May on the Homestead

[firegirl969]

May came in with beautiful sunny days, 85 degree weather here in south GA. The garden is up and growing nicely as are the new asparagus, garlic, herb beds and the new fruit trees. I ate my first dewberries yesterday and hope to put up some along with the wild blackberries that are covered in blooms. I used rainchecks to stock up on TP and sugar yesterday and the grocery store had great deals on the following, so I added them to the preps: plastic cups, paper napkins, coffee, coffee creamer, canola oil, and pain relievers/fever reducers. I also found tuna and feminine products on sale earlier in the week. A silkie hen is scheduled to hatch 8 eggs in one week. A couple more weeks and the doe rabbit should give birth. DH inherited dad's newly restored 1959 JD 430 tractor, so we can scratch saving for a tractor off our list. He wants to put it in local parades, but he will have to give it a bath for that. We are going to purchase our own harrow, rotary mower, and scrape blade though. We use dad's now, but have to haul them across the county and back, and we share them with the rest of the family. DH should finish the root cellar in a few weeks. I am finally getting the long overdue temporary disability check I am due from work's insurance company, so we will get the blocks for cellar, a steam juicer, a corn grinder for chicken and rabbit food, and the following books: seed to seed, smoking meat and smokehouse design, and the more with less cookbook. That will be a large portion of preps off our list. It seems our plan for the year is coming along nicely. We pray that things will rock along as usual for a while longer while we get in a continuous better position.

[rideaway]

Well here on the Oregon coast it is back to winter weather...lots of high winds, sideways rain, the whole bit...grrrrr....Hazardous weather watch out for the rest of the weekend.

Hope the seeds we've planted don't rot! Supposed to have a yard sale today, but with the weather, no one has come, so just sitting around. Too wet to cut grass or do anything outside. Hubby had to go get feed for livestock first thing this am, and when the wind dies down we'll go get the horse trailer we are borrowing to haul animals in for weigh in tomorrow afternoon for 4-H, which should be fun in the weather, especially if the piggies don't want to go in the trailer.

Not much else. I have a lot of antique glassware I need to take pictures of and post on e-bay, but I don't have any motivation!

Hope the weather gets better soon!

[sbemt456]

Well there wont be much going on outside for several days yet, we are supposed to get rain off and on for another weel. But as of last Sunday we got all our open pollinated corn planted for cornmeal and the sweet corn and beans. The potatoes are up about 10 inches and have been worked out already. It time now to transplant tomatoes and cabbage and broccoli to the garden as soon as it dries a little. The onions look good if I can only deter the moles from eatin them off at ground level. The grape vines have little grape clusters on them now and the strawberries have berries. The new raspberries, stinging nettle, comfrey and other herbs that have been transplanted are growing and lookin good. Have about 400 tomatoe plants to transplant soon. Am thinking I will be sharing those with some neighbors. I think all the sweet potatoes have about 20 new plants each and thats way more than I will need also. I think I got a little carried away with garden stuff this year, but I am sure it will sell if I chose to do so.

I received my chick order on Friday and they arrived healthy and happy and are very active. Just 6 weeks to chicken dinners. The weather is going to be cool for a few days here so they will need heat. Otherwise all is as good as can be here on the farm.

Have a great day!

stella

[mom2]

Can you say 4.5 inches of rain since dark last night. *Luckily we got our elderly neighbor's garden tilled again and most of it planted yesterday before noon.

[rantinraven]

Rain here for the last 2 weeks :( so can't out to do much outside. The good news is all the sod is growing great :). I am still planting everyday but most of that is done in the house to put 4-6 inch plants in their permanent home (container gardening). I am on pause with that because I ran our of containers. I have corn plants that need to go out but its way to wet to get out there and do anything but sink in the ground. I have 2 doe rabbits that should be having babies in 5 days. One is making a nest now and the other seems to not know what to do with the straw. And we have a cat on the back porch having babies as I type this. I really do hope the rain lets up for a break.....

[Terri]

The garden SPLASHES when I walk in it!

I had moved out all of my seedlings because it is usually a good thing when the plants are rained in, but, I am only praying that everything does not drown! Some of the plants are slightly yellowed.........

On the good side, it is supposed to stop raining for a week!

And, we are eating the first of the asparagus tonight.

[flatwater]

We have had cold and rain with just a couple of days over 60. My uncle never planted before june first and always had a great garden. he said that if you wait for the ground to warm up your garden will catch up with the others and be healthier. So I tried it and most years it works

[cinok]

Its 11:00 pm and the rain finally stopped no rain forecast for tommorow but its back Tuesday.

[rideaway]

So the rain stayed away today, which was nice. Hubby was able to get lawn mowed now that mower is fixed (hope he stays away from large rocks this time) and I did housework as I've avoided it for awhile.

I really dislike (I was told never to say hate) pigs tonight. It took us almost two hours and 6 people to get three pigs into a trailer. It was weigh-in day for our county 4-H'ers and I tell you, I know I don't like to look at the scale sometimes, but those pigs did every trick in the book to avoid going. But, we finally did it, with no loose piggies. There are some bruises and scrapes on piggies, but no major injuries.

On a positive livestock note, since my chickens stared laying, we've gotten a pretty good egg ratio. I have two bard rock hens and three black stars...for the last three days running I have gotten 5 eggs from 5 hens. At worst, for the last three weeks, every other day is 4 eggs, then 5 on the next day. I'm happy-getting enough eggs for my family of 4 plus enough to sell a couple dozen every week and a half, which will pay for their feed...

[Southerngirl]

We too have had the rain and the garden is a slush of mush! We did get out and plant some more tomato plants, seeds just weren't coming up as well as we thought, planted more pepper plants, and used hog wire to make a spot for the okra to vine.
Today I mowed the yard, other than the spots with lots of standing water, weed eat around everything, and am hoping to finish it up tomorrow before rain hits in again Tuesday.
Found a chicken coop big enough for 8 that an elderly man wants to sell for $20, am hoping to be the first to get that!
Here's hoping tomorrow is a productive day!

[TNDadx4]

It's been raining almost non-stop here for days. I haven't had any time to finish planting the garden.

On a bright note, the corn is coming up and we did get some cultivating done before all of the rain.

[flatwater]

An old saying around here is " Your corn has to be knee high by the fourth of July "

[rideaway]

Who brought winter back and forgot to tell me? Woke up to an overcast sky that by 11 am had turned into a full blown storm. *Winds gusting to 75 mph with sustained winds at 65 mph, got out at the post office and was soaked by the sideways rain. *Got home to branches all over and a large chunk of willow tree down over the corner of the lean-to. *The calf and lambs were standing inside looking out like "what the heck?" *The piggies didn't care if it was feeding time or not, they were not coming out of their house.

Got everyone fed and bedded down, locked the chickens up early and settled down to a movie.

We were going to plant some starts and mow some more lawn this evening. The best laid plans...

[cinok]

Rains back not supposed to stop till next Monday. I tried to put some corner posts up but the hole filled with water faster then I could get the posts in. The diveway is still washed out .The garden thinks its a rice patty. Im going to started lining up the animals in pairs. ;D ;D ;D I thought april showers brought may flowers

[mom2]

We too have had the rain and the garden is a slush of mush! *We did get out and plant some more tomato plants, seeds just weren't coming up as well as we thought, planted more pepper plants, and used hog wire to make a spot for the okra to vine. *
Today I mowed the yard, other than the spots with lots of standing water, weed eat around everything, and am hoping to finish it up tomorrow before rain hits in again Tuesday.
Found a chicken coop big enough for 8 that an elderly man wants to sell for $20, am hoping to be the first to get that!
Here's hoping tomorrow is a productive day!

Just out of curiosity, what kind of Okra do yo have that "vines" and needs support. I have seen okra all my life and never seen any that was a vine. I might like to try it.

[TNDadx4]

We put 11 tomato plants and a few pepper plants in last night with my youngest son and youngest daughter.

It got too dark and we had to stop, but at least we got some in before the rain.

[bookwormom]

I should not complain. It just came down hard again. but with our sandy soil it is surprising how soon you can be outin the garden again and at least pull weeds. they are doing great with this weather. Best crop I ever had. something eats my plants as they come up. I have to reseed all the corn and all the beans and Ihave no idea what is doing it.

[bee_pipes]

5/4
We have gotten a good amount of rainfall. Over the course of Friday night we received 4 ¾ inches, and additional ¼ in over Saturday night and another inch and a half over Sunday night. The worst of it was Saturday. The creeks were swollen and flash flood warnings had been issued for the area. Our little creek is wide and fast, but no immediate threat. Folks in the area live on larger creeks and at lower elevations. There has been some flooding in the area. When we went to Tony and Kay’s to feed the dog we saw that the creek behind their house had filled with gravel, clogging the culvert under the bridge connecting the front of the property to the back. I saw a garbage can tipped over and thought some critters had gotten into it. The can contained no food, just cardboard boxes. As I was picking up the soggy boxes I noticed leaves and refuse in patterns normally found at a high water mark. This was cause for concern – the garbage can, tipped over by water rather than critters – was sitting next to the house. We went inside to prepare the food for their dog and saw everything looked okay – no water damage – but noticed the screened in back porch was soaked. Everything on the floor – flower pots, a pair of sneakers, chairs, mats, etc. – were soaked and had a fine film of sediment on it. We cleaned up what we could and called T&K to let them know what had happened. Looking around behind the house, it was easy to follow the path the water had taken.

5/5
There are a number of things that could be taken care of today, but I opted for the fun one. We occupied ourselves yesterday painting a room in the house. Today, after a day relatively rain free, I fired up the tractor and started burying the storm shelter. The task was not as easy as I had imagined; it took some time to get a feel for the controls and coordinated with operating the backhoe, but work is coming along well. It is a sweet little tractor and does well with all our needs. I had been concerned about the good parts of the fill dirt washing away over the course of the last year, but needn’t have worried. There was good black dirt and growing grass on top of the shelter will not be a problem. After a day of fairly dry weather, the ground was workable, but as rain is almost a constant in the foreseeable future, work will have to go in fits and starts. After the storm shelter, we start digging a small pond on the creek in front of the house.

