Farmer Friday

cute chickens

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. My oldest daughter came to visit from Florida and brought me some cute chickens. The one in the background is a cookie jar. There are some more, including some metal ones that can go outside but I didn't take a pic of them yet.

The Nankin's first egg

I'm keeping my grand daughter's little Nankin chickens for her because she can't have them where she lives right now. They started laying last week. Their eggs are even tinyer than the Silkies.

steamy compost

I've been turning compost piles this week and made a new one which needs to be turned already. 

1/4 inch sifter screen

I made a sifting screen with 1/4 inch hardware cloth. I sifted a lot of peat moss and added some vermiculite for seed starting. This will be much less expensive than buying small bags of mix from the store. I'm planning to make some other sizes of sifters also.

a rock retaining wall begun

In this area last year I dumped 6 truckloads of mixed manure and planted melons. The melons grew fairly well once I was able to keep out the squirrels. When the melons were done I put some young cockerels in there because they needed more space. I've culled that group down to 2 birds and put them in another pen. This area is quite sloped and needs a retaining wall at the bottom. I thought about using some tires, but decided I liked the idea of a rock wall better. Sill a lot of work and clean up to do. I started putting up more fence and that job needs finished also. There will be space here for 2 new beds 4 feet wide and almost 20 feet long, with some space along the rock wall for some herbs and flowers. I will probably have to terrace the 2 beds also, using some old boards to help keep things even. 

more work on the wall

mystery fork

We had our Christmas dinner on Saturday. On Christmas morning I found this fork in the driveway. All the kids deny it falling out of their cars. So I don't know, maybe it was elves or aliens.

The little cafe where we do our winter farmers market is closed this weekend so we are taking Saturday off. Felt a bit odd not to be picking and washing and packing veggies this morning!

Giotto gets a mouse

Mom's barn has become mouse heaven and I'm really tired of those little buggers. There are literally hundreds of them tunneling all over. They are eating the feathers off the chickens to the point some birds have no tails. So I've been digging up or pouring water into every hole I see and Giotto helps. Sometimes the mice jump out of a different hole where he's not expecting them and doesn't see them quick enough to catch them but other times he gets them. Sometimes the chickens catch them too and eat them. Giotto just plays with them.