Triple Creek Farm, a Week in Review

Indian Summer has stayed with us here on our little farm.  I have enjoyed each and everyday, this is my favorite time of the year.  We have worked in the woods clearing out some of the fallen trees.  This is not fire wood and it would break down in the woods, but I have found these trees are wonderful for the garden.  My soil is getting deeper each year.  I left a garden I could dig down two feet and find nothing but rich composted soil.  {When I sold my home, the new owner contacted me as to how to retain the soil in the garden.  I shared with him how I had worked the soil and he felt it was hard work.  The last time I drove by I saw my garden was now a place to park cars.}  I hope to get the garden soil here as deep as what I left.  We take one afternoon each week and go to the woods, this brings back so many memories of my childhood.  Daddy would hitch, Katie,  the mule to the wagon and we would go into the woods to collect fire wood.  I always looked forward to spending a morning in the woods with Daddy, knowing he would let me drive the wagon home, but Katie knew the way home and she did not care how much pulling the wrong reins I did, she bought the wagon loaded with firewood home.  How strong can a 5 or 6 year old be, but I thought I was driving the wagon.  Katie was playing with me, she was as proud as I was.

IN THE GARDEN

I have been digging 2 foot deep holes, filling them with manure and replacing the soil.  These will be my tomato hills next spring.  How do I find them?  I put the tomato cage on top of them, come spring I remove the cage and plant my tomato.  The results were wonderful this spring and summer.   I plan to do this for the pepper plants as I did the peppers hills in the spring, I would like to try doing them earlier allowing the manure to break down.

The tunnel is doing good, harvested spinach, swiss chard and turnip greens this week.  The winter peas are producing shoots which taste wonderful in salads.  We harvest the shoots with no more than 2 sets of leaves on them, I have them growing in the tunnel and outside.  The goats love these plants and await any I wish to remove from the garden.

pea shoots

As my plate has not been full enough we have started a new adventure.  Mushrooms.  The farmer is knowledge about mushrooms and came over to our farm looking for them.  She found summer oysters and a few weeks later I found winter oysters.  

oyster mushrooms

I had found loin's mane a few years before, however this year, there were more around the farm.  We are finding the loin's mane on lightning damaged oak trees.

loin's mane

I am not knowledge about mushrooms, so this is going to be a slow process for me.  I am studying and trying to learn as much as possible.

IN THE COOP

The chicks hatched in the summer are no longer little.  The roo started crowing this past week and now I await the first egg from the little hen.

So pleased you stopped in and spent a little time on our farm.  Looking forward to seeing you again real soon.

Indian Summer

It came one night, we were prepared, the tunnel was covered and all of the winter plants were covered.  I had picked peppers and pulled pepper plants which were stored in the tunnel.  I left the corn until the last minute,  corn-on-the-cob in late October.  I went out to check as I had done for several mornings as there was a promise of frost for several days.  I would pick summer spinach each day it was still green and growing knowing the end was in sight.  Morning low 27, the spinach was frozen, leaves on the remaining pepper plants and butter beans burnt from the cold.  Looking I found many pods on the butter beans and if we have the time they will fill.

Indian Summer came, the weather has been beautiful.  There were a few peppers on the plants and they managed to recover.  I have been amazed watching them grow.  We will have a couple of fresh peppers off our plants a little later in the season.  Butter beans are growing and we will be picking them.

It is time for the chickens to grow their winter feathers, this means they must molt, molt means they will be loosing the feathers which covered their body earlier this year.  At this time as the nights are chilly I have half naked chickens trying to stay warm.  The sad thing is they want nothing to touch them.  I have one who hides in the nesting box at roosting time.  There are several running about with only 1 large tail feather.  My roo, Mr. Wonderful, was the first to molt.  His feathers are back, he is working on his saddle feathers, the long ones which float around him.  This year we have 12 molting, the coop is filled with feathers and I am not cleaning the coop until the molt is over.  Then I will bring in new bedding and they will be set for the cold winter.

