 It's mid August here on our little suburban homestead in Utah. What you see in the picture above is what I am currently harvesting from our gardens. Dragon Tongue beans (they're only doing so so, pole beans are just now starting to come on, sage is ready to be plucked and dried for cold weather cooking, and our kale is going gangbusters. I'm really hoping things pick up in the rest of the garden, and it is actually looking a bit more promising today than just yesterday, which is weird. Suddenly I am finding blossoms where there weren't any, and I'm starting to see signs that maybe, just maybe, the tomatoes are going to really kick into gear. Perhaps it's because the searing heat has finally started to let up and rain has been moving in and out for a few days. These are our pole beans, and as you can see they are bursting with flowers. I actually found about ten beans hiding in the foliage. Our two tomato patches are starting to get some clusters of fruit, and I'm really praying over these pathetic looking plants that they will really come through for me. It's on them to fulfill my dream of jar after jar of tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, crushed tomatoes, and maybe even pizza sauce.  The carrot patch was covered by the pea plants for most of the heat wave, and they look pretty good. The pea plants kept them shaded and retained moisture so the little carrot seedlings could survive, so I forgive them for not giving me as many peas as I was hoping for.  The Kale patch is fantastic, no complaints at all there.  These tiny little pepper plants were all I got from a 4x4 patch that had about 80 seeds put in. I'm not even sure what kind they are yet, or if they will ever produce anything. They didn't even come up until about a month ago, but, here they are so I guess we'll see what they do. The squash patch has plenty of blossoms, but, so far, no squash. Everyone else in the neighborhood is giving away their zucchini and I don't have a one.  I know this looks like corn, but, it is Sorghum, which is a new plant for me. I planted about 8 seeds, and it looks like nearly all of them came up, so, that's promising for next year.  The Arugula has bolted and is now producing flowers and seed, so, it's time to get those plucked and dried. I'm still eating the leaves, I like how peppery they are and the tanginess is fine with me.  The three rows of sunflowers I planted have resulted in about 20 sunflowers, total. To their credit, they were one of the last seeds I put in and they are really trying to make something of themselves. And these are my very brave volunteers. The first one is a random squash looking plant that came up in my old turkey pen, now the wood shed. Guess we'll see what that ends up being, but, it's the only squash so far that actually has any fruit showing. The next one grew through the fence from the compost pile on the other side, and the last patch is all volunteer potatoes. They don't typically give me all that many, maybe 10 pounds or so, but, we'll keep cheering them on and see what we get.  I planted spearmint and peppermint alongside the chicken run knowing it would take over and spread out, helping to keep the flies under control and make the whole area smell nice, and that is exactly what it did. Just love it.   The marigolds I planted in various parts of the garden beds are finally in full bloom and really bringing in those pollinators, but, next year, whatever doesn't come back on it's own is going to be supplemented by some flowers that bloom earlier. I feel like my garden may have done better had I had more pollinators attracted sooner.
Hopefully the next post about the garden will have lots and lots of nice plump red tomatoes, zucchini galore, and so many beans I can barely keep up with them. And cucumbers, too.
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Aka, what happened to the garden? This year our vegetable garden is just a little scary looking. I'm trying to grow a very low maintenance, more natural garden, and I think it's going well, but, I really have nothing to compare it to. I have seen Back to Eden gardens, No Dig/No Till gardens, Permaculture gardens, raised bed gardens, and of course my next door neighbor's tiny but pristine garden. Coming from a sort of farming family, well, some of my relatives farm, some of my ancestors farmed, does that count, well, anyway, one would think growing food was in my blood. Apparently I have quite a bit more to learn. In years past I have grown gardens under a variety of conditions, mostly sad, unimproved plots of dirt, but, I usually get some success. One year, we lived in an old rental house that had long long ago been a farm house. The area behind the house showed remnants of a barn foundation, but, any signs of tillable, rich soil were long gone. Still, we were poor, and needed to find ways to feed ourselves that came from the sweat of our brow rather than the single income we were eeking out. We used pick axes, shovels, and rakes to loosen a 15x15 section of ground, and with no money for amendments or fertilizers, we just put our seeds in the ground and prayed for the best. To our amazement that garden grew and produced quite a bit of food. Our first peas were, to us, the best tasting peas in the world. That little garden was such an important thing for us, and so satisfying when it was actually growing after all our hard work, that we would often bring lawn chairs out and sit by it, just watching it grow. Our next garden was a huge plot in the backyard of the first home we ever owned. Again, no real amendments, just horse manure and lots of it. The garden at that house grew whatever we planted in it. Another triumph. And then came our current property. Tim just loves his lawn, and each inch I dig up for garden spots causes him almost physical pain. I have the philosophy that it's just grass, it can grow back if we want it to, and no body is doing anything in our back yard, so, why not make it work for us. It was true, the kids stopped wanting to be in the back yard when they all started to hit teenage. "it's boring" is the phrase I heard the most whenever I suggested they go spend time in the back yard. There was no fighting it, the back yard was just grass that needed to be cut and nothing more.  At first I settled for a small patch of garden that the previous owners had set up using three garden boxes. I hated it, the boxes were too small, and working in them was a pain. So, the following year I increased the size quite a bit, and grew some of the basics, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, zucchini, and pumpkins. The production was great but I was still not satisfied. Every year the garden got bigger and I increased the varieties I was growing. Finally, last year, we rented a sod cutter and removed the sod from a 50x50 foot section in the back section of the yard, and finished clearing the original garden, cutting sod there too to make it 50x15. It's still not big enough for me, but, I had to concede that we were fighting with the automatic sprinkler system. It limits where we can dig and how things get watered. Sigh. For now I will try to be satisfied. After the garden was in last spring, I fought the battle of the weeds. We had rototilled both gardens, mainly to just loosen what was very compacted soil, but, I knew we were bringing weed seeds to the surface so I expected the jungle I ended up with. My thinking was that the weeds would hold moisture and in the extreme Utah summers having something to slow the drying out process is a good thing. I was mostly right, but, the weeds were also crowding out the vegetable plants, so, I had to concede to weed. In the end, I was disappointed with the low production overall, but, encouraged by the fact that what did grow was so healthy. I determined that my plan would be to work with Mother Nature rather than against her and try to let her guide me. Sounds kind of granola, tree hugging, I know, and that's kind of a natural way of thinking for me, being a child of the sixties and all. After the garden was pretty much done producing last Fall, I set out to collect as much leaf matter as I could. I solicited my neighbors for their bags of leaves from raking up after all those colorful trees. They happily contributed about 10 bags of leaves, and I spread those bags over both garden spots along with all