Around the Farm ~ Early Spring

With the approach of the first day of spring this weekend, we are itching to get back outside again.  Part of our trip preparations is getting early spring work around here wrapped up before we leave.  We are typically home over spring break and with the exception of maybe a long weekend away with the kiddos, dedicate this time to preparing for the garden season.  Thankfully we got ourselves well ahead of the game with our fall wrap up, so the pressure is down.  We did evacuate the winter's straw layers from the hen house this morning, cleaning and prepping their digs for warmer weather to come and some added roommates in early summer.  Our compost heap is cooking away and growing nicely with the addition of chicken and pig litter.  We should have an excellent batch for late summer top dressing and fall bed replenishment.

We are rewarded in early spring with the first buds, and baby plants poking through the soft wet earth.  The maple trees branches are beginning to get heavy with deep burgundy flower poofs, that do not put on much of a show, and make a huge mess when they drop, but are a welcome sign of spring none the less.

The giant rhubarb plant looks like it enjoyed its winter nap covered in compost, I suspect this will have just burst in growth by the time we get back.

The garlic is doing beautifully with rows upon rows of shoots finding their way to the surface.

The horseradish plants are also looking robust early on, and as I mentioned earlier this week, the spinach in the cold frame should soon be ready to eat.  Everything seems to be running right on schedule!

#100HappyDays :: Day 56

Our seasonal birds have quite the set up.  Outside their evening digs in the chicken tractor, they have a large area to roam, multiple spots to find food and water, the ducks and geese have a swimming pool, large shade trees, grass full of clover to snack on, and a built in spot that the chickens have decided is perfect for dusting themselves.   Happy birds.

Stretching Wings

This springs fowl on the property are growing quickly and are forever entertaining.  One duck in particular quacks like Donald Duck and when he gets mad, it almost sounds like he is scolding us.  I am trying to catch it on video, it is quite comical!  As we are in the middle of a sudden downpour, I am reminded of the fact that ducks love the rain and run out of their shaded areas to raise their bills to the water that falls.

The chickens and ducks have all been housed together since they were babies a mere eight short weeks ago. They live harmoniously together and have all decided to refuse our best efforts to lock them in at night.  As you can see they are finding places to roost wherever they want.

We chose all of our meat birds in particular because they were aggressive foragers.   The barred rock especially embrace this quality and have taken it to the next level, roosting together in an apple tree.   It makes us a little nervous, this choice of theirs to stay out at nights, perching where they like.  Thankfully we invested in the electric poultry fence to keep the predators out, with any luck it will continue to be an effective deterrent.  At some point you just have to let them stretch their wings.

Epic Struggle

 As much as we are aching for warm weather and sunshine, winter is attempting to hang on.  The temperatures for the week are still forecast to be ten degrees below normal with a few possibilities for sloppy snow through the mid and end of the week. 

We did manage to have a couple of warmer days over the weekend.  Saturday afternoon and Sunday shown with crystal blue skies.  The chickens scattered happily about to scratch as we cleaned out their digs from the long winter.  A win, win.... happy chickens and happy compost.

If Mother Nature is reluctant to bring spring, then we will help it along.  We built two small hoop houses over raised beds.  A perfect spot for starting cool weather seeds, while it is still a bit too cool, and they will function perfectly as a place to harden off plants that we start in-doors. 

Even though we are only getting hints of spring, it is energizing.  You can feel the struggle of the life on the farm right now.  The life around us wanting to stretch and bloom, yet not sure if it is quite safe to do so.  As you can see we are all a bit like this rhubarb, poking our heads up and wondering when Spring will win the epic struggle between seasons.

The Fall Clean Up

Last weekend was perfect.  The weather was crisp, sunny and almost 50 degrees on Sunday.  It was our big clean up weekend.  This year we were able to tag team the clean up, with me on the new tractor, letting it do all of the work and B on the old one so it could come behind and suck up what was pre-chopped.  I can't tell you what a difference the tractor has made to getting things done efficiently around here.  We managed to get all of the leaves up and put into the compost this year, and we did it in about 6 hours, where in the past it has taken two full weekends and we still could not get it all up. 

The girls got new bedding inside and out of the hen house.  And the inside clean up was added to the towering compost pile, which was already heating up just hours after the piles started being layered on.

