It's Not Always a Good Time: What Problems Did I Run into This Growing Season on the Farm?

    Like many of you gardeners, I started off this year with a whole lot of hopes, dreams, and wishes. That's not to say that I'm naive- rather I was quite overzealous and overly ambitious. I greatly underestimated how much space everything was going to require, while also significantly overestimating how much time that I have to put into everything. Probably a rookie mistake that I shouldn't make since I know how quickly things go sideways with pests and disease, but I digress. 

    Today's post is going to be about my humbling experience with gardens, critters, & Mother Nature this year; there were a lot of lessons, losses, and misfortunes for us on our farm and in the gardens for the 2025 season. This might be my 9th year growing, but I'll be the first to tell you that multiple things are always going wrong in the garden, no matter how many years you've been at this. If you're new to it, don't let these lessons and losses get the best of you, keep going! You have to be resilient when it comes to gardening- it'll hurt your feelings, otherwise. Who am I kidding? It's going to hurt your feelings, period. 

February through March: Failed Seedlings, Twice Failed Seedlings, Loss of an Elder, and Kidding Season was a BUST

    To kick off the season, the problems started before I could ever get anything into the ground. We had a lot of issues with fungus gnats, losing lots of seeds and seedlings, unfortunately. We lost a lot of rare peppers that I'll have to get my hands on again. Some of those seeds were incredibly hard to get my hands on, but I will absolutely try again for the 2026 season. 

 

   To follow, I replanted the lost seedlings with whatever seeds I had left, if I had them; then, I had issues with my barn cats (well, one of them) and my seedling trays. Before I figured out who the culprit was behind my failing seedlings, I had lost hundreds. Therefore, the start of the season was already kicking me while I was already down. I was lucky to have any poppies, snap dragons, or hot peppers this year because of this.

    As for our livestock, we did not have a kidding season this year. Unfortunately, that's quite a hit as kids help to pay for feed costs. I took a gamble with our current buck, and he was simply too young to put kids on the ground for the 2025 season. We're hoping for an early start to the 2026 kidding season. 

    We also lost the eldest member of our herd after a continued decline in health. Our old, ornery girl was one of our first two goats, gifted to us as adults when the owners could no longer care for them due to multiple major life changes. We had the pleasure of caring for that spicy little goat for 8 years. She never once enjoyed our presence in all of those years- she preferred to judge you and curse your existence from the corner of the pasture. On her last day, she came to me for affection- something she'd only done twice before, when she wasn't feeling well. I like to think that she was thanking me for keeping such an ill-tempered old girl safe for so long. I stayed behind for quite some time that evening after feeding the critters to soak that in, as she never walked away from me. I sat with her knowing it was likely close to her time.  Even the mean, stubborn old goats can have a change of heart- but apparently, only when their time has come; Buttermilk was far too prideful to ever admit she liked us. I'd say let's move along with an upbeat post, but that's not the tone we've set today, unfortunately! 

This Pygmy goat doe was one of the two who started it all! She's been greatly missed, especially by her sidekick (the owner of the pretty blue eye in the bottom left!)

April through May: Scrambling for a Working Mower, Fire Ant Takeover, Tomato Attack by an Opossum

    At the start of the season, we had to scramble to find a used lawn mower, as we were one of many victims of a new Toro zero-turn that turned into a giant paper weight. Yes, that one hurt a lot. Things just aren't made well anymore. Anyways, it's impossible to get a garden in when the grass is well past mowing, so that delayed my flower garden patch a little. We got ourselves a cheap, old riding mower that has given us a lot of grief; in turn, we have learned a lot about how mowers work and repairing them! (Or completely rigging them up when necessary.) This opportunity to learn definitely isn't a bad thing! That mower might be running on zip ties, carabiner clips, and a dream, but it's running and it's cutting. Being 20 years old, that's likely about all I can ask of it. 

You didn't think I would leave you without receipts, did you? Here's a busted bracket for the variable speed pulley; The metal had a cut in it and the spring would slight right off. After 10 minutes of contemplation and a headache, I decided to go get a small carabiner clip and some heavier duty zip ties to mount over the existing bracket. The only other option was welding it, and that wasn't an option for us. I had to take a photo just to make sure the first zip tie was in the correct position, which is why I have this photo. Does it work? Well, it absolutely has for about 10 hours of cutting!