of our leaves and grass clippings. I didn't till it in, or rake it. Just laid it on top of the harvested garden. Then I let my chickens have their way with it, digging around, pooping, and controlling the pests that might be in the leaves. They were thrilled and I let go of any thoughts about that garden for the rest of the Fall. By Winter I was planning my Spring planting, buying seeds (heirloom non gmo) from various seed sites, and just knew this year I would be the master gardener I imagined myself to be. Using a journal I kyped from one of my kids, I drew my garden spots out, made lists of companion plants, mapped out where each vegetable would be planted. It was beautiful. I was excited. And then came Spring. Maybe someday I will get good at the indoor seedling thing. I do great at first, and everything grows, but, I must not be doing something right because the seedlings never get as big as I believe they should in order to survive transplanting. Still, I forged ahead. By the time the second week in May rolled around Winter was still hanging on for dear life, and the ground was still too cold to put anything in the ground. The rain came right after that, so it wasn't until end of May before I had much planted at all. I cut back my plans drastically, and only got peas, carrots, a few varieties of tomatoes, pole beans, bush beans, and leeks in. In June I put in squash, cucumbers, kale, brussels sprouts, radishes, collards, butter lettuce, cabbages, arugula, and peppers. Then came the heat. Weeks on end of temps over 100 every day. No rain in sight, either. That went on through July and by August the rains came back with the usual monsoon flows we get this time of year. Still, temps over 90 everyday.  I did amend a bit this year, but, as naturally as possible. The leaves I put down last Fall did a great job of creating a nice layer of dark, rich soil. I added to my plantings some bone meal, blood meal, and epsom salts, and scattered some coffee grounds around. The chickens had done their job adding plenty of nitrogen in early Spring. So, why is everyone else getting lots of tomatoes, and zucchini, and peppers, and my plants are only just now starting to put on fruit? I let the weeds grow but not overtake. I keep mulching with grass clippings and dead weeds. I get emails from neighbors asking if anyone wants their surplus veggies and I look at my poor garden and wonder if I'm going to get anything ripened before Fall sets in. Mother nature doesn't have this much trouble. She just drops seeds and lets them do their thing. I peer over the fence at our neighbors tiny but productive garden and while I know they use chemical fertilizers and such, it still irks me that for all my effort I look at my 30 tomato plants and can count a dozen tomatoes total, and they are all small and green and a long way from harvesting. My dreams of a table full of freshly canned tomatoes is quickly fizzling away. And yet I press on. Maybe all my work will actually pay off in the end. Maybe the early Fall will bring a huge harvest. Even if it doesn't, there is always next year. Which reminds me, I have an order of seeds coming in for planting my overwinter garden. Yep, giving that a try, too.
In the garden there is always hope and always next time. This will be the third year since we first became chicken owners, and it's been a fun journey, for the most part, but, every so often my girls come up with a new experience that challenges everything I thought I knew about chicken behavior.
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| Our turkey hen, Kris, was going broody last spring, and I thought it would complete her earthly journey and the measure of her existence to have her hatch out a clutch of poults, so, I ordered what I thought were meat turkey eggs. We started with six. One went awol somewhere in the coop on the first day, three hatched out at 24 days, and two were duds. The kids named them Mistletoe, Snowflake, and Chestnut, but, Tim and I call them Larry Moe and Curly because they are pretty clumsy and not too bright. They ended up growing much slower than we thought they should and I talked to the lady I bought them from, nope, not meat birds, heritage birds. After the babies were hatched, we moved Kris and the three stooges into their own enclosure separate from the chickens. I was concerned about the big girls being mean to the babies if they got out of their little area I had created with some make shift gates, and Kris was so protective of them that she acted weird whenever she was out of the coop, stirring up my other broody hen, a salmon Faverolle named Pipi. It seemed to settle everyone down to move them, and they were able to all be out in the open if they were only in contact in the yard where there was lots of space and plenty of places to run and hide if needed. Otherwise Kris and the stooges were closed in their own enclosure at night to protect them from predators, The enclosure consisted of the old little tykes playhouse that we used as a coop for the turkeys the previous year. We put it inside the old dog run we had used as the chicken run, and then created an open area that had hardware wire around it for them to be out in whenever we wanted to pen them but didn't want them confined to the coop area. The run was just big enough for Kris and the poults to get around in when they were small, but, once they were teens, it just wasn't enough space to flap their wings. So, as the summer progressed, and the poults grew in size, they also grew in bravado. I saw a couple of times when they chased a chicken that got a little too uppity with them, but, I wasn't there the day the last straw occurred. I came home from work to the news that the three stooges had ganged up on my little black australorp, Morticia. They had her pinned down against the side of the coop and were pecking merciliessly at her head. She was doing all she could to jam her little head under the coop edge, but, they still managed to draw blood and caused permanent scarring where her feathers have not yet been able to grow back. So, Tim put the poults into their enclosure and they were never to be out again. I made the enclosure bigger and topped it with garden netting to keep them from flying out, which is a problem with heritage turkeys, not so much with meat turkeys. The meat turkey would be so heavy it wouldn't want to walk much less fly. However, the heritage turkey takes most of it's growing, seven to nine months or more, just developing bone structure for flying and evading predators. The meat comes on at around six months, but, takes a while to fill in enough to make a holiday size bird. They would take much longer to be butcher ready than I needed, so, they are still with us. Kris, on the other hand, after being a wonderful mother to her three little charges, started going broody again in September, and was chasing the babies away from the feeders, which was counter productive to what I am trying to accomplish. I contemplated putting her back in with the chickens, but, as she spent so much time out of the flock, and we had added three new girls that were already finding their place in the pecking order, it would be iffy whether or not she would even be accepted. With her size, she would be able to hold her on, but, I was afraid of what she might do to a chicken that took her on. Any time we let her out of the enclosure our Pippi went crazy, attacking and trying to fight with Kris, so, it was clear there would be some conflict as Pippi was moving up from the very bottom of the order and wasn't interested in losing that spot again. It was with a heavy heart that we chose to end Kris's life. She had lived a full life, and had raised three healthy babies. |  Sweet Morticia before she was scarred by the three turkey poults. She now has a headband shaped scar across the top of her head. |
We took our first vacation where we had to have someone come in and take care of our flock. It worked quite well, and I am now a lot less worried about taking time away. What I did was hire a young man that was trying to raise money for a scout jamboree, and had him come in every day to feed and water the birds, gather the eggs, and scrape the droppings board inside the coop. We bought an automatic coop door opener that we ended up having to modify to fit our coop set up, and it worked great, still does.
