The Chicken Days of August

August arrived, the heat did not leave with the change on the month.  The heat has began to take its toll on more than me, the garden is slowing down because of the heat.  Cucumber plants are giving up, so there were seeds put in the ground, it is always a gamble this late in the season but for a few cucumbers I will try and if there is success we shall munch the reward of late fruits.

I have been watching the pullets and I am starting to see the color come into their combs.  Bright combs means eggs are not far behind.  August 2, Annabel was not to be found when it was time to come in from free-ranging.  Mr. Bootsie went to check on the goats and there was Annabel under the equipment trailer, he began to coach her to come with him and into the coop she went, dropping her very first egg right inside the coop.  Mr. Bootsie found me, sharing the news of another green egg layer.  Now 6 more to lay their first eggs, I hope we can be as fortunate identifying the others.

In a few days there were new eggs in the laying boxes, we have no idea who is laying but there is a second green egg layer, Mrs. Thing, and the number of tan to light brown eggs has increased.  We should have 11 pullets to carry us through the winter.  The heat has brought all of the older hens into molt and the coop run has quite a large number of feathers laying around in it.  I have been cleaning lots of feathers from the coop as they seem to land in the corners and collect there.  One of the ducks has gone into molt, however, their molt is quite quick.  We should be set for eggs this winter, collecting 2 ducks eggs daily and 5 to 8 hens eggs will give us plenty with some to share.

I started milking the goats and it was time to make cheese.  I do not have a lot of storage room for cheese so the is a quick process for me.  I was making cheese every other night and I knew it was time to make some changes in the goat barn.  I made arrangements to move out Lacie, the farmer who has helped us learn so much was interested in adding alpines to her flock and I knew our Lacie would give her lots of milk.  The alpine milk is rich and there was about three inches of cream on top of a half gallon of milk.  This made some delicious cheese.  Scoot was a smaller alpine and this was her first fresh, I was in question about milking her.  The first morning she was a little afraid of getting on the milking stand, as the older does had never allowed her to mount the stand, we have windows in the barn and they can see out of the barn when standing on the milk stand.  So Scoot was prepared to be pushed from the stand.  Only to realize she was in the milking parlor with me and there were no other goats.  She began to hop on the stand and was ready to be milked.  This little girl was feeding her little boy and giving me quite a bit of milk.  I could honestly advertise her  as a milk goat, quickly found her a new home and she was able to take her little one.  Lacie was able to take her twins to her new home.  Our decision had been to keep Belle and her twins so in less than 2 weeks the goat barn was settled for the winter.  I was in question about our late breeding and arrival of summer babies, but things seemed to work out and I may take this road again if I should breed my girls later.  I have stopped milking as there is no need to keep pushing Belle, she is taking care of her twins and they are getting less and less milk daily.

The garden has been an experience this year.  I have gathered hardly no tomatoes, I have had a few to enjoy but the terrapins, raccoons, and squirrels seemed to think I was growing them for them.  With the long periods of hot weather the blooms did not set and there are now hardly any tomatoes on the vines.  There are blooms if we should have a reduction in the temperature there may hope for very late tomatoes.  The heat just cooked the late cucumbers and there will not be any in the garden, The corn did good, I was able to go the garden and harvest corn for a number of meals.  The pride, the corn gave me, when I came into the kitchen with an arm filled with ears was my personal win for this summer's growing season.  Peppers are starting to come in.  The butter beans have been productive.  Winter onions are coming up and it is time to prepare the tunnel for the winter garden.

 I feel I have learned quite a bit this year.  When the summer bought the heat I seemed to loose touch with the garden.  Some of the plants were suffering and others were excited to be in the hot, humid air.  I cut way back on watering to learn I have added enough natural material to build up the earth so it does hold moisture.  There was a flourish of weeds with our having such a wet season.  I grew turnips, green beans and squash, which if there was any excess,  they went into the goat barn and were a treat for the goats.  I am pleased to
 learn how to share the garden with the pasture crew as they enjoy things from the garden as much as I do.