    I was lucky enough that we had the tiller up and running right as the planting season approached! I was still rather upset about all of the seedling losses, but thankfully, most of the garden went in on time. Aside from 50% of the tomatoes, and the flower patch. 

    At first, everything was growing wonderfully. But I noticed a problem that's getting out of control, one that's going to cause a lot of havoc for me next spring: fire ants. It's been quite bad this year. Fire ants are an invasive species in our area, and the best way to eliminate them is by using chemicals that shouldn't go in a veggie garden. I have failed to control them, so it's going to be an uphill battle all winter. I may have to move my primary gardens next year, as I will have to target these larger nests that have been protected by my veggie gardens. They're becoming quite a headache for us. 

    I also decided to plant my tomatoes with eggs since I had over a hundred eggs that I needed to get rid of. MISTAKE. Listen to me when I tell you not to do this unless your garden is fully secured from wildlife. The resident possums decided to come along and dig up the tomato plants that very night! They continued to do this for a few days, meaning that they would redig the poor surviving plants, which resulted in most of them failing from going through that damage twice. 

    At one point, a rooster decided to fly the coop and hit my corn patch, which did quite some damage to several young plants. Not a great big deal, but still a small set back. 

    I also made a previous post about going through a case of pneumonia in one of our goats earlier this year. That doe is doing very well and recovered very quickly, but any vet visit is always a hit financially. However, that's simply a part of managing livestock- it happens, and without warning. Thankfully, I knew the signs and she received treatment as quickly as possible, meaning she never required intensive care on my part- she wasn't a down goat. I'm very thankful that it never made it that far, as a downed goat requires around the clock care until they're stable. She bounced back very quickly, acting as her normal self within 1-2 days. 

June through July: Squash Bugs, Borers, and Worms, Oh My! 

    As the season wore on, it was clear that this was going to be yet another bad season for squash bugs. It almost always is, but they really hit hard this summer. I have a few squash plants that are still going (surprised!!), and September is upon us. 

    Vine borers also got fairly desperate, as well. They managed to eventually take down my injected vines, as I became swamped by everything else I'm working on. They infiltrated a few winter squashes, which has resulted in the loss of one large mature squash so far. I have found evidence of a borer in another, and will need to cut that fruit up before rot sets in. Check your winter squash stores for borer holes, that'll give you an opportunity to preserve an infested squash before it rots and becomes a total loss. 

Squash Vine Borer inside of squash fruit, which will eventually lead to the entire squash fruit rotting. 

    It wasn't a great tomato year for us, and peppers have been fairly underwhelming. The peppers are in the oldest section of our garden, and while planting holes were amended, it's blatantly obvious that I need to do a full, heavy amending for next year. Therefore, our plants haven't been the happiest. I was noticing some issues last year with squash in that area, but I chalked it up to heavy cucumber beetle pressure & blighted plants. 

    For the tomatoes, there have been multiple issues that have popped up. We were lucky as most plants held on for a large chunk of the growing season. Usually, they're fading when August approaches. This year, they lasted longer. However, that didn't mean much for us. We have had very heavy pressure from squash bugs and leaf footed bugs. I've never seen so many leaf footed bugs in my life, and they're hard to control organically. This means we had significant losses of fruit, and the remaining fruit was severely blemished. Armyworms and tomato hornworms also made a grand appearance. Generally, I rarely see hornworms- when I do, they're usually parasitized. Lots of plants suffered greatly due to all of the hornworm damage, so next year I'll have to keep a close eye on their numbers. I suspect the large number of flowers that I've grown may have lured the beautiful adults in. I will have to monitor them closely next year, and maintain a sacrificial patch of tomatoes to relocate offenders to, while spraying the plants with BT following a hornworm hunt. Armyworms are probably the bigger issue, as they love to tunnel into the developing tomatoes. Armyworms are usually a big problem with most of our crops. 