You can see in the picture that we have an extension cord running to it from the house. The opening it called for was 17 inches wide and ours was only 14 inches wide, so, Tim put it on the outside instead of the inside and it worked just fine. I set it on the timer so it opens and closes the same times every day. I never have to worry about the door being left open all night, or having to get up and haul myself out of bed to let them out in the morning. It cost me $160 but it has been worth every penny.
We took the front door overhang from the old playhouse that had once been our first coop, and put it over their new door and I think it looks pretty good. Just needs a touch of paint to match the rest of the coop, and a few more rocks for their stairs.
We were able to be gone for ten days and were able to relax and enjoy ourselves after a long busy summer.
We took the front door overhang from the old playhouse that had once been our first coop, and put it over their new door and I think it looks pretty good. Just needs a touch of paint to match the rest of the coop, and a few more rocks for their stairs.
We were able to be gone for ten days and were able to relax and enjoy ourselves after a long busy summer.
The gardening projects were a new experience for us, and we succeeded at some and learned a lot from the others. We are converting to permaculture for our little homestead, so, that is a learning experience, but, I was very pleased with how easy it really is and makes sense. No heavy weeding, no chemicals, and a more natural approach.
Growing potatoes, including sweet potatoes was the dud for the year. I didn't do it right. I did all the first steps perfectly, but, didn't plant or grow them outside correctly, so, we got a small crop. I did learn some things about how to grow potatoes, but, not until after the fact. So, this winter I am going to begin anew, starting with some winter sowing, and then when it's time to plant, we will be doing a no till garden and put into practice all that we learned about growing potatoes. Hopefully, we don't have a lot more yet to learn about it and will have plenty of potatoes for our storage for next winter.
Onions were a bit of a bust, too, so, going to have to do more research on that. My pinterest boards are filling up with lots of ideas, so, I am kind of anxious to get through the holidays to start my spring planning.
The permaculture gardening made me want to have a more natural looking fencing around my garden area, so, I created a wattled fence.
Growing potatoes, including sweet potatoes was the dud for the year. I didn't do it right. I did all the first steps perfectly, but, didn't plant or grow them outside correctly, so, we got a small crop. I did learn some things about how to grow potatoes, but, not until after the fact. So, this winter I am going to begin anew, starting with some winter sowing, and then when it's time to plant, we will be doing a no till garden and put into practice all that we learned about growing potatoes. Hopefully, we don't have a lot more yet to learn about it and will have plenty of potatoes for our storage for next winter.
Onions were a bit of a bust, too, so, going to have to do more research on that. My pinterest boards are filling up with lots of ideas, so, I am kind of anxious to get through the holidays to start my spring planning.
The permaculture gardening made me want to have a more natural looking fencing around my garden area, so, I created a wattled fence.
It worked out better than expected. The chickens stayed out of the garden as long as I blocked off the gateway. It looks kind of rustic, and I love it.
Our family had big changes. Katie was already living and working in Seoul South Korea teaching English at a preschool, and this year Mindy joined her. They each have their own apartment, but, teach at the same school. James finally heard about his teaching assignment in Japan. he leaves for Kitakyushu Japan in the Spring to teach English in a school there. Matthew is a year and a half into having braces and I'm seven months into it. Neither of us likes having braces, but, we both like the progress, so, it's all good. Tim retired and has been working part time at the post office in a nearby town, but, he is looking for something more permanent hoping for something to come up soon. Holly and Myleigh are both in the Young Womens' program now, and that is a huge adjustment for Mommy, cuz that means no more primary age children. Holly will finish elementary school this spring, and that means no more elementary school kids for us either. Time moves forward, and that can be hard for a Mom.
Christmas will be a mix of feelings. We will be skyping with the older girls while we open presents. It will be Christmas night for them, and Christmas morning for us. This will be our last Christmas with James for at least a few years. Time marches on, and who knows what the coming year will hold for any of us. Hoping for good things, positive changes, and lots of wonderful family memories ahead.
