Red Clovers and Pullets Update July 2020

Gardening is finally full on. Took some time and persistance with the crazed weather and temps. But corn is three feet tall now, just starting tassels and I have put the last dose of manure on them before I switch over to the bone meal and potassium. I pulled about 30 apples, either sick looking, had worms or there were simply too many in a bunch.  I think there will be about 70 left to harvest later. I threw those apples into the compost pile. Sun has been too hot for the tomatoes so I now have a shade cloth for mid to late afternoon, then I take it off after 5 as the peak heat has hit and the sun is headed west. The clover that we planted in the first batch is nice and lush. I'm happy with it. 

Red Clover, Red Clover, Send.... 

Pullets, are just about ready to start laying.  These ladies are super friendly. Love their treats. I need to concoct some type of nesting boxes for them.  I'm hoping that the square buckets that I ordered will be large enough.  

I'm speculating that the Rhodes will being the first or second week of August, while the Barred may not start laying until the end of August or even the first of September.  We reallyl don't know their hatching dates, so that will make it a bit harder to determine their ages when they start. 

We moved them onto fresh grass last night, and they seem quite happy with the fresh cool blades of grass under their feet.  The Barred are super smart and curious. They are a fun breed to have. Collectively, they are a bonded flock now, but there is still a special connection between the two Barred Rock within the flock. 

Barred Boot Inspection	Rhode Boot Inspection
My Good Buddy Barr	I Want Pets too
Rhodie Buddies	Curled Neck Feathers
Barred Buddies	A check in
A different check in	All check in

Some Big and Little Growth Spurts 2020

First off, the Broccoli and Cauliflower were outgrowing their hoop covers as shown in earlier posts. So we created a tent with PVC and were able to wrap the cover around them to keep the vicious cabbage moths away. Those critters will ravage the small plants in a matter of days. When the plants are larger, we will take the tent down. I'm betting neighbors are wondering what on earth we are growing in there.  But I want to keep these plants protected because with all the rain, there is nothing "natural" that I can treat them with, without the treatment being washed away in the rain. I refuse to use crop pesticides. Won't do it.  I didn't want to cut all the PVC down, so that top support piece, is 10 ft long.  The plants outside of the tent are my bush beans that are finally looking a bit better.  They were quite yellow and shriveled a little over a week ago. Used Blood Meal the first week, and then 10-10-10 this week, brought their coloring and new growth back in line.

Tent to protect broccoli & cauliflower

Other side of tent

Next, the lettuce plants in the buckets in the greenhouse are, absolutely, to die for.  I've been using the special liquid 10-10-10 on them, as well. I honestly have never had my lettuce looking this wonderful.  That's one seed, yes one plant per five gallon bucket! The cilantro is also doing very well this spring.

Buttercrunch Lettuce	Salad Leaf Lettuce
Two Red Sails	Cilantro

Struggling still with the squash and the cucumber plants.  I planted more in the cloth pots in the green house, while also planting some in small pots in the new "mini" growtent that we got on sale. The special light is helping to start our plants indoors MUCH better. As you can see from the green house pots, only the squash in one (of two) buckets came up, and there are two cucumbers, one in each bucket that came up. And let's just say I OVER planted the seeds in there this time.  Part of the issue is the inconsistant temps, too hot, too cold and not enough sunlight.  Then, compare them to the seed I started in the growtent, and Santa Vaca, what a difference.  Today, I planted some dill, basil and lavender seeds in an egg carton. Will see how long that takes for them to sprout and then I can put them out into the garden soon.

Greenhouse Acorn Squash	Greenhouse Cucumber Start
Growtent Cukes & Squash Starts	Just plantes Dill, Lavender & Basil

Potatoes are starting to bloom, so that's an indication that they are almost done.  The Strawberries are starting to get ripe.  I think we will actually get some this year.  I had to put petroleum jelly on the bottom lip of the buckets to keep the ants out.  So far, so good.  Again, used the special organic liquid 10-10-10 on these berry plants, and we should have some nice sized berries this year.

Potatoes are Blooming

Berries are turning red!!!!