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk217/patandkaren/sm_tractor-1.jpg

We have noticed quite a few owls in the trees across the creek from the house. These are big rascals – great barred or horned. Hard to tell, the leaves have filled in so much you can’t get a good look at them. They have deep, throaty voices too, and don’t seem to care who hears their call. Well, at any rate, we started hearing these weird calls, and I thought they were just the dying wails of their prey. I saw one with some sort of a critter in its claws – a squirrel maybe – sort of limp. Well, we kept hearing these odd wails and it eventually occurred to us, from the behavior of the birds, that we had a nest of owls across the creek – the wails were the nestlings. They are magnificent birds, but we can’t feed them. We will keep an eye on them, but they will be getting the blame for any missing poultry. With the tree so close, we should be able to inspect the ground underneath and see any discarded parts from guineas. With the guineas roosting in the trees at night, they will be the most likely prey.

Regards,
Pat

[flatwater]

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/offgridbob/DSC01036.jpg
Heres what we did last weekend at the mountain home , more solar light and fire protection

[rideaway]

Got some stuff done yesterday like cleaning out the chicken pen (which stunk, even tho I clean it regularly) and planting some herbs and cleaning up from the yard sale the day before. We had gone out for brunch so just had sandwiches for dinner.

Tonight I decided to try to get Bubba the calf drinking from a bucket instead of a bottle. He picked it up really quickly, but I found out one thing! When you have your hand in a bucket of milk teaching a calf to drink, do NOT place your face over the calf's head. He jumped at something, threw his head up and I saw stars! Dang, that hurt!

Off to get some tylenol to ease the pain!

[jen_in_southtexas]

After taking care of some personal business this morning, I decided to go out to my country place to make sure all was ok. I hadnt spent any time there since my Grandmother got ill then passed away. I needed to be alone and I felt it was a good time to go. I grabbed my Round-Up, filled up the truck with gas and headed on out. The drive was relaxing once I was out of the city limits and it felt really good knowing I was going to spend a little bit of time there.

Everything looked undisturbed as I last left it. The grass is still a horrible "crunchy brown" color. The weeds were awful and couldnt wait to spray them down. I took my time about it and I really enjoyed being there. I was careful though and kept a look out for snakes but didnt see any. I stood there for a while and re-evaluated my 2 acres. Boy do I have some work waitin' on me. There are a couple of areas that I would like to clear of dead brush, cactus, felled trees etc. That of course can wait a bit. Ive also got some tree manicuring to do on my 2nd acre, get to work on the cabin again, paint the trailer, fencing etc etc etc

I left satisfied knowing that there will be time for my projects again. It was hot at about 96 degrees, got 'coon eyes again from my sunglasses and a flip-flop tan on my feet. I know I know, but i forgot my boots.

I hope everyone is enjoying their homesteading projects. Until then.... see ya on the back roads.

-jen
Deep South Texas Brush Country

[Southerngirl]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of Okra do yo have that "vines" and needs support. *I have seen okra all my life and never seen any that was a vine. *I might like to try it.

Hey Mom2,
Some friends gave us some okra they called "African Okra", now I've done a search for it on google and can't find it by THAT name. The pod grows to a foot to a foot 1/2 or more long. I've seen them, was shocked to see how long they were!
They don't have the regular "slimy" inside that regular okra has when cooking it.
I will try to do some more searching to find what the real name is, because I couldn't find it under what they say it's called????
Anyway, it takes forever for it to start sprouting, it's been in the ground over a month now and nothing yet, but they say once it comes, it goes like crazy and you can't keep up with it! They said to let it vine on something like hog wire, said it will have big flowers and each of those turn into the okra. We'll see. All I know is when she brought out her last bag from last year and fried it up, it was the BEST tasting food I've ever had! And I like regular okra, but this just had an excellent taste to it! So I'm anxiously awaiting my own okra this year!!!!
They said it will be August before it's ready to harvest, so it's a long wait... :(
Southerngirl

[Catalpa]

We've been covering our flowers, it's been frosty here. No veggies in the ground yet. The grass needs cutting seemingly every other day, it's growing so fast. The neighbors are out roaring up and down the fields at all hours, trying to get everything planted.

Soon as my wrist is better I'll finish painting the front and back halls, and then start on the stairwell.

Searching all the yard sales for a pressure canner......

[AzLoneRider]

It has been warm here since March. It got over 100 a week and a half ago and has been in the high 90's since. The garden is growing and we have small green tomatos on the plants. The garden is fenced however we have a rabbit that has been getting in and eating the leaves off the bean plants and the brocolli so yesterday I lined the bottom of the fence with cement blocks, hopefully that will keep it out. I made and put up a clothesline last week giving us about 60 feet of hanging space. This weekend I am going to re hang the gate to our property, it currently drags the ground when it gets opened and is hard for my wife and kids to open and close.

[jonvee]

We finally finished the last of DD's sheep shows and picked up her lambs for the county and state fairs. It seems like we've been gone forever. I was amazed at how tired we were after the last show. But, now we get a 3 month rest - sortof.

Our chicks have hatched and are growing well. Still in the brooder. One is a Frizzle crossed with an Aracauna - it looks so strange. That's what you call a barnyard oops.

I'm still having trouble with these dang crows in the garden. :-/ Everything I use to protect the beds is not working. I've had to replant squash, beans, lettuce and I'm on my third planting of cukes.

I've started winter squash and pumpkins in pots and I think I'll let them get fairly large before planting them out. Hopefully that will deter the crows.

I'm thinking I may have made a huge mistake in planting the giant pumpkin seeds our 4-H leader got. I was finally able to get some specifics on the guy that gave them to us and his prize winning pumpkins was over 600 pounds. When she told me that I thought to myself, what the hell am I gonna do with a 600 pound pumpkin? Better yet how the hell am I gonna get it out of the yard? We may need to rethink this fun project.

The potatoes are so big now I'm gonna have to put wire around them so I can cover them more. Looks like I should get a good crop. I'm trading a friend some raspberry plants for starts of yams. I'm excited. I've never grown yams before, but she's had really good luck so I'm hopeful we'll have good luck to.

My freebie potting shed/chicken coop fell through - literally. The friend who was giving it to me called to say when they cleaned it out it had so many termits it just fell apart. Oh well, I'll just build my own.

My new yellow raspberries, that were just sticks when I got them, are going gangbusters now. I'm hoping to get a crop this season even if it's small. I can't wait to taste them.

The peach tree is so loaded down I may have to thin them out a bit so the branches don't break. It just kills me to pull fruit like that. But, it will be better for the tree.

The weather this time of year can be cool and foggy in the mornings so I'm seizing the opportunity to start bringing in firewood. I know it may sound early, but our falls can be hot and windy - really windy and there's nothing worse than loading firewood while being blinded by the junk in the air.

I find it interesting how I'm always planning for another month, another season. That kinda thing. I guess it's part of trying to be more self-sufficient. You always have to think ahead.

[MelleeRN]

Even with all the rain we have got many things done. My poor hubby went to start a chicken coop and came back to me taken a pen down that he had put up a year ago. He had said he was going to relocate it, yet I beat him to it ;D. We worked on some composting barrels and got those done. The chicken coop we finished today. Green house was blown down by some strong winds, so we got that mess picked back up. Garden is in need of weeding, but just too wet to get into. All in All we have had fun getting out and working on the odds and ends. Most of the time we end up stuck in the mud laughing at each other.

[sbemt456]

Tues May 12:

We transplanted 300 tomatoes, 50 peppers, 50 broccoli, 50 cabbage, and about 400 sweet taters. The ground was still a lil wet but it was manageable. Our potates are about a foot tall and doing good, no bugs this year for some reason, maybe they are afraid of drowning. The corn and beans that we planted last month are doing great too. Finally got the temp adjusted in the incubator and all set up and put 45 Black Astralorp eggs in it to hatch off. Just what I need is another project.

Wednesday May 13:
Went back to the garden to try and plow the corn and beans and get a grip on the weeds and grass and finish planting some other seeds. Oldest son got about half the garden plowed and got rained out in a downpour. I did manage to get my 5 different kinds a squash planted before gettin soaked. Still got some other stuff that needs to go in but will have to wait till it dries a little more.

Thursday May 14:
Worked on gettin all the mess cleaned up from my lil knee high greenhouse so it can be stored and reused next year if needed. All my seed starter trays have been cleaned and disinfected so they will be ready to pull out and plant when needed again. Also installed a fan in the brooder house to get some air circulation for the baby chicks. The cornish cross are real easy to over heat when it gets the least bit warm outside. And even with all the rain it does get hot in there.

Friday May 15:
Today was one of those maybe days. Maybe we can work outside, maybe not. Well I decided to clean out and reorganize my outbuilding so I could find stuff when I need it. That turned into an all day job for my son and I. The poor guy has cleaned and organized every building we have but one since he moved home. Got all the stuff out of the building and set outside and was organizing the stuff that was in the right places and then came the rain with the hail. Lost a couple good pairs of work boots, they got rained in, so the owners will get a nice surprise when they put em on. Moved both freezers to one side of the building and freed up a lot of floor space, and got most of the stuff back in the building that needed to be. Will be even neater if and when I get my summer kitchen built and all the canning and preserving stuff moved.
Guess we will see what next week holds for us in the garden.

Have a great day!

stella

[rideaway]

Jen...I am so sorry to hear about your Gramma... My thoughts are with you.

Supposed to be nice this weekend...just spent three hours mowing the lawn/orchard, then checked on new chickens I put out with other hens. The bigger hens are soooo mean-guess that's what they mean by pecking order. Bubba, the calf, started out the switch from the bottle to the bucket pretty well, but now we are having a struggle. He's getting pushy, so I've had to pop him hard a couple times. He wants to suck on the nipple, and every time I try to pull the nipple out of the milk, he gets soooo upset.

Busy weekend... going tomorrow am on a two hour round trip to get a tattoo with my middle daughter (my mother is horrified, but I got one with the eldest, soo...) My daughter's middle names are Hope, Joy and Faith, and I am getting those names tattooed on my ankle. This is the last time of doing things while she is officially still at home, since she is moving to Portland (6 hours away) at the end of the month, so we will do a little shopping, eat lunch, etc.

Then, the rest of the weekend will be spent gardening, etc. and then back to work...

[tomato204]

Southerngirl~ They usually call that kind of okra "Cowhorn okra". All okra is African okra. ;D

[bookwormom]

quote by rideaway

He wants to suck on the nipple, and every time I try to pull the nipple out of the milk, he gets soooo upset. end of quote

just leave the nipple in. I used to have to train calves to drink from the bucket, first I would put my finger in and soon they would find the nipple and used it as long as they drank from the bucket. Why bother and make it harder than it has to be.