Our family had big changes. Katie was already living and working in Seoul South Korea teaching English at a preschool, and this year Mindy joined her. They each have their own apartment, but, teach at the same school. James finally heard about his teaching assignment in Japan. he leaves for Kitakyushu Japan in the Spring to teach English in a school there. Matthew is a year and a half into having braces and I'm seven months into it. Neither of us likes having braces, but, we both like the progress, so, it's all good. Tim retired and has been working part time at the post office in a nearby town, but, he is looking for something more permanent hoping for something to come up soon. Holly and Myleigh are both in the Young Womens' program now, and that is a huge adjustment for Mommy, cuz that means no more primary age children. Holly will finish elementary school this spring, and that means no more elementary school kids for us either. Time moves forward, and that can be hard for a Mom.
Christmas will be a mix of feelings. We will be skyping with the older girls while we open presents. It will be Christmas night for them, and Christmas morning for us. This will be our last Christmas with James for at least a few years. Time marches on, and who knows what the coming year will hold for any of us. Hoping for good things, positive changes, and lots of wonderful family memories ahead.
I made a resolution this past New Year's Eve that I would get in better shape this year, but, if I'm honest, I didn't really have a solid plan that I could stick to long enough to make it happen. I pinned, and repinned tons of diets, exercises, tips, and tricks. I got new exercise clothes. Last year I had tried to begin a running regimen but I tore both my ACL and LCL in my right knee, and the LCL in my left knee, so, after eight weeks in knee braces I knew running would be a bit too ambitious, so, I dialed it down to just doing Yoga.
I actually stuck with that for a whole month or so before I started forgetting, procrastinating, and just choosing to skip it for another day. Again, Yoga was too ambitious, at least to do on my own. After all, I only have my dining room with a firm enough floor to do Yoga on, and a TV to play the Yoga programs on. That puts me in the pathway of every single family member in our house to ask questions of me, tell me something that simply cannot wait, plus, the phone invariably rings and no one else can answer it except me. It just goes on and on. Frustration was the only thing that was consistent.
Then it happened. The ultimate motivation to get fit. At least for me it was the ultimate motivation. I was walking out of the grocery store and the sun was shining brightly behind me. I could clearly see my shadow on the pavement. To my horror, I could also clearly see the shadow of my thighs jiggling as I walked. I didn't even know my shadow could be that vivid, and I really didn't ever want to know what I looked like in real life as I walked. What was clearly vivid was that I needed to slam the brakes on and figure out how to get into shape and stay that way.
The one thing I had avoided all these years was staring me in the face and I didn't really want to do it, but, I swallowed my pride and womaned up. I asked my husband to train me.
Now this is a man that is not just in shape, he's ripped, cut, tone, built, and every other adjective invented to describe someone that can bench press over 300 lbs and that's a light day for him. I've always bristled at the idea that Tim would question how I work out, make suggestions or try to kibitz in my fitness routine, but, everything I had done up to now since my Hysterectomy had failed to achieve any real results, so, what did I have to lose. The upside would be that perhaps this is going to be a bonding experience. Tim was cautiously agreeable to set up a training program for me, and added me, at my request, to our family membership at the Anytime Fitness in our town. He showed me how to use a few of the machines, and helped me determine the weight and resistance, how many reps and how many sets, and I was off.
That was way back in early Spring, and here it is September, and I have lost seventeen pounds and dropped from a skeptical 12 to a solid size 10. I started using the leg machines pressing about 30 lbs and am now up to 210 lbs. I've found a love of the Helix machine, and use it to warm up and finish off my routine. I'm at the gym about three or four days a week for an hour each time. Of course I have adjusted my diet, but, not all that much. It helped that I also got braces on in June, so, eating is not as much fun as it once was. Still, that goes for healthy foods more than unhealthy, so I end up eating a lot of soft things like potatoes, and soups and such, but, I have found ways to incorporate healthy foods in my diet as I have developed ways to manage to actually eat them.
What I found was that it was more fun to make my workouts more about strength training than losing weight and by building muscle I actually lost weight faster. It's the simple fact that muscle burns fat even at rest and muscle weighs more than fat so while I lost seventeen pounds of weight, I don't really know how much of that was fat, but, I can surmise it was probably more than I think. I now use seven different machines, plus I do squats, dips, and try to spin cycle once a week.
Either way, I'm feeling great, and I have to admit I look pretty good. Yesterday, while I was out grocery shopping I found myself in the exact same spot at the exact same time of the day with that bright sunshine behind me. To my delight, no jiggly thighs.
Tikka and Lacey are all fluffed out trying to air out their feathers. This has been a real scorcher of a summer. Even for the desert southwest it's hot. We've been averaging 100 degrees most of the past week or so. No real rain in sight for a bit of relief. My poor little chickens spend most of the day hanging out under the trees with their bellies splayed out on the cool ground. Their favorite time of the day is when I freshen up their water, and top it with black oil sunflower seeds. It's the combination of the cool water and a salty treat that gets them all excited.
The turkey hen, Kris, prefers to just stand in the water bowls.
The coop is really not pleasant during the day with all this heat. Egg production has slowed a little, and I'm wondering if they aren't just laying somewhere else. If it were me, I would find a shady spot with some cool dirt. But then, that's just me.
Kris has taken to hopping into my potato bed to lay her eggs. So far I haven't found any other eggs in random places, so, I'm not sure if they are just not laying due to the heat, or if they are really good at finding secret places.
On the upside, I did some finishing work on the Super Coop. Nothing crazy, just added a backdrop of wall paper attached to a tarp. It's washable and will provide a bit of insulation, which is not necessarily a bad thing with all this heat. I've felt a noticeable difference in the temps during the day since adding the backdrop, plus, the colors add a bit of softening to the sunlight.
The turkey hen, Kris, prefers to just stand in the water bowls.
The coop is really not pleasant during the day with all this heat. Egg production has slowed a little, and I'm wondering if they aren't just laying somewhere else. If it were me, I would find a shady spot with some cool dirt. But then, that's just me.