The dead berry canes were all pruned out and cables added for support to all of the beds.  Things just seemed to run smoothly under the crystal clear blue skies.

Even the fountain on the front walk looks picturesque when winterized!

The last thing we did was line the driveway with the winter markers, and it is a good thing too....

because twelve hours later this happened!  We only got an inch and a taste of some very cold air.  In our recollection, this is the earliest snowfall since we moved here twelve and a half years ago.  It will be interesting what this winter brings, though we will happily bask in the predicted 50 degrees again this coming weekend! 

Habitats of the Homestead

This week has finally brought some warmer temperatures, and the homestead has begun to come alive.  All of its inhabitants are turning their faces toward the clear skies and sunshine, and soaking it all in.  The most telling sign of spring is the grass is finally green and growing like crazy.  The habitats of the homestead are coming alive, waking up from their winter drudgery.

The baby bunnies do not look so small anymore at over half the size of mom already.  They made their transition to the outside hutch easily and are enjoying the sights and sounds of the outdoors.  It has been such fun to watch them grow.  The time is soon approaching where three of the little ones will have to make their way to new homes.  I think there is a ribbon winner or two among this bunch!

The bees are emerging from the hives and testing their wings after a long winter.  We began to supplementally feed them, and though our own property has only a few flowers beginning to open, B spied a few flying home this morning with their legs coated in pollen!  We can easily spend lots of time watching these busy bees, they have such an amazing social structure, each one having an important task vital to the household.

The chickens spent some time scratching and dusting yesterday evening.  They have been cooped up (love figuring out where phrases come from!) since January when the outer enclosure roof collapsed during a heavy snow.  We had intended to repair it, but that is on hold until B's hand is healed.  So in lieu of unlimited access outside like they would normally have, we are letting them out for the last few hours of the day.  Then when they head into roost we close them in.  Despite having a large number of trees, the areas immediately around the house and barn are very open, and the chickens been subject to predatory birds in the past, so completely free access just does not work for them. 

The kale, spinach and lettuces that overwintered in the cold frame are robust and have been adorning our table all week.  We can hardly seem to make a dent in them.  I foresee a salad with every meal this week! 

With an almost non-existent spring until now, I leave you with our little hint that summer is right around the corner.  The lilacs are enjoying themselves and preparing for their own show...soon to come.  Happy Weekend!

Thursday Thoughts

The chickens are out for their evening romp and have created quite the little routine.  They head out of their run area straight across the yard to bask in the shade under a big maple tree.  Alex, the rooster, stands tall and alert as his harem dusts and scratches.  Then they meander to the asparagus patch to pick around.  Their migration next takes them to the raspberry beds until they circle back to the barn to roost for the evening.  


With all of the busyness that seems to consume us every day, the next two nights we have no commitments!  Thankfully, that will give us a little down time to prepare for the next eight grueling days of ultimate activity.  We are on a downhill sprint to the end of the school year, the last few weeks of the soccer season and the upward tick of 4H activities and prepping for the county fair.  This just happens to be the no mans land when everything overlaps.


The signs of summer abound and the berry plants are all beginning to flower.  Our first round should be strawberries and we are so excited to see the volume of little berries to be.  We have been actively planting in the garden and hopefully the promise of all of the emerging mini plants will be fulfilled. 


As we head toward the weekend, I leave you with my Charlie-ism of the week.  He got into the car after school yesterday singing.   "I've got the moves like Fisher, I've got the moves like Fisher, I've got the mooooooves like Fisher."  Sung to the Jagger tune.  Very proud of his recent chess acquisitions!


My Sidney, sheesh when did my kids get so smart moment, when it came to adding fractions with unlike denominators for homework: Me: "Sidney I need to see your text book to refresh myself on this." Sidney: "the teacher never uses the text book.". Me: "well I haven't seen this stuff in like 28 years.". Sidney: "then what's the point of learning it of I'm not going to use it?" hmmmm

What are your thoughts on this Thursday night?

Spring?

It's hard to believe that I'm sitting here in the middle of February with a few windows open and listening to the sounds of birds return.  As we headed out to soccer this morning, sure enough, I caught the first glimpse of crocus' peeking through.  That was enough to inspire me to do a little light clean up.   Who wants to be doing indoor chores when the sun is calling? 