[bookwormom]

I am having fun training Brownie to get used to being milked. *and then train her to step up on the milkstand.
One of her teats just gives a super thin stream of milk, like a thin quilting thread. * I am wondering if the opening can be stretched, and how. *
husband checked the bees and within the last two weeks one colony disappeared. *Poof, all gone,not a bee in the hive, not a drop of honey left. *

Finally got all my gardens planted. *found out I like starting sweet potatoe slips in dirt better. *there is more than one way to skin a cat, *so I tried two of them. Now I know. *
looks cool and rainy today. *Aruncus and tradscanthia are blooming next to each other. *
I am really enjoying the windchimes I got for mothers day. *

[rideaway]

Bookwormmom...He keeps pulling the nipple up out of the milk, and sucking air, so I have to stand there and hold it in, which kills my back and arms and makes me nervous about him tossing his head, which he is prone to do...

Any suggestions??

Thanks so much!

[Southerngirl]

Southerngirl~ They usually call that kind of okra "Cowhorn okra". All okra is African okra. ;D

Thanks for clearing that up! I didn't know anything about okra, first time to grow it or anything else, so I'm learning as I go. :)
Now I will know what to search for and do some reading on the "cowhorn okra".
thanks!
Southerngirl

[mom2]

Southerngirl~ They usually call that kind of okra "Cowhorn okra". All okra is African okra. ;D
I have cowhorn and cowhorn okra does not vine or need support. *I suspect what Southerngirl has is not a true okra but more like a loufa which can be eaten when very young and is like okra

http://www.evergreenseeds.com/edibleluffa.html

[Southerngirl]

I have cowhorn and cowhorn okra does not vine or need support. *I suspect what Southerngirl has is not a true okra but more like a loufa which can be eaten when very young and is like okra

http://www.evergreenseeds.com/edibleluffa.html




This is what it is: *I remember noticing the ridges on the outside when it was cut and never seeing that before on okra, I will pass the proper name along to them so they can tell others they shared seeds with. *Thanks for your extra help Mom2 for letting me know what I have :)
Southerngirl



Angled Luffa
(Ridged Skin Luffa), Summer Long
Fruits have raised ridges running from end to end, resembling Okra, and thus this variety is also called Chinese Okra. The ridged fruit is 1-2 ft. long and 2 inhces across and is lighter than the Smooth Skin Luffa. This variety is very popular for cooking use in China and Vietnam. Flesh is very tender and delicious.

[bookwormom]

I have no idea rideaway, He should learn pretty quick that there is no milk in the air, but maybe he has trouble breathing, is the bucket wide enough?

[bookwormom]

sorry about the crows jonvee. have you tried a length of old garden hose layed out like a snake? change position and location daily, crows are smart critters. would love to see your funny chicken.

[jonvee]

Thanks bookwormom...they are ambitious little suckers. They even torn the top off my bird feeder. I'd really like to shoot them, but I'm sure my neighbors wouldn't like that.

When my Frizzle chick is bigger and more fully feathered I'l post a pic. He really is pretty funny looking.

[rideaway]

Yep, I put the milk in a low wide feed bucket. I think it may have to do with his tongue problem-it hangs out a bit because of oxygen deprivation, we think. He did really good at first and then stopped. I think it may be pretty hard for him. Went back to the bottle last night and ordered a calf bucket today. It's worth the money right now.

Thanks!

[rockymtngirl]

Things are going pretty good on the 'suburban' homestead here. Yesterday I cleared out some areas in back yard so I can get some additional garden area. The garden from last year still needs tilling - got delayed on that cause thought I was gonna be moving, so now I'm kinda behind the 8 ball.

I did use some containers to plant some lettuce, spinach and mache yesterday as well as a very small carrot variety (globe carrots). Also planted some oregano that neighbor gave me, then went to meet some friends to share some of my seed stock with - they are just starting to realize they need to start growing some of their own food. So they were really excited to get a few seeds to start with.
Today will be planting some peas and cooler plant types in the shadier areas of the yard and hope they will do ok this late in the season. Also, adding some parsley to the herb containers and getting some garlic in as well.
Next weekend have a friend coming over to till in exchange for several jars of jam I still have in the pantry from last years canning season. I was so happy he offered to do it - I was trying to figure out how I was gonna get that done without renting a tiller or paying someone $100+ to do it for me. He's originally from MT and said - that's just what we do where I'm form - we do for each other in exchange for what the other can offer - or just know that they'll do for us the next time. Pretty great - a little country attitude in the city!

[cinok]

Finally the sun is out and supposed stay for a week, maybe the mud will dry(but i won't hold my breath) the boys were out yesterday with the tractor and a small trailer picking up some scattered debris. I saw them working to the house and knew what happened, so first think this morning we were winching the tractor out of the mud puddle so much fun. ;D ;D ;D
I hope we dry out so we can do some grading and fencing.

[firegirl969]

We got DH a tractor, rotary mower, and scrape blade this weekend. It is a 1959, but is super working order for it's age. Only has one small dent on the hood. I also got a buck rabbit, two laying hens, and 5 dozen canning jars out of the deal. We got home to 5 newly hatched chicks and 5 baby bunnies. I got strawberries last week, so I plan to make jam next week. I also got some onions donated, so I plan to dehydrate them this week. I will share them with the senior center. DH and I were talking, the farm is growing fast! The potatoes are dying back, so we plan on digging them this week and I will get some canned. Nothing like opening a jar of new red potatoes in the dead of winter and adding them to some green beans for a real good supper.

[michiganmom]

Shew wee, with warmer weather every one is coming out of hybernation around here. We have had alot of company, so much that the 50 doughnuts i made over the weekend were gone in 24 hours LOL. The garden is tilled and waiting untill june first to be planted. We will start gathering our winter wood this coming week. Have some vegie plants we grew from seed and bought some more today.The horses winter coat is almost shed out and the chickens are laying like crazy. We are planning our summer vacation, this year it will be right here at home having a great time on the patio and staying in our camper in the back yard LOL. This will be the cheapist vacation ever. Every thing is good on this homestead, could not be happier.
michiganmom

[Southerngirl]

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu24/daughtersunshine/IMG_3218.jpg

This is a pic of our garden while watering..


http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu24/daughtersunshine/IMG_3214.jpg

A dry view of the garden from the other direction... notice all the rocks in the garden. Not sure why there are so many, this was all covered in tall grass/weeds when we started. Guess with time we will get them out of there, when I pull weeds, I'm also picking out rocks, this might take forever, lol :)




http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu24/daughtersunshine/IMG_3222.jpg

And our first harvest of the year, radishes, lots of them!!!! and still plenty more in the ground! I took several grocery bags full to town and shared with friends/family along with recipes for new uses for radishes! :)

It's our first year being serious about doing our garden, so we are learning along the way. Anyone see anything they want to give advice on, it's greatly appreciated in advance.
Southerngirl

[AzLoneRider]

Southern Girl,
Your garden looks great. Radishes were the first thing to come up here as well. I don't have as many as you, but I wouldn't know, because I eat them while I am watering.... not one has made it in the house. I have probably eaten about a dozen of them. I am waiting for about 2 dozen more to mature before pulling them.

[cinok]

I think the hens are happy
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv188/msilvay/001.jpg
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv188/msilvay/003.jpg
But the rooster is lonely
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv188/msilvay/010.jpg

[bee_pipes]

Looks good Cinok - do the birds have any cover inside to keep them out of the weather?

Regards,
Pat

[cinok]

They have a small shelter for cover and it also lets them use some body heat to stay warm. We aslo have tarp that covers the open section when it rains, I need to build some nesting boxes.

[bee_pipes]

5/8
Rain, rain and more rain. We have some storms coming that will last the weekend. The tomatoes, which seemed to be rallying, now are beginning to look like they might be drowning. There have been some breaks – seems like every other day we can dry out enough to get ready for the next downpour. Good thing too – we would have been washing away by now if it were constant. During these dry days we have enjoyed temperatures in the low 80’s, but with all the moisture in the ground and air we have humidity that would be comfortable for a fish.

This morning Karen and I moved a small hootch into the chicken pen. The ducks seem to prefer laying in the corner of the pen. I noticed this morning that one duck seemed to want to sit on the eggs, but with a dog on the other side of the pen fence she was not comfortable and frightened away. The hootch has two solid sides, and we are hoping this will provide enough privacy for the duck to be comfortable with sitting. I don’t have any experience with ducks, but these seem to prefer laying out in the open. The enclosure and roof overhead may ruin the charm the location holds for the ducks to lay. Right now the ducks are on their foraging routine and don’t seem inclined to return to the nest. The dirt torn up around the storm shelter has reverted to mud with the recent rains, and that seems to hold more attraction for the ducks than the pen. They are quite entertaining in the way they march around the yard. It is like a little parade of four ducks, moving from one location to the next in formation.

5/11
In order to make good use of the time spent inside during the rains, we have gotten to work on some much-needed painting. The second bedroom was painted, covering spackled nail holes and other blotches that have been on the walls since we moved in. The job actually went pretty fast. Karen and I have different approaches to painting – far from the normal arrangement of work in other areas. I have been accused of being too detail oriented when we are working outside, but when it comes to painting Karen is the detail oriented one. She is quite steady about detail work – edges, trim, etc. When it comes to painting I think there is no greater invention than the paint roller - coverage of maximum space in the minimum amount of time. Since Karen and I have been together I have exercised some restraint; in the past most painting jobs were sloppy with splatters and drops of past colors and coats of paint proudly displayed on floor, furniture and fixtures. Under Karen’s influence I try harder to make a clean job of it, knowing she will follow up with a brush and blend the walls into the ceilings, baseboards, windows and doorways.

We were feeling so good about the back bedroom that we decided to paint the kitchen. This is an ambitious project, to say the least. I was consulted on colors – always a mistake. We had agreed on a color called “melon” – a sort of light reddish-orange color. This would have been fine had we taken into account the colors generated by the fluorescent lights. The color turned out to be a light pink. In an attempt to contrast this color and bring out the orange, we picked up a can of darker paint for the cupboards and cabinets. It was supposed to be a deep dark orange – almost rust – and looked quite good with the unintended pink color. But again, the color of the fluorescents made the orange quite bright. Karen is also doubtful as to the ability of the local hardware store to mix paint to a desired color. Well, after a number of coats on the cupboards, Karen is not quite happy with the resulting color. Staring at orange while painting would certainly do much to exaggerate the effects of the color. We have found that a dark olive green does much to darken the color, so we are debating the addition of a dark trim. Personally, I find the colors interesting but this may just be a matter of novelty with the new colors and may grow tiresome after a time. I have never had good taste in colors and can understand Johnny Cash’s preference for black clothing – no choices to be made, just stick with something that works.

