Today was the first lawn mowing of the year. Fortunately, the grass grows slowly here. I can usually get away with mowing the lawn four or five times in the summer. The iris are now in bloom. I look forward to this happening. Iris grow wild here and I have been spreading them along the […]
The Iris Are in Bloom Read More »
In preparation for working on our farm site, we are building an outhouse. It seemed like a good infrastructure project, because there is currently no convenient way at the site to take care of those needs. Also, our youngest offspring has decided to become a carpenter after high school and wants to have a project
The Outhouse Framing Read More »
The Big Red Broilers are about a month old and are now so big that they are getting crowded in the partitioned area of the coop. So, I moved them into the larger area and moved the rooster and hen to the partitioned area. It was not as simple as that sentence makes it seem.
Another Moving Day Read More »
Today, there were enough roses in bloom that Melissa decided to begin harvesting petals. She makes an excellent rose petal jelly from them. It is wonderful stuff, which tastes very much like the roses smell. Around here, Arctic Roses and Sitka Roses grow wild. They can reach 6’ tall and the stems can be almost
The Roses Are In Bloom Read More »
The shelter in the larger section of the triangle pen was in need of repair. I pulled it away from the wall of the pen to remove the roof and was surprised to discover that the two sections of roof were in completely different conditions. Both halves of the roof were made from 1/4” plywood,
The Triangle Pen Shelter Read More »
In the back yard we have some Saskatoon bushes. Another name for them is “Juneberries,” which is perfect because they bloomed today. These bushes are supposed to produce berries within a few years, but ours took much longer and they still don’t bear well. Unfortunately, we unintentionally made them into an experiment. They have been
Today, I finished partitioning the coop. I found a few pieces of fence and fastened them to the walls so that the pieces could be opened or closed in the middle of the coop. The fence was sagging a bit, but that was remedied by wiring a piece of lath in the center. The fence
Moving the Broiler Chicks Read More »
This morning, a couple we know from Church came by for some poultry manure to use in their garden. When I went to the compost pile I found that the coop litter I deposited there a few days ago has begun cooking. It was steaming, even in the summer heat (58F), and I could easily
Our Compost Pile Is Cooking Read More »
In order to partition the coop to keep the rooster separate from the broiler chicks, it was necessary to dig out some of the litter that accumulated during the winter. We use the deep bedding system. The portion of the coop that houses the adult birds has a floor area approximately 10’ by 11’.
Preparing the Coop For Partitioning Read More »
It is Memorial Day, today and there are some yellow flowers blooming in the yard. We haven’t raked the yard since fall and the grass is still asleep. So, these flowers have not had anything to disturb them. They are wildflowers that pop up here and there. I don’t know what they are called, but
The First Flowers of the Season Read More »