Yes, this has been the chicken days of  August,  I have really enjoyed the chicks this year.  They are gentle and enjoy being handle by us.  Several come to visit in the goat barn and want to be carried back to the coop.  This is a new for me, the pullets just seem to want to be with us more than our older birds.  We have handled them more and I am sure that has made a difference.   Our collection of pullets are quite interesting, so when it came to names we began to have fun.  There are 4 who are the "First Wive's Club", this year we started naming some of them after the hosts of the cooking shows and, of course there are movie stars along with some leading ladies.

Fresh peaches arrived at the local orchard and we have been busy making and enjoying peach coffee cake and peach bread.  I developed each of the  recipes, they taste wonderful to Mr. Bootsie and me.  He is always asking me to make peach coffee cake as it is so moist and yummy.  Changes for peach under comments.

Sourdough Peach Coffee Cake

As the month of August comes to an end it is time to think fall, plants to move inside, cutting from plants to be made to winter over, bedding for the barn and coops.  We are entering my favorite my time of the year.  Things are just a little more settled here on our little farm, most of winter wood is gathered, the pantry is looking like it is ready for the winter and I am ready for a little time to rest.  You will find me setting in front of the fireplace, with a smile on my face as I know we have made it through another summer and I am dreaming of what will be in the garden next summer.  How many chickens will we raise next summer? I have no idea but I am sure there will be more chickens!!!

Thanks for stopping by, Until next time!!!!

July, Hot in the Garden, Kitchen and Cool in the Barns, Coops

Some mornings, working in the garden has been a challenge, I go out early before the sun comes up and work until around noon.  I water, weed, tie up tomatoes, pick beans or peas, plant seeds,  hunt squash bugs and beetles.  Return to the garden in the evening to cool off some of the plants, do some transplanting along with picking things I did not have time to pick in the morning.  Mr. Bootsie has been on bug and beetle control, weeding,  picking veggies and blackberries.

The garden is dumping out veggies, the goats are enjoying turnips, green beans, corn shucks, cucumbers and squash.  When it comes to cantaloupe, watermelon and lettuce goats, ducks and chickens are ready for treats.  For us, there has been many meals of corn on the cob, I had corn last year but this year it looks like corn on the cob, nice ears all filled, 9 to 10 inches long, I really feel like a farmer when I come in with a arm full of ears of corn.  Butter beans are just starting, last year I seemed to loose my whole crop to something that ate the blooms off as soon as they appeared. This year we are picking butter beans and I am hoping to be able to put some up for the winter.  I seemed to get things in order a little bit better as we are not throwing out any veggies, Mr. Bootsie's logic has always been if it goes in the compost pile it is okay, but my logic is I have a lot of time invested in the veggies and I really want to see someone or one of our animals enjoy them.

Blackberries mean I turn into the little ole wine maker and cordial infuser.  I did notice the shelf in the pantry is starting to fill up with bottles of blackberry brandy.  I have a couple of new recipes I would like to try this season to see if they should be added to our cabinet in the future.  I want to make several bottles of blackberry syrup and vinegar.

Belle decided to bring her little ones in the world all by herself.  Mr. Bootsie had checked on her, she showed no signs of labor, only her bag had dropped, he thought all was well and left her in with the other goats.  Only to find her a hour later with two little ones.  The first was completely cleaned and the second was quite clean.  She was quick to let us know there was no reason for us to try and help as she had this.  Every time I tried to take pictures she would come and try to get the camera, this thing was going to hurt one of her babies and she was not going to have it in the stall at all.  So no really good baby pictures.

All of the baby goats have been disbudded and they are eating hay, leaves and grain.  They are not babies for very long.  It is time for the decisions to be made who will stay and who will leave.  I am finding I really do not have the ability to milk as well as I did 2 summers ago,  my right hand will go into a cramp and that is all I can do.  I will be making a decision as to why I am milking and if I want to continue to milk.  I do want to have goats and I so enjoy them but milking may just be something that will not happen on our little farm.

