What "vacation" from the farm looks like

It's really hard to get away when you are raising animals and caring for acres of land.

This past weekend my husband and I went up to work on our cabin in Michigan.  We were only gone for a few days but leaving for any stretch of time requires both preparations and a recovery period when we return.

Before we left we had to stock up the feeders, fill the waterers, lay down fresh bedding and straw, put some food and water supply down by the duck house, empty out the fridge to make room for lots of eggs, and write out and go over all the plans with the neighbors, who would be watching the birds for us.

We decided for this trip just to leave the ducks in their pen the whole time.  We thought trying to gather up the ducks might put our generous neighbors over the edge.  We can't have that!  We need them!

So, we finally got everything arranged.  I watered my garden and checked on a few plants.  We packed up the suitcase and the car and we were off.  We had a very productive work weekend up north.  It wasn't at all relaxing, but at least we got a lot done.

The night we got back, the chores began again.

We had nearly 200 eggs to wash.  Since we wash all our eggs by hand, with lukewarm water and a scrubber pad, this alone was a loooooooooooong process.

I had almost every surface in the kitchen covered with eggs drying on tea towels.

While the eggs air-dried, I went back outside to check on things in the coop.  The feeders and waterers needed filling again.  Cupcake's baby pool needed a scrub down.  The bedding needed refreshing.  There were more eggs to be collected.  The food and water by the duck house needed to be put away....

Having a farm, even a small one, is real work.  It's work I enjoy, though, and that makes the difference.  People ask me: How do you work full time and do everything you do at home??  My response is: Well, I have to work my job and I love to do the farm stuff so I make time and try to find the energy for it.  I won't lie; sometimes it's tough, but it's worth the effort to make the life we want for ourselves.

"The Homestead Heritage of Mason Jars"

Read my latest article for Countryside magazine: "The Homestead Heritage of Mason Jars."

http://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/lifestyle/canning-food-preservation/homestead-heritage-mason-jars/

The article begins by talking about my own recollections of Mason jars and canning in my family then turns to a more recent collection of jars I inherited from a friend.  Finally, I share some of what I learned about dating the jars in my collection and how you can do this with yours.

Enjoy!

A new nest

You never know where you will find eggs when you let your chickens free-range.  

I wrote yesterday about the struggles we've been having with getting the chickens to use all the new nesting boxes we put in and the challenges that have arisen with so many trying to get into just a few of the original boxes.

Well this weekend I went out to my potting bench to get some tools for working in the garden and I discovered three broken eggs tucked in an old garbage bag that I had stuffed in the corner.  The girls were trying to nest in the bag, but it didn't provide any padding so the eggs had all broken.

Though we want them laying in nesting boxes in the coop, if they are inclined to lay eggs on my potting bench, I'd at least like them not to break so I decided to put a portable nesting box in the corner.  See it there towards the right corner?

Well, the birds loved it!  By end of day Saturday, there were three eggs in it!

Sunday morning, one hen ran over to the lean-to and immediately laid her egg in the box.

It's like Easter every day, here on the farm.  You find hidden treats all over!

Growing like a weed - an update on Cupcake

Our little duckling, Cupcake, turned two weeks old on Sunday.  She's already almost as tall as her mamma broody hen when she stands upright!  It's amazing how fast she is growing.

For the last week or so we had been letting the new family out to range each morning and then shooing them back into the baby coop at night.  Saturday night, though, Josh and I went out for dinner and his mother closed the birds up for us.  I figured I would get the pair moved over when we got home, but Cupcake made her way up the ramp and they snuggled into a corner of the adult hen house so I left them there.  Now they are mixed in all the time with the other birds and seem to be doing fine.

This morning when I opened the door, Cupcake ran out and started playing in a puddle.  I decided it was time to give her the baby pool so she could swim more extensively than she's able to do in the basin in the coop.  I got it down from the rafters in the garage and filled it up.  I put some bricks in it so she'd be able to get in and out.

When it was all set up, I picked her up and put her in the water so she'd see it was there.  She promptly ran out and went back to her mud puddle.

I guess it's true of children from any species: the mud puddle is always the most fun place to be!

Curtains for the coop

Our coop expansion project has lasted longer than expected, as usually happens when you're trying to do construction in the spring and deal with weather delays as well as "life" delays when other things come up.  

Part of the expansion entails moving the nesting boxes so that they can be accessed from outside the run.  This has thrown the girls off in a couple ways.  For a while we simply had fewer nesting boxes available.  Then Josh made more, but they were in a different spot and no one seemed to know they were there.  In the meantime, the baby chickens commenced throwing all the straw out of the new nests.  I would fill them back and up and by the end of the day, they'd be empty again!  It was exasperating!

So the result was that all the adults were attempting to lay in just four nesting boxes.  As you can imagine, this created new issues.  In the morning, when most of them lay, there would be birds trying to climb in two to a box and sometimes they would even peck and squawk at each other.  The nests were overflowing with eggs and, as a result, some got cracked and broken.  Then the birds began eating the eggs...

Bad news all around!

So I researched what to do with some of these problems, and I kept coming back to nesting box curtains.  I suggested this to Josh and he laughed out-loud.  But I decided to try it.  Nothing fancy, just an old sheet stapled up and cut in the middle of each box so that it could be tied back.  