So far I have only seen one acorn on the forest floor.  Last year there were so many acorns, I collected them and was able to have treats for the goats during the winter.  I have seen the goats out looking for the acorns, they seem to know which trees to check but there seems not to be any acorns for my girls.  Hickory nuts, yes, there are lots of them which makes the squirrels quite happy.  They are working all the time carrying them to their nests. I see the results of their work on the ground.

We have not slowed down, there is work to do thinning trees, collecting dead trees from the forest floor.  The storms of last few weeks have bought down a number of dead pine trees, we use the pines for garden borders, as they break down and adding their goodness to the soil.  We do stockpile garden border logs so there is always a replacement when I find ones that no longer are of service to us.  This came at a good time as there are several borders in the garden needing replacement after this summer.

I found myself one evening eating a bowl of our vegetable soup with some homemade bread which was quite yummy but the fire coming from the wood stove reminded me we did all of this with our two hands.  We speak of comfort food and things which just make a house a home, let me say a bowl of homemade soup and a fire in stove says it all.

I am enjoying this Indian Summer, we made our trip to the orchard and there is apple everything in our future.    Peach pits to plant and apple seeds, maybe one year we will be able to harvest from our own trees but until that time I will look forward to the fall trips to the orchard.

This year, the mild fall season has lasted for such a long time.  I had this blog ready to post for a while but I was waiting but now I find it is time for me to move forward.   I will share some pictures of our tunnel which will be our fresh food source during the winter.

Austrian Winter Peas

Swiss Chard

All covered waiting for the winter cold

Happy Indian Summer, enjoy everyday, and maybe with no acorns the coming winter might, could be a mild one.?.  Until!!!

Welcome Fall, Late Summer Update

This morning as I  gather my thoughts I hear a gentle farmer's rain hitting on the porch roof.  There will be a little chill in the air and maybe the need to light a fire in a few days.  Many of you think, when fall comes life becomes easier on the farm.  I think not.  We shall be preparing for winter, bringing in bedding for our pasture crew,  replacing the windows in the barn, covering the tunnel which will allow for the harvest of veggies later or maybe all of the winter season.  Wood is gathered and racked but there are a few additional trees Mr. Bootsie plans to harvest, this project has been ongoing all summer, this additional wood is being stored in the woods with plans of refilling our wood racks as soon as they are emptied.

I have heard the Pope (Head of the Catholic Church) is in America along with an International Bike Race in Richmond, Virginia.  I have heard there are folks lining the streets and gathering in mass crowds.  I am so thankful these type of events do not concern me, I love my simple life here on the farm.  My pleasure comes with walking my three goats through our woods and see them enjoying what they choose to eat, then there are are feathered children who always but a smile on our face.  It seems the ducks know when we should come and let them out.  If we are in the garden working one of our girls lets out a belly honk which can be heard all over our farm.  We let them out to free range each evening about a half an hour before sundown. We hear the hawks working during the day and see them return to where they nest in the afternoons.  With this in mind I feel this is a safe time of the day for our feather children to spend time outside of their runs. 

Learning from cleaning the garden, next summer when the leaves on our squash plants begin to turn yellow I plan to remove them.  I had this on my to do list this summer but it did not happen.  The plants were very healthy and strong allowing for a good harvest.  When we began to remove the plants they were infested with squash bugs.  I filled a five gallon bucket half full of water, placing the plants in the bucket,  submerging the plants under water, those little critters would get on the side of the bucket and climb to get out of the water.  It was a field day for me, I did those things in, just in case any made it, we rot the plants and use them for compost.  The buckets I use I can seal so I do not fear any getting away.   I have tried burning, but the plants do not seem to want to burn and I question how many bugs get away while I am trying to burn them.

Winter Squash Harvest 2015

Lessons from Momma Hen.  As I shared with you in the past, this is first hatching for our little momma hen. I was concerned how she would care for the chicks but she was an excellent mom.  We have been putting the three of them, momma and two little ones, in the duck run each day.  In the afternoon everyone free ranges, night time they return to the brooder where momma and chicks spend the night.  That was until Thursday, September 24th, Momma came into the coop, went into the section where the big girls stay and proceeded to the roosting pole.  She landed herself and began to call the chicks to come up with her.  Knowing it was a bit much for them, I placed the chicks beside her, I questioned if I did the correct thing, I have never allowed chicks to move in with the adult hens at such a young age.  These are going to be big birds in comparison to their momma, in fact they are just about as large as she is right now and still growing.  Now she is a small bird but when any other bird has bothered her chicks, she took them on.  One evening, one of the largest hens in coop waited for me because she had had an encounter with Momma Hen.

