New Babies

Today I bought 11 baby egg chicks.  I got them at the feed store, and they were more expensive than if I had ordered them through the hatchery, but totally worth it as they all have their big chick feathers.  So, I saved on chick starter and a heat lamp and the stink of keeping them in the garage.  They are out in the yard in the coop that Kirk built, and I am a little worried that something might get into the coop through some small spaces around the bottom of the coop where it doesn't quite touch the ground.  I did put stuff around the spaces to hopefully keep any predators out.  Could be worse--the guy at the feed store was telling me he lost almost his entire flock of chickens to a black bear!  He said the bear ripped off the doors, and he had chicken parts strewn about.  I just can't even imagine.  He told me there are several black bears that are around, and they are not shy about ripping off doors and destroying anything that might have food that is outside, even in a garage.  They have no trash service, and must take their trash to a dump 10 miles away.  I think I'll stick where the black bears aren't.

The baby chicks that I got are all black, with the exception of one lone barred rock.  The rest are sex-linked and black australorp.

They really didn't like the camera.  Or maybe it was just me?

Can you spot the one that isn't like the others?

Kids are Funny

At Friday school the other day, the lesson was about making goals.  The teacher read a story about a woman who had three goals.  When the teacher asked the kids what a goal was, one of the boys said "a point".  *snort*.

Finally

The cows are just about as big as they are going to get!  Aren't they cute?

Elsie has the horns, Ellie May doesn't

Well, we finally finished putting up the fence in the front yard for the cows.  The bushes were super thick and so the fence didn't quite get closed all the way.  It only took 2 weeks, and we now have escaping cows.  No biggie, the bushes are down enough that we can get the fence all the way to the other fence.  The cows are staked out in different areas of the yard.  They really ate the front area down quickly, much faster than I thought they would.  The grass seems to take forever to grow back.  It didn't take that long when we had to mow it.  Hmmm. 

It only took a week to finish off 5 feet of fence.

Winter Garden

Well, we finally got our winter garden in, again.  I had sprouted broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage and was surprised at how fast and well everything sprouted.  But then something (chickens?) started eating the tops.  It wasn't cutworms.  They sort of recovered, but it was slow going.  I also had seeded radishes, beets, and carrots in the garden beds by the house, thinking that the chickens would leave the beds alone.  Silly me.  They left the beds alone long enough for everything to sprout, and then had a fabulous time digging in them.  So, this week the kids and I replanted in two different spots.  I fenced in an area by the chicken coop where I had some summer produce growing, and carrots, beets, kale, peas, lettuce and beets were planted.  We chittered (pre-sprouted) the peas, and I soaked the carrot seeds as well.  So far, so good with regards to the chickens.  They only scratched up the area with the beet seeds.  Then we planted the area in the back.  I felt comfortable planting there as the cows are in the front, and I think we can get the garden area fenced in well enough to keep the cows out, when it is time for the cows to go in the back.  We planted broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and celery that I bought at Green Acres.  Also, I tried to transplant the pretty sad looking broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower I had grown from seed.  It is rather late for the direct seeding, but seeds are cheap, and I will learn something for it.  Hoping to have an Indian Summer, so the seeds do well.  Now, I just need to plant garlic and green onions.

I am working on extending the garden area by the chicken coop for next spring.  I have had two loads of ground-up trees dropped off, and so I am following the "Back to Eden" method.  If you are interested in gardening, I highly encourage you to look at this.  Next spring, I will be able to speak as to whether it is a viable method for me.  I also have several cut up logs from the ground-up trees, and so I am going to try another huglekulture bed.  I have one that I dug down, and what I have growing there seemed to do very well, and needed slightly less water than some of the other areas. This time, though, I am going to build the bed up by the back of the garage.  The area is considerably lower than the rest of the garden area, so it will make the area more level. 

My goal, come spring, is to be able to produce at least 50% of our food, hopefully more towards 70%.  We will see.  I don't know if I can plant enough of everything or not.  Actually, the food prouction might be more toward the summer time.  I will need to get grains, oils, and some other miscillanious things, but should be have eggs, cheese, milk, yoghurt, and any veggies and fruit that I can grow.  I think the trick will be to grow enough to have some preserved over the winter.  Hence the fall garden.  I *think* the weather here will allow the garden to still produce (some) during the winter.  Regardless of how things do, it won't be a waste, as it is all a learning experience.

Happy Labor Day!

It's labor day, and we are taking that seriously and laboring.