April Snow Showers bring Cold Temps!

The weather the past few years has been so unpredictable. Last year, on April 11, we had over 6 inches of snow on the ground, killing some of my freshly planted berries and almost killed the grape plant I had planted the first of April (2022) on the assumption that the freezing was behind us. It also killed  a few of the baby trees I had planted. I was none too happy.... but, then, the heat in the summer killed most of the rest of the trees. Ugh.  

This week, the temps yesterday were pretty typical and wet.  We even ventured out a few days ago to replant some of the tree starts.  But today, we are likely to have freezing temps again, and some snow flurries. The Day Old Cornish Cross that we ordered in February, arrived today, and yah, this is what we are dealing with. Have them in garage with a space heater under their brooder and towels over the top of the mesh, trying to hold some of the heat inside. It has helped to warm the inside of their brooder warmed up to 65F, so that's not too bad. Using the large brooder warmer to ensure that everyone (25) have a place to get warmed without needing to feel distressed. Have pushed the feeder and the waterers up close to the warmer so that they don't need to get too chilled in order to eat and drink. Normally, at this time of the year, we are warmer, but, yah. This seems to be our new normal.

Oh, update on the duck. Brown duck (Diega) has been limping the past few days. I did end up catching her yesterday and she has two calluses on each foot. I brought her inside the house, which obviously was stressful as she pooped down my coat and onto the kitchen floor. Then pooped again when I put her in some warm water to soak her feet in epsom salt solution in the laundry sink... ugh! I don't see any redness or black, so that's good. Have put some grass hay on the ground in their coop to hopefully help minimize the foot stress for her at night. Don't want this to turn into bumblefoot. May try to catch her again in a day or two, to put some oil on her soles to help with healing.

Ahhh... Spring!

Almost 3 week old Chicks - August 2020

We have had the chicks two weeks now, although they will be three weeks on Sunday, August 16 and Monday, August 17.  The Cornish Cross are almost ready to go outside, but we are going to have a heat wave this weekend and into next week, so we have to wait until that passes before they go outside.  They have no true way to regulate their body temps and they are prone to heat stroke on those hot days. By next Friday, they will be outside until they are old enough to process. 

The other chicks look so tiny in comparison. But they are only a day or two younger. We lost one of the Blue Plymouth.  She didn't eat or drink very well.  It happens. We have had more problems with that this year I think due to the overload on the hatcheries trying to ensure that they are getting enough chicks out.  It is not uncommon for them to sell those chicks that are not as healthy as they could/should be. Unfortunately, that's what happens when people start panic purchasing livestock. The remaining 14 seem to be doing okay.  

We did do a bit of nursing on one of the Blue Plymouth yesterday after it got tangled in one of the threads on the flooring.  We attempt to keep a close watch on them, but things happen from time to time. Thankfully, we seem to have caught it soon enough and after some extra attention, it perked back up and appears to be eating and doing fine now. I put an ankle bracelet on it so that I can keep an extra eye on how it is doing. I'll cut off the band in a day or two to let it blend back into the group.  She is the gray chick in the first column, third down and bottom, of photos below 

Two weeks in, and today was transition into shavings day. New process is always a big transition for little chicks, but they have all settled into the new environment after a few moments of distress, back to EPS (eating, pooping and sleeping). 

Cornish Cross Peeps August 2020

We picked up the Cornish Cross a week ago, and in the flurry of events, did not get first day photos.  They are a week and couple days old now, developing feathers, eating like... well, Cornish Cross, and poohing up a storm! That's their nature. They are the "pig" version of chickens. They have grown quickly.  The order of eight got mixed up, and we only received five, but have ordered eight for the next batch to be delivered in September. While I would prefer to have them all done for the year, it is what it turned out to be. 

They are already double the size of the layer chicks, in their own special crate because they kind of overpower the little ones, and will be ready to be outside in three more weeks. 

August 2020 - Garden and Chick Updates

July weather definitely helped with our garden, although the last week of July was sweltering. I had to start protecting the tomatoes to keep them from getting sun scald. Aside from that, the tomato wind guard area seems to be working out fine.  While I had originally planned on setting the bell pepper plants in that area, it's just not wide enough.  I will need to rethink it if I do this next year. 

The cucumbers are FINALLY doing their thing.  The first planting didn't survive.  The 2nd planting barely survived, but I didn't think they would, so I did a third planting... they also survived, but we will see it it was too late to get any cucumbers from them. At least we are getting some cucumbers at this point. 