I began dead heading a plants that I'd left up for winter interest and with the lack of snow just look dead and scraggly.  Funny how these things start, I did the one bed and then another.  Then decided to walk the yard in the glorious sunshine to pick up the trash that had blown in over the last few months.  As I get close to the barn, I begin to inspect the asparagus bed.  It will be some of the first produce to come up in the spring.  As I look for little tops, I notice not only is the bed almost completely thawed but there are actually weeds growing!  So one thing leads to another, I set down the collected trash and weed.  I had almost forgotten how good it feels to get my hands dirty in the garden.

 Now, do I take all of this back to the fire pit?  No, it occurs to me that maybe a few avian would appreciate a lush green snack.  That they did, attacking it like it was candy.  All the while the rooster kept a watchful eye on his harem to make sure they all got their fill.  I'm sure the winter (though I use that term loosely this year) is not over yet, and maybe I have just jinxed myself by getting my hands dirty early, but it sure feels like Spring outside!

Boutique Breed Cock Fighting

This past weekend we picked up two D'uccle chicks for Sid's 4h project this year and also picked up an adult pair.  Our hopes being that we could start to do our own breeding from proven bloodlines, and to also have some companions for Topaz.  Since we were getting a pair, we knew that there may be some growing pains with the two roosters.  If you recall, Topaz is quite petite.  It was a bit of a shock to us when we brought the other two in that they were significantly smaller!

Topaz and the new rooster (yet unnamed) began to size each other up, puff up, jump, nip and flap at each other.  The sight of this "cock fighting" was a bit humorous as they are such fru fru avian.  We separated them repetitively then left them for a couple of hours on trial to see if they could come to terms with one another, or if they would have to have designated areas in the barn.  On first check, a few scrapes but no real damage.  We left them to their own devices in the barn at roost time and the next morning all was well.  They still puff up and will occasionally go at one another, but I think Topaz has decided it isn't worth the effort and avoids him for the most part.  The female, on the other hand, Topaz quite enjoys.

How'r You Doin'?

And a peak at the babies.  They are still under heat lamps, though not for much longer.  Their adult feathers are coming in so they are reaching a bit of a homely age.  Hopefully a pair of blue ribbon winners and good mamas!

Little Gifts

 Nothing puts a smile on your face like the first tiny eggs from the chicks that you watched grow through the summer.  No matter how many years we raise babies, each time they start laying, it is like receiving little gifts.

Happy Friday!

Guess What??

Chicken Butt

Sorry for the juvenile humor.   But after a visit from some good friends that involved satiating ourselves on a good bottle of wine, chatting, and wandering aimlessly while we snacked our way through the berry patch, in lieu of dinner.  Well, that seemed the perfect ending to the weekend! :-)

Thankful Thursday

Today,  I am ever so thankful:

:: That I can cross every commitment that cluttered my calendar this week off and exhale.

::  That little boys sleep so soundly after long adventurous days at camp.

:: That though it was a sad farewell, the roosters found a good home.

:: That while hanging onto my little girl, she is blossoming and testing her wings so gracefully.

:: That a good friend is home safe and though injured, is with us, in almost one piece ;)

What are you thankful for this week?  If you don't blog, leave your thoughts as a reply here or a comment on my facebook wall.  Thanks to Miss Buckle for this weekly post!

First Fall Friday

What a perfect fall day.  It's cool and windy.  The windows are all wide open, you can almost hear the house sigh with relief at the movement of fresh air.  We are now filling it with the rich smells of roasting tomatoes and garlic.  You can peak at the recipe here.  I think it will be a wholly garden dinner, using the sauce to top one of our beautiful spaghetti squash.

 Today has been a welcome relief from all of the humidity and masses of mosquitoes.  We bid fond farewell to a couple of friends who were very good to us this summer, yes, the cucumbers and tomatillos are now a thing of the past.  But they will be part of the future.  The hens are on cloud nine with all of the bounty we threw their way this morning in the form of vines and a few straggling fruits.  They will scratch this down and it will become part of next years compost which will enrich the soil of our gardens future.  The circle of life.

 Oh yes, and today was farm box day.  We had some cute Chinese food containers that we filled with the cherry tomatoes and all blue potatoes.  We also had the final zucchini and cucumbers today, baby bell peppers a couple of ancho chilies and a nice spaghetti squash for everyone.   Ah Fall, maybe I'll fill the house with the warm smells of baking tomorrow...

Happy Friday