Saturday 11/30/2019

When I did chores this morning the girls were all dust bathing and enjoying the sun. 

I finally checked the rain guage  2.3” from Thursday to Friday. 

I turned the last compost pile because it was soggy and needed some air. I mucked out the wettest parts of a couple coops and dumped that on the pile. I’ll turn and mix it together tomorrow. 

I spent most of the day pulling tarps off the hoop coop, covering it in plastic and putting the tarps back on. 

The tarps help protect the plastic and keep the coops from over heating. Now that they are covered to the ground these coops won’t get so wet in the rain. 

The mountains around me have snow. Tomorrow I’ll try and move some birds around and fix some tarps that failed. Expecting more rain on Tuesday and next weekend. 

#100days of Appreciation Day 4. Today I appreciate my air tight wood stove. It warms my house and I can do simple cooking on it. I can burn any burnable material that fits, from good fire wood through trash wood, old pallets, cardboard and newspaper logs. It just needs occasional clean outs and replacing the door gasket every 10-20 years or so. 

Thanksgiving

They were predicting several days of rain so I got this out to plant. Now is the best time  to plant spring flowers. Many will sprout and grow over the winter and bloom next spring. 

I spread it around the big hoop coop after spraying on some biological innoculants and trace minerals. 

I spent Thanksgiving Fay with family and got home and did chores just in time for the rain to start. Due to the weather I canceled my usual Friday deliveries and stayed home. I’m glad I did. It rain all night and most of the day. The wind blew off row covers and even pulled the hoops out of the ground. 

I added a stake and tied one set of hoops down. I added a couple of water filled jugs tied to the hoops to help hold them down. I made deeper holes and pushed them farther into the ground. I hope that helps. 

There has been a little runoff but not any violent flooding. 

The ducks are enjoying the weather. The chickens not so much. 

And I’ve been cozied up to the stove a lot. I have been working on 100 days of Appreciation. Today is Day 4 and today I really appreciate my wood stove. 

Chicken Sunday 11/24/19

Almost all of today was about chickens. I spent most of the morning scrubbing waterers with the new brush I got on clearance. It’s actually labeled as a grill brush with long stiff but flexible plastic bristles. It worked very well getting into all the nooks and crannies. 

I raked and stirred up the litter in the coops. Some spots are still very wet. 

I did spend some time spraying bacterial and fungal inoculants with trace minerals on garden beds. In this one whatever ate the kale is now eating the tops off the garlic. Well, I guess at least I don’t have vampire squirrels. 

 I spent some afternoon time visiting a friend that broke her knee. She’s at a local nursing home until she’s able to get up and at least go to the bathroom by herself. She seems to be doing pretty well. Then I stopped and picked up feed and bedding. 

I came home and got part of it unloaded and some of the bedding put down in the wettest coops. (An exercise in futility actually since we are predicted to have rain all week with a possibility of snow on Friday).  On the plus side another girl has joined The New Layers Club. 

Chicken in the crockpot   If I’d have left it a little longer it would have browned on top but I was starving. 

The carrots and potatoes were from the store but the chicken, arugula and tomatoes were homegrown. 

Saturday 11/23/19

The truck bed liner holds water when it rains. There was a thin skim of ice on it this morning. 

Chickens enjoying the sunshine 

Someone joined the New Layers Club today. Just not sure which one. 

Took Giotto back to the vet for his 45 day check on his ear infections. Vet said “These ears are perfect!” So we got a parvo booster since it’s really bad in our area and he hasn’t had one since he was a puppy.  And he now weighs 110 pounds!

Farmer Friday 11/2219

It was cold and damp this morning so I laid around until almost 7:00. First job, clear this debri from the culverts. Got another .2” of rain overnight bringing the weeks total to 4.6”. 

The garlic really popped up with the rain. 

Picking red mustard and arugula. 

The last of the mums. 

Some dinosaur kale. 

Got all the row covers put back on and baled a little water off some of the pens. Going to have to pick up some straw or sawdust tomorrow and muck out the soggy spots. 

RAIN! 11/21/19

Since Tuesday about 3:00 pm when it started, until about 4:00 when I checked the gauges again I’ve had 4.4” of rain. 

From Tuesday to Wednesday it was 2.9”. And the rest was overnight and a bit today. 

I spend months wishing and hoping for rain but when so much comes all at once it causes issues. 

Yes. The weight of the water on the tarp actually bent the top bar of this chain link kennel. 

Several sets of hoops had their covers blown off. I’m waiting for them to dry out some before I put them back.  I spent this afternoon bailing water off the tarps. I’ll probably spend a lot of time tomorrow trying to get the pens a little dryer. 

Sunday 11/17/19

So that happened when I was going to bed last night. Not the first time I’ve had to super glue it. 

But this happened this morning. Since the lights do light up and it sounds like it’s running it’s start up checks it might not be the battery. It might be a key is stuck or something but I can’t find a screwdriver small enough to fit into the little holes in the back. 

I did cut herbs for nest boxes, mugwort, sage, rosemary with a bit of lavender and santolina. 

I found and egg n the nest box when I did chores. Oops. Somebody’s not eating their oyster shell. 

This olive egger girl is getting red in the face. Maybe she’ll be next to join The New Layers Club. 

Well. That WAS some dinosaur kale. Gods I hate rats and squirrels!

Back on deconstructing the shed. Once the roof was off the rest went a little faster. 

Finally done. Damn thing must have had 5000 little screws and bolts. I do have to say, American made from American steel i did get my money’s worth. Sears, circa 1990. My hands and shoulders are tired and sore. I think some aspirin, medicinal alcohol, a hot shower and the heating pad are on the agenda after dinner. 

Saturday 11/16/19

I’m building a new compost pile and collected a bucket of leaves and soil from under some scrub oaks. I try to add a bucketful to each compost pile to add more bacteria and fungi. 

Saving tomato seeds. 

Squeeze or scoop the seeds and gel into a jar. Add a small amount of water and just set a lid on it but not tightened down. Put in a warmish place to ferment a few days. When the pulp has disintegrated but before it gets moldy fill the jar with water and stir. Let it settle then pour off the water with any floaters. Seeds that float are no good. Strain through a fine mesh and rinse well. Spread out to dry then store. Do the same for squash and pumpkins. The fermentation kills seed borne diseases. 

Pepper seeds aren’t in a gel so just spread them out on a paper towel until dry enough to store. 

It was a cool cloudy day so I worked on taking this old shed apart. 

Some bolts were stripped and impossible to remove. When all else fails get the sawzall. 

But in other places my arms were too short and I only have 2 hands. I think it took 3 of us to put this thing together. 

I finally did get 1 piece of tin off the top. By then I was tired and my hands were sore. Time to do chores anyway. 

Giotto on afternoon guard. Poor guy up all night barking off owls, coyotes and pigs. 

And day is done. Time for food and bed. I have no idea why this picture is upside down. I didn’t take it that way.