Spring Garden and Chick Update

Moving the chicks outside this week was quickly followed by a lot of cloudy rainy days.  So there are no photos.  I don't want to stress them out in their new coop.  They are adapting, eating, drinking and pooping.  I have the tall brooder warmer in the pen and they will get under there when they get chilled. But mostly, they are loving their roost bar and acting like "big birds."

The new 12 chicks arrived that are already presold.  They are, of course, cute little fluff balls. Six Barred Rock and six Rhode Island Reds.

Garden is the big factor here this week.  Plants in the greenhouse are finally picking up.  I had purchased some cloned plants to supplement the plants that did not start well in the greenhouse. The Onions and Garlic starts are looking good in the back section of the square garden. We have covered the broccoli and cauliflower starts to help keep them a bit warmer but also protect from the cabbage moth, and other bugs that like to eat broccoli.  The strawberries, peas, and lettuce are looking quite good. Also, the wintered over plants are thriving.  I have already cut half of the oregano for drying and cooking.  The rest will be cut in a week or two. Potatoes finally came up and are looking strong.

Pea starts planted 2 weeks apart	Potatoes - not sure which are what
Potatoes popped up a little later	More Potatoes that finally popped up
Strawberry blossom	Wintered Over Parsley
Wintered Over Oregano	Wintered Over Marjoram
Winters Over Thyme	My starts next to a Cloned Tomato Start
Pepper, Tomato & Lavendar Starts	Some of my lettuce starts 1+ month old
Lettuce Start 2+ mo	Onions Left and Garlic Right
The new garden space	Cover tunnel for Broccoli & Cauliflower
Inside the tunnel	Wet dandelion Seed Head

RIR Chicks Moved to Coop Early 2020

The Rhode Island Red Chicks (4) that we picked up last month are in their new home. They are in the 3x4 coop designed for four hens. They will have a lot of room to wander around until they get bigger and actually grow into the space.  I hooked up the light in there on a timer for a few days until they are comfortable with going outside. I also included the tall brooder warmer for them 'cause we are likely to have a few cool nights for the next few weeks. Their food and water is inside the coop with them until they are bigger and better feathered.  

It worked well to get the meat chickens early in the season, got them processed at seven weeks, clean/bleach down the hoop coop and moved the three year old Welsummers into that coop on fresh ground. Since the hoop coop does not have a nesting box, I improvised a nesting box out of a five-gallon bucket.  The first few days, we had some issues with that, and ended up wiring two buckets together so that it looks like there are two nesting boxes for them, and they are much happier. The first few days involved a lot of broken eggs and eggs being laid outside of the buckets.  Now they seem much more content with the set up and no more broken eggs.  

Next Friday, the chicks that we already have presold will arrive and we will raise them until June, in time for them to be picked up by their new owners and transported to their new homes. So fingers crossed, all will go well.  A component is that with the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, a lot of people want to try to raise some of their own food, but we all know how hard it is to raise chicks successfully.  So we will do that and make a little money on the side, in the process. Not a lot, but mostly to help people out in this middle of these crazy times who want chickens but don't want the mess and fuss of trying to raise chicks. 

Garden business here.  Most of the broccoli (11) and cauliflower (5) starts came up.  We put them into the new garden bed and have them covered to keep pests away.  The cover worked really well with starting the onions and garlic while it was still super cold and rainy outside.  Hoping it works just as well on the broccoli and cauli. The surviving tomato and pepper plants are starting to get their "real leaves" on them, so that's good.  I also picked up some clones that will at least start producing before my starts will.  So hopefully, between the mixed groups of starts, we will have an abundance of plants.  We can chop up the bell peppers and freeze them for use in stews, sauces and pizzas. Tomatoes can be pureed for sauces and paste in the freezer.  We really should have plenty of tomatoes this year for storage into the winter and spring of next year. That's the plan. 

Also, we are going to start a mini plant startup so that we can have more selection without having to wait and then go looking for the plants we want. We have ordered a grow tent that we can use to start our veggies and herbs indoors, then sell them from our driveway in the spring. We can advertise on the weekends and sell them to folks who need a few starts in the spring.  We're looking around to figure out which are the best and most popular for our area.  Thinking tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, and a good variety of herbs that are our favorites to grow and use in cooking. We can see how this goes in conjunction with the eggs that we already sell. 

No photos today.  Later in the week, maybe. 

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.