Today I managed to get a little work done on the bee yard. The recent rains have gotten the grass to grow into a jungle. I have a feeling each hive has cast a swarm and the bees are in desperate need of additional space. Today I mowed and added supers to the langstroth hives. The top-bar hives have dividers that are moved up in autumn to reduce the size of the hive for a smaller, over-wintering population, and moved back in spring to increase the size of the hive and capacity for honey. This should slow down the tendency to swarming and get the bees busy with drawing comb and filling it with honey.

5/13
We have not had much luck with brooding ducks. The duck that seemed most interested in going broody seems easily distracted and leaves the nest often. When the nest is unattended the chickens get into it and start scratching through the straw. I have found a number of broken eggs. As to whether this is a matter of rough treatment by the chickens, or deliberate pecking and egg eating, I don’t know. We will continue to observe the behavior and try again later in the summer.

Today we managed to get a gate fixed that has been an annoyance since we moved here. The gate post was next to a large tree stump, which had pushed up the post and caused the gate to close at an angle. We tried driving the gate post in with the backhoe, but did not make any improvement on the situation. We finally settled on putting in a diagonal post that holds the gate post in the proper position. I started digging a post hole with the steel bar but hadn’t gotten six inches before encountering a large root from the stump. We got the backhoe and put it to work on the hole and fished a number of large roots out of the hole. The diagonal was an old top from a cedar pole used for the firewood roof. It was too short to make a good fence post, but is doing a fine job holding the gate in position. To prevent the diagonal from being pushed further into the ground, another small stub of cedar was driven in the ground at the butt of the diagonal. The gate now swings open nicely and can be readjusted so that it meets the other side of the gate evenly.

The covering of our storm shelter is pretty much done. The dirt is not as smooth and gently sloping as I had imagined, practical reality did not conform to my fancy. We have dabbled a bit at planting grass seed, only to have the chickens and ducks run to the site and start eating. I can’t imagine the appeal, grass seed looks like dried out chaff. As I do not exist wholly on seed, there must be some attraction for these creatures that escapes me. I have been looking through our photos and cannot find a very good “before” picture – this is the best I could do:
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk217/patandkaren/sm_shelter.jpg
This is the “after” shot:
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk217/patandkaren/sm_buried_entrance.jpg

We have a number of chickens taking turns at going broody. Monitoring their behavior has not been encouraging – sometimes they get up off the nest and eat, wander around or other activities that involve being away from the nest. This morning one of the hens that has been broody the longest was missing. We saw a broken egg shell in the nest, and after the problems with the ducks had assumed chickens were pecking the eggs when the mother was absent. The situation has been so discouraging that I had resolved to clean old eggs out of the chicken house. The clutter was making it difficult to tell which eggs were fresh and which were in some stage of incubation. To be 100% positive, we have left eggs we were unsure of to err on the side of safety. Well, as I was policing up old eggs, I started in the covered pen where the duck’s nest was. One of the old hens was sitting on the ground and I was watching her to ensure it was not the onset of some illness. I cleared the duck eggs, disposed of them and had returned to clean out the chicken house proper. I glanced at the pen I had just vacated and saw the mother standing with two guinea keets at her feet. What I had mistaken for the posture of a sickly hen was a protective mother. She had hunkered down and the keets had hidden under her while this I was moving around in the pen. They were doing a fine job of sticking close to her. She returned to the chicken house – possibly to eat – and the keets were unable to follow. As to whether she completed her errand to eat, I am unsure, but she returned in short order to reassure her tiny brood. The remaining broody hens have rearranged themselves in the nesting box. A small banty has taken up in the box where the two keets were hatched. Two more hens have completed the complement of nest boxes on the bottom row. It would appear that the only eggs we will be able to reliably harvest will have to come from the top nest boxes. Baby animals are always interesting to watch and fun, but this time we have the opportunity to observe adult behavior.

5/14
The fence/barrier between the dog pen and the chicken pen was reinforced. Using odd scrap wood, gaps in the pallets were filled in. Many of these gaps were due to the dogs ripping off boards and chewing them to splinters. Some of the scrap wood was near rotted, but will work as a visual partition. To prevent the dogs form tearing it down piece by piece, scraps of chain link fence, picked up on a salvage job, was stapled on top. Our goal is to give the dogs a surface that is unpleasant to jump up on and look over. It’s freaking out the chickens. The dogs are a fact of life, and when both dogs and chickens are at liberty, the dogs are under human supervision. The dogs respond well to command, but they younger ones are not to be trusted on their own. Just two days ago another guinea flew into the dog pen and was dismembered by the young dogs. They made quick work of the creature and had eaten most of the meatier parts before I discovered the situation. While it is poor discipline on the part of the dogs, they are doing us a service by removing some of the dumber genetic combinations of guinea from the flock. Any creature foolish enough to fly into a pen inhabited by four canines does not merit reproducing. The pups were scolded and made to feel bad, their own judgment and character were called into question and they were much embarrassed by the lapse.

At any rate, back to the barrier. The dogs leering at the chickens through the slats of the pallets is disquieting for the chickens. With the addition of a mother and two keets – the keets are small enough to squeeze through the ½ inch chicken wire – improving this barrier has become more important. Right now the guineas are exhibiting mating behavior. This behavior results in much chasing and running around in the yard. I have seen guineas pursue each other onto rooftops, into trees, and make numerous trips across the yard on the ground. All this activity naturally appeals to playful dogs. They are not so much in search of a meal as wanting to join in on the chasing and running about. I’m sure the passion of the chase contributed to the unfortunate guinea landing in the dog pen and receiving the attentions of the dogs. While they may not have been in search of a meal, the dogs no doubt enjoyed the play and felt happy to have a new chew toy as a result. The fact that it was made of raw guinea was simply a bonus.

I tried again, unsuccessfully, to breed the new does. When they were last bred, it must not have taken. They were provided with nesting boxes on last Wednesday or Thursday and did not kindle. Because of culling, the group of does to be bred are down to a single doe. One doe, still alive, is to be culled and not bred. One doe has recently died. The remaining doe has a litter of five kits and could be bred, but it seems to make more sense to get all three of the new does pregnant. I am beginning to learn that it is a good idea to wear a long sleeve shirt and roll the sleeves down when breeding rabbits. The rabbits themselves are not aggressive or dangerous, but the claws of the back feet can rake the forearms and cause some nasty scratches. They don’t seem like much when it happens, a small break in the skin, it is subject to low grade infection. The rabbits are not fastidious about washing their feet, so a little protection can prevent minor annoyances down the road.

The bees have been showing increased activity the last few days. The weather and additional space have no doubt affected their activity levels. The swarms cast by the hives have them all trying to play catch-up, boosting populations to meet the nectar runs and make the most out of the season’s opportunities.
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk217/patandkaren/sm_beehive2.jpg

Regards,
Pat

[bee_pipes]

5/15
Meat birds arrived today. They are a breed called (by the hatchery) White Mountain Broiler. We ran 25 of these birds last year and got pleasing results. In six weeks they are ready to slaughter, yielding a nice three pound bird when dressed for the freezer. The mother hen has managed to lose one of her brood in the course of the night, so we scooped up the remaining guinea keet and deposited it in the brooder with the meat birds. It appears to have no problem understanding the feeder and waterer, the meat birds provide constant examples of their use. When the broilers hit the brooder we introduced each one to water and food – they seemed to need no additional invitation and set about eating themselves into a stupor. They are all healthy, active chicks and we suffered no mortality during shipping. One was lost in shipping last year, but the hatchery usually throws in one or two extra chicks to account for attrition. A smarter fellow than me would have counted them while unloading the box – they move too quickly to count after being placed in the brooder. We’ll have to wait until they are all asleep before attempting to inventory the load.

We fixed the gate post the other day, today we lowered the gate to more closely match its mate. This required unbolting the hinges, moving one hinge down on the gate post, and reattaching the gate. Of course, one of the hinge bolts snapped off while trying to remove it. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. We had to do a little additional digging to clear the path of travel for the gate – the ground was unaccustomed to being scraped by the gate and grass has grown up thickly in that area. It still needs some minor adjustment, but we are quite pleased with the result.

This morning we made a run to Lexington to pick up the chipper. It is a large model and comes with its own wheels and trailer hitch. They claim it can be pulled around by a lawnmower/garden tractor. I don’t know what sort of mower they had in mind, perhaps the four-door John Deer mower? Our mower, a cub cadet, is somewhat lethargic. We have worn out the transmission pulling trailers of dirt. Engines can be fixed, but I have a feeling the transmission is most of the cost of a new mower. Unless we can find a salvage mower that somebody didn’t want to repair, we may have to replace it. Well, at any rate, the chipper is 350 pounds of screaming anger; a 16 horse Briggs & Stratton engine and 55 lb flywheel that is supposed to be capable of digesting branches up to 4 inches in diameter. We would consider a 4 inch piece of wood candidate for wood stove fuel, but it is nice to have more capacity than you will need. Sadly, the replacement battery for the large brush mower was not available to pickup. The grass is getting ridiculously high in the dog pen – we are going to have problems with snake bite if we can’t get it under control. The area behind the garden, around the fruit trees and on the hill behind the house is also in dire need of attention. It would seem like all we can do is wait.

5/16
This morning, about 4:30, we received a noisy storm from the west. It had pretty much cleared about 8 AM and left behind over an inch of rain. Fortunately the frequency and length of rain is decreasing. Though the ground and vegetation is still wet, the intervals of sunshine and clear weather between rains is having an effect on the plants. Some of the tomatoes and peppers are not doing that well – they need a few sunny days to remind them what it is like to grow. We will lose a few of these plants, the poor things have been discouraged and I’m sure the roots are drowning. Potatoes seem to be happy, peanuts are sprouting and other recently planted seed are popping up.

5/19
On Sunday (5/17) we went to Tony and Kay’s house for supper. They have company and have put on a turkey dinner. Karen made a hummingbird cake. When we arrived we found Joey there, hauling gravel from the creek, and everybody else (company included) standing by with rakes and shovels and other implements of destruction waiting on Joey to bring the next load. The recent heavy rains have filled the creek bed behind Tony and Kay’s house with gravel and caused some flooding. The driveway is also full of ruts from water runoff. Killing two birds with one stone, Joey was scooping gravel out of the creek and dumping it on the drive, to be spread by Tony, Kay and company. They had already made a lot of progress by the time we arrived. Tony and I tried hitching a large trailer to his truck and having Joey dump three loads of gravel into the trailer, thinking it might be quicker than hauling each load one at a time. Well, it turned out that it took longer to load and unload the trailer than it would have been to just haul it one load at a time. In spite of our best efforts to help, Joey managed to get a good amount of gravel moved. Work progressed at a much faster rate when we stopped trying to help. Around noon or 1 PM we sat down to a turkey dinner that couldn’t be beat. Bird, stuffing, gravy, cranberries – everything you’d expect at a holiday meal. Kay served it all up with a pitcher of sweet spearmint tea. When we returned home, Karen and I caught a quick after-dinner nap.

