How is it Only Tuesday??

It’s been a long week.
It feels like it oughta be Friday already.
But, it’s only Tuesday.
😂😂😂

The past few days have been aaaallllll about weeding.
Weeding the garden, weeding the flower bed in front of the house, weeding the hay fields (aka as my front lawn…😂😂😂).
Weeding.
Weeding.
Weeding.

But at least the chickens are loving the thistles I’m pulling out.
Oh yeah, that’s the bulk of the weeding.
Pulling thistles as tall as me in some places.
So.
Much.
Fun.
NOT

Has to be done though, because I’d like to avoid using chemicals to kill the thistles and they are trying really hard to take over.
So I gotta pull ’em out.

As for the front of the house…
We *had* 4 trees there.
I don’t know why people think planting a tree right next to the foundation of their house is a good idea.
It’s not.
Really, it’s not.
Well, we had 3 planted by the previous owner and a pop up out of nowhere lilac that appeared last year.
Now?
Gone.
The front of the house looks so clean and open now!
Not some jungle mess of weeds and half dead trees.
So another project of having to regrade beside the house, and graveled over to keep asshole chickens from dust bathing there, has been created.
It was hilarious the first morning we let the birds out and a handful of hens ran out to go hide under a tree to lay their egg…and there were no trees there!! 😂😂😂
If chickens could look stunned, these ones did.
Maybe now it’ll be easier to find the eggs those feathered assholes are hiding.

And this weekend we start sending roosters to Freezer Camp.
It’s time.
The first hatchers are getting big and getting to the point that they’re pissing off the hens.
So, off with their heads.
We’re also relocating the ducks to the pig yard.
No pigs in there, and only a 2 sided shelter, but a couple of the duck hens have been sneaking out of the poultry yard and hiding in the long grass overnight, so we’ll give the 6 of them an entire yard of tall plants to noodle around and play in.
They’ll be much happier…at least until the Fall when they have to go back into the main coop.
Turkey eggs are doing well, I suppose.
I mean, I haven’t candled to check them, so I’m assuming they’re developing and rolling right along.
Sunday they go into lockdown, and by he 6th I should have poults.
Fingers crossed!!

And then we have to figure out how we’re gonna winter any we want to keep.
But y’know…we’ll figure something out.
😂😂😂

‘Til then, Ima just gonna be weeding.

Just a Quick Update…

Still cutting hay.
Waaaaaay behind on it, but trying *hard* to catch up.

Still weeding the garden.
So far beans look awesome, same with beets.
Many of the strawberries we planted are doing well, some were lost to *$?@ing grasshoppers. 😡
Carrots are coming up great and same with parsnips.

Yesterday I noticed the tomatoes and peppers I tossed outside (with the plan to plant them) were still struggling…
I thought they’d all died, but today I managed to save 3 tomatoes (2 ropreco paste, 1 brandywine) and about a dozen pepper plants.
I figured, at this point, I have nothing to lose if I clear a spot and stick ’em in the ground.
I had already written them off as dead anyways.

Later when it cools down a bit, I’ll pull back the tarp a bit in another spot and stuff in some onions.
Because I have ’em and if I don’t plant ’em they’ll be compost.
If I plant ’em and they grow, that’s awesome.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

We’ve been collecting used windows.
And selling many eggs….that the chickens haven’t been hiding.
They’re hiding many of ’em.
Because assholes.
What’s my point?
Used windows + egg money for lumber = greenhouse build this Fall!!!

Oh. The. Excitement!!

😍 😍 😍

This is the inspiration…image stolen from somewhere out there on the interwebs…

We were talking about a hoop house.
And a gift was sent that we were going to use to build it so that we had it ready to go come spring time.
Once we started pricing materials though, we looked at each other and said “huh. for a temp. structure we can spend just about the same amount as we would spend on lumber to build the framing for used windows…and if we build a permanent greenhouse, it’s gonna last longer.”

So the money that was earmarked for the hoop house got stuffed back into the bank until we could double it with egg sales and now, this weekend, Hubby goes to get the lumber.
SQUEEEEEE!

I have wanted a greenhouse for-fucking-ever.
This will give us a place to start seeds out of the house, and a place to keep the peppers and delicate, longer season tomatoes to grow.
It’s gonna be a metric fuck tonne of work, but it’s gonna be soooo worth it.
I’m hoping between this and the garden expansion project that I can begin offering fresh, organically grown veggies with the free ranged eggs.