Kris has taken to hopping into my potato bed to lay her eggs. So far I haven't found any other eggs in random places, so, I'm not sure if they are just not laying due to the heat, or if they are really good at finding secret places.
On the upside, I did some finishing work on the Super Coop. Nothing crazy, just added a backdrop of wall paper attached to a tarp. It's washable and will provide a bit of insulation, which is not necessarily a bad thing with all this heat. I've felt a noticeable difference in the temps during the day since adding the backdrop, plus, the colors add a bit of softening to the sunlight.
I just have about 8 inches of paper to attach and it'll be done.
You can also see our egg box area is hidden by curtains. It makes for a darker space and more privacy.
Next addition will be an automatic pop door opener, which arrived in the mail this week. I'm super excited that I won't need to worry about forgetting to close the coop at night or being late to open it up in the morning.
It's a work in progress, but, it's almost finished. Still need to get that run built, but, we've been way too busy to tackle that project.
You can also see our egg box area is hidden by curtains. It makes for a darker space and more privacy.
Next addition will be an automatic pop door opener, which arrived in the mail this week. I'm super excited that I won't need to worry about forgetting to close the coop at night or being late to open it up in the morning.
It's a work in progress, but, it's almost finished. Still need to get that run built, but, we've been way too busy to tackle that project.
Last year in June we bought two turkey poults to raise as our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. They were Bourbon Reds, and that means they are a heritage breed. Heritage turkeys, we found out later, take much longer to grow into butchering size, because they spend the most part of their first year just developing bone structure. When we butchered the Tom we found he was way too small to use for Thanksgiving, so, we decided to let the hen continue to grow until she was at a mature size. She got along fine with our chickens, so, we just let her roost with them and for the most part they all lived together in harmony through the long cold winter.
Then Spring came along, and some of my hens went broody. That means they want to raise a clutch of eggs, hatch them and raise the babies. Since we don't have a rooster they really couldn't do that, which was frustrating for them, and annoying for us due to the wacky behavior they go through and the constant monopolizing of the nesting boxes. Add to that the fact that they stop laying eggs during the broody period and it's just not something we want them doing for very long.
Our hen turkey, Kris, had been laying eggs since January, and they were huge and delicious, but, she also went broody around the first part of April, and stopped laying, too. She just laid on the floor of the coop, or took over a nesting basket, not letting any of the chickens near her. So, I decided maybe this year, instead of getting a couple of poults we could get some fertilized turkey eggs and see if she would hatch them out. After all, having a hen raise her own chicks is so much easier, and more natural for them, and means I won't have to have baby turkeys in the garage again. The hen takes care of them, teaches them to eat (remember turkeys can have a tendency to starve themselves to death when they are stressed), and protect them from predators and the chickens. So, I contacted a local turkey farmer and bought four eggs. She sent six, as she had an over abundance, and the odds of all of them hatching out were only about 50% at best. I really only wanted two poults, so, I was okay with those odds. The new turkeys will be broad breasted bronze turkeys, which grow very fast, and are at butchering weight in a matter of months. So, they will be ready just as fall gets here.
One egg went awol the first day, possibly pushed away and buried by Kris due to being a dud. She sat contentedly on the other five for 28 days, and then, like clockwork, they started hatching out one at a time. Of the five eggs, we got three poults and two duds.
Then Spring came along, and some of my hens went broody. That means they want to raise a clutch of eggs, hatch them and raise the babies. Since we don't have a rooster they really couldn't do that, which was frustrating for them, and annoying for us due to the wacky behavior they go through and the constant monopolizing of the nesting boxes. Add to that the fact that they stop laying eggs during the broody period and it's just not something we want them doing for very long.
Our hen turkey, Kris, had been laying eggs since January, and they were huge and delicious, but, she also went broody around the first part of April, and stopped laying, too. She just laid on the floor of the coop, or took over a nesting basket, not letting any of the chickens near her. So, I decided maybe this year, instead of getting a couple of poults we could get some fertilized turkey eggs and see if she would hatch them out. After all, having a hen raise her own chicks is so much easier, and more natural for them, and means I won't have to have baby turkeys in the garage again. The hen takes care of them, teaches them to eat (remember turkeys can have a tendency to starve themselves to death when they are stressed), and protect them from predators and the chickens. So, I contacted a local turkey farmer and bought four eggs. She sent six, as she had an over abundance, and the odds of all of them hatching out were only about 50% at best. I really only wanted two poults, so, I was okay with those odds. The new turkeys will be broad breasted bronze turkeys, which grow very fast, and are at butchering weight in a matter of months. So, they will be ready just as fall gets here.
One egg went awol the first day, possibly pushed away and buried by Kris due to being a dud. She sat contentedly on the other five for 28 days, and then, like clockwork, they started hatching out one at a time. Of the five eggs, we got three poults and two duds.
Kris was such a good mama. She took good care of her babies, and was so gentle with them. We ended up moving them all to their own new home we created out of the old turkey playhouse she and Hank the tom had shared last year, enclosed in the old chicken run. This kept her and the babies safe from neighboring cats, racoons (haven't seen one but I know they live around here), and our dogs, not to mention the chickens. Our hen, Pipi was broody at the time and would go after Kris when I let her out to stretch her legs, so, I had to keep them separated. Before the eggs hatched I would get Kris up and out once or twice a day to stretch, poop, eat, drink, and take a dirt bath. After they hatched she refused to leave them and even when forced would only be out long enough to poop and then wanted right back in.
Such a good mama.
I was gratified to watch the babies spend less and less time under their mom and more time exploring their new world. If they had been raised in a brooder they would have needed a heat source and that means either a dangerous, fire hazard heat lamp or a brooder contraption (I have a Brinsea brooder). With Kris, they feathered out sooner, and needed to be under her only for short periods once they were fully dry.