After the nap I started goofing around with the brush mower. I reinstalled the battery and tried to jump the machine one more time, using the battery charger. It is supposed to be capable of this sort of operation; but according to its own internal standards the charger deems the battery unredeemable and not worth charging – tripping an error condition and ceasing all attempts to provide current. This had me stymied, I have grown used to the charger as a means of maintaining batteries and jump starting equipment. The brush mower, a 17 hp engine, does not have a pull start. Just for grins and giggles, I tried jumping the mower off of a car – the battery was a 12 volt, fortunately. Well, the mower not only started, it had enough power to engage the clutch on the blade – an electric clutch. With the brush mower operating I set about cutting high grass. With daylight lasting longer this time of year, I managed to get the dog pen, garden and fruit tree area completed before knocking off for the evening.

Yesterday (5/18) Karen and I completed work on the third and last beam on the shed. This is time consuming work. We don’t move as fast as we used to and I spend more time thinking about the next step before proceeding. In spite of caution, the beam seems to be an inch too long. It was only 23’10” in length, but the weight and height required that we put it together as two pieces and assemble it on top of the shed. After getting the beam in position we put on the last 10 bolts, tugging some posts into position with nylon straps. Tony and Kay came over for a visit just as we were finishing up and ready to take a break. Later I managed to get some measurements taken for end caps on the joists, mark joist positions (14” centers) and put up blocks of scrap wood on which the joist caps can rest while being attached.

After dinner I got out and jumped the brush mower again, taking advantage of the cooling temperatures and extended daylight to cut the grass on the hill behind the house. Actually, in addition to cutting the grass, this was also a chance to beat back the woods. Thin saplings and woody shrubs have grown up, clogging the woods and making it near impassable. The brush mower does a fine job of chewing up these little trees and clearing the ground. The woods could actually be mowed like a lawn, if not for fallen trees and other obstacles too large for the mower to chew up.

We have lost 4 of the meat birds since their arrival on Friday. We did not have this problem last year. I know chicks dying after hatch is not an unheard of occurrence, but the numbers are beginning to be cause for concern. I have no doubt it is a matter of failure to thrive – a contagion would have swept through the entire group by now. The survivors are all healthy and active. They are eating medicated starter. This is the only concession we make to food additives. The chicks start on a single bag of medicated feed while they acquire a tolerance to our local disease pool. The strategy does not seem to be helping this year.

We found a chick in the hen house today. This is a buff orpington. Mother hen was sitting on a pile of guinea eggs, so we collected the chick and put it in the brooder with the meat birds and guinea. It is a little fluff ball, larger than the guinea keet but dwarfed by the meat birds. Fortunately meat birds are more interested in eating and napping, they have no interest in picking on this smaller newcomer.

5/20
Today we went to the CoOp. I picked up some feed for the chickens, rabbits and dogs. The folks that run the place are great and very helpful, and find some of our doings interesting. One fellow I have had a few conversations with noticed the rabbit food and inquired about the rabbits. That led to a discussion about breeding and reluctant does. He shared two stories about does. One was a doe he and his wife had. He said she (the doe) would try to take your arm off if you reached into the cage and would fight any buck. They gave the doe to a nephew, who picked it up in his arms (no fighting) took it home and it bred with the first buck he put it in with. The second story was about a lop an acquaintance had that would not breed. His wife met the owner at a McDonalds and took the doe off her hands. It bred the first time they put it in with a buck. It would seem the reluctant does are more open to the idea of breeding after a road trip. He guessed it was a matter of stress. Either the trip relaxed them, or the reduction of stress after the trip was over made them more cooperative. So, I guess the reluctant does I have need a road trip. I’ll put them in cages and take them to the local Sonic for ice cream and milk shakes, then see if they will breed?

We generally stay away from chemicals as much as possible. We use manure and compost for fertilizer, but have purchased soil amendments in the past – bone meal and green sand for the fruit trees. We have also used Sevin dust sparingly and rarely for Japanese beetle control when they were getting out of hand. We prefer to let local predators take care of pests, but nothing seems to be interested in eating Japanese beetles. Today we purchased a broadleaf herbicide. We have two poison ivy vines growing on the side of the house and I want those things dead. I have tried pulling the plants and spraying the leaves with chlorine bleach, but it has not killed the plant. I have no problem avoiding the plants, but they get larger and spread further when left alone. We also have dogs that seem oblivious to the plants and will brush against them, bringing the oils into the house and coming in contact with us and furnishings. This is a potentially bad situation that could cause much inconvenience for us. I know enough about herbicides to appreciate that they can destroy the entire plant – roots and all – if properly used. We sprayed the vines and will wait to see how effective this treatment is.

By this evening we have lost two more meat birds. This brings the mortality rate to 6 out of 30 (20%) and is some cause for concern.

I managed to get the dog pen finished. Scrap wood for the barrier and old scraps of fencing will keep the dogs from gnawing on the wood and dismantling the barrier. Without the dogs leering in at the chickens, we should see a reduction in stress, nightmares and night sweats in the chicken house <g>.

Mowing today cleared the area around the larger of our two ponds. The grass had gotten quite high. The first year we lived here I mowed the area with a small push mower and found a copperhead. The snake was sucked into the mower, fortunately before I could step on it, and spewed out the exhaust as “snake-a-roni”. The guineas appreciate freshly mowed grass and will follow the mower around as new ground is cleared. They seem to egg each other on and play chicken with the mower, running in front of and next to it as progress is made through the high grass. After completing the pond I managed to get a few passes around the rest of the back field, beating back the woods and clearing a path through the grass.

5/21
Man have we got the guineas. In the course of today we have seen seventeen guineas hatch in the chicken house. Usually I find them on the floor, bewildered at the world around them. Sometimes I see little heads peeping out at the world from under a hen. The last batch I found on the floor hiding under the feeder. Three or four adult guineas were in there eating and the chicks had the good sense to stay out from under foot. So far we seem to have two grey birds and a single white. One is hard to call – it doesn’t have the characteristic markings of a standard guinea, but is not grey or white. We moved the meat birds outside to a small pen. They were just too big to keep in the brooder with the newly hatched birds. After hatching, the birds want to lay under the heat lamp and sleep. The larger birds have no problem walking over them to get to food or water, though there is some risk of them stumbling over the unsure footing and moving bodies. Still, this is not a good situation for the younger birds. We placed the larger birds outsides, dividing them into four groups and placing them at opposite corners. Last year we found that they would be content to just huddle in a corner of the pen and cower. By placing groups apart from each other they have an incentive to travel to amass a huddle somewhere. That seems to break the ice and they are soon wandering around and discovering where their next meal/drink is coming from.

Regards,
Pat

[MelleeRN]

Spent 5/22 outside doing odd chores. Because I had some physical problems this winter and hubby just a little overprotective :). We had not been able to clean up after the last ice store and had let all the debris just lay where it fell. Not a good idea. Today, went around and cut down all the weeds so we could see where the branches and trees had fallen. Kids helped collect debris and put it all into a burn pile. We collected about 4 truck loads, and still have a ton left. Goal for today is to get the chains out and pull the down trees to the pile. I am weeding around everything due to snakes. Don't want the kids to go and hook a chain and get bite. It is snake season and out lack of getting things done this winter has made an excellent snake habitat. :o
We also was able to get some of the corner post in the ground for the kidding pen. Maybe done with that today.
Have to give kudos to children. They will work right there next to us without complaint. They get in the garden, on the tractor, and every where else. Life is so much easier when you have happy, good kids who like to help.

[AzLoneRider]

Went and did the landscaping job this morning. Took the family and they pitched in so what normally takes 3-4 hours only took 1 and a half hours. Came back to the homestead and found that a rabbit was in my garden eating my brocolli and pepper leaves. I fortified the fence around the garden. Measured out where the expansion of the garden is going to be and marked the boundary. Clearing it is going to be a chore. Put new hinges on the shed door, the old ones had broke and everytime the door was opened it would fall off. Pulled weeds in the yard and then cleaned the chicken coop.

[GoodDaughter]

Went to Wal Mart yesterday and got a Net10 phone. It was $30 and came with 300 minutes. Easy to activate 'cuz I'm not too smart about some stuff. Sprint and the $100+ cell phone bill is going bye-bye now, and I should be able to save at least $60 or so a month. I"ll have to see how many minutes I end up needing.

Still hassling with the rainwater catchment system.

I keep thinking about ways to earn more money from home. This summer and fall I am going to try to expand the shelving in the greenhouse and beside the garage so I can have multiple levels of benches for propagating plants. I am basically sold out of most of my plants. The only way I am going to make more cash than what I already make is to expand propagation space. At this point, after several days of careful thought and reviewing of my past sales, I will need space for an additional 5000 plants in 1 quart containers (best size for what I do). Decided against trying to grow/sell larger plants because then I wouldn't be that much less competitive than retail stores. I seem to have found a niche selling smaller plants for $3 to $5 dollars. It seems people will shell out $3, 4 or $5 before they'll shell out $10, 15 or $20. Yah, that's a lot of plants and a lot of space. Guess I'll get busy on it soon.

Some of the squash and cucumbers seem to be stunted, so I replanted a few hills of both in the past few days. Squash are already up, and the Picklebush mini cucumbers got seeded today. Hope it's not too hot for them.

[countryjo]

That is a good idea Good Daughter, if you have a product to sell go for it.......is this your first year? Or have you always had good sales? I know this year we hear of more people doing gardens. I don't know if it will last or not, you can't just have a great garden the first year,,,,,,,,unless you have gotten great soil.....we got some great dirt from a garden center and put it over top leaves in my raised beds and we had a great garden, I was surprised. Still doing great after 11 years.

[GoodDaughter]

I've been selling plants for several years. It's always been a nice way to make some money, but with the general cost of simply keeping house and home together, I need to increase my income. I'm currently working away from home, which just galls me. I hate it. Yes, I'm glad to have the job but I just hate being away from home all the time. I want to get to where I can work at home and support myself again, without having to work somewhere else.

