Sooo we went away for the weekend and we returned to find chicken carcasses around the back yard. Whatever ate them mostly ate our fat laying hens, which sucks. We're thinking it was coyotes, but not sure. Reasonings: found a few with their entrails eaten out - coyote or predator sign. Found other in different areas w/o any disembowling but simply head bitten off or toyed with... might be dog. but all in all it kind of sucks. Those were the laying hens we were hoping to gift to people as they were already laying and were reliable. Instead they left mostly the weaker of the layers.. which sucks but still.
... time off for McGee to flip out and attack Calvin.. aparently Calvin has been a butt towards him all day... Calvin is now letting me know that McGee is killing him and that I should save him... I wish he would learn how to pick his battles...
Moving on..
Dorkings are getting bigger ... heck so are the White Faced Black Spanish and the Blue andalusians.. Due to the death of the older chickens we might have too many roosters at the moment which means we'll be eating some roosters this fall. Most likely the Blue Andalusians since I am not taken with their deamenour nor their looks. They're not bad, just not what I want. If someone would like to raise the BA please let me know and I'll save them for you guys. Otherwise they're going to the freezer.
The roosters keep trying to crow and it's hilarious. =) The bantams sound so cute and Jed has taken a liking to them. The roosters have also been trying to assert their dominion over the chickens.. which doesn't go well as the older ones are not taking any of their lip. If one of them tries to mate with them or to over power them the older chickens just pecks them until they run away. It makes me smile... and sometimes laugh until my tummy hurt. They just keep trying. We'll see when they get big enough.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Out front
As a short update... May was a month of ups and downs. I might post more about that in the future, once it doesn't hurt as much. We slaughtered some guineas for a really neat event and they were nummy! We're left with a pair but they have not started laying again. I did see them mate so I know the guy is at least in a breeding state of mind. We'll see if they give us anything. The ducks are still laying on the eggs. I'll have to post the egg story. =) And also the chicken story. =(
Sooo, up front I planted a lot of items from seed so now we have the following coming up:
4 types of beans
onions
grapes are doing a lot better now that Bugger is no longer sneaking in and eating them
We ate our first loganberry the other day
herbs are growing well
strawberries got burned with the sun but we have two hanging on
trees are doing well (3 citrus, almond and the apple)
melon and watermelon
I'm waiting on: corn and carrots to come up
Need to plant: tomatoes, strawberries, spinach, tomatillos, chilies (I guess others call them peppers...), and pickles. I'll see about doing this on Friday since I have that day off.
I love getting to see the seedlings come up. It's like christmas every time I see a new seedling sprout.
In the back we have all the trees growing, asparagus and mint hanging on, the onions spreading their seeds so that we have wild onions next year. We're harvesting mustard leaves and the grains. We're also saving some of the hay for summer food. Bees are thriving as I have to keep adding boxes as they keep filling them up with brood and honey. I need to build more boxes. Again, something I can work on on Friday. .. So much to do, so little time. If I totally can't sleep tonight (ate indian food for dinner... aka will not sleep due to tea) then I'll clean the house.
Sooo, up front I planted a lot of items from seed so now we have the following coming up:
4 types of beans
onions
grapes are doing a lot better now that Bugger is no longer sneaking in and eating them
We ate our first loganberry the other day
herbs are growing well
strawberries got burned with the sun but we have two hanging on
trees are doing well (3 citrus, almond and the apple)
melon and watermelon
I'm waiting on: corn and carrots to come up
Need to plant: tomatoes, strawberries, spinach, tomatillos, chilies (I guess others call them peppers...), and pickles. I'll see about doing this on Friday since I have that day off.
I love getting to see the seedlings come up. It's like christmas every time I see a new seedling sprout.