The egg count is starting to drop off as the hot weather is having an effect on everything.  The garden has produced a number of cucumbers and I was able to make pickle and sweet relish.  I can see hot weather is going to begin working on the garden along with age of the plants.  I have begun seeding for the fall garden.  There were some record breaking days with the temperature and the heat index, some days we were over 107 degrees so for 2 older folks we paced ourselves very carefully.  We are concerned for the animals having water, there are several trips made to the barn and coop to check on water and all of our babies.

I am hoping there will be a few tomatoes to can and dehydrate, the temperatures have been so high no blooms have set in about 2 weeks, maybe the temperature will go down and blooms will set and I will have a late harvest.  There is plenty of food in the garden for us to harvest and have fresh veggies for quite a while.

I think I need a little loving, so I am going to visit the little goats, we have 3 little boys, 2 little girls and of course, our 3 momma goats.  I know the little ones will be all ready to play when I arrive at the barn.  So I am off to enjoy the babies while I can.

Lacie serving lunch to her twins

June Did Burst Out

I am often reminded of a song when I think of June, my words would not be the same but June has been busy around here.  The January baby chicks are all now laying, pullet eggs are so cute but we must eat them.  One morning I was blessed with a pullet double yolk egg, it was quite a surprise to see 2 yolks come from the tiny egg,  Most of the big girls came on line this spring, quite different from last year as several never laid any eggs.  With 14 layers in the coop we are collecting 8 to 10 eggs daily plus 2 ducks eggs so there is no shortage of eggs.  The young chicks have blended into the flock, which went well.  There are 7 young pullets who will not be laying for a while.  These 7 plus the 4 early pullets should easily carry us through the winter.  I made it last winter with 1 pullet and 2 ducks.  I am sure there will be some changes in the coop before fall arrives.

The garden with the spring we experienced I really had no idea what to expect, but the garlic harvest was the best I have had here on this farm.

Garlic Braids

The blackberries have bloomed and there are small green ones hanging on the vines, August is when we should pick.  The squash plants are doing well, yellow summer fried with onion and zucchini bisque have been on the table for several meals.  Cucumbers are producing, now that I have had my fill,  pickles will be one of my projects.  We are in the squash bug war and Mr. Bootsie spends a number of hours on his knees trying to protect our plants from these little pests.  Green beans are producing and there are already beans canned for next winter.  We continue to harvest chard and kale.  The climbing spinach is just beginning to climb. All of the pole beans are planted and the tomato plants have lots of tomatoes hanging, it will be a while before I am eating tomato sandwiches.  

I did take a few minutes to plant some flowers this spring.  With everything going on here, I find there is not enough time to do everything so I try to balance and this is something I have never been good with.  I want it all and I should be able to work things out so I can do everything I want to do.  Maybe 30 or 20 years ago but not now, as I age it takes more time to get things completed and so I have to let some of my ideas fall by the wayside.  I have spent some time out looking for wild flowers and this is something I enjoy.  I am looking for mushrooms, some days walking the goats and looking for a plant I have never seen before.  This gives me an opportunity to learn more about our land and visit with the girls.

I knew sometime this month we would be having baby goats and we did, 3 babies have arrived and Belle is due in July.  June 25th, Scoot had her little boy during the early morning hours while we were asleep.  Mr. Bootsie arrived at the barn to find a clean little goat who had already had his first meal.  This was just too easy,  on Monday,  July 27th, we could tell something was about to happen.  Lacie went to one of our run-ins, but it was one she never goes in.  Thankful she decided to move to another run-in which is larger because she gave birth to twins.   So far there are 2 boys and 1  girl.  The Farmer wanted a little girl from Lacie and she did deliver.

Scoot's Little Boy

Lacie is ready.

June did keep Mr. Bootsie and me busy, we do look forward to Belle having a baby or babies in a couple of weeks.  We are trying hard to control the number of pests in the garden by hand picking bugs and eggs.  Green beans and raspberries are picked daily, along with squash and cucumbers.  Weeding is getting in front of us as the rains come.  The garden is lush along with lots of others areas around our property.   As we live in the woods, there is a deer coming to visit with her fawn, so there are babies in the barn and in our woods.  We do enjoy our little farm in the woods.  The month of June is past and now we look forward to what shall happen in July.