I have a pretty fair garden. The winter garden did really well, and I grew a LOT of carrots in astoundingly little space. From now on, carrots will be grown every year. Things seem a little slow in growing. I don't know if it's just me watching them too closely (you know how the saying goes 'a watched pot never boils' or however it goes--meaning when you watch something constantly you see little progress). I feel like everything is just sitting there, or just not thriving the way I want it to. My okra is only about 6" high. I guess that's normal, considering it's only been in the ground a few weeks and we've had some chilly nights lately. Just seems like it ought to be bigger....

[machinemaker]

We got a light dusting of snow last night here in the Rockies.
kent

[jen_in_southtexas]

Not much goin' on in the way of my cabin project. *Have had some good rain showers and still packing and moving my late Grandmother's belongings. *But on my way home this mornin' from runnin' an errand, I went thru a residential neighborhood and found this treated wood that use to be a deck!! *It was taken apart and neatly stacked on the curbside. *I kindly rang the doorbell and asked if it was ok that I take the boards and he said yes that he was hoping someone would come along and take it. *He told me he had taken his deck apart and there was nothing wrong with the wood. *Just wanted some space again. *So I made out like a bandit. *Now I have some material for other projects or even a deck/porch. * ;) * *-jen

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh112/lillybug71/material%20scavenge/deckfind003.jpg *

[TNDadx4]

This past weekend was very productive. We got our squash, eggplant, and pole and bush beans in. Two of the kids are loving it. I gave my youngest son a section that is "his" and he is keeping it pretty well :)

I am also experimenting with a better way to water the garden to get better use out of my hoses, etc. I see a rain barrel in my future :)

[TNDadx4]

N He told me he had taken his deck apart and there was nothing wrong with the wood. Just wanted some space again. So I made out like a bandit.

Congratulations on your great find!

[cwatson]

This month has been great. I finally got DH to agree to the goats and he bought me two for my b-day (not saying which b-day). I have been canning carrots and am preparing to can the first peas of the year. We have been eating great salads with fresh carrots and radishes everyday. You just gotta love this time of year. My scarlett runner beans are in full bloom right now and just make the garden a beautiful place to be. I made wood hoops with some switches I cut off a trim when trimming and the vines are running over them and shading the lettuce. Its like a tunnel of bright red and green. The new hens finally started laying. All except the one that turned out not to be a hen. Happens every year :) DH decided to try some grow boxes this year and the beans are doing well but the tomatoes are not doing very well at all. The tomatoes I planted in my make shift containers are doing way better and I made them out of buckets that were given to me (food grade). When they get about 4 - 6 inches tall I plant them in the garden beds where they belong. Don't know why but that seems to be the only way I can grow tomatoes. I try sowing them directly into the beds every year and most of them don't sprout but I take the same seed and sow it in a container and wham! beautiful tomatoe plants. We actually got our first tomatoe of the season (Bradly and Brandywines). It is a good thing the tomatoes are coming in because I have only two jars of sauce left from last season and 2 jars of salsa. I still have about 30 jars of squash pickles and 5 1-gallon bags of squash frozen from last season and we are almost ready to harvest squash again. Well I guess you can never have too much squash huh? I did threaten last year that I was going to go to town with it and start to leave it in unlocked cars.

All in all an excellent month. We have even had enough rain this month to keep my rain barrels flowing.

BTW the goats are Nigerian Dwarfs, both girls, named Tsarina and Buckets. We plan to use them for milk goats and both their mamas have good milking records and Daddy is a registered stud named Samson. Can you tell I have been wanting goats for several years and am very happy to have my addition to our little homestead?

[sissy]

Well I guess you can never have too much squash huh? I did threaten last year that I was going to go to town with it and start to leave it in unlocked cars.
cwatson,
You could dehydrate the squash, makes greate chips.
Sissy

[cwatson]

Thanks Sissy. I had wondered if you could dehydrate it because it is not in my book. Wow, one more way to use squash.

[cinok]

Got our goat pen done was finally able to get the posts in before they filled in with water :D :D. Picked up the goats and got them settled. Today me and the boys got most of their permanent shelter built. Tomorrow we will sheath it and Mel-lee will paint it to make it look pretty. I am sure Mel-Lee will post pics. That's above my skill level ;D ;D ;D

[sbemt456]

Well between wet spells it constant weeding in the garden. But all of it looks really good so far. Only problem with it is that its way to big. The ground was a little wet but did manage to get the onions beds weeded this evening, or whats left of em, the chipmunks have eaten a lot of the onion bulbs below the ground. At first we thought we had a mole problem, but got to seein too many chipmunks goin in the holes. Finally got some post set for the grapevines to be trellised to. It will look better than them sprawling on the ground.
The cornish cross that arrived on May 1st are 4 weeks old and good size fryers at this point, but still have 2 more weeks of growing to do before butcher.
With all the rain my flower beds have gone to yuck. They will need serious work to get them in shape. Maybe next year that will happen.
We have had a few ripe strawberries to snack on, nothin to write home about. Lost a lot of the plants over the winter, dont really know what happened to them.
Cleaned out the laying hens house yesterday and got a bunch of good manure to add to the compost pile. Son and I layered the manure in with the old used bedding that was piled since last fall that had not rotted. So it is starting to heat now. Should be good stuff in a few months.

Have a great day!

stella

[cwatson]

I finally got that last hole dug for the goat pen or goat yard I should say. We are sectioning off about 1/3 an acre for the goats. I was having one heck of a time with the last two holes for the posts because I hit mt. everest in the ground and couldn't get any further. I finally got out there yesterday with a rock buster and managed to dig and bust my way through for the last two hole! Hooray. Now all I have to do is put in the posts, put up the fence and add in the gate. Heck that ain't nothing right ;D Oh yeah I still have to built the goats shelter too. They will be arriving home in a couple of weeks ( not weened yet) so I better get a move on. Any volunteers? LOL

[cinok]

I finally got that last hole dug for the goat pen or goat yard I should say. *We are sectioning off about 1/3 an acre for the goats. *I was having one heck of a time with the last two holes for the posts because I hit mt. everest in the ground and couldn't get any further. *I finally got out there yesterday with a rock buster and managed to dig and bust my way through for the last two hole! *Hooray. *Now all I have to do is put in the posts, put up the fence and add in the gate. *Heck that ain't nothing right *;D *Oh yeah I still have to built the goats shelter too. *They will be arriving home in a couple of weeks ( not weened yet) so I better get a move on. *Any volunteers? LOL
Just got our goats to built our shelter out of leftovers and only had to buy some plywood for the sides.

[Deberosa]

I'm back to homesteading! Posting this from Deberosa II at last!

I've been moving my meager belongings into the new homestead and cleaning! It's been vacant for a year at least and there is alot of work to do. Taking stock of what needs to get accomplished before winter.

Had a cookout on the deck with my neighbor from the rental and another friend of hers. They all brought parts and we had a great feast. I got a housewarming gift of some bbq skewers and incense. Jake and Martha were here all day.

The new lawn tractor arrived and I started to mow but the grass was still to wet. Will start again today. Went back to the rental late last night and came back in the morning to continue before I have to leave for 5 days! Seems like the hot water heater isn't working - add that to the list of projects, I sure am glad it's summer. Will look for alternatives to the big tank if it's bad.

Rideaway - it took three people and one good dog two hours for us to load pigs also! One trick I learned is to loop a piece of twine and snag their upper jaw. Once the noose sets they were able to tie the twine to a rope and pull the pig forward. There was alot of noise and sweat but it was about the only thing that worked!

The wild turkey was walking around where I mowed down by the garage this morning when I drove up. There must be more in what is now tall grass among the trees. The rain this year has really made everything grow like crazy, or maybe that's the way it always is here.

Back to work!

Debbie

PS I forgot about lightning bugs! The fields were full of them last night!

[AzLoneRider]

Saturday May 30, 2009, Put the first coat of primer on a 12x16 workshop now I just need to clean the inside again. Made supports to the tomato plants, we have 8 plants and have 48 tomatoes on them. Reinforced the fence to the garden.

A funny thing started happening this week. Next to our back door we have a rubber maid container that is 3 ft deep, 6 ft long by 3 ft high. This container has been moved away from the house about 5 feet everyday this week. The wind has been blowing everyday so we thought it was the wind. However the wind blew all day yesterday while we were home and the box did not move. This and some issues that have happened around the garden have led me to be very security concious.

[rockymtngirl]

Finally got the garden tilled this morning. Lettuce, spinach and mache look good in their containers. Peas are doing well on the north side of the house. Strawberries are just starting to ripen - need to get some netting on them before the birds get to them.

[firegirl969]

DH and I picked blackberries this afternoon and I kept out enough for a cobbler tonight and canned 6 pints. I also canned 5 pints from peaches DD and I picked on Friday, and I made my first peach preserves, 2 pints and 2 1/2 pint jars. We picked our snap beans and ate them for lunch and had enough to can two quarts. DH is getting excited about us growing some of what we eat and being able to put some up. Yesterday, I found 27 quart jars, some with rings, and 1 wide mouth pint jar inside an almost new Rubbermaid clothes basket for $10. I think the basket was worth almost that much.

[cinok]

New puppy. Picked up our new Pyrenees puppy to work with the goats so cute and cuddly. But he is a working dog so we have to limit play time. Funny thing Southerngirl was going to get him a couple weeks ago, We thought that she had and we were now cousins ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Southerngirl]

Give that puppy extra love for us tonight! :-*

[bee_pipes]

5/22

We’re still bringing guineas in, but the rush seems to have subsided. The chicken that had been providing all the hatchlings got up and left her nest this morning. I pulled out three or four of the birds that had died while hatching. One was still alive and I removed the shell. This is not recommended by most sources and I have had bad luck when doing this with an incubator. We brought it inside but the poor devil was in such bad shape from being released from the egg for only a matter of minutes that I thought it best to return it to a broody hen. I removed the remaining eggs – less than 5 – from the vacated nest and placed them under another broody hen. There are a few chicken eggs, but the bulk seems to be guineas. We have got to start eating these critters or we will be overrun.

The adults seem to have reached an odd arrangement with only two active nest boxes. The hen that vacated the nest box has returned and, finding her box empty, has crowded into a nest box with another hen. The small silkie is already crowded into the remaining active box and her black head peers out from under the hen like a brooding chick. The hatchling we returned to the box is in good hands – warm under the mother hen without having to compete for space with a bunch of active keets. So far only one chicken has hatched. There are a number of hen eggs, but they should hatch a week sooner than the guinea eggs. I don’t have much hope for the chicken eggs, but would not be disappointed if they surprise me.