    Speaking of armyworms, they're really infesting my zinnias. However, I can't just spray my zinnias with BT- not with all of the pollinators! Next year, I will try to isolate my most important flowers under netting. It wouldn't be such a big issue if they weren't invading the flower heads. Instead of munching on leaves, the armyworms are eating the heads of the zinnias, which is harmful for seed production. It also damages the flower, sometimes preventing me from seeing what the zinnia looks like at maturity. 

August: Time for Farm Truck & Fridge Troubles, Goat Lice Outbreak

    We hit a huge wall at the beginning of August, and I wound up losing produce. Our refrigerator went out (again, nothing is made well anymore) and I was focused on keeping that food good, which was a huge hassle. I had to primarily focus on meats, so a lot of sacrifices were made. Thankfully, our fridge was repaired three weeks later under warranty, but it still threw a giant wrench into my plans. Peak season is the worst time to deal with a dead refrigerator. 

    Right before that occurred, the brakes on our farm truck began failing; an alarming situation for anyone who relies on one. Thankfully, the repairs took place in less than 24 hours, but at nearly $1,000, it was nothing to scoff at. Our farm truck is how we get our round bales home and haul livestock to and from farms and the vet; at any moment, something could go wrong, warranting a vet visit. Our farm truck has treated us so wonderfully, even with the high mileage. It was just one of those things- unlike the refrigerator, which absolutely should not have failed before reaching 5 years of age; but I digress.

    It always seems that problems come in clusters- and it is almost always something out of left field. As if the combo I presented to you wasn't strange enough, a goat lice outbreak occurred. I have only ever had to treat the herd for lice once before, so I'm guessing the lice must have come in on the hay (which is odd, but apparently that happens.) In any case, it was a fairly quick treatment with Cylence, and I will be keeping them on a lice treatment regimen for a month or two. Hopefully we won't need to move along to a frequent treatment schedule, as we really don't bring goats on often. Our last two arrived a year and a half ago, during kidding season. 

Our handsome, itty-bitty buck, Bert! He is a small Pygmy. While he's our only intact male this year, he's also one of the favorites- he's the best-behaved goat on the property. He was the worst off with the lice outbreak but is doing very well! Isn't his face entirely too sweet? It's hard to believe how offensive he's going to smell with rut approaching. 

It's Hard. I Won't Lie. Is It Worth It? For Me, Yes. A Million Times: "Yes."

    "Why would ANYONE choose to deal with all of this?" 

   I cannot imagine my life without the excessive number of ducks and chickens that I have, fresh sun-kissed summer tomatoes, and misbehaving four legged toddlers (aka, goats!) I simply must have fresh flowers to admire in the quiet hours before sunrise, as I return from walking my eldest to the bus. I want to hear the roosters crow as my children play under the mulberry tree. I can't imagine silence when I'm used to a cacophony of farm animals screaming at me, all because I need to retrieve laundry from my back deck after sunning it. The excitement that my eldest has watching his blueberries ripen day by day; my youngest stalking the mulberry tree every hour on the hour during May. 

    There's constant trouble. Things are always going wrong. There's so much work involved. It can get quite expensive, too. You'll want to throw in the towel twice a week, maybe thrice during winter. There are disasters- complete crop failures. Catastrophic predator attacks. Fatal diseases or parasites may take your favorite animals (pneumonia, listeriosis, etc.) It's heart breaking- but there's almost always something that somehow numbs that memory and reminds you of why you do it- maybe you get the joy of unexpected twin doelings during an uncomplicated, easy birth, right after losing your first barn cat- maybe you'll find a momma hen has hatched a chick after failing to multiple times, and realize your entire carrot crop was eaten by wildlife that evening. You get pulled every which way in this lifestyle, a never-ending cycle of constant ups and downs. You have to make heartbreaking decisions at times, too. All in all, there's no way that I could willingly give up the magic that I experience every day, regardless of how bittersweet daily events may be. Life is both beautiful and tragic; there's simply no way around that. 

    However, living life without the family farm would be like having a world with no flowers, a storm without thunder, a spring morning without songbirds. Would I feel the same way if I didn't know any better? Perhaps, perhaps not. What I do know is that at the end of a long, draining day, I know exactly where I need to go to recharge and let the day's stresses roll off of my shoulders.