My baby chicks, all grown up.
Little roo on left and little hen to the right

In the kitchen, this summer I began trying to use the garden to table theory, pick the garden, plan my meal, use all veggies as fresh as possible.  We have had some wonderful meals.  The freshness of picking and eating within a few hours has made me appreciate my hours spent working the garden.  I have preserved some of our harvest, shared with others, fed the pasture crew and kept plenty on our table.  My mind is already busy thinking of the garden in 2016.  I have a few ideas on making the garden better, but first I need to bed the garden down for the winter.

Taking everything into account, I think this season was rewarding,  Mr. Bootsie made a move into garden helping more than before, he has always helped with prep work but stayed away during the harvest, but this season you could find him picking the garden.  I can always use an extra pair of hands and his assistance was welcomed, even if I forgot to tell him.  I was pleased we finally we able to hatch 2 little chicks, not so sure about my roosters, but this will work itself out.  There are not enough hens for 2 roos and someone will need to go.

Time for me to hurry on my way, garlic and onions to plant, squash to roast, I can always find something to do here on our little farm.  Until...

Comfort Zone

I have spent some time visiting around the web.  Reading a number of homesteading and preserving blogs, visiting with folks who ferment veggies, make kefir, have gardens and animals.  I think it is time for me to make a number of new friends.  I am exciting about the knowledge others are so willing to share.

I know I spent way too much time in the kitchen, too much time in the garden and not enough time just resting.  I climbed a major mountain this year as I began my 7th decade on this earth.  Most days I am on my feet about 12 hours a day.  On my weaker days it is less but for someone my age this is one good accomplishment.  Mr. Bootsie says the only way to get me to slow down is to take me away from our farm.  I am not sure this works for me quite like he feels it should.  As we are riding down the road my mind never stops working.  I see this or that and maybe it would work on our farm.

I am at a place I really wanted to be, I think, most of my life.  I just never knew how much it meant to me until I returned to the country.  When we came here I knew it was a time for me to do all of the things I wanted to enjoy or thought I would enjoy.  I had a garden, well, a postage stamp garden in my yard in the city.  The garden fed us and I was able to preserve veggies.  I didn't have a lot of variety or many plants, so when I was able to have a third of an acre in garden, I was pleased.  The list of what I was going to grow went on and on.  My problem was this land was covered with trees.  All of the trees were removed and raised beds were put in.  Our first mistake was going to the mound of topsoil place and buying topsoil.  Ten years later I am still working on that compacted soil with manure and  compost trying to get a balance in the soil.  After that horrible mistake, I built my beds with composting leaves, and my black gold I was making in my tumbler and manure.  These beds are very productive.

Next came the chicken coop.  It was built with lumber from our property, milled by a local farmer and built by him.  Then came the goats, a barn built and Mr. Bootsie built the goat stall.  Pasture was put in.  I really felt like this was a farm.  Now I realize I have a problem.

Is my true love the kitchen?  Is this where I want to be?  I find so much satisfaction working in the kitchen, preparing food for storage,  learning a new recipe.  I watch the cooking shows on TV when time allows and always learn something or have a memory stirred in my mind.

This last couple of weeks my mind has been working.  I was able to make one of my favorite dishes from my childhood summers.  Momma just called them tomatoes, so tomatoes they will be. Many of you would called them a fancy name but I like tomatoes.  Recipe link included

We make a number of gravies and creamed soups.  I have learned even if the recipe doesn't tell you the milk  or water should be warmed it you start with a roux, things work and come together much better if the liquid is warm.  I have been having the base for my broccoli cheddar soup (recipe link) break and the end results was a very soupy, thin soup.  My mind returned to thinking about how my momma did this, I find myself standing in her kitchen beside her stove.  There was always a tea kettle on the wood stove and this was the source of the water used when making gravies and soups.  The light went on...The water in the kettle was always warm/hot as the kettle was on the stove.  Needless to say, this week, the sausage gravy went together quickly and the base of the broccoli cheddar soup did not break, we had a nice thick soup.

