Another challenge

Mrs. Crunchy is at it again.  I really need this challenge.  We’ve gone through an intense period of purchasing and I need to step away from the “pay now” button.  April should be a good month to give this a go.   I hope to stay out of the Sunday Confessional!

Here are Crunchy’s rules:

This is like Buy Nothing Day. Except that it lasts all month long. Sort of a mini-Compact. A compact Compact. A sub Compact.

Anyway, this means none of the following:

• No new clothes
• No new gadgets
• No new furniture or housewares
• No salon services
• No makeup
• No tools
• No whatever the hell else people buy

If you must absolutely acquire something non-edible or not essential to growing your own food or for your survival, then you must borrow, barter, or buy it used. If you end up buying something new that is non-essential, I’ll be hosting a weekly Sunday Confessional for you to justify your purchase. So, just think about having to confess to the world what you couldn’t hold off on buying.

Goods 4 Girls

Go now, check it out, and donate!

mish-mash

Here is a post full of topics. I had a lot of updating to do.

Chicks: The chicks are now almost 5 weeks old. They have feathered out quite nicely so the temperature in their brooder is only 70. They will be making the transition to straight daylight with a night light next week. Shortly after that they’ll be ready for some outdoor time. It is always fun to watch chicks walking on grass for the first time. They are eating most greens, lots of fruit and some cracked grains.

Chicken coop: Almost as soon as MA got the framing cut it started raining. It hasn’t stopped yet. He’s gone out between showers and has managed to get two-thirds of the framing done. It is really going to be nice. We’ve picked out roofing material, but haven’t ordered it yet. The whole roof framework still has to be done. No sense keeping loose metal roofing lying about! As soon as the siding is up we’ll start the Balfour yard. My hope is that the chicks can move out there by next weekend.

Orchard: Since my last post on the orchard we have planted 50 strawberries, 6 currants and 2 elderberries. It is really exciting to look out there and see all the potential food. I just hope we can nurture these plants along. The rest of our orchard ships on April 14.

Lists: I finished beer batch 2. Beer batch 3 will go in the Ale Pail next week. The screens have been cleaned. The whole clothesline is getting moved to a better location and will be bigger! The food storage closet is partially framed. CK and MA will work on that here and there until it is done. Last but certainly not least: HM’s graduation plans are completed. We have everything we need. The invitations are addressed, stamped, and waiting to be mailed in late April.

The final blow: After 10 years of perfect performance my Whisper Mill is beginning to sound bogged down and we’ve seen smoke coming from the engine compartment. I have used this mill 3-4 days a week every week for 10 years. We’ve even dropped the poor thing a time or two. I have certainly gotten my money’s worth. I am sorry to see it aging though. CK let me buy a Country Living Grain Mill as a replacement. (Thank goodness for tax refunds!) Luxury class! It isn’t electric, but it has all the extras a gal could want. It is supposed to last forever and be easy to use. You can even buy replacement parts! I couldn’t do that with the Whisper Mill.

Kim

it begins

Today we began work on the new chicken coop. These little birds are going to have first class accommodations. We are building a tight little coop with an attached Balfour yard. The Balfour yard will lead out into 2 or 3 grassed yards.

We decided on this system for several reasons. First, HM and I are not strong enough to move the portable cages. Second, a neighborhood stray got into our cage, tore the fencing, and ate the hens (not something I want to have repeated). Third, I am raising bantams in the hope that they’ll incubate their own eggs. That means they need a place that doesn’t get moved around all the time.

Our 9 4×4 posts went into the ground and were concreted in place today. The coop area is 8 foot by 8 foot. 4×8 of that is for the hens and will include roosts, nest boxes, feeder and waterer. In the other area we will have room for food storage and supplies. The roof was designed for water collection. The Balfour yard is also 8×8 and will be fenced 8 foot high. That should keep predators out!

I bought some Prairie Sunflower (Helianthus maximillian) seeds to plant around the outside of the Balfour yard. They will provide food for the hens in the fall and a protective barrier to aid the coop fence. These are a perennial sunflower and came highly recommended from Gaia’s Garden.

The best part is that this coop is close to the house. I’ll be able to check the girls easily. The dogs will set up a roar if anything comes near the coop. As CK builds the deck it will go right up to the coop’s door. I can go out and feed the girls without getting knee-deep in mud. Of course that also means I’ll have to keep it really clean. We’ll know if I don’t!

I’ll take some pictures as we go and show you the coop when it is finished.

Kim

lists

I am a list person.  I like to make them; I like to scratch things off them; I like knowing what needs to be done.  You might have noticed this in my blog.  There are garden lists, pantry lists, riot lists, and animal lists.