You have to wonder what is going through those tiny little brains when they hatch. They escape the confines of the shell and find themselves in a warm darkness of feathers. The keets are curved into the shape of a shell, and we have noticed it takes a day for them to straighten out and gain some control of their limbs. Pressed to the nest by the underside of a hen is a perfect spot for them to enter the world in that sort of shape. They are still packing two days or more of nutrition in the yolk, the remainder of the yolk is inside the body of the hatchling. In this dark world they straighten out and begin digging in their feet and legs to move to the outside world. Once they manage to get out from under the hen they see the outside world – everything much larger than themselves, with the hen towering over them like a feathered sphinx. She is a source of warmth and protection, all but completely unaware of them. Staring off into space with a thousand mile gaze, mouth (beak) agape, she is in the trance of a broody hen. The peeps and presence of the hatchlings does register at some level. I don’t know what the threshold it, but she will break from setting trance at some point when there are sufficient hatchlings and take them out into the world. It may mean that she will abandon eggs in various stages of incubation, but the instinct is to keep those already hatched from starving. The food supply of the yolk provides a safety margin for the first to hatch, but the hen has to stop setting at some point. Fortunately, the sight of a nest full of eggs is almost irresistible to other hens. When they settle down into a recently vacated nest, still warm from the last occupant, they soon fall into the trance and take up the vigil.

This is a good system, evolved by nature through trial and error. We don’t know much about other methods of hatching eggs because the species and individuals practicing more unsuccessful methods died out. The eggs are laid, and if the weather is not too extreme, the potential creatures within the egg are in suspended animation. When a hen has decided there are such a number of eggs that she can’t resist sitting on them, incubation starts. This is an equalizer that will, in theory, start incubating the eggs and developing the embryos inside at the same time. In a perfect world, a hen would sit and stay in her trance until the clutch hatched, but in the real world the commitment of the hen is not so reliable. For whatever reason, the broodiness of the hens comes and. According to the books provided with incubators, the eggs must continue to be incubated once the process starts. Our experience indicates that the process can be interrupted a number of times and still have a successful outcome.

We have a tendency to anthropomorphize animals; attribute human motivations, feelings and reactions. I have a tendency to do this with the bees – they aren’t happy, they are angry, they are happy. We have find sustenance, reproduce and perhaps a few other motivations in common, though the means of going about satisfying these motivations are as varied as the species being considered. Even the method of reproduction between humans and social insects have only a marginal family resemblance. The bees reproduce as individuals, through the queen, and as a hive, and animal in its own right, through swarming. Hens are often held up as an example of maternal instinct and fearlessly facing insurmountable odds to protect their young. No doubt these are the actions and appearance of hens when fighting off dogs, hawks, owls, etc. They will hunker down and let the brood seek shelter under them, fan their wings to cover them, and fight off any predator. But it is doubtful that something akin to affection is the motivator. They also seem to lose individual young through absent mindedness, place them in hazardous situations and wander off without them. Of the fact that they have a strong instinct to protect their posterity there is no doubt. The youngsters, on the other hand, show traits that can be likened to human young. They do grow faster and become more capable of survival more quickly than human offspring – they must in order to become productive members of the species in their short lifespan. They blunder around, oblivious to the dangers in the world around them, saved only by the attentive eye of the hen – if she is so disposed at the moment. They also serve another purpose – they provide a rung on the food ladder to the world around them. The numbers in which they are born testifies to the fact that many of them will not reach adulthood. Of all the poultry, the guineas seem to provide the most fodder for the world around them. The keets are quite hardy, the eggs are more likely to hatch than not. The hens lay eggs in a number of locations around the place, indicating a strategy that allows abandoning a nest should necessity call for it. Just two days ago I found a newly hatched keet that had somehow managed to spend a few hours exposed to the night air. It had somehow managed to escape the protective warmth of a broody hen – no doubt a mutual blunder with an absent minded hen. The keet was quite cold and did not appear to have much chance for survival. With a less hardy chicken, this would have been well on the way to a downward spiral that would end in the death of the chick – if it had survived that long. The keet, ice cold to the touch but still moving, responded to being warmed up and is now indistinguishable from keets with less traumatic entries into the world. This hardy creature may survive to adulthood, or just continue to grow until it falls prey to the next link on the food chain. We have observed guineas brooding a clutch. One hen hatched a clutch on the hill behind the house. It took her a day to bring 15 keets down from the hill to the yard proper. She had the assistance of other adults, and spent some time keeping adults at bay – they was no way to determine what her criteria were for adults that could help and adults that had to stay away, but she seemed to have a list of attendees for the party firmly in mind. It did not seem based on gender. We checked out the nesting site and found two keets dead and two live keets that had been left behind. We managed to restore the live keets to the clutch, in spite of the menacing threats from the mother, and all seemed well. Following the progress in the yard, we saw her shelter the keets under a piece of roofing leaning against the compost bin during a rain. “Here is a smart, responsible hen,” I thought. In the following week she managed to lose the keets in the surrounding yard. We would find the little corpses in every odd corner. The entire time she fended off other guineas, chickens, and would even face down dogs, but she could not count and was just as surprised as the rest of us when the last keet expired in some remote location.

The youngsters, be they guinea or garden variety chicken, have an instinct to seek shelter from dangers, real or imagined. We had the idea of buying turkey poults and slipping them under a broody hen to allow her to raise them. This seemed like an excellent idea and a way to bypass brooders, starter feed and all the other steps necessary for humans to rear young poultry. I have had some experience with ducks in the past, and they pattern on anything moving and follow it around. I had assumed this was the way of all poultry. Not so. We talked to the fellow that breeds the turkeys and he said the patterning for most poultry, ducks not withstanding, occurs in the firs hour or so after hatching. Having witnessed conditions in the hen house this year I can vouch for this opinion. The newly hatched bird, wet, weak and incapable of survival without the influence of a brooding hen or manmade means, will die quickly in the cold cruel world. The hen, in her broody trance, is well disposed to these hatchlings wriggling around under her and resting. By the time the youngster sees the outside world, as described previously, the source of warmth has come to represent life itself. I do not know how much of a role scent or other senses play in this regard, but they seem to run to the brooding hen, rather than other hens. Chickens and guineas, rapacious predators of the yard, could mistakenly regard a young chick as a large insect or mouse trying to escape calamity. Running to a hen not disposed to broodiness could be a calamity for the youngster. The patterning is not the responsibility of the adult – they seem to accept all comers. It is the youngster, which needs to develop the behavior of running to the correct adult when danger threatens, that carries the responsibility for the behavior. The example the turkey breeder gave us was a dog barking or threatening the poult. In a panic, the poult could run in any direction to flee the threat. A poult that has patterned itself to the hen will only run in one direction – to the hen.

Domestic poultry are not credited with intelligence. This is an unearned reputation. While new to poultry, I have had some exposure to other species of birds and had more than one occasion to read into the subject. While the reading did not give me the opinion, it did support observations of the behavior of these creatures. They have certain habits that would be considered poor in polite society, such as defecating in their own water and feed, but they are also equipped with skills that make them successful in their environment. I have been impressed by their ability to pursue moths, grasshoppers and other insects. They are natural born problem solvers – a trait that seems to be present in all avians. I don’t mean to say we have to worry about them figuring out the latch of the gate and seeking liberty, but they do have the ability to figure out problems the world presents for finding food. This skill is aided by their keen eyesight. Chickens may not have eye sight comparable to eagles, hawks or owls, but it is respectable when compared to most mammals. A potential flying animal would need exceptional eyesight to find food. The problem solving abilities would likewise be a necessity for nuts, seeds and other sources of food. It is a sad day for the mouse, lizard or small snake that falls into the range of vision of a chicken. Anything small enough to be eaten will be consumed, unless it is fortunate enough to have an escape route from the gaze of the chicken. Guineas do not seem quite as proactive as chickens in seeking out food. They seem to have organization on their side. Guineas will form a line and sweep across an area n search of insects. This is an interesting operation to watch. All the while there will be some calling and cross talk between individuals, the meaning and purpose of these exchanges are a matter of pure speculation to those not involved in the conversation.

5/25

Today we lost one keet and one more meat bird – bringing total meat bird losses to seven. The keet was found dead in the brooder. It was an older keet – not the oldest, but not a newborn. The meat bird mortality continues to be a mystery. I had intended to send an email to the breeder informing them of the situation when these deaths had subsided and a total count was possible, but it would appear we have not seen the end. The meat birds have been living outside for the last four days and seem to be thriving, with this lone exception, and will soon be too big for the temporary pen. We had a number of days without any deaths and I had assumed the weaklings were culled out.

After treating the poison ivy vines, I am seeing it everywhere. I must be getting paranoid. The plant does not have any distinguishing traits to the casual observer. The leaves are compound in groups of three; they grow from the main stem opposite each other, have irregular serrations and could be mistaken for any number of plants. I am seeing the triple compound leaves everywhere. It can’t all be poison ivy, but at times it seems we are surrounded by these plants.

cont'd next post....

[bee_pipes]