If I thought I was tired before…
😂😂😂
Wait for the expansion of growing foods.
😂😂😂

Rain

Yesterday and last night we got rain.
A lot of it.
Which is good because I hate watering the garden. My hose doesn’t reach so I have to use watering cans,
I do it, but I complain about it.
Mostly because my garden is fairly big and watering can after watering can gets tedious.
It’s kinda hilarious…especially since we’re working on expanding it.
😂😂😂

But the rain has also made the grass grow, and that becomes hay.
That’s what I’m doing today.
Cutting hay.
Hay here in the Farm yard.
Then hay up on the side access road beside our property.
Then hay over at a friend’s place where she can’t get into with machinery.
Here hay, there hay, everywhere hay, hay…
😂😂😂

Not that I’m complaining because every bit of hay I cut and put up gets us closer to being able to keep a ewe or 2 over winter.
😉
Because sheep, and I refuse to keep animals I cannot feed.
So, I work my rump off to make sure we can feed ’em.

Then tomorrow I’ll be back at weeding the garden.
Which is food for not only us humans but them darn meat chickens…because meaties do love when The Food Lady tosses them weeds to eat.

My new statue addition…

Check out my new-to-me statue!
She came from the local dump.
Yup, our dump allows us to “shop” so that things can be recycled.
I ❤ LOVE ❤ that.
We’ve gotten building materials, gardening things, hardenable steel for Hubby’s forge, and now a new garden statue.
She’s concrete and just about 15 inches tall.
Ima clean her up, give her a fresh coat of paint and enjoy her beauty.
🙂

And now, on with the day!
Gotta go cut the hay.
😉

Hatching Egg Update

There was much chirping this week.
Again.
Another 44 chicks have joined the flock(s) out of the incubators.
That puts my hatching total this year at 217 chicks.
Whew!!
That’s a lot of chicks!
Though, it’s only half of what I was hoping for.
But, with the amount of roosters, and with the older layers slowing, we’ll have ample chicken in the freezer this winter.

There are a few eggs still in the small incubator.
It’s only day 22, and some might still hatch.
I’ll give them until Saturday to show signs, and if nothing, they’ll go to the compost bin.

With new chicks going into the brooder, that meant the chicks in there (now fully feathered and growing like crazy!) had to move out.
They moved into the tool rack Hubby brought home a while back.
As it turns out, it has a top section and a bottom section.
The 40 chicks who had to move previous to the 33 who moved today have the top section.
They’ve been there for almost 4 weeks and have space to go another couple of weeks for sure.
By that time, we’ll be looking at the 1st hatchers to separate roosters for Freezer Camp.
Once they’re processed, we can move the Top Half 40 to the poultry yard.
Whew.
It gets exhausting trying to remember who is how old and where they need to go next!
That’s why I take notes, to keep track of everything.
Except feed.
I got lost and distracted on feed this year.
*sigh*
It happens.

Ooooh, and the new thing…

So I told you all how we tried turkeys.
Hatchery turkeys did not work out.
Every one died.
BUT
I took the time to talk to a lot of folks who have heritage turkeys, did a LOT of learning, found where I made too many mistakes with the hatchery ones, and have vowed to not make those mistakes again.
Live, learn, do better when I know better.
And that’s where I’m at.

Yesterday, I picked up these…

Narragansett turkey eggs

Those went into the big incubator today.
The person I got them from is meticulous about her breeding program and has an excellent fertility rate.
So, fingers crossed that all goes well and we have (in 28 days) a bunch of turkey poults.
I’ll be looking at keeping a fair few as breeding stock, and then others will go to freezer camp.
Means more building to do, but it also puts us another step towards self sufficiency.
Plus, these guys are pretty af…

image courtesy of The Livestock Conservancy

I am hopeful (and prayer filled…because I really want a flock of turkeys).

And Now I’m off to go do some weeding in the garden.
I may have fallen down on getting the tomatoes and peppers planted, but I have beans, carrots, beets, parsnips, some zucchini plants and some other random stuff growing in the weeds.
Time to work on that.
🙂

Enjoy your day, folks!

Weekend Project

This is how it started…
5 (almost 6) yards of 3/4″ limestone gravel.
And Daphne.
😉

Midway through…
We were hauling it by 3 gallon pail loads (because 5 gallon loads were too heavy) but it was clear we were gonna run out of energy *fast* if we didn’t get it closer to the end spot.
Thank heavens for the tractor!