What is it about a list that excites me so?  I think it is order.  Chaos rattles me, confuses me, and invariably leads to my acting out in a harsh way.  I don’t like that about myself.  But not everything can be put in a list.  There are those things that just occur.  I don’t plan for them, and yet, they happen. (I thought about inserting a list of these occasions, but decided against it.  Grin!!)

10 years here on the homestead and I continue to be amazed at the chaos that Spring brings.   Weeds grow at random intervals and in random patterns.  The laundry can’t be hung on the line with reliable results.  The goats will willy-nilly become the silliest creatures on the planet.  The sheep just placidly look on as if asking, “what just happened?”  The rabbits are chasing each other in circles around the pen.  The grass is beginning to grow, and I still haven’t figured out how to use the scythe without amputating my own leg.

So in order to bring a little order to the chaos surrounding me I present the following to-do list!

1. tighten clothes lines
2. clean screens
3. plant orchard as the orders arrive
4. complete beer brewing batch #2
5. begin and complete beer brewing batch #3
6. air futons
7. repolish wood floors
8. build food storage closet
9. move chicks to chicken coop
10. build chicken coop
11. repair barn roof (It really took a beating this winter.)
12. check with “Hay Bob” by mid-April about this year’s supply
13. finish HM’s graduation plans (nearly done!)
14. RELAX!

if I dig it

They will start coming.

Our first shipment of orchard plants came on Saturday. It contained 2 dwarf Jonathon Red apples, 1 dwarf Lodi apple, 1 dwarf Damson plum, 1 dwarf Stanley plum, 2 dwarf Northstar Pie cherry, 2 dwarf Moorpark apricot, 6 blueberry (2 early, 2 mid, 2 late season), and 3 Persian lilacs.

Unfortunately they arrived when the guys were gone and HM and I had a very nasty stomach/throat thing going on.  We still managed to get them all in the ground and mulched in just a few hours.

It made for a very satisfying start to the gardening year. I really feel like Spring can’t be far behind.  My shoulders and arms were reminding me that this is a dangerous time of year.  My ambitions often get ahead of my physical ability to keep up.

Thank goodness I spaced out the arrival of the orchard.  I am so glad I did it that way.  Shipping on March 28 are 25 early season strawberries, 25 late season strawberries, 2 elderberries, and 6 Ben Sarek black currants. Shipping on April 14 are 6 concord grapes, 2 Adam’s elderberries, 2 John’s elderberries, 6 Apache thornless blackberries, and 4 Invicta White gooseberries.

I think that just about does it. I’d like to add one more of each type of fruit tree, some more soft fruits, and some nut trees. I think those will have to wait until 2009 though. Unless I find a really good deal!

Kim

chicks at three weeks

Here are my little chicks at three weeks. They now have wing feathers, shoulder and back feathers. They look a little odd as their downy feathers come off and are replaced by real ones. We’ll be moving them by the window soon so they can get used to real light (as opposed to their heat lamp/light). They still aren’t feathered out enough to go without the heat lamps, but the temperature is slowly being lowered. The last step will be to slowly wean them off a night light.

They have mastered the lettuce and are ready to move on and be introduced to other greens. Next week we’ll introduce other vegetables, then fruit, then cracked grain. They’ll still mostly eat store bought chick feed for several weeks. The transition to homegrown is slow, but should be complete at about the same time they move outside at 8 weeks.

I liked this picture. It looks like they went in for a group portrait. Really they just got scared by the first flash and huddled all together. Necks stretched up to see what might be coming around the corner.

Kim

some beautiful tools

I received some beautiful hand tools today. They are hickory wood and hand-hammered iron. They should last forever with proper care. I got a trowel, a transplanting shovel, a garden rake, a hoe, and a dribble. I love having good tools. It makes the work so much easier.

For years I have bought cheap tools thinking they would be “cheaper.” I’ve been through at least 4 sets of x-mart cheapies.  I’m trying to change my mind-set. Cheap is cheap. High quality isn’t. Even with the best of care my cheap garden equipment only stands up to a few years of hard work.

CK thinks they are pretty enough to hang on a wall when they aren’t in use. They are lovely,  definitely not massed produced. You can tell attention went into each piece.

Kim

an early morning surprise

As HM was taking a dog out this morning she heard an unusual pipping from under our wooden sidewalk.  Upon further investigation she found 5 very young ducklings!  They apparently wandered away from our neighbor’s yard and thought our sidewalk looked like a nice safe place to spend some time.

HM and MA had them rounded up and in a spare pen in no time.  A little later the neighbors came to retrieve them.

Only in the country!  I love it out here.

Kim

gooseberries

Invicta White

Latin Name
Ribes grossularia (or according John Seymour:  Ribes uva-crispa)

We planted two varieties:  Invicta White and Pixwell.