Until...

May, Wet and Busy

As the days came and went, so did the rain, not flooding just rain, making this May the wettest May in Virginia since weather data has been recorded.  The water table was on top on of the ground for a few days.  The runs were sprinkled with DE to keep the smell down.  Raised beds in the garden really paid off.  There was run off from the garden going through the pasture and going to the bottom land creek.  We will be working on repairing the damage of the water for a long time.  A wrecker came in to deliver a piece on equipment and it needed help getting back to the roadway after unloading.  This was not a problem as we had a truck which was able to assist with moving the wrecker.  I spent almost every other day going around draining water out of things, thinking I will need to do this tomorrow, why, am I doing this today.

With all the cloudy days, I lost a number of bedding plants, this year the grow lights were taken down early as the temperature was warm and things were growing well in the greenhouse, then we went into the cloudy, damp season for about 15 days and it took it's toll on my bedding plants.  We managed to find enough volunteer plants in the garden to finish planting the early garden.  I have started more plants for the late garden, and maybe the season will improve.  

The goats are all expecting and June should see the delivery of 2 of our does.  I do hope the heat holds back and they do not have deal with super hot days.  The baby chickens which arrived in January have become hens, and 1 of them has laid her first egg.  The young chicks are so active and cute.  Mr. Bootsie did build a new chicken tractor using some PVC from another project.  This has been a good place for the little chicks to stay in during the day when it is not raining.

We have had an number of eggs and I decided to try my hand at dehydrating eggs.  Link to the recipe.  There were duck eggs and hen eggs.  So I did a batch of each.  I have not used my eggs and the recipe says they will keep for up to a year, I may not experience a shortage of eggs for a while, but if I do that will be the time I will pull the dried eggs from the cabinet and see if they were a success or only the chickens will eat them.  I am thinking I can use them to add protein to some of the dishes I make.

Eggs ready to go into the dehydrator

Clover blooms were everywhere, pink and white.  now is the time to make clover jelly.  I picked only the white clover blooms as I was not sure about the pink, still researching pink clover.  We like our jelly soft so we can use it on pancakes and this turned out just the way we wanted, so next year maybe I will make more clover syrup.  White clover jelly recipe, I have been using my time when I could not be outside doing some much need research.

The garden is producing this spring, in fact, it is producing more than we can use.  I do plant somethings for the chickens, ducks and goats.  Lettuce is a winner with all of babies, spinach, chard, turnips and kale go to the pasture crew, also.  Austrian winter peas are producing, these will be pulled up and fed to the goats.  I do pick the peas from these to go into stir-fries.  This is one plant I really do enjoy seeing grow, the blooms are quite pretty in the springtime.

The squash plants are showing promise this spring, this is one plant which only time will tell.  There are several different varieties of squash planted.  I am concerned because I am seeing bush squash plants where they should be climbing plants,  this may be another season of what do we have.  I did buy all new seeds hoping to get true plants this season.

I added several new (to me) varieties of turnips to the garden this spring.  I have really enjoyed watching the
quickness of the  shogoin, which we are harvesting, the golden ball is 60 days to harvest  which will make it a later turnip.  Most of the garden is planted and now with all of the rain our crop of unwanted plants is growing in the garden.  A lot of time will be spent hoeing and weeding around the productive plants.  As for the invaders, many of them will be history.  The tomatoes are blooming and that makes this farmer happy, nothing like the first tomato sandwich.  Well, that is still a while away.  So memories of tomato sandwiches of the past and dreams of baby goats will keep us going for while.  The farm is ever changing and life on the farm is always interesting.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit, Until...