It’s just about 8 inches deep at the foundation.
Hubby fixed the rotten boards on the deck, hauled out the gross flax straw bales that were against the house (they’ve been there since we moved in and they were vomit worthy, lemme tell you!), spray foam insulated aaaaaaalllllllll the nooks and crannies, and then we began hauling gravel.
So, 8 inches at the foundation, and it eases out to roughly 2 inches at the end, and then there’s these loads to spread yet.
This will be roughly 1-1 1/2 ” deep.
Just enough to discourage the feathered assholes from dust bathing and cats from pooping under there.

We are very tired from this.
This weekend brings the next task…
Basement lighting and cleaning.
*sigh*
Because it. never. ends.

It’s the Weekend…

Not that that means much here.
Work doesn’t stop just because it’s Friday, know what I mean?

This weekend is gonna be a back breaking one.
Tomorrow, we have 5 cubic yards of 3/4″ limestone being delivered.
Let me tell you why…

It all started with those feathered assholes.
Y’see, when your chickens free range (whether you want them to or not) and do whatever the hell they please, sometimes they create problems.
Like around the foundation of the house.
Because under our deck is dirt with a bit of gravel.
If you know chickens, you know this is exactly where these assholes want to dust bath.
*sigh*
Which means they’ve dug holes beside the house and we have water getting in from the low spots when it rains.
It also makes it easier for rodents to find their way into the house.
And THAT make me very un-fucking-happy.
So, instead of sending every single feathered asshole to Freezer Camp, we’re clearing out the mess under the deck, re-insulating the spots that need it, putting up more metal to protect the insulation and covering everything in gravel that is not attractive at all to chickens to dust bath in.

That means a whole lot of buckets of gravel filled, hauled to the guy under the deck, where he dumps them and rakes it out to the depth we want.
It’s gonna be a lot of work.
And it better keep those jerk birds from doing this again.
Or they become soup.
Not even kidding.
😂😂😂

It’s also gonna be really effing hot while we do this, and I wish we had bought a pool.
I do think we’ll set up the sprinkler a time or two.
Which oughta please Sable to no end…that horse and water…
Of course, there will be copious amounts of alcohol for when the work day is done.
And maybe a bonfire if the wind allows for it.

Ruby says the excessive heat is bullshit…
I says she’s right.
😂😂😂

And on the subject of feathered assholes…
Next week will see chirping in the incubators.
Aside from potentially hatching turkey eggs, this will be our last round for the year.
Otherwise we have to over winter too many birds, while they get to edible size.
We’ll be well over 200 birds hatched out this season, so I’m sure we’ll have plenty of roosters for Freezer Camp.
My first round alone has more than 20, so I think we’ll be okay for chicken for winter.

Anyways, butchering chickens is a task for a much cooler time, a few months from now.
Right now, we have to focus on fixing the damage them stupid birds have done.
Yeehaw.

Stay cool friends, and enjoy your weekend!
🙂

July 1st

Happy Canada Day!

It’s another warm one here, though no where near as bad as it’s been the past few days.
Last night we got an amazing down pour of rain.
It’s made everything growing perk up a lot.
5 days ago I planted just about 800 bean seeds in the garden.
Whole rows popped up overnight.
I’m so happy to see that!!
Tomatoes and peppers are outside (not planted yet) and came though a-ok.

Only downside is the pressure is killing my head.
I’m sitting in the air conditioning, drinking beer and trying to ignore the migraine trying to rip my head off.

I’m also editing a few pictures I took today.
We popped over to the local horse Rescue to take some shots.
So I’ve got those working, as well as a few of the mares here.
Because how can I take pictures of other horses and not my own?
😂😂😂

I’m actually marveling over how well our CinderBella (Sable) is doing this year.
2 years ago at this time she was so sick…we had no idea what was wrong and honest to Dog, I wasn’t sure she was gonna pull through.
I spent many a night praying to Epona for clear guidance on whether to let her go or not.

Thankfully, as we were reaching our financial limit, Epona said “It’s not her time yet, she has more to do for Me” and our sweet mare made an abrupt turn around.
I cannot express how grateful I am for that turn around…to this day, we still don’t know what caused the infection that made her sick, or even where exactly it was…we know she has arthritis in her TMJ, but that shouldn’t/wouldn’t have caused the infection.
Either way, she’s been running at anywhere from 95-100% heathly since.
She is such a special horse and we are so lucky to have her in our lives.
💛💛💛