Swiech Homestead Happenings

09/04/2026

Well we hit 100 just now! I watered the garden at 6 AM and collected treats for the chickens, been visiting the chickens to feed, clean coop, clean water bin, give melon, give lightly frozen blueberries, clean water bin again, check eggs - just trying to keep them cool. The dogs like to go on the porch since it’s cement and stays fairly cool but the air is still hot and thick, so I coax them inside for water and cooler air. I’m not a fan of the heat either but it will pass eventually and winter is supposed to hit us rather hard. Stay hydrated!!!

08/31/2026

Latest pics of our 2 boys & 6 chickie girls

08/29/2026

I saw this deer out back after we just ate a roast of deer. Three years ago our neighbor’s friend had gifted us with some deer meat from the deer he got in the woods behind our property. Some of the woods is ours and some is our neighbor’s and the friend had come over to hunt. I didn’t know we still had a roast, a ham and backstrap left. I defrosted the roast and slow cooked it yesterday. It didn’t taste like a beef roast but, it certainly wasn’t bad. I had seasoned it well. We both liked it and the dogs had a little too. While doing dishes, I spotted a family of deer out back. This buck may have been a relative.

08/29/2026

Yes! And somehow he always comes through for me! 🤣💕

08/27/2026

08/25/2026

This morning’s sky was so beautiful and so were all the critters!

08/23/2026

I just spent an hour clearing the cucumber vines. Then I hauled them from the garden in my xlg Gorilla cart to the back of the property, near the fire pit. I’m making a pile of debris there for Randy’s next burn. Once I pull beans, corn , sunflowers and melon vines, that pile will be a small hill.
As I was pulling vines, I also pulled grass and crab grass that grew nearby. When I brought the wagon back to the garden, I filled it up with the grasses and dumped them in the greenhouse to dry. Once dry, I will put them in a mineral tub to store and pull from that tub to line the nesting boxes for my Chickie Girls. I’ve never had to buy pads or other materials for their nesting boxes, since I had always saved the grasses from the start of raising my first chicks. It has worked out perfectly! I highly recommend it, if you can dry them out somewhere. My last batch got wet with morning dew and a couple of showers. It was laying on top of the w**d fabric to dry and I had forgotten to bring it into the greenhouse. It finally dried though, since we had some very hot temps and that’s what is in the purple tub now . I still need to do a lot more work with the cucumber area and will be mowing tomorrow morning, but I’ve been working outside for about 5 hours intermittently and it’s starting to warm up too much for me. There was a small nice breeze to help me get this done and I thanked God for sending it my way. However, I think it’s clean up time for me.
Randy worked so hard yesterday hauling fallen branches from the front of our property with his truck, did a lot of chipping and some burning too. Today he has been dealing with his bee hives much of the day and collected some capped frames. He’s not ready to extract the honey yet but it’s in safe storage. He should be resting up this afternoon but he put a tri-tip in the smoker and went back out to mow another area.
Just when you think it might be a restful Sunday with only a few things to get done, we both get on a roll, and go from one thing to another. I’m already thinking that I need to be prepping my blueberries and orchard for winter. I’m a little behind on that. But the corn stalks and sunflowers all need pulling first. More big projects ahead!

08/23/2026

From growing Basil from seed, to harvesting, and drying then processing. The yield isn’t high but I not only cook with it, but it’s good to add to chicken feed too. It provides antioxidants, vitamins, and antibacterial properties that can support their immune system and egg quality.

08/23/2026

I had an early morning walk with dogs in their front field. It was only 69 degrees! It was such a relief to sleep with windows open last night. On my walk, I cleaned up the remains of a skunk 🦨 which had been gone quite a while. But Rocky kept sniffing it with wet fur and bringing the smell back into the house. After bagging it, I stopped to admire the pretty w**ds, and returned to work in the garden to harvest produce and pick things to give my Chickie Girls. After breakfast, I started to process dried Basil which I had hanging in the house. I take the leaves off the stems and grind the leaves to fill my bottles. I’m not sure what else I’ll get done today but I’m positive it will be productive! Happy Sunday! 💕🙏🏻🇺🇸

08/22/2026

My Tennessee lime tree-

In spring 2025, this lime plant was purchased by my hubby for me as a surprise. The year before I had one and took good care of it until fall. I wheeled it into the greenhouse for winter. However the heater stopped working when temps dropped below 32 and my plant sadly died. I was so upset. It was so healthy before winter. My hubby bought this one to replace it. It was only about 14” tall. I transplanted it into this mineral tub and kept it in the garden until mid November 2025. Then I dragged it up 4 steps on a furniture dolly and into a room of the house, closest to the side deck. When temps were over 45 and it was sunny, I’d wheel it to the deck for sun. When nights dipped lower that 45, then it was moved back inside. I did that Nov-April, until it could stay outside. I didn’t move it back to the garden because it really took off in growth. Moving it up and down stairs didn’t seem right and it was getting very heavy. This is the first time it is fruiting and I have several limes. I wasn’t sure if my plant would grow limes here in TN, but learned that as long as I care for it properly, it will. Looking forward to them ripening!