I had a request to fill y’all in on the farm critters next. AKA the petting zoo we are accumulating haha. It’s crazy to think the last time I updated y’all on the animals, the 4 big hens were living in the dollhouse coop, the new chicks from Atwood’s were in a brooder in the mudroom and none of these other critters existed yet! Have I got some cuteness for y’all!

I finished the chicken coop and run wiring mid March and the 8 chicks we had in the brooder moved into the coop. It was still getting chilly at night so the heat lamp went with them and I blocked their access to the run. The big girls stayed in the dollhouse coop that we moved them to the house in. I wanted the chicks to get at least half the size the big girls were before they started living together and pecking order rituals began. About 2 weeks later, I let everyone start free ranging at the same time. The big girls definitely chased the little ones from time to time but at least they had somewhere to run away to.

During this time, the woman that hatched the Easter Egger chicks said they were almost ready to be sexed and come home, so we set up a day after the Easter holiday.

Sometimes animals just have the darndest way of multiplying, ya know? Like you go to the pet store to buy a goldfish and figure what harm 3 would do. Or you go to adopt a cat and can’t leave it’s best buddy behind at the shelter. Or you meet a lady to buy four chickens and come home with 2 bunnies in addition. Ya Know? It happens! The lady was nice, her chickens were pretty, the bunnies were sweet and PRECIOUS and my 3 doe-eyed children could see right through me. Did I mention they were free?? Bonus bunnies! So we head home with 4 chickens in a tub in the back of the Expedition and 2 bunnies in a cardboard box on the seat between the boys. I had an hour drive back home to figure out how to bear the brunt of Nathan’s annoyance and where to put the cute little stinkers.

And I totally pulled it all off! 😁 The 4 Easter Eggers moved right in with the 8 from Atwood’s with very little drama. I gave the little guys plenty of hideaway corners using hog wire that they could fit through but the others could not and everyone adjusted.

Then I got to work on a rabbit hutch IN the chicken run. I had read plenty about rabbits living with chickens and how many people didn’t bother with a hutch. But I couldn’t stand the thought of a bunnie being crapped on trying to sleep in the coop, so they got their own house. It was done in 2 days and Thumper and Carrots moved in. 

Freeranging between the big girls and the 12 little ones was getting better and better, so I went ahead and moved them into the new coop and run after the bunnies had been in there for about a week. There had been ALOT of animal shuffling going on and it was time to bring it all together. I put plastic Easter eggs in each of the nesting boxes and the big girls caught on! It was crazy for a few days with the big girls’ confusion and being crappy to the little ones, we even had some laying issues, but it smoothed out quickly. The interesting thing is the Easter Eggers and the big girls roost out in the run while the other 8 roost in the coop where they technically should. I’m not going to stress too much about it until it starts getting cold again.

The bunnies began “freeranging” when the chickens did which was risky, but they stayed around the barn and came up to us when we called to them to be picked up. Until one started not doing that. Thumper (the solid white one, go figure) stopped coming to us and began acting more feral. As of a week ago, she has unfortunately completely disappeared. Carrots remains and seems to be fine with the solitude and continued arrangement. I even go out some evenings to find she has put herself up with the chickens for the night!

Finally, to round out our springtime animal additions, we have Jethro and Red (II). The barn kitties. I had been wanting to get a couple of boys to raise outside with Star (our original outdoor cat whose age has been showing) to give her some back up. One of Nathan’s coworker’s cats had kittens and we decided the timing was right to claim the boys from the litter. The last month with them has been so much fun! They are a perfect addition. Star likes them, they are super affectionate and are already digging up mole tunnels. 👍🏻 But really, most of time, they’re just being toted around by one of the kids haha!

I feel this will be it for animals this year. The other TWELVE chickens aren’t even laying yet, the missing bunny is sad and the new kittens are keeping us on our toes and entertained. Goats are still on the list. And I added guineas for about a day before marking them off after some more research. Who knows anymore?! Just no pigs. Not ever. Hold me to that.

-Lindsay

 

 

 

 

Whoa! March 11 was my last post!? So it’s kinda been awhile….and I REALLY have no idea where to start. The problem has been; when spring showed up, it really showed up! We got all caught up in it and the more we did, the more I knew I had to post about and the more I got writers block on organizing it all! I mean, the “chicks” have moved into the new coop after adding 4 more (making a total of 16), we’ve planted more in the garden and have begun harvesting a few veggies, we had new windows installed upstairs in the house, Weston played tball, went to a new state park, Ashlyn had her 5th recital, started a pet treat business AND got bunnies and barn kitties. About the only thing that hasn’t been off-the-charts crazy is our homeschooling. Pretty much all book work has ceased to exist once the weather got perfect and we have been outside sun up to sun down. Now that the heat has arrived, we’re picking the classroom back up.

So, really….how do I start this? Let’s just do a garden update on this post. It’s raining right now and that makes me think about the garden, haha. I’ll spread the other updates over more posts over the next couple days. *fingers crossed*

And just so y’all know, I’m totally delaying grocery shopping, blueberry picking and house cleaning to write this post. It never stops! And I love it.

GARDEN UPDATE

This spring garden has totally been my learning curve. And I’m sure the fall garden will be too. I keep saying, NEXT YEAR’S garden will be off the chain and I’m still pretty confident on that statement. Since my last post on the garden, we did manage to add some new plants and I think I’m going to break it down by what I’ve learned so far about each one in this particular soil and season.