They've grown quite a bit in the three weeks since they were hatched, and are happy, playful little things. Kris is very protective, but, not mean about it. She just keeps a wary eye on them and only puffs up and charges the dogs when they get too close to her enclosure. She lets all of us interact with her and her poults, so, I'm considering keeping her for another round of poults for next year. Haven't made up my mind yet.
For now, everybody is happy, and even though I told the kids not to name the poults, they did anyway. We have chestnut, snowflake, and mistletoe. I just call them the poults. After all. I am the one that will have to take their heads off when the time comes. Don't want to get too attached.
Such a good mama.
I was gratified to watch the babies spend less and less time under their mom and more time exploring their new world. If they had been raised in a brooder they would have needed a heat source and that means either a dangerous, fire hazard heat lamp or a brooder contraption (I have a Brinsea brooder). With Kris, they feathered out sooner, and needed to be under her only for short periods once they were fully dry.
They've grown quite a bit in the three weeks since they were hatched, and are happy, playful little things. Kris is very protective, but, not mean about it. She just keeps a wary eye on them and only puffs up and charges the dogs when they get too close to her enclosure. She lets all of us interact with her and her poults, so, I'm considering keeping her for another round of poults for next year. Haven't made up my mind yet.
For now, everybody is happy, and even though I told the kids not to name the poults, they did anyway. We have chestnut, snowflake, and mistletoe. I just call them the poults. After all. I am the one that will have to take their heads off when the time comes. Don't want to get too attached.
It's officially summer here on our little semi rural homestead. The temps are pushing 100 degrees and that means the growing season has arrived. Our garden spots have evolved, but, not all in the way I wanted them to. We created a new garden spot more to the back center of the yard, and widened and lengthened the old garden spot, but, in choosing to put the kids swimming pool in a level location that won't destroy any more grass, we chose to use part of the old garden. So, that means we cut our growing area in the spot by half. Good thing we added the new spot.
We had to rent a sod cutter and a rototiller to break the new spot. That was a God send idea, because what would have been horribly back breaking work that would have taken a week or more given our work schedules, it ended up only taking a few hours. We broke the cut strips of sod in to sections and used them to edge the fence all around the yard to fill gaps and make it less interesting for the chickens to dig so they don't find there way into the neighbors yards. Some of the sod was laid along either side of our front sidewalk where the previous owners had removed sod to put some kind of border or some such thing in and then never did. We never wanted a border there, so, it was just a dip all along the sidewalk that filled in perfectly with the cut sod.
I let the chickens play in the newly tilled dirt all they wanted. They repaid me by fertilizing the entire area. They also took lovely dirt baths in the side garden and fertilized it, too. Once I was ready to plant the new spot I surrounded it with a temporary chicken wire fence. I was pretty surprised that the chickens respected the fence and never tried to get under it. Typically, chickens will not try to hop over a fence that is taller than they are unless it has a solid top. They like to hop first onto the fence and then to the other side, but, if they don't see a place to hop onto they just won't try.
I asked my neighbors if any of them had branches or stems they were getting rid of. Since it was spring cleaning time a lot of people prune trees, pull out shrubs and the like, and one of our neighbors was glad to be rid of the pile of prunings they had on their driveway. My plan was to create a waddled fence around the new garden spot, and it's coming together nicely.
We had to rent a sod cutter and a rototiller to break the new spot. That was a God send idea, because what would have been horribly back breaking work that would have taken a week or more given our work schedules, it ended up only taking a few hours. We broke the cut strips of sod in to sections and used them to edge the fence all around the yard to fill gaps and make it less interesting for the chickens to dig so they don't find there way into the neighbors yards. Some of the sod was laid along either side of our front sidewalk where the previous owners had removed sod to put some kind of border or some such thing in and then never did. We never wanted a border there, so, it was just a dip all along the sidewalk that filled in perfectly with the cut sod.
I let the chickens play in the newly tilled dirt all they wanted. They repaid me by fertilizing the entire area. They also took lovely dirt baths in the side garden and fertilized it, too. Once I was ready to plant the new spot I surrounded it with a temporary chicken wire fence. I was pretty surprised that the chickens respected the fence and never tried to get under it. Typically, chickens will not try to hop over a fence that is taller than they are unless it has a solid top. They like to hop first onto the fence and then to the other side, but, if they don't see a place to hop onto they just won't try.
I asked my neighbors if any of them had branches or stems they were getting rid of. Since it was spring cleaning time a lot of people prune trees, pull out shrubs and the like, and one of our neighbors was glad to be rid of the pile of prunings they had on their driveway. My plan was to create a waddled fence around the new garden spot, and it's coming together nicely.
For months I've been bringing home shredded paper from the office with the thinking I could use it as bedding for the chickens, but, they prefer the pine shavings, so, other than putting some in their nesting boxes, I didn't really use it. Then, I had the idea to spread a bunch of it on the area we were going to till up for the new garden, thinking it would stop the grass from growing, which would have worked if I had topped it with cardboard, but, since I didn't all it did was slow down the grass growth. So, I raked it all up into a pile with the dead leaves under the trees behind the garden spot, and the chickens loved climbing it and digging through it. After a few weeks they had it turned into a nice mulch, which I now use between the rows in the garden and around the tomato plants to hold in moisture and slow down weed growth. It also makes a nice pathway that doesn't get muddy and yucky, with the added benefit of being white and kind of snow like.
I planted the tomatoes and peppers I grew from seed, and the sweet potato slips I grew from a single sweet potato. I also planted some russet potatoes. The onions I grew from seed didn't transplant well, so, I got a bunch of sets and put those in. Some volunteer cilantro from last year came up, and I'm letting that do it's thing. I also put in parsleys, green beans, peppers, cabbages, and chives. It's all growing like mad. In the old garden spot I still haven't put anything in, but, a ton of volunteer potato plants came up, and are starting to set potatoes, so, I'm leaving them there. I also have a lovely patch of purslane growing all through that spot, and I'm leaving that, too.