Virginia, Springtime

It is springtime in Virginia.  The garden is producing spinach, Swiss chard, lettuce and spring onions.  I am looking at the green garlic and thinking I need to enjoy some of this also.  Spinach Chowder, is enjoyed as I make a pot weekly.  There are fresh salads using the lettuce and spinach.  This is a welcomed change to the diet we were having just a few weeks ago.  I personally enjoy spring onions as they are a reminder of my life on Momma's and Daddy's farm.  I remember the glass of water on the table which was always filled with spring onions.  We were raised eating onions and my family has always had a desire for onions in the spring time.  It becomes a staple on the springtime table.

The last week of April became rainy, chilly and my spring seemed to disappear.  On Wednesday afternoon I was out in the garden and saw the wild blackberries blooming, BLACKBERRY WINTER.  Now I totally understand what is happening.   I was no longer confused about building a fire in the wood stove as we do have fire every year during blackberry winter.

The malabar spinach is coming up.  I have always enjoyed watching the volunteer plants come up.  It is sign the soil is warm.  They have been as late as June.  I was completely shocked to see the leaves coming out of the ground on April 26th.  This is the earliest I have even seen them come up.  With the spring we have experienced I am almost afraid we may have another freeze and they will be gone.  I do have most of my garden in the ground at this time.  My mind is telling me it is time to move forward but my soul is saying, "Be Careful."

The late frost in April may have taken my wisteria tree.  It was loaded with blooms and I had enjoyed it for 1 day.  That night came with low temperatures and brown blooms.  That was alright but now I do not see any vegetation on the tree.  I have a great need for this plant as I grew up where there was a wisteria tree.  This one I moved from my previous home to the farm.  It will be like loosing part of our family if it doesn't survive. 

The goats are getting fatter and the  baby roosters are starting to make some noise.  The farm is moving forward,  Spring is an exciting time on the farm, in the garden there are changes almost daily.  You do feel as if you have accomplished so much as you see the plants develop.  The weather has been a challenge this spring and of course, the winter was strange.  I question how this will effect our growing season.  Well, as all of us know, only time will tell.  

April, What a Loin this has Been

Cold, freezing temperatures, snow, Mother Nature I question what month we are in.  From the beginning of April there has been a drop in temperatures, we had to pull the cover and close the tunnel and replace all of the row covers.  I know I played the gamble, this spring, and now I am concerned about the weather.  As a child I was told the time to start installing our plants was May 15th, but things have moved back and our final frost date is placed around April 15th and I am ready to go.  Peppers, tomatoes, peas, squash and cucumbers are setting here ready to be put in the good earth.

The cold nights with low temperatures took a toll on the seedlings.  I put row covers over all of the seedlings in the greenhouse and this was not enough.  I lost a number of plants; however, I have enough left to plant my garden and a few to share.  I did save some seeds, for the first time, from the climbing spinach plants, they were in the greenhouse and very tender.  They were covered with row covers, with no damage.  These plants do not come up in the garden until June, so it is always a guessing game as to what can handle the cold and continue to grow.

The tunnel has produced this season, we have had more than our share of spinach, kale and chard.  The onions were first picked from the tunnel.  Now about growing more onions from the roots.  I tried this in the garden as I was harvesting spring onions.  Dug the onions, trimmed the roots to about one inch and cut the bulb about a half of an inch above the roots, replacing the onion to the where it was pulled from.  Now I have my row filled with little onions about 2 inches tall.  I was a gardener who had to see this work to believe it and now I am seeing it work in my garden.

IN THE COOP

The 12 youngest chicks are growing, the 4 from the January hatching are beautiful chicks, they are going to be very large birds.  As soon as the temperature improved and the little ones had their feathers they were relocated in the coop.  I am from the old school and do not use lights on my chickens.

Egg production has improved with warm weather, some of the girls, who hardly laid last year, are showing improvement this spring.  I have 10 layers and some days I collect 8 eggs, Momma duck is also laying once again, I do not know how long this will last but I am enjoying her eggs while I have them.  I have 2 other ducks who are laying, the switch out worked really well for me.  One of the 3 ducks, switched, turned out to be drake, he may stay or he may return to the farm he came from.  Right now the duck run is quite and peaceful, I need to keep the duck run that way as this is the first stop for my young chickens.  The ducks are so gentle and seem not to care when they are invaded by the chicks, Momma Duck comes to the chicken run every morning to check on her chicks she has helped to raise.  I do enjoy Momma Duck so much.  We are collecting 3 duck eggs most days.

