nanny cam

I don't understand why old people are obsessed with the weather. I probably never will. What I do know is, I am officially "old". The first thing I do in the morning is check the weather channel. I have eyes, I can see if it's raining. I have skin, I can tell when I need a coat. For whatever reason, the exact number is now important to me. With that, I can tell you it is 50 degrees & sunny today. A perfect day for the broilers to head outside to "chickie daycare". All of our chicken pens are full. So we rounded up a scrap of fencing & a tarp, patched it together & put the chicks out to pasture. This is the last batch of broilers I am raising until spring. With any luck, the broilers, turkeys & old hens (plus any venison we bring home) will last us through winter. Eat up little chickies!

Chickie, it's hot out there!

90 degrees in September? In Michigan? If your chicken walks around like this, she's probably not hurt (like I first thought). She's just coolin' her pits. On hot days like these, make sure all your animals have plenty of fresh water! We (by that, I mean my kids) check on them about 3 times per day. Our free-range chickens have shade whenever they need it. They like to dig holes under the trees & hide in them. For the rabbits, we freeze water bottles & they lay down next to the bottle to keep cool. And yes, sometimes I steal an ice bottle for myself.

coop tour

The baby chicks & turkeys have moved outside. So, I thought I'd show you how the little red hen house "grows" with the birds. We first used this little house when we had just 3 hens. It has a roost bar & 2 nest boxes inside. The hens ran around the yard during the day & we locked them in at night. The door latches with a slide-bolt. The roof lifts off (with the strength of 2 people. Pretty sure it can hold-up in a tornado, though I hope not to test that theory). But, that way we can clean the inside & replace the roof with a wire top for baby chicks (see post April 26). When we got too many hens for this house, we made a stall for them in the barn. Then, my husband built the chicken wire"run" & it's now used for starting chicks outside, or seperating bald hens, etc. (Don't worry, it's not that crowded. Most of the chickens in the pic are outside the fence.)

Door number 2: This is a bigger chicken tractor we built to seperate breeding flocks. This is an upgrade, in that it has WHEELS! I just had to post this picture of the roof so you can see, anything goes. Yes, those are old, plastic, "for sale" signs. I have no idea where they came from, but with a little duct tape, they are waterproof, so we used them. All of our chicken runs have houses for night time with locks on the doors. We have too many hairy, nocturnal, chicken thieves in the country!

Door number 3: Is bigger still. This is the "turkey tractor" (currently housing a lame turkey & 2 bald hens). Also with wheels, nest box & roost bar. It has a sliding door to access the nest box, a trap door to drop in feed & water, plus a sliding door to the house, that we can open & shut without crawling into the pen (VERY handy when you consider how much chickens poop!) The ducks live in a dog pen, with a dog house & an old sled full of water that they try to swim in. That's recycling :-)

The Peeps have landed

I didn't exactly plan to buy more chickens, but there they were, looking all cute & fluffy... Being totally unprepared, I had to put them in a box, with a jar of hot water to keep them warm, until I could set-up their little house. They loved that jar so much, they were pushing against it with all their strength. We have a little chicken house, that we use indoors to start chicks & move it outside when the babies are ready. My husband built it with a removable roof. So, when it's indoors, we put a chicken- wire frame on the top & add the roof later.

Once the peeps were moved into their now home, I opened the door & our border collie sat right down to keep watch over his new flock. Once I got the wire top on, the cat took his turn babysitting.

Recycler's Garden

I'm cheap. I admit it. So, when I was ready to get this garden started, I started in the recycling bin. I rescued sour cream cups, cut the bottoms off milk jugs & put them to good use. I had been saving the eggshells all winter. Once I collected my loot, I punched holes in the bottom of all the eggs & plastic containers (be sure to put a tray underneath). I filled everything with dirt, some water & planted the itty-bitty seeds. I covered everything with plastic & set it near a window to warm the soil Once the seeds have popped-up, you can remove the plastic. Just be sure to keep the soil damp. I planted about a thousand tomato, pepper, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, melon & pumpkin seeds. I know, I know "don't start melons". But, last year my melons grew about as big as grapes before frost hit. I had no choice. As long as you start them in something that you can easily "slip" them out of, they'll be ok. You just don't want to disrupt the roots. If they all die, you can say "I told ya so". Don't start the melons in eggshells, they're too small. You want at least a 4-cup container. But (so far) the eggshells are working great for tomatoes & peppers. Once it's time to put them in the garden, I'll just smoosh the shell a bit & plant the whole thing!

garden surprise

So, the weather is warming up around here & I was feeling the magnetic pull of my garden. I just wanted to peek & plan out where everything would be planted, so I went for a walk today. I was expecting to see kale, because it's the last thing we harvested in December. There was some kale, but it was yellow & mangy & something had feasted on it all winter. I also found some tiny leaves of red lettuce that I let go to seed last summer. What I wasn't expecting, was an entire row of rutabagas! They survived the winter burried under the snow. They're perfect & beautiful. (well, this one was beautiful before I ripped the leafy green tops off & threw them in the compost pile) Stupid me, I got so excited, I pulled up the biggest one for supper. I should have let it grow for seed. Oh well, there's about 50 more where that came from. p.s. It seems chickens don't care for raw rutabags. But, they will eat them cooked. Spoiled chickens!

Cabin Fever

We have one foot of snow on the ground & more expected tonight. The people in this house & the critters in the barn have a bad case of cabin fever. My chickens want worms. The kids want to play tennis. I want to plant my garden! I've ordered my seeds, started the onions & now I wait. Starting a garden for the first year can seem intimidating. There is so much information, that it's easy to get overwhelmed. My 1st bit of advice for people who want to grow their own food (but are afraid of all the "rules") is to relax. Relax & have fun. It really is easier than it may seem. Yes, there could be 1,000 tomato diseases, but chances are, you will see none of them. Just look at a dandelion & you'll see how easy it is to grow healthy food. (Heck yeah, you can eat a dandelion!) Sit down with a mug of hot chocolate & thumb through the seed catalogs. My favorites are Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Botanical Interests & High Mowing Organic Seeds. Why? I like their pictures. Last year, I planted a huge garden. Did it look like the ones in magazines? No way. I grew more weeds than food. Did I have fun? Yes. Did my kids eat more vegetables than the year before? Yes. They planted & weeded & harvested & feasted like kings. Did every plant grow well? No. I had beautiful carrots, but the broccoli was pitiful. Will I try again? Heck yeah! Hint number 2 - Start with 1-2 varieties of the foods you actually like. If you hate eggplant, don't bother. If you don't have a yard, you can still grow food on the porch or windowsill. My daughter lives in an apartment & is growing her garden in Rubbermaid buckets. Tip number 3 - Find someone you trust & ask questions. Gardeners love to help each other, just like fishermen love to swap stories. We'll do anything to get people to join the team. We bought fruit trees for the first time, last year. We found a local nursery & asked questions. Lots of questions. She was super friendly & she knows her stuff! I've also been taking classes at our county extension office. For more helpful tips, visit Red White & Grew. She's working on an awesome "DIY notebook for new gardeners". I think you'll like it. I sure did!