In the back we have all the trees growing, asparagus and mint hanging on, the onions spreading their seeds so that we have wild onions next year. We're harvesting mustard leaves and the grains. We're also saving some of the hay for summer food. Bees are thriving as I have to keep adding boxes as they keep filling them up with brood and honey. I need to build more boxes. Again, something I can work on on Friday. .. So much to do, so little time. If I totally can't sleep tonight (ate indian food for dinner... aka will not sleep due to tea) then I'll clean the house.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Looking forward to Thanksgiving
So the day after our Scything party our neighbor let us know that they had some turkeys at the Feed Store.... So Jed and I found our way over to the feed store. They happened to have different types of heritage breeds so we picked up three Narrangansets. They've been growing like mad and flying all around the turkey/craft/chicken/crap room. This morning I found them on top of one of the dressers and then they flew into their brood box to get some food that I put out for them. Since it was a straight run we'll see what we end up with. We're hoping for a breeding pair so that we can get future turkeys. We'll eat one for this Thanksgiving and look forward to future turkey dinners. =)
Which reminds me... I need to get a list of things I want for thanksgiving so that I can make sure that they are all planted and ready to be harvested by that time...
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Veggies and fruit
So far in the front we have:
Grapes (The grapist is going to grape me in the mouth)
Herbs - rue, roman chamomile, spearmint, thyme, marjoram, black sage, sage (vulgaris) , lavender
Loganberries (one berry cluster), blackberries, raspberries - in pots in the ground so that their roots don't extend too quickly.
Blueberries
Strawberries (a couple of blooms)
Almond tree (with almonds)
Apple tree (had blooms but they froze)
I just planted 3 types of pole beans and 4 types of yard-longs
For the future:
Corn, melons, watermelon, potatoes, carrots, onions, squash, and tomatoes.
I have the one bed on the far left, but I'll be adding more on the right of the tree as I would like to have an open area under the tree so that it can get as much nutrients as possible w/o me harming the roots.
Grapes (The grapist is going to grape me in the mouth)
Herbs - rue, roman chamomile, spearmint, thyme, marjoram, black sage, sage (vulgaris) , lavender
Loganberries (one berry cluster), blackberries, raspberries - in pots in the ground so that their roots don't extend too quickly.
Blueberries
Strawberries (a couple of blooms)
Almond tree (with almonds)
Apple tree (had blooms but they froze)
I just planted 3 types of pole beans and 4 types of yard-longs
For the future:
Corn, melons, watermelon, potatoes, carrots, onions, squash, and tomatoes.
I have the one bed on the far left, but I'll be adding more on the right of the tree as I would like to have an open area under the tree so that it can get as much nutrients as possible w/o me harming the roots.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Scythe-a-paloosa
Heck if I know if I spelled that correctly... Here is the email invite Jed sent out for anyone who did not get it through FB:
Come get your Peasant on!
Come rock out with your pre-industrial revolution self!
Rosie and I will be having a celebration of Pre-industrial revolution farming and food. We will be Harvesting a crop of wheat, oats and barley using the methods that where used in the medieval era. We will be cooking pork from pigs we raised and slaughtered our selves. We will also be offering free-range, cage free chicken from our own flock. Ever wanted to know how to slaughter, pluck, dress and cook our own food? Here is your chance, heck we will even let you pick a hen out yourself (kinda like the lobster tank at a really fancy restaurant, with out the price tag!). Milk a goat for your drinks and sample home made mead and cider, all from our home. There is no cost for this event but a RSVP would be nice. If you are coming from out of the area we have crash space inside or camping space outside (You can even clear your own site with a scythe or sickle if the fancy takes you). Rosie will teach and talk about home bee keeping (to anyone who holds still long enough) and Jed will off some classes and demos of blacksmithing. SCA member? Bring your armor and we can also re-enact the battle of "Angry, smelly, vikings try and take over Godric's Farm". Feel free to spread the word to anyone who may be interested in this event and can put up with Rosie and I rocking their pre-industrial world!
WOO HOO!!!! FARM PARTY!!!!
Come get your Peasant on!
Come rock out with your pre-industrial revolution self!