I planted the tomatoes and peppers I grew from seed, and the sweet potato slips I grew from a single sweet potato. I also planted some russet potatoes. The onions I grew from seed didn't transplant well, so, I got a bunch of sets and put those in. Some volunteer cilantro from last year came up, and I'm letting that do it's thing. I also put in parsleys, green beans, peppers, cabbages, and chives. It's all growing like mad. In the old garden spot I still haven't put anything in, but, a ton of volunteer potato plants came up, and are starting to set potatoes, so, I'm leaving them there. I also have a lovely patch of purslane growing all through that spot, and I'm leaving that, too.
Once upon a time, this time last year to be exact, we were in the beginnings of our journey raising chickens. We had our first little group of chickens just starting to lay eggs, and had gotten a few others to add to that flock that were just a few weeks old. The coop we were using was an old playhouse that we converted for the chickens, and it worked fine for a while, but, it was impossibly difficult to clean and the fighting we knew would happen when we tried to cram a few more into the limited roosting space was just not what we wanted for our littles, so, the plan for a new, bigger, better coop was "hatched". See what I did there?
Now, almost a year later, and with many steps along the way, the girls are enjoying a wonderful, large, roomy coop, and we are enjoying being able to walk inside, clean it without having to stoop or bend or strain, and we have extra storage space to boot.
The progression was slow for the first few months, but, by Thanksgiving the girls were in, and we just worked on it from there to finish the inside. it now holds the chickens in the back portion, with a storage space over top of them, and then storage for all their stuff and my Christmas decorations (well some of them) in the front section. It's all divided by a chicken wire wall and a storm door to allow for maximum ventilation. There are three windows, two in the coop area on opposite sides, and one in the storage area. The eaves are open for ventilation, but, there is no draftiness inside. We put two large, 8 foot long roosting bars and graduated heights, and then one 6 foot roosting bar on an angle at one end (that was for our turkey hen, because she likes to be with the chickens but is too big to fit on their roosts). All the roosts are 2x4's to allow the chickens to tuck their feet under them in the winter. There are curtains on the windows that I tie back in the summer, but, make great draft breaks in the winter. The is a large droppings board which also serves as a jumping down point to allow the chickens to get down in stages rather than having to jump all the way down from their roosts. Tim installed a second platform on one end that is about a foot lower than the droppings board. The girls hop onto that as their last step to the floor. The nesting boxes are still on the floor, which is what our chickens prefer, but, I do plan to gradually move them to their own exterior mounted nesting areas on the back of the coop.
Now, almost a year later, and with many steps along the way, the girls are enjoying a wonderful, large, roomy coop, and we are enjoying being able to walk inside, clean it without having to stoop or bend or strain, and we have extra storage space to boot.
The progression was slow for the first few months, but, by Thanksgiving the girls were in, and we just worked on it from there to finish the inside. it now holds the chickens in the back portion, with a storage space over top of them, and then storage for all their stuff and my Christmas decorations (well some of them) in the front section. It's all divided by a chicken wire wall and a storm door to allow for maximum ventilation. There are three windows, two in the coop area on opposite sides, and one in the storage area. The eaves are open for ventilation, but, there is no draftiness inside. We put two large, 8 foot long roosting bars and graduated heights, and then one 6 foot roosting bar on an angle at one end (that was for our turkey hen, because she likes to be with the chickens but is too big to fit on their roosts). All the roosts are 2x4's to allow the chickens to tuck their feet under them in the winter. There are curtains on the windows that I tie back in the summer, but, make great draft breaks in the winter. The is a large droppings board which also serves as a jumping down point to allow the chickens to get down in stages rather than having to jump all the way down from their roosts. Tim installed a second platform on one end that is about a foot lower than the droppings board. The girls hop onto that as their last step to the floor. The nesting boxes are still on the floor, which is what our chickens prefer, but, I do plan to gradually move them to their own exterior mounted nesting areas on the back of the coop.
And this is the almost finished product as it looks today.
All it needs is the new run to be built, which is going to be twice as long and much sturdier than the one they used to have. The roof of the run will be beamed and planked for snow and rain run off, and the inside will have lots of different high and low roosts for them to climb on. There will be rock paths and logs to play on, and a wind break on the back. It will be about eight feet tall to allow for easy cleaning and maximum roosting spaces so nobody feels cramped or unable to get away from a bully or broody hen. The whole thing will be eight feet deep and 18 feet long. We aren't in a huge rush but the plan is to have it complete and ready for the fall weather, so, that gives us the summer to build it.
A local greenhouse had a bunch of old, weathered cedar posts they were getting rid of. They had them just piled up with a bunch of various length 2x4's and 4x6's, waiting to burn them, and we offered to haul them away. They gladly agreed, and said we could take whatever we wanted and just leave what we can't use. So, now we have enough lumber and posts to build a solid run, and a pergola on the back of the house, which is the other big summer project.
It's going to be a busy season.
A local greenhouse had a bunch of old, weathered cedar posts they were getting rid of. They had them just piled up with a bunch of various length 2x4's and 4x6's, waiting to burn them, and we offered to haul them away. They gladly agreed, and said we could take whatever we wanted and just leave what we can't use. So, now we have enough lumber and posts to build a solid run, and a pergola on the back of the house, which is the other big summer project.
It's going to be a busy season.
Spring is upon us, and it's shaping up to be a busy and industrious season at our little "homestead".