Acorn squash. First try. Finally starting to get female buds.  For about three weeks, there were only male.  I just read that as soon as the male flowers start showing up, to put a dose of fertilizer on the plant to encourage the females to form. Then watch closely, the color of the leaves.  Keep them from turning yellow by regularly feeding the plants. We will see how this turns out. 

Corn survived!  The last time we had a summer like we had in June, my corn did not survive the month.  This year, instead of trying to start them outside, I kept them in the greenhouse under a light and that seemed to do the trick. I pulled all the tillers off this year and this past week, have added a dose of bone meal to help with corn development.  We should have some corn in another couple of weeks!

 

All onion are pulled and most have been cut up and dried. Pulled enough bush string beans to freeze for three meals. Plan to do that with the corn this year, too.  

Have pulled most of the broccoli florets off to keep them from bolting. Cauliflower heads are finally starting to form.  I have not grown cauliflower since the 1980s. I can't remember how long it takes.  This has been a very LONG time, it seems. 

Bell peppers have been attacked by bugs this year.  They are doing better, but not as well as I would like.  I think it is also a weather situation. This photo is a Sandpiper pepper.  Curious to see what it tastes like. 

Basil replant took hold.  I normally can't get basil to come up in July because it is usually too hot by that time. But the June weather really took a toll on a lot of my starts. It will probably be a late August before I can start harvesting dill and basil.  I'll take what I can get. 

The Cornish Cross Chicks came in on Wednesday this past week (July 29).  The last batch of Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rock and the Blue Plymouth showed up on Friday (July 31).  Lots of new chicks and their cute little peeps are in the garage. 

Meaties Went to Process and Stuff Happening

The eight meat chickens have been processed (yesterday) and they are in the refrigerator "resting" for a couple days before we cut them apart and freeze them.  I have not yet weighed them so I'm not exactly certain how many pounds we ended up with. I will be surprised (based on lifting them) if any are eight pounds.  I'm guessing they will be six and seven pounds. I'll weigh them tomorrow just before we start cutting.

I also made up a huge batch of soap to help us while we are washing our hands so much with the COVID-19 Pandemic thing. This is the largest batch I have ever made, with three pounds of coconut oil, shea butter, palm oil and lard. 

Plus, we have been busy with the chicks.  They are quite playful now. A cute little flock. 

Last, we are finishing up on the new garden space.  Trying this spot with concrete blocks (not cinder blocks but like cinder blocks). While it may look like quite the hodge podge of various sized blocks, that's because I didn't order enough.  And in this quarantine of C-19 Virus, we had to find a different supplier that was open and willing to deliver. We got the blocks but they were much wider than the original blocks.  So, we made do, and will live with the outcome.  It will always be a reminder of building a garden spot in the middle of a pandemic.

👾

So far, the garlic and onions are up.  Some lettuce and peas are sprouting.  No potato sprouts yet. Usually takes several weeks before they are up, plus it was particularly cool and wet for two weeks shortly after I planted them. The tomato seeds and most of the bell pepper seeds sprouted, but again, a big delay due to the cool temps.  I am guessing I will need to purchase some plants from the nursery if I can find any in a few weeks. 

One pound of soap	Same pound of soap
The New Flock 4 weeks	Start of the Garden
Uh-oh - It's not big enough.	Garden is now Long Enough
It needs a lot more dirt!	Some of the blocks are wider than others.

Rhode Island Red Chicks - Week One - 2020

So the Cornish Cross (Meaties) are outside enjoying the grass and the sun.  We acclimated them to the coop, while still in the garage, last weekend (March 14) and moved them out while the spring temps were in the mid to high 50s (F). Today is probably the last warm day and most of next week will be rain and probably blustery. 

Cornish Cross in the Hoop Coop Pen (1 month)

The Rhode Island Red (RIR) chicks arrived on March 20.  We had been given a black Cochin by the store that was in critical condtion to see if we could save it.  But, it died on Saturday morning.  It would not eat or drink. The four RIR layers all seem to be quite healthy, eating and drinking well, along with many mini poops. I just switched out the "cloth" that we use under the brooder warmer so it is all super clean at this point. I use this method because helps them to stay cleaner while they are sleeping and snuggling under the warming plate.  

I took a few snaps of the brooder pen layout this morning.  For the meaties, I had used a piece of cardboard to keep them confined in the "front" of the pen for the first week.  I had the heater set up on a block in the corner and prayed that they did not knock the heater over on themselves during the first week.  (It is a safety heater that shuts off if it falls over.) I got to thinking about the small wire panels that I have and so we ziptied them together and clipped them to the opposite edges of the cage to do the exact same thing but, allows the heater to be on the other side, safely away from the chicks for a week or two.  These gals will grow a bit slower than the Cornish Cross.  For the first couple of weeks, as long as we can keep the ambient temp at about 80F, we are good, along with the use of the brooder warmer. 