Rosie and I will be having a celebration of Pre-industrial revolution farming and food. We will be Harvesting a crop of wheat, oats and barley using the methods that where used in the medieval era. We will be cooking pork from pigs we raised and slaughtered our selves. We will also be offering free-range, cage free chicken from our own flock. Ever wanted to know how to slaughter, pluck, dress and cook our own food? Here is your chance, heck we will even let you pick a hen out yourself (kinda like the lobster tank at a really fancy restaurant, with out the price tag!). Milk a goat for your drinks and sample home made mead and cider, all from our home. There is no cost for this event but a RSVP would be nice. If you are coming from out of the area we have crash space inside or camping space outside (You can even clear your own site with a scythe or sickle if the fancy takes you). Rosie will teach and talk about home bee keeping (to anyone who holds still long enough) and Jed will off some classes and demos of blacksmithing. SCA member? Bring your armor and we can also re-enact the battle of "Angry, smelly, vikings try and take over Godric's Farm". Feel free to spread the word to anyone who may be interested in this event and can put up with Rosie and I rocking their pre-industrial world!
WOO HOO!!!! FARM PARTY!!!!
Bugger
Bugger is being weaned off of milk right now... things are not going according to her plan.
We're supposed to get up, feed her milk then put her out. We just put her out this morning and she ran back into the house screaming that we had forgotten the milk.... she's going to be one sad little goat when she realizes that she is a goat and not a cat or a human.
BTW, she was almost a goth goat. I was this close to buying her a skull and crossbone collar... but I didn't because it was made of fabric and she would have just chewed her way through her collar. I might end up just making little skulls on her leather collar anyways. =)
We're supposed to get up, feed her milk then put her out. We just put her out this morning and she ran back into the house screaming that we had forgotten the milk.... she's going to be one sad little goat when she realizes that she is a goat and not a cat or a human.
BTW, she was almost a goth goat. I was this close to buying her a skull and crossbone collar... but I didn't because it was made of fabric and she would have just chewed her way through her collar. I might end up just making little skulls on her leather collar anyways. =)
Happy and sad bees
The two smaller swarms ended up dying due to a freeze we had this last weekend. The temp got down to 36 degrees and they were not able to keep themselves warm. I found them still hanging onto the wax that they started drawing out just frozen in place. =( I'll have to see what I can do in the future so that any smallish swarms do not end up dying due to my inexperience.
The three other hives are thriving. I need to get back in there (hopefully tonight) and get the last queen's box out of the second of the packaged bees. They are building comb like mad and they are still thriving. They're very intent in their work and I've see the eggs so I hope to have new baby bees soon. The more I learn about bees from physically working with them the more thrilled I am.
I am having a bit of trouble with one of my hives. I used the slats that I purchased online for that one but they keep sliding off of one side and it's making their comb building get all funky. They build the comb inbetween two frames which isn't what they are supposed to do, but what are you going to do with nature? The bee bath is going well. Apparently it's already claimed the life of a wasp. I was able to fill up the water yesterday and it was nice that I did not have to go out there every day to give them more water.
I'm thinking about taking off a slat from the back fence of the bee area to allow for more sunlight to make it into the hives. I hope that works with the back neighbors. We'll see.
When I go look at the bees they are very intent in their work. They are busy, busy, busy building comb and filling in the comb with eggs and honey and nectar so that the baby bees can thrive.
The three other hives are thriving. I need to get back in there (hopefully tonight) and get the last queen's box out of the second of the packaged bees. They are building comb like mad and they are still thriving. They're very intent in their work and I've see the eggs so I hope to have new baby bees soon. The more I learn about bees from physically working with them the more thrilled I am.
I am having a bit of trouble with one of my hives. I used the slats that I purchased online for that one but they keep sliding off of one side and it's making their comb building get all funky. They build the comb inbetween two frames which isn't what they are supposed to do, but what are you going to do with nature? The bee bath is going well. Apparently it's already claimed the life of a wasp. I was able to fill up the water yesterday and it was nice that I did not have to go out there every day to give them more water.
I'm thinking about taking off a slat from the back fence of the bee area to allow for more sunlight to make it into the hives. I hope that works with the back neighbors. We'll see.
When I go look at the bees they are very intent in their work. They are busy, busy, busy building comb and filling in the comb with eggs and honey and nectar so that the baby bees can thrive.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)