5/26

Watched a turkey and guinea fight today. Why a guinea would run from a duck and fight with a turkey is beyond me. As a group, the guineas are a particularly foul tempered bunch. They run roughshod over the chickens when occasion permits and until the arrival of the ducks they were kings of the playground. The dominant male duck, Wilbur, seems to have taken a disliking to a particular guinea and will chase it relentlessly. During these pursuits the duck will run past other, more readily available, targets of opportunity. It seems to be one particular guinea that gets the duck riled up. Our tom is not a large turkey, as male turkeys go. We have a smaller variety called Royal Palm. They are adequate in that a single bird will provide four to eight meals for Karen and I, and a whole turkey can provide a meal for company. The broad breasted whites and bronzes are monsters when compared to our tom. Still, it is the largest bird on the premises. The guineas do quite a bit of chasing and fighting as part of the mating ritual. Typically this is restricted to guineas only, and any fallout that may affect the chickens is simply a matter of ill temper on the part of the guineas – rather than any territorial or mating motivations. I was working out in the yard when I heard the turkey making noises like he was jumping up and down – a fighting sound. I have seen the rooster and the tom get into it. These dustups are generally short-lived and do not seem to resolve anything except the tom is larger and the rooster is foolish. The fight with the guinea was another matter. They were jumping at each other when I came on the scene. I watched, expecting the feathered donnybrook to end in a short time. I was wrong. The guinea and tom eventually realized no progress was being made in the disagreement and tactics moved towards close quarters fighting. The guinea, as his kind are wont, moved in and attempted to get a mouth full of feathers. This was a mistake as the tom seems to be molting and has an almost bare chest. Any feathers the guinea relived the tom of were probably considered as a favor by the tom, removing irritants. The guinea did seem to score points by grabbing wattles, but seemed unable to maintain its hold. This is where the tom came into his own. Even a blind man could see the guinea was outmatched. The tom had twice the reach the guinea did. He grabbed the guinea by the neck, wattles, parts of the head and feathers near the neck. The guinea tactic was to turn in circles, trying to shake his opponent loose. The tom managed to hang on and though the holds were broken a number of times, they were quickly reestablished with the guinea carrying the short end of the stick. This went on for a while and one would think the stalemate would end with the opponents walking away, but every time the hold was broken the guinea would reengage with the tom. This is when the other guineas, watching the struggle, started to take cheap shots at the tom. I was appalled to see them jumping at the tom with their claws when their comrade had tom’s back turned to them. Seeing where this was headed, I broke up the fight. The guinea, a never-say-die sort of a combatant, kept running at the tom after I had broken up the fight and it took a well placed boot in the posterior to end the fight. Tom was short of breath from the exertion, but calmed down and actually allowed me to carry him to his pen and stroke his back to soothe his temper. He continued to gobble challenges to the guineas, promising what he would do to them when next they met. Tom’s mate, referred to as turkey hen by us, has been sitting on a nest for the bulk of the month. She will be due in early June, but his frustrations at being a bachelor may have had something to do with the conflict. I have seen minor brushes between the turkey and guineas, and both parties generally back down – as if by mutual consent. Honor has been protected and nobody loses. Without the well-being of the hen to concern the tom, and no doubt the effect this situation has on his mood, he could devote his full attention to the insult offered by the guinea. The guineas have saved their reputation as the playground bad boys and seem to have moved from individual combat (reserved for internal matters between guineas) to gang tactics.

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk217/patandkaren/guinea.jpg
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/bee_pipes/turkey.jpg
not to scale

5/27

Two litters so far – one over night and one since morning feeding. One kit was found on top of the litter in the nest box dead. Don’t know if it was a still birth or what. The doe was bloody, making me wonder if there were complications in delivery, but I have never seen one so soon after delivery so have no way of knowing if this is normal and I just managed to catch her before she could clean up. Within an hour or two she had cleaned herself up and you could not tell she had delivered a litter. I prefer to let them calm down a little and get used to having a litter before poking around and trying to count kits. A fresh dandelion or other greens from the garden keep her preoccupied while I check the nest box, and a small dab of vick’s vaporub on the doe’s nose keeps her from having problems with my scent in the nest box.

We did some major weeding in the garden this morning. Some sort of large clumping grass, tall fescue I’m a thinkin’, has invaded a few spots along bed borders. The stuff is too tough to pull up and has gotten large enough that it must be dug up. The grass clumps were so big and so thick that the soil underneath was bone dry and dusty. No telling how much moisture it was leaching from the garden bed itself.

Karen and I have been discussing garlic. We have found a number of hot and spicy varieties that we like, but we seem to have trouble growing an adequate amount. If we grow a bed full we have too much and the stuff dries out and loses it’s potency over the year. The year before we had so much garlic that we didn’t bother planting last year. We will plant again this year, in the fall, but rather than storing the excess we will sell it off. We will keep enough for our own use and for seed, but the perishable/diminishing nature of the cloves means we will have to dispose of it while it is at its peak. I am surprised at how easily the plant can be grown and how little care it requires. We have been growing it in a bed that has received little care or attention, so far as improving the soil goes. No telling how well the plants would do with a little manure and cultivation. Karen tells me that I am planting the cloves too deep. We need a dibble for this sort of stuff.

After the weeding we set about getting a little mowing done. We have seen only one snake this year and that was a black chicken snake living in the wood pile. Keeping the grass short around the house and livestock areas is essential for refusing shelter to these creatures. We can’t do much about the firewood pile, but we can dispose of stick piles and other rubbish that may appeal to snakes and rodents – a sure draw for snakes. I have no doubt there are rodents out there – the livestock areas are too appealing. We do our best to avoid any feed spills, but the birds take care of that for us – spilling their own feed. Feed is kept in rodent proof containers, but they know where it is kept. Mouse droppings are on the tops of the containers. I do not see a large amount of these droppings in the rabbit shed – surprising, I should think that would be the more attractive site. We store straw for litter and bedding in the chicken house, that does provide a lot of shelter for mice and their litters. They move around mostly at night, but on the rare occasions a mouse has been foolish enough to move through the area during hours the chickens were awake and active – it did not end well for the mouse. The chickens fought over who got to eat the mouse.

5/29

Yesterday saw the ATV returned to service. There is much work around the place that needs doing and this little workhorse is central to it. The battery was a tight fit, but is now in place and working nicely. The oil change was a bit of a nuisance – there are some fittings that took a little maneuvering to reach, but I have had cars that were more difficult. There was a time in my youth that I thought I wanted to be a mechanic. I think I was more fascinated with the idea of being a mechanic than doing the work of a mechanic. I spent a few years working on a company line in a motor pool and had the opportunity to see the foolishness of such poorly thought out ambitions. I do not have the temperament for vehicle maintenance. When parts do not fit or line up, my instincts are to reach for a hammer. If hammer adjustment does not make a fit, then the impulse s to reach for a larger hammer. Fortunately yesterday we did not encounter any poorly fitting parts. The real challenges were getting into tight spaces and swinging wrenches in cramped quarters. Still, the thought of being able to make things work, or restore them to operation, has an attraction to every male. If I have learned anything in the last 20 years or so, it has been to pick the battles. I would not dream of trying any complicated maintenance work on the car or the truck. That is a sad thing to admit, but I know enough about these vehicles to concede to a skilled mechanic. Outside of simple fluid changes and such, modern engine diagnostics require a number of boxes that talk to boxes on the engines. Using the services of a skilled mechanic results in less down time on the vehicles and less frustration for me. Another thing I have learned in the last 20 years is to walk away from frustrating situations. Sometimes a distraction of even a few minutes can reset a line of thought about a problem when obstacles are encountered. It has been my experience that a skilled mechanic has enough resources that they can work through these situations – I would be walking away every few seconds.

We are also enjoying the extended daylight hours. For the last week or two I have been able to get some mowing done in the evening, after supper. This does compensate, to some extent, for taking a break during the heat of the day. Temperatures are milder after 4-5 PM and the yard is mostly covered in shadows. As soon as the sun starts slipping below the tree line (3-4 PM) the air starts to cool down. There are 3-4 salvageable hours that can be put to good use. After evening work there is nothing left but showers and bed. We have a ritual where Karen checks me for ticks before I jump in the shower. She found two of them last night. We seem to be having a fairly mild tick season this summer – I hope it continues.

The meat birds were moved to the large pen yesterday. This is where they will remain for the rest of their short lives. The pen is roomy and large enough for us to walk around in. We raked out the rocks and laid down about a half bale of straw for litter. Rounding up the meat birds was not too difficult with both Karen and I seeing to the task. A few of them did manage to escape, but they didn’t want to leave the vicinity of their siblings. By the time we turned in for the night they were using the feeder and waterer in their new accommodations. The guineas are much confused – they are used to having this pen to themselves, they spent the night in the chicken house – their custom – but did not have access to the pen. We’ll see if the guineas continue to use the house or prefer roosting in the trees. With the meat birds vacating the small, portable pen the way is cleared for the new, recently hatched guineas to move out of the brooder. They are still too small at this time, but the day is coming. The next shipment of birds is due on June 9th. By the time the guineas move into the larger pen, now occupied by the meat birds, the meat birds will have been slaughtered and the pen will be vacant. The next batch of birds, dark Cornish and silver laced Wyandotte, will be the new layers. The one single chick that has hatched (so far) this season may very well be the last Orpington. We will allow the remaining birds to attrit. The rooster leaves much to be desired, but he may surprise us when the new cockerels start pushing for his position.

We fired up the chipper and found that it takes a sizeable pile of brush to make a cart load of mulch. That’s okay – we have an inexhaustible supply of brush that needs to be turned into mulch. Recent work on underbrush on the edge of the woods has produced a large supply. The chipper works great, making quick work of considerable saplings. It is also quite noisy and requires hearing protection for operation. The ATV pulls a trailer around the yard, Karen and I load the trailer with the brush left by the mower and deposit it next to the chipper. We need to enhance the output chute – it does not do a very good job of depositing all the mulch in the cart. Hopefully we can find an old length of fire hose or some other tough material to direct the mulch without restricting the flow.

Total litters for rabbits this month is three. One doe threw seven kits, two of which dies, another threw 3, one died, and the remaining doe seems to have produced four kits with no deaths. We have five kits due for slaughter in another six weeks.

The broody duck has moved into the chicken house. She has at least four eggs, but seems to not have taken her job seriously yet. She spends much of the morning sitting, but leaves the nest during the day. One chicken is sitting on another six duck eggs, so we have a backup.

Regards,
Pat

[GoodDaughter]

Well. All I can say after seeing the picture of that guinea is that it certainly is a surly looking bird.

[sbemt456]

We have seen some dry weather here for a few days in a row till today. So on Monday we did manage to get the garden plowed out again. The weeds seem to grow faster than any of the veggies. And with all the rain we had prior we had a bug problem on the potatoes. I dont like using any spray in the garden but sometimes it is necessary if you are to have anything left. So the potatoes , beans and tomatoes got sprayed on Monday also. Just hoping this takes care of the bugs. I have broccoli that is starting to head and some pepper plants with little peppers on them.The tomatoes seem small to be blooming but they are.

We have 22 new baby chicks from the black australorp hens that we have. Had a 50% hatch rate in the still air incubator which is a good hatch rate. All healthy and in good condition. So fun to watch the lil birds kick their way into the big world out of a little egg. Sadly for now the little birds are in a plastic tote in the house till I can get the cornish butchered and out of the brooder house in a couple more weeks. The brooder house is rather tight to prevent critters and snakes from eating the babies and it is getting really hot. Went to feed the cornish cross this morning and found them with wings spread and panting for breath from the heat. It was in the 90's here today with high humidity and those birds can not tolerate that kind of heat. Sent my son to the store to purchase another fan for the chickens. Then the sky clouded and we got some rain which did cool things off a bit. The chickens were finally cool and comfy after supper with the cooler temps. I have decided that if we have another day this hot before they are butchered I will turn them out in the yard to run free and just sit out with them to keep animals from getting them. Sure dont like to see any critter suffer like that. But such is life on the homestead.

Have a great day!

stella