From John Seymour:  “Gooseberries are a very useful source of winter vitamins, and they can and cook well.  You can’t have too many of them . .  “  So I took John’s advice and put 6 bushes in the orchard.   In two years I can expect 11 pounds of berries from each bush.  This fruit will be ready starting in May and continuing until July.  The other great thing about these are that you can propagate them by stem cuttings.  So if we really like gooseberries we can easily add to our orchard without making another purchase.

Pixwell

  Pruning
Prune the bushes  each February. Keep the center of the bush clear like a cup by cutting out any weak or dead branches. On the outside of the bush, young growth should be left untouched, older and longer side shoots should be cut back to within 1 inch of their base.

chicks

A stray/neighbor’s dog got into our chickens not long ago and killed all but one.  I hate it when that happens.  So we are back to square one with chickens for the coming year.

Square one means chicks.  Day old chicks from the local feed store.  This year I bought 18 assorted bantams.  My decision is based mostly on the hope that the bantams will be broody (meaning they will hatch their own eggs and raise the chicks for me) so that I don’t have to have chicks in the living room after this year.  I love chicks and chickens are wonderful homestead critters.  But after six weeks of constant chipping, watching the temperature, changing the litter, and cleaning the water pan I begin to despise them.

Chicks without mommas need a heat lamp to keep them warm.  Week 1–95 degrees, week 2– 90, week 3–85, week 4–80, week 5–75, week 6–70.   My brooder is a 4 foot long stock tank that sits near the wood stove.  We have a piece of hardware cloth over the tank to keep the cat out and the chicks in.

When you first bring the chicks home you dip their beak in the water dish.  This is because the chicks need to be shown where the water is.  You only have to show them once.  After that they find numerous ways to foul the water.  The water should be kept clean at all times.  Realistically, at my house it gets cleaned twice a day.  We add a little sugar to their water for the first day.  We also add 1 TBSN apple cider vinegar to each gallon of water.  This is supposed to keep them healthier.

By the end of the second week we have transitioned them to a larger feeder and a gallon water container.  I also put a very skinny dowel rod in the brooder so they can learn to roost.  This will keep them cleaner when they move into the chicken house.  We also begin introducing green food and chick grit.  Today was the first day I gave our chicks lettuce.  At first they just stared at it.  Then they sort of huddled around it and looked some more.  Finally one brave chick gave it a peck.  Then she (at least I hope it is a she) took off running with it.  The rest decided to play rugby and tried to tackle the first chick and steal the bit.  A few minutes later and the lettuce is all over the brooder.  None has been eaten . . . yet!  Maybe tomorrow.

enough

So what do I do when it snows for 2 days, dropping 14 inches of snow?

I plant tomato seeds.  57 little tiny pots with 57 tiny little heirloom seeds that I saved from our garden last year.  I’m growing Brandywine Reds again this year.   I’d might try planting some paste tomatoes up front.  I believe with the house as a barrier and some luck it might work to have 2 varieties.

Either I am crazy or I am hopeful that we will have a summer this year.  It has been heater weather since Nov 1.  I want warmth and I want it now!  Enough of this cold, wet, dreary weather.  Bring on the capri and bicycle weather.

But ooh . . . my celery has germinated.  That is a first.  I keep trying and failing with this crop.  This was the last of the heirloom seed and it worked.  Now if I can just get it to grow, transplant well, grow well outdoors, and  . . .

Gardening keeps you humble.  I fail as much as I succeed.  It is the nature of enterprise.  I’m getting better though.  Each year is a substantial step forward on the road to feeding my family.

May your garden grow and until it does may your garden dreams grow.

Kim

more sheep shearing pictures

Here are more pictures from our sheep shearing adventure. In a one of these you can really see how the wool pulls up and away from their body.

shearing-03-08-011.jpg

abby

February riot numbers

Our numbers haven’t changed much in February. There were a few less trips taken to town due to bad weather, the electricity is up just a bit since we are doing more baking and not using the propane camp stove anymore. That was not a long term practical solution. Since our electric power is coming from a green source, I’m more comfortable using it than the propane. Consumer goods are up because HM and I each got a yoga mat, 2 bricks and a video to share.

• Gasoline: 25% including our commuters.
• Electricity: 12%
• Heating and Cooking: n/a
• Garbage: 5%
• Water: 12.5%
• Consumer Goods: 11% normal goods for this month.

• Food: 30% local/homegrown, 40% bulk/organic, 30% supermarket. We’re purchasing even more fruits and veggies from the supermarket.

sheep shearing

Yesterday was a very exciting day. We had the sheep sheared. The H family came and did a wonderful job of explaining everything to us, reassuring us that the 3 are healthy, and delighting me with news that my two ewes are going to have lambs (probably in 4-6 weeks)!

Here come some pictures to show parts of the process. CK forgot to reset the date stamp on his camera, but it really was yesterday.

Eddie on table

trash can with wool

Eddie and the girls