Our little flock is back to full service egg laying, and wow, are they productive. I expected they would lay an egg every day or so each, but, most of them are laying every single day. The sizes are varying based on how long they have been laying and what breed they are, with our Leghorns, Mochi and Nia, laying the biggest, extra large, white eggs. The light blue eggs are from Rosie, our reddish orange Easter Egger, and the olive green egg is from Chief, our oldest Easter Egger (if you can call barely a year old being old). The light green is from Bunny, our pheasant colored Easter Egger. Then there are the Salmon Faverolles, Winnie and Pipi. They don't lay everyday, but, seem to enjoy alternating days, so we usually get one smallish tan egg. The Silver Laced Wyandotte, Lacey, lays the bigger tan eggs and the Buff Orpington, Tikka the bigger light brown egg. Morticia, the Austrolorp, lays the elongated light brown eggs, and then Loralei, the Cuckoo Marans, lays the most beautiful chocolate brown eggs.
I just love getting a rainbow of eggs to put in our egg cartons.
And now we have a new type of egg to gather.
.
I just love getting a rainbow of eggs to put in our egg cartons.
And now we have a new type of egg to gather.
.
Back when we decided not to butcher our hen turkey, Kris, we weren't sure if we were going to keep her for much longer than it would take for her to fill out. When we butchered the tom, Hank, he ended up still being too small for a Thanksgiving turkey, and she was much smaller than him. After doing some research I found that Bourbon Red turkeys take quite a long time to get any butchering size, and we should have gotten him sooner than we did to use for the holidays. We should have started more like March. Heritage breeds never get to be the humungous size dressed weight that you see in the stores. What the market typically produces are turkeys that are bred to fill out very quickly and have large breasts. Heritage turkeys are more like the original turkeys people ate before science had a hand in it.
Since we went into turkey raising with very little knowledge, we found out the hard way, so, we decided for that reason and one other very important reason, to just keep Kris.
The second reason was the euthanizing method we attempted. What was supposed to be humane and peaceful for the bird ended up being traumatizing for all of us, and I still have a hard time thinking about it. I had read so many posts from people that used gas to euthanize their birds for various reasons. They all claimed it was quick, gentle, and painless, and that the bird just went to sleep and then stopped breathing. Sounded like the perfect solution to not wanting to grab him and hold him down while we chopped off his head, and I really do not like the killing cones method of slitting their throat and letting them bleed to death. Everyone has their own opinions of which method is best and the most humane, but, I had to try the gas method. It went very badly. Hank died slowly, and after almost 30 minutes he finally thrashed and seized and then died. It was horrible. To make matters worse, we couldn't use the meat because it was permeated with the gas. I will never, repeat, never use that method ever again.
So, here we were with a hen turkey and she was used to living with Hank in the little playhouse. We were building a much bigger chicken coop, so, we made provisions for her to share it with the hens, as long as everyone got along okay. We were so nervous that she would chase and attack them, and especially if they were all inside the coop with nowhere to run and hide. While we waited for Hank to expire, we let Kris just walk around the yard, supervised, to see how she interacted with the hens when Hank wasn't around. Surprisingly, she just hung out with them and chilled. No problems at all. Not one.
So, while we built the coop she stayed alone in the playhouse, with the hens visiting her and hanging with her whenever they could, but, as soon as the coop was done, she and the hens all moved in together.
Since we went into turkey raising with very little knowledge, we found out the hard way, so, we decided for that reason and one other very important reason, to just keep Kris.
The second reason was the euthanizing method we attempted. What was supposed to be humane and peaceful for the bird ended up being traumatizing for all of us, and I still have a hard time thinking about it. I had read so many posts from people that used gas to euthanize their birds for various reasons. They all claimed it was quick, gentle, and painless, and that the bird just went to sleep and then stopped breathing. Sounded like the perfect solution to not wanting to grab him and hold him down while we chopped off his head, and I really do not like the killing cones method of slitting their throat and letting them bleed to death. Everyone has their own opinions of which method is best and the most humane, but, I had to try the gas method. It went very badly. Hank died slowly, and after almost 30 minutes he finally thrashed and seized and then died. It was horrible. To make matters worse, we couldn't use the meat because it was permeated with the gas. I will never, repeat, never use that method ever again.
So, here we were with a hen turkey and she was used to living with Hank in the little playhouse. We were building a much bigger chicken coop, so, we made provisions for her to share it with the hens, as long as everyone got along okay. We were so nervous that she would chase and attack them, and especially if they were all inside the coop with nowhere to run and hide. While we waited for Hank to expire, we let Kris just walk around the yard, supervised, to see how she interacted with the hens when Hank wasn't around. Surprisingly, she just hung out with them and chilled. No problems at all. Not one.
So, while we built the coop she stayed alone in the playhouse, with the hens visiting her and hanging with her whenever they could, but, as soon as the coop was done, she and the hens all moved in together.
We put her favorite chair from the patio with the roosting bar from the playhouse into the coop, and she was a happy little camper. After a week she decided she wanted to be up on the roosts where the hens roosted, so, we made a roosting bar just for her so she had enough space. She's been happy ever since.
So, now that she is a grown up girl, she has started laying , and they are the prettiest speckled extra extra large eggs I've ever seen.
When a chicken starts laying eggs the first dozen or so are pretty small, so, if this picture is any indication of her future egg size, Wow,just wow. This is her first egg next to our Leghorn's extra large size.
So, now that she is a grown up girl, she has started laying , and they are the prettiest speckled extra extra large eggs I've ever seen.
When a chicken starts laying eggs the first dozen or so are pretty small, so, if this picture is any indication of her future egg size, Wow,just wow. This is her first egg next to our Leghorn's extra large size.
And so, the Spring season brings with it new experiences with our turkey adventure. Will we get more turkeys this year, well, that remains to be seen. If we do, it will be Broad Breasted so we get a nice big turkey and it reaches butchering weight in time for the holidays, and, we will be chopping heads off the old fashioned way.
About Teri
I'm a mother of eleven children, wife of 32 years, Latter Day Saint, and 911 Dispatcher and a budding homesteader. Come along with me as I journey toward self sufficiency, one baby step at a time.
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