So this is our new layer flock that will start laying in the fall. 

RIR at 5 days - Hatched 3-17-2020	Rhode Island Reds First Week Wings
Chick Pen with Safety Wall	Brooder Warmer in Chick Pen
(:  Just a little Peep  :)

Almost Spring 2020

When the new chicks start arriving, we know spring is close.  Sorry that these photos are blurry.... It is really hard to get chicks to pose and hold still especially with low-light photos.

One Belly up to the Bar	Everyone Joins In
Um-Yum!

Early Winter Update 2019

The broccoli never quite matured.  There were only small florets, and the biggest of them which was a little more than a silver dollar in size, is changing to flowers and not edible. So, that's pretty much it for the fall/winter attempt to grow the broccoli this year.  The parsley is fine and I've gotten two cuttings off it so far.  The Marjoram became an aphid magnet.  I cut a sprig and washed it before setting it out to dry.  That does seem to hold potential, but I'm still waiting for it to totally dry before I try it with a larger cutting. 

One Rhode Island hen is laying an egg every other day.  The two others are still recovering from their moult which was probably a bit of a shock for them with such an early freeze this fall. But they are all re-feathered now and should be laying eggs again soon.  The Welsummers are ready to start laying eggs again but need the light.  I installed the light/timer today for them.  Set to light up at 4:30 am every day to spur them into laying again or we will be waiting until the end of February before they start again.  They truly need that light to kick them back into gear. 

Planning for the late winter early spring of chickens.  Will put in an order for four new layers (Rhode Islands) and eight meat chickens (Cornish Cross) for February/March arrival. Will probably need to raise them separately this year as the Hoop Coop is just not big enough for 12 chickens to live in.  Will need to figure out an option for the layers since we don't plan to get rid of the Welsummers until next summer. 

Final Week August 2019

The chicks are a month old now, and are all getting quite large.  Poor lazy confused birds.  I threw an ear of fresh corn in the pen and they just stood there and looked at it.  We patiently waited for them to figure out that it was food, but alas, that never happened.  They laid on it, instead.  Now, when we throw an ear of corn in with the hens, one will grab it and run, trying to keep it for herself. Today, they each got their own ear, and there was no chasing necessary by the others because they truly cannot grab two ears at the same time.  :) 

1 month old Cornish cross

A lazy afternoon

As we head into our fall planting season, we are wrapping up the harvest of beans, corn, and dill. I pick a hand full of Sungold cherry tomatoes every day and this is going to be a long harvest through September. The German tomatoes are massive. Too heavy for the plant to stand on its own. Had to put the bucket into a tub and place a cinder block next to hold it up. We are getting about one ripe Purple Cherokee Tomato per week. They are not as large as the German but there are a couple that are fairly large. 

Large Gold German	Bucket in the Tub
Purple Cherokee Tomatoes	SunGold Tomatoes

The cucumber plants (at least the older ones) are starting to die back so that was a fairly short season, but we did get a bunch of cucumbers.  I am hopeful to get three more here at the end of the season that I can pickle. 

Older Cucumber Plant going Yellow

Crazy Carrot - I kept watching this one carrot in the center of the others that never seemed to mature - no orange top that popped up through the soil. But today, Noticed that the of the leaves was thick and very spinney looking, like a wild carrot would look.  So I pulled it up, and to my surprise, it WAS a wild carrot! Crazy. 

Wild Carrot in Garden The Lettuce and the Broccoli are in a battle with Slugs and Beetles.  On the Broccoli, I think the tiny holes are from flea beetles, while the large chewed away sections are from slugs.  For the past few nights, I have been sprinkling a layer of diatomaceous earth (DE) around the broccoli starts and I think it is helping.  As for the lettuce, I wrapped Copper tape around the pots. But it only works until a leaf falls over the side and the slugs reach out and pull over over the copper! Smart Slugs!  Poor damaged broccoli sprouts Baby Romaine We pulled 18 ears of corn today.  I blanched 15 of them for frozen corn packets. That will give us five meals of corn. I found another ear with conjoined baby ears. This one actually had two baby ears attached. Some seriously weird corn this year. We also picked a bunch of green beans.  I had tried to freeze some green beans earlier this month, using an unblanched recipe, and we were not too impressed.  So today, I chopped the beans in half and blanched them for three minutes before putting them into individual serving (sandwich) bags for the freezer. We will get three meals from what we picked today.  When they are totally frozen, I will put the bags into large freezer bags to avoid them getting freezer burn... if they last that long. So we are heading into our final week of August.