I am learning, that I need to find pages to read and visit which offer information about what I am now interested in doing.  There are so many information sources and it takes time.  I want more time to spend with my animals, I want time away from the kitchen, and propping up my feet for a few minutes would be a treat.  I have a farm and I need to find the balance.

No matter how much is done, there are always many more tasks waiting to be addressed.  I have found I cannot handle the heat during the summer.   Avoiding the heat does slow down production.  This year I have just taken this in stride, not allowing myself to get concerned when tasks were left undone.   The animals have food, water and are checked on several times a day, the garden is watered and some bug control done on a daily basis along with harvesting our crops, this is about all I can manage on the super hot days.  I learned this year, the goats, ducks and chickens enjoy the harvest of the garden, it is okay for me to give them snaps, squash, tomatoes and other veggies.  I really do not have enough at one time to take to the food bank and driving there would be another hour out of my day.  I think I made my way to the top of this mountain as I hate to see food wasted after all of the work has gone into producing the crops, feeding our animals is not wasting the food, it helps with our feed bill.

I am trying to find a balance, I believe I moved in the right direction this summer.  I have full shelves in the pantry, the freezer is packed to the top, the drying rack has garlic and onions cured.  This was a good season for our garden.  In fact I had the best garden ever.  Working on the land for 11 years is paying off and I find comfort in walking outside collecting my meals from the garden.  We have enjoyed an array of fresh veggies on a daily basis.  I just enjoy the garden to table movement on our farm.  For me this is my comfort zone, the balance will come or not but this has been one delicious summer.

Triple Creek Farm update. early August

Friday morning, July 24th, last evening, when we closed the coop, there were 4 baby chicks, one was very questionable, but I thought things would be better in the morning.  I came into the coop to find Momma Hen off the eggs with two of her chicks around her.  Mr. Bootsie came into see what was going on and he saw two little chicks pasted away in the nest.  What a way to start the day.  After taking care of things, Momma Hen returned to the nest and began to gather her eggs and chicks.  She seemed almost thankful Mr. Bootsie cleaned her nest.  This has been the a heartbreaking journey for me, but she seems content to continue.

Bittersweet is what is happening in the coop, maybe, I should have taken control but how many times hens take nest, disappear for days returning with a hatch, I thought this would work.  We do enjoy the hatching with the mother hen, when using the incubator there is something missing in the chick's life.  This momma hen was in an incubator hatch I did last year.  I am wondering if this could be contributing to my problem.

Things are going on in the garden which means there is quite a bit of activity in the kitchen.  Canning, freezing and dehydrating.  There is quite a bit of food preserved for the winter, now it is time for winter squash to harden and cure.  These will be food for us and fed for the chickens and goats.  Winter squash are great for preventing worms in chickens and goats.  The onions and garlic have dried.

One poplar tree was felled last week and the tree filled one of our wood racks.  It appears there will be enough wood for the winter.  On the to do list is the chimney cleaning.  This is done by a contractor, I just feel much better knowing the chimney has been checked by someone who is knowledge (?) about chimneys.
Cleaning the barn and coop goes on all year around, in the coop over the winter I use the deep litter method which means I just add  straw during the winter.  Our girls stay outside during the day, we only have the waste from nighttime and this is quite manageable using the deep litter method. I bed in with leaves first and add straw as needed.  This adds warmth to the coop as the leaves and straw insulate the floor holding the heat manufactured by the birds in the coop.

Time has come for the eggs of the squash bugs to hatch.  Some of the squash plants are on their last leg and this makes a wonderful place for the babies to hide.  We have removed and burned a number of old leaves.  Some of my plants are so large there is really no way to control things.  I grow a number of climbing squash.  I spend quite a while in the garden chasing the critters.  I use no chemicals in the garden.  This is my choice and I feel it is a good decision.  I control through hand picking and using other plants to defer the bugs.