The idea is that it blocks the entrance a little, making the nest darker and not so readily visible.  The hens like the privacy for laying their eggs.  It also makes it harder to see what's in the nest when a chicken walks by.  A lot of the reason they eat eggs or go broody, is just seeing a nest full of eggs sitting there.  I'm hoping that it will also help hold some of the straw inside.  

I made the curtains for all of the nesting boxes, old and new.  I also stood there for a while and any time a chicken hopped in one of the four that they all prefer, I moved her into a new nest.  Eventually they began to push the straw how they like it and some even laid eggs in the new boxes.  I'm hopeful that we are headed towards a solution.

And, the curtains are cute if nothing else!

Every farm needs a tire swing

Every farm needs a tire-swing.  

We were recently given this swing from a family friend who had it on his farm for years.  His grandchildren had outgrown it, and he wanted it to go somewhere where more children could enjoy it. 

Last weekend, Josh put his ladder way up into this Silverleaf Maple in the backyard.  He cut a clear path to a nice big branch and tied up a heavy piece of rope.  Just to make it extra secure he looped it up onto an even bigger branch above as well so that they weight is distributed through the tree.  I, of course, had to try it out immediately!

The real fun came yesterday evening, though, when my stepsons arrived.  The littlest one couldn't get enough.  The swing is just the right size for him to sit in.  He squealed with delight as we pushed him. 

First Josh pushed him and when he was worn out, I did it for a while.  He could have stayed in that swing all night!

Watch him swing on YouTube.  It'll make you smile.  His happiness is infectious!

This one is in slo-mo.

It made me so happy watching him enjoy that swing.  This is what childhood should be like: catching tadpoles, running and rolling in the grass, gathering collections of sticks and rocks, going for walks to visit the neighbors, picking flowers, making wishes as you blow on dandelion seed heads, and watching the world spin around you as you fly through the air on a swing!  

Gardens begin again

Gardens 2016 are officially going!

I borrowed my neighbors' heavier tiller and did several passes on the garden Saturday getting the compost and manure well-mixed and the soil nice and soft.  That rich, smooth soil waiting to be planted makes my heart warm.  So much promise awaits in that simple picture.

A few weeks ago I planted carrots and beets, and the beets have sprouted.  Soon I'll need to thin them out a little.

I had also planted kale and lettuce in some pots on the deck but was having difficulty keeping them wet enough, so I put them in the ground as well this weekend.  I told Josh that they seemed happier already on Sunday morning.  He replied with a grin, "Yes, they were very giggly and chatty today.  I agree they seem happier."  

I saw a lot of things online about growing potatoes in various containers so I thought I'd try some sweet potatoes in these five gallon buckets that were sitting unused in the lean-to.  I just drilled some drainage holes in the bottom and filled them with dirt then planted my sweet potatoes on top.  The idea is that when they are ready to harvest you just dump the bucket and it's a lot less labor intensive.  I ordered some purple seed potatoes from Seed Savers.  I might try them in a big container too.

I've been cooking with peas a lot lately and enjoying them so I decided to try my hand at growing some.  I found these cute little plants at the store since I'm a little late now to start this cool-weather crop from seed.  I planted them next to my bean trellises.  I figure they'll be done by the time it's warm enough for beans so it was a good use of space.

The garlic that the boys and I planted last fall is looking good!  I weeded it a bit this weekend.

When I was at the store getting pea plants, I saw tiny asparagus plants.  I've never seen asparagus in a plant like this so I got very excited.  My neighbor told me they look like asparagus ferns but they were labeled asparagus and they do have tiny asparagus shoots on them.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they aren't just ornamental.  If they are legit, it'll save me a couple years of waiting on bare roots to get established.

I asked my sweet husband if he could build me a little raised bed for the asparagus plants so they could have a dedicated spot in the garden.  He cut up some treated lumber we had bought for the chicken coop project and had it set up for me in under a half hour.  A trip to the feed store for soil, and I was ready to plant.

See the tiny little baby asparagus near the bottom?

Last weekend I spent both Saturday and Sunday in the herb garden and front flower beds weeding and cleaning things up.  I also painted the bell post, which was in need of some love.  I'm really happy with how things are growing already.

My strawberries had spread out so much that I dug a bunch of shoots out and spread them around the garden.  The plants have lots of flowers on them.  Hopefully the chickens won't eat all the berries before we get to them!

My thyme is leafy abundance!

This pineapple mint is filling in around the pavers that run through the middle of the garden.

My mom had a plaque like this one in her garden and I always loved it so when I saw it online last year, I had to order one for my house too.

The rogue elderberry from Rita's garden is doing well.  It's even put out two shoots on either side.

It's nice to be able to run out to the garden for seasonings again.  Doesn't food always take better with fresh herbs??  I got some sweet basil and some cinnamon basil as well, which I'm keeping inside for now until we hit the frost date.  I had never seen cinnamon basil before but when I rubbed a leaf between my fingers and smelled it, I had to have a plant.  If you haven't had it before, look for it when you're getting plants!  It's such a unique and interesting flavor.  

Happy planting everyone!