IN THE GOAT BARN

I saw teats on my Belle, the next day Lacy, called the farmer and she stopped by.  The farmer just looked at the ladies and said they were expecting.  I know they are eating us out of barn and home.  They are eating chickweed along with the feathered friends, all of chard stems we are harvesting, apple peelings, winter squash, hay and grain.  Just to add something a little different they forage for about an hour a day.

IN CLOSING

The damage the cold did to our flowering bushes and trees is very noticeable.  I do think I have never seen so much damage in all of my years.  Blooms were set because of the warm spring very early on so many of my plants and now I am hoping the flowering bushes will recover.  The poplar trees took a real hit and I am concerned for the fruit industry in our area.  My berry bushes are loaded with vegetation so I am hoping for a good harvest of black berries and raspberries.  Each year is a challenge, I learn something each season and try to have it help me with the next year.  I may have learned, this year, planting by the moon and the late cold snaps not to start my seedlings quite so early.  Only time will tell with this thought as I just need to see those little plants popping from the soil.

March Has Been a Lamb

As I sit here on March 31, wondering how this month will end.  Checking the weather report, there is rain and wind.  I do believe March over all has been a lamb of a month and you will not hear me complain about the outside conditions.

In real time, right now, the back door opens.  I hear someone coming upstairs, there is a voice, Mr. Bootsie. He is saying, "You were right, she is gone."  Off went the computer, I made my way down the stairs.  One of my babies, One who has lived with us for the last 8 years, went to chickie-bird heaven today.  She now has a final resting place in the garden.  There she is with other chickens who have lived on our farm.  The chicken journey began 8 years ago and some of my older girls are just getting tired,  They have had a good life as there is no concern about hawks and wild animals getting into the run or coop.  We try not to run out of food for them.  I chose this responsibility and have made it my mission to take care of my girls.  We are so grateful for the 4 little girls who are now 2 and 1/2 months old.  They have a place on the farm, but most of all  they have a place in my heart.  They made the adjustment from baby chicks to pullets so quickly.  They are in the hen house on the roosting poles at nighttime and in the run during the day.  This was the easiest time I have ever had introducing the chicks to the older girls.  Oh, they get chased a little but the little ones know how to get away.

 Rest in Peace Sweet Girl

Baby chicks are growing and I will moving them into the brooder as soon as the weather improves.  Two lows next week and I am hoping it will be time to move the chicks to the coop.  They will be able to spent the day in the duck yard and be outside, weather permitting.  I think I have learned a lot from watching a mother hen raise her babies, making notes and following her methods.  Yes, I said I learned from a hen, it was quite a lesson in how raise chickens.

I pushed the garden and there are chances of frost or freezing we continue to have covering in place if we need to use it.  Garden is producing onions, spinach and kale.  With the temperatures being so warm, the plants in the garden are growing.  As I wait for the next low on next Wednesday I decided to stop setting out plants.  There were wild violet blossoms picked to make jelly.  More blackberries removed from the freezer to make wine.  I may need to fill a couple of gallon jugs with water to go into the bottom of the freezer, I do this to keep the freezer filled to the top.

The goats seem to be getting along great.  They, so much, want to get outside and graze.  I want to start looking for mushrooms,  I think we can work together, goats walk and graze while Momma walks and searches for srooms.  We are learning about mushrooms, far from an expert.  Just fun for me to have one more reason to spend time in the woods.

I think March was good to us.  A lot of the garden is planted and up.  A number of transplants are waiting for the weather to say okay, it is time for you to go into the soil.  Flowers are blooming the red bud tree is loaded with blooms. Babies are growing all of this makes for happy, happy farmers.