade teacher telling me that I should be a writer. Of course, like all young writers, I dreamed of fiction and played with it on and off for years. Later, I realized how nice it was to share what I had been learning with other people and it dawned on me that non-fiction wasn't as boring as I had once thought, LOL. Because my love for growing things stayed with me and I delved more and more into the subject - it was natural for me to write about that.

Deborah: Why did you write a book on composting? It doesn't seem like a topic that would need a whole book to address it.

Chris: I was actually pedaling around another non-fiction book that I was writing about suburban farming (homesteading, or however you look at it). I had some great responses but I began to realize that the market was about to become saturated with this very topic. Instead of trying to push something that already had many voices, I decided to think ahead of the curve. What was it that all of the new gardeners (per the Victory Garden movement) out there were going to need? Ahhh...soil! New gardeners were about to be amazed at just how crappy their soil was - and I had the remedy: compost. By dumb luck, I had an agent interested in representing me at the very same time that a pub house was looking for someone who could write a composting book...it all just lined up right.

By the way, I'd been an avid composter for years and was thrilled at the success I had with rabbit manure. I can create compost REALLY fast with my rabbits.

Deborah: What are you doing in your garden right now?

Chris: Oh, my. Well, I always have perennials and shrubs going on...my husband loves Japanese maples and I love propagating, LOL. In my veggie garden I'm growing all heirlooms this year and trying varieties I've never tried before. I have 13 varieties of tomatoes but 42 of them..hehehe. Lettuce, broccoli, all kinds of mild peppers, carrots, cucumbers, beans, squash, radishes, watermelons - oh I'm growing Moon & Stars watermelon and a couple other delicious-looking ones that I have no idea where I'm going to fit them... I also end up tucking lots of annuals in everywhere to bring in the beneficial insects. This is also the first time that I'll be growing some gourmet beans for a local chef's restaurant and I'm super excited about that.

If any of you have questions about gardening or composting, click on "Comment" and start typing. Chris has agreed to hang around today and answer your questions. And she is also giving away a copy of her composting book! So, if you'd like to win a copy, just leave a comment, and you'll be automatically entered to win. Deadline to enter is Wednesday at midnight, central time, and Chris will mail the book to the winner as soon as it is available May 4.

Give-away from the farm

I decided to give away a hank of our yarn for Christmas. It's a Shetland wool/llama blend. You can have white, black, or gray. It's 250 yards, and it's supposed to be sport weight. The weight of each skein varies, and they normally sell for around $30.

What if you're not a knitter? No problem. You can still enter, and if you win, I'll send you three bars of our goat milk soap. Everyone uses soap, right? And if you don't, it makes a nice gift for someone who does.

Just leave a comment and let me know which one you'd like if you're the winner. Then page down to the next post to see what other people are giving away on their blogs.

If you have a blog and want to give away something this weekend, page down to the next post, and enter your information.

Holiday Give-Away

As promised, I'm hosting a give-away! Here is how it works:

• Write up a blog post with information about the really cool item (or items) that you're giving away, as well as any information about limitations. (For example, be sure to let your readers know if you can't ship internationally.)
  
• Use the Mr. Linky widget below to type in your name or the name of your blog and the link to your blog post.
• On your blog, be sure to post a link back to this page, so that your readers can also see the other cool give-aways that they can enter!
  
• Make the deadline midnight Monday, Dec. 14, so people will have plenty of time to visit your blog and enter.
  
• You can choose your winner randomly, or you can set some sort of criteria for choosing the winner, such as most clever or touching comment.
• Ship your give-away item by Friday, Dec. 18. If you must ship later, be sure to note that in the description, so your winner realizes the item might not arrive before Christmas.
  

Holiday give-away coming

I was so looking forward to the Sew, Mama, Sew holiday give-away, then I forgot about it for a couple weeks, and now it's too late! As I was sitting here brooding, it suddenly occured to me that I could host a give-away right here on my blog! So, here you go . . .

This is a great way to promote your blog and your products, if you make something, like soap, or if you're a shepherd and want to give away some roving or yarn. It's really up to you, but if you give away something perishable, just be sure it can be mailed safely. So, start thinking about what you'd like to give away!

On Friday, I'll have a blog post about the give-away, and there will be a Mr. Linky widget, so you can post your name and a link to your blog post. In your blog post, be sure to link back to my blog, so readers can visit the other blogs that are giving away fun stuff. Please keep your give-away open until midnight, Monday Dec. 14, to give people plenty of time to enter. You can choose winners however you want. It's your give-away. I'm just fascilitating. If you have any questions, please ask now, so we can have it all perfected by Friday!