Little Houts on the Prairie

Little Houts on the Prairie Detailing the adventures of setting up and running our new suburban homestead of 1/4 acre.

08/30/2025

On our way home from the general store for canning and pantry supplies, we found two of these pools on the curb that someone was getting rid of. The toddler got one to splash around in, and these three are very happy to have a pool again!

3 quarts of bush beans ready to go in the canner, a zucchini, tiny new layer egg, jalapenos and black Hungarian peppers,...
07/26/2025

3 quarts of bush beans ready to go in the canner, a zucchini, tiny new layer egg, jalapenos and black Hungarian peppers, a bell pepper, 2 cucumbers, some cherry tomatoes and pear tomatoes (neither of those we planted, they are the volunteer tomatoes from the community garden bed that grew from last year's plants), and a black krim tomato that went back into the paper bag to finish ripening.

I've always wanted to garden. I've successfully grown tomatoes and herbs many times, but have rarely grown anything else...
07/26/2025

I've always wanted to garden. I've successfully grown tomatoes and herbs many times, but have rarely grown anything else. I garden mostly for the vibes and know practically nothing of soil conditions, etc. The chaos garden was born of a desire to just see what would happen and get something in the ground. It was about trusting the process and learning as we go.

I now know I like growing zucchini. That squash bugs are my mortal enemy and second only to bed bugs in bugs I'd like to eradicate from existence. That as much fun as the chaos is, I won't be planting my vining plants in a chaos garden again because its a pain to try to walk through and not break vines searching for fruit, squash bug eggs to get rid of, and nearly impossible when you have to walk with a cane. Sunflowers with cucumbers vining up the stalks make me extra happy, so I'll probably plant them together often.

We have regular and lemon cucumbers growing, and a few baby pumpkins. I also have basil in here, wildflowers, the big sunflowers, and who knows what else. The pumpkins and cucumber leaves have kind of stunted a lot of the other stuff from growing. So we'll see where the rest of this season takes us. And I'm already figuring out how to change things up for next year for an even more fun and chaos!

Ducktor Who is my favorite of the ducks. ❤️ I need to buy them a bow tie, and search to see if I can find a duck sized F...
06/27/2025

Ducktor Who is my favorite of the ducks. ❤️ I need to buy them a bow tie, and search to see if I can find a duck sized Fez.

We open the big doors on the coop so the hens can free range, so today we closed up their access to the run and gave it ...
06/20/2025

We open the big doors on the coop so the hens can free range, so today we closed up their access to the run and gave it all to the ducks. They’re much happier getting to have more room the waddle around and play!

Better photos for the “Hen or Drake” game. The quiet one has the darker bill. The two others are loudmouths. Good photos...
06/19/2025

Better photos for the “Hen or Drake” game. The quiet one has the darker bill. The two others are loudmouths. Good photos of tail feathers and I’m not seeing any obvious curls. They’re 12.5 week old Rouens.

Home garden progress featuring the chaos garden, zucchini/squash patch, tomatoes, jalapeños, lettuce, kale, and herbs.
06/12/2025

Home garden progress featuring the chaos garden, zucchini/squash patch, tomatoes, jalapeños, lettuce, kale, and herbs.

Progress in the community garden bed we have this year! Including a harvest of peas.
06/12/2025

Progress in the community garden bed we have this year! Including a harvest of peas.

First half of gardening today is done!
05/17/2025

First half of gardening today is done!

We lost a duckling this morning, so I am finding joy in all of the signs of life over here. Baby chickens thriving outdo...
04/22/2025

We lost a duckling this morning, so I am finding joy in all of the signs of life over here. Baby chickens thriving outdoors, and lots of seedlings popping through the soil (tomatoes, mint, lettuce, and oregano and dill that aren’t pictured).

We added a hardware cloth fence to section off the front third of the run just for the babies, and clipped their feather...
04/19/2025

We added a hardware cloth fence to section off the front third of the run just for the babies, and clipped their feathers this morning. They aren’t too sure about venturing out of the coop yet but they’ll get there!

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Fairfield, IA

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