Harvested the first brandywine tomato and corn for corn on the cob.  I know a little late, but corn on the cob  from our garden is a first.  Using some of the tomatoes to make pasta sauce.  Referred to a recipe I have from Italy and it makes a delicious sauce.  Roasting tomatoes and making tomato soup, we are enjoying our harvest.

I am going to plant some fall beets and the last row of snaps this afternoon.  Winter garden seedlings are coming on.  They are looking for a place to go into the garden.  Pulled the first planting of snap plants and the goats are having a picnic.  I am going to plant garlic where the snaps were planted.  This bed will have a rest for a few days.

We have been busy, weather has kept me from posting this blog, here it is finally and look at how much the baby chicks have grown.

Time for me to check on the garden, I am sure there is something to pick, I shall take my gathering basket and see what treasures I can find.   Thanks for stopping by!!!

Long awaited, Finally This Summer, Always worth the wait

Saturday, July 18th, I went into the coop, there I found an egg shell, Mr. Bootsie following me in was checking the nest also, words from the farm assistant, "Broken egg, not again."  My response was, "No, not again.  This shell has been opened by a chick."  I had already put some starter grain close to the Little Black Hen, so she could eat the grain.  After setting, they are so weak and need something to build up their strength.  You ask why is it difficult to sit on eggs and hatch them.  These hens, when setting, go into a trance and hardly leave the nest.  They eat very little and this takes a toll on them.

I went to prepare the chicken water and place it close so the baby chick could get a drink.  At this time all the proof I had was the shell and I knew it looked as something one had come out of it.  This gets Mr. Wonderful off the hook, as now I know he is not shooting blanks.  I was not sure as to how committed the other Little Black Hen was to setting on the nest when we were away from the coop.  She took some morning dusting breaks which seemed entirely too long to me.  This is the reason I allowed this hen to stay in the nest she had created and hatch the eggs.

It was time for me to continue my chores.  So off I went to make the grain bowls for the goats.  Mr. Bootsie comes for the coop exclaiming, "There are two babies and more eggs under her."  He is quite excited as he was the first one to see the baby chicks.  I decided to see if I could establish whose eggs had hatched.  I found the whole shell from one of the olive eggs, which we hatched last spring.  This will mean if this is a hen, her egg will be much darker in olive color as this is a second generation.  As she collected her eggs for the nest I have no idea as to what may be in this hatch.  This is one time the hen has out smarted me.

We have never worked with babies on the floor of the coop.  I have heard when the rooster is in the coop there could be problems or not.  Sometimes they protect their babies from the hens and other times the responsibility is totally on the momma hen.  I have all of the brooders close by if this is the direction we need to take.  I just am not sure how the Little Black Hen will react to being enclosed in a brooder and I do not want her to dessert the little ones she has worked so hard to produce.

This will be a learning experience for us, but each and every hatching has been a lesson in one way or another.  The little black hen's mother, Aurora was a wonderful momma hen and no one, not even me was able to get near her babies.  She was the smallest hen in the coop, however, when she had babies her size did not matter, the other hens kept their distance.  She would fly up and land on their backs if they bothered her little ones.  We did keep her in the brooder, only when the chicks were out getting sun, the other hens came to see what was going on.  If they came within two feet they had better look out because little Aurora was going to show them they should keep a distance.  I hope some of Aurora's mothering skills has passed on to her girls.  These girls came from eggs laid by Aurora, so only time will tell if this hen will be a good momma hen.

Monday, morning there was not a chick to be found, except the little one who did not make it through the night.  I was ready to break up the nest and then I heard the crunch of an egg, one more was coming.  By the end of the day there were 2 new baby chicks, they were struggling on the floor of the coop and I knew I needed to make a decision.  Wednesday morning there are 3 babies, Momma hen decided to go out and stretch her legs, only to be attack by the dame of the coop.  She ran back in checking on her chicks.

Mr. Bootsie showed up about the same time and I made my decision.  She is going into the brooder, the chicks can move about and we do not have to worry about snakes or the other hens attacking them.  I would find a little peace with this.  You know I always give him the worst job, he reached down and collected momma hen.  Walked over to the brooder, I began to collect the baby chicks and found only 2,  Mr. Bootsie had one baby, finally all together once again.  We knew it was time to get the eggs and see if Momma Hen would take them back, Mr. Bootsie candled all of them and there are 6 more possible chicks.
As Mr. Bootsie put the eggs in front of Momma Hen she pecked him each time and then rolled each egg back into the nest.  There she was setting on the 6 eggs and 3 little chicks hidden in her feathers.  I as not sure she feels as safe in her new home as I feel she is.