Brussel Sprouts: Plants matured to a decent size, but not as big as they could be. The leaves have been big and healthy and the bunnies sure do love them. Tiny nubs that will become sprouts have formed above most leaves and I just hope the heat doesn’t mess things up. I did discover caterpillars on the plants yesterday that I have to battle after this rain. I don’t know if I will get much off these plants for the spring. I’m going to try it again in the fall and see if it fairs better. They may need to just a be a fall crop.

Broccoli: I planted these from seed for the spring due to not finding starter plants. Apparently, that’s a no no. It tends to get too hot for broccoli too soon for it to fully mature, but we did manage one delicious bunch off one plant out of ten last week! It was more like a “broccolini” and we loved it raw. I’m definitely doing these seeds again in the fall.

Strawberries: only one of the eight bare root plants made it to becoming a plant and the 5 mature plants we put in the ground are giving us a couple of berries a day. Enough to be fun. I don’t know if I’m going to keep messing with strawberries. We did find a great pick your own farm about 20 minutes away that had huge, organic berries and we were able to can a years worth of strawberry jam from one trip! Another post on that soon.

Asparagus: These plants are doing what they should. We won’t see anything edible this year from them, but if we treat them well, they should give us asparagus for at least the next 10 years starting. Crazy! We did lose one section of stalks to probably a wild rabbit, but that was before our new barn kitties. 😉

Zucchini: they’re finally making some veggies. With as many plants as I have, I should be getting more but I think that’s coming. I’m thinking they were waiting on the heat. I actually had to replant seeds 3 times to get the 10 plants I have now and I think it’s because I started too early. I filled in the rest of the row with eggplants and 4 new tomatoe plants (surprise varieties) that a friend gave me. 

Jalapeño: These have been the easiest, no frills, gives us something every day pretty much from the beginning plants out of the whole garden! I give them a little Epsom salts once in a while and they keep on trucking! Jalapeño will be doubled next spring so I can have more than we’re eating for preserving purposes.

Red bell pepper: the plants have been healthy and making good size peppers, but I’m fighting bugs pretty bad. Once the pepper starts to turn red on the plant, bugs attack it! I’ve started picking them green and we’re enjoying them just the same at least. I guess they’re just not as sweet as they could be if we let them turn red. I’m going to keep trying these plants in the future.

Roma tomatoe: I started out with just one of these plants and A GOPHER ATE IT. It was the craziest thing! I went out one morning and the plant seemed shorter. A little tug brought the remaining stalk out of this deep hole and the entire bottom half of the plant was missing! It was like something out of “Tremors”. I was pissed. We came across a battery powered sonar stake at the hardware store and decided to try it. Because if that jerk ate that plant in one night, what the hell else was he about to attack?! I’m happy to report so far, so good! So good in fact, I added 6 new Roma plants and even with them going in late, they’ve produced decently and look good for the remainder of the season. im going to replant in late summer for a hopeful fall crop that maybe I can make salsa out of!

Corn: Ugh. The freaking corn. I’m over corn. I’ll just buy it at the store. First was the planting it in one row debacle. Then they kept falling over! Like constantly! Then the aphids showed up and I was constantly spraying soap water on them. I started calling them divas because they were so high maintenance. I threatened to pull them up. Then the husks appeared. Yay! We might get something! Magic pollination! Plucked the first one and opened it up. Full. Of. Effing. Worms. So gross. Everything got pulled up. The end.

Potatoes: these were an after thought and have already come and gone. My friend gave me some extra starter spuds and I threw them in a hardware cloth bottom raised box because, why not. Ashlyn and I worked pretty hard covering the plants with dirt as they grew bigger and bigger. We finally ran out room in the box to fill dirt and waited till the plants showed signs the taters below were ready. We decided on a day based on our patience and schedule and dug the whole thing up. The plants PROBABLY could have gone another 2 weeks and we would have had more, but the over 10 lbs we collected from planting on a whim seemed worth it to me! I’m anxious to set sweet potatoes for the fall.

Watermelon and cantaloupe: these two plants are my pride and joy! They are doing EXACTLY what they should and give me no problems. I love them, also, because they taught me the importance of mulching your veggie garden! I started putting 2 and 2 together when the vines were getting overtaken with weeds that some sort of blocker was needed. So I decided to pull the straw/hay straight out of the chicken coop and spread it down every row. It has fertilizer built in with the chicken and bunnie poop (Yes, the chickens and bunnie live together. It’s awesome and adorable. Post coming soon) and as the straw breaks down it’ll feed the soil long term. Winning!! I began the process with the melons and to date have almost half the garden covered. I gotta tell y’all the difference between what’s been mulched and what hasn’t yet is night and day! That alone makes me believe that this time next year will be a different story for this garden!

3 weeks ago we planted pumpkin and spaghetti squash vines and they are growing like crazy mulched as well. We should see produce in the early fall from those plants.

At this point I feel that as long as I keep the mulching process going and thus feeding my dirt, things will keep getting better. I was definitely hoping for higher yield by this point, but ask me again next year 👍🏻

Well, that’s the garden update. What do y’all want to hear about next? 😊

-Lindsay