I had just about given up on having any chicks this year, but now there are 3 and maybe more.  All of the eggs came from my olive egg laying girls and the  Welsummer rooster.   Excited, yes,  there are babies on the farm.  Life goes on!!!!

Early Summer Update

With spring turning into summer, we have been busy.  The days come to a close much too early and there is always something left undone.  My to do list seems to grow and become longer.  And then it happened, the computer decided to go to computer camp.  After 2 weeks with no computer, I made the decision to just give all of this up.  Knowing with age it is difficult to accomplish everything you think you can in a day, I thought my time would be a little bit freer without spending time in cyber space.  I have no idea this would rattle Mr. Bootise quite like it did.  We need a computer and you have so many special friends who mean so much to you, I don't want you to loose those relationships.  We need to be able to research things and going to the library will take even more time.  The library is 16 miles from our house so I had to give in, start my journey of looking for a new computer.

With a new computer, I changed brands, there is the time of learning once again.  Everything old is everything new and I am struggling along.  I have learned how to load my pictures so I can share with you.  I  am trying to slowly move forward so I can retain what I am learning.  So, please bear with me.  I enjoy the time I share with you and I always have my blog to return to when I need to remember things about my farm.  After all of this, here goes, this is what has been happening!!!

Rain, we have rain, so much rain we now have mushrooms growing everywhere.  Ducks are eating mushrooms, are they safe for us to eat?  I have heard the stories all my life and I am very concerned about collecting and eating wild mushrooms.  But is seems such a waste not to have the knowledge to use this special gift.  If you have the time. the knowledge of how and why we have fungi, is very interesting, read about why they are here.  The farmer came by and she informed me there are mushrooms safe to eat around here.  She has been collecting and preparing them.  She shared a link with me about one she enjoys and we have them everywhere.  I find this so exciting.   link to information about mushrooms

Chicken hatching.  Aurora's daughter set on the nest for 28 days, no chicks, I destroyed the eggs by burying them in the garden,  I heard 3 of them blowup as I covered them with lots of garden soil.  I did not want to smell the rotten eggs.   I worked on getting her to give up the nest which I did accomplish.  About a week later I went into the coop and there was a new nest with a black hen on it, no, no she can't be doing this again, Mr. Bootsie came in later during the day.  He informed me, "She is at it again, what are you going to do?"  Next morning, I realized no she is not at it again, this is the other daughter.  So I decided to leave her on the nest, not moving her to the brooder box and let her have her way.  I need to know if the rooster is shooting blanks or what could have happened with the first hatch.  So only time will tell.

Berry season means I am at it again.  Making wine and framboise, my farm assistant is smiling from ear to ear.  What you have to wait 6 months for the flavor to develop?  Yes, now put that down.  The raspberries and blackberries are used to make these beverages.  I made my first raspberry wine this season, we are really excited about this.  I did not have a recipe and I did a little bit of tasting to see if I thought the sugar was in balance with the fruit.  Tasted good to me so maybe this will work.  Right now, this is bubbling away in the pantry.  I am planning on starting blackberry wine today.

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 Crops are coming in, we are harvesting more than we are able to eat.  I have been sharing some and preserving some.  This a new pickle for me.  I was glad the recipe was for 3 pints. Now I will return to some old faithful recipes and make them if we have cucumbers.  And by the way we should wait 4 weeks before eating these pickles.  Flavor development.

Each week Mr. Bootsie drops one tree and the wood yard is filling.  We both spend time in the garden picking and weeding.  New friends on our farm are two fawns born this spring.  They come to see us quite often.  We have really enjoyed having our personal wildlife preserve.Time for me to go, just heard this week's tree hit the ground. I have chicken to grind, as I as going to make chicken salad.  This was one of our birds, they are so good.  Stop by for a chicken salad biscuit with fresh tomato.  You know you are always welcome.