My Secret Garden

This year, my green thumb has really prospered.  I have always been interested in gardening, my mom instilled that in me very young, but this year I really dug deep and challenged myself.  I have planted things that I have never planted before, and I started everything except my tomatoes and summer squash from seeds. The kids are really enjoying the garden too... mostly the raspberries and strawberries, but they are having fun learning and watching me in our garden.

We are growing:
Potato's (reds and russets)
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Red Onions
Scallions
Green Onions
Carrots
Broccoli
Radish
Beets
Lettuce
Kale
Brussel Sprouts
Purple and Green Bush Beans
Kentucky Pole Beans
15 Sunflowers (seeds for chickens)
50 Corn Stalks
Tomatoes
raspberries
Strawberries l
Blueberries
Peppers

This is my first year growing potato's and I had a situation with one of my batches and the stalks rotting out, but I was able to save most of that batch. 

I am having a lot of problem with my tomatoes.  My plants are huge and have a ton of buds on them but they all die and fall off.  I looked it up and apparently there are many things that cause this to happen, one of the most common is too much nitrogen in the soil... but I still have no idea what to do to save them.  Its a real shame too because they are LOADED... I hope I can figure it out and if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

I love to dig in the dirt with my bare hands and feel the ground with my feet.  There aren't any shoes or gloves in my garden... just dirt under my nails and kids that look like they ate dirt for breakfast!  I am still proud, that to this day, my kids don't know what a video game is :)



Kona likes to dig in the dirt too :)

Ugly Chickens, Beautiful Eggs

When we first got our chicks, they were the most adorable, fuzzy, little creatures we had ever seen.  Then as they grew, they started to stink, they poop everywhere, and they started to look a little prehistoric.  Chickens are down right ugly... I mean the kind of ugly that only a mother could love.  We have grown to love them, and they have grown to tolerate us... as much as nine hens can tolerate 2 young boys that like to hold them, chase them and pet them.  They also hug them, kiss them, carry them, and somewhere along the line, the hens started to follow Blake and Luke as if they were their mothers, so they more then tolerate them now :)

I call them all "Mama" but the boys make up all sorts of names for them.  When the girls see us, they get all excited and start making chicken noises.  They are nothing like I thought they would be... nothing at all, but they are so much more.  My kids LOVE them and they help take care of them.  They enjoy gathering eggs and learning about them.  They think its really neat that we get to go shopping for our eggs outside and we don't have to buy them in the store.  We also have 4 Americana Chicken and they lay blue, green, pick, grey, and white eggs, so its always so exciting for the boys to see what colors we get each day along with the classic brown.  I think that we will always have chickens, even when the boys are grown and gone.  And how remarkable... to have such an ugly creature, provide such a beautiful bounty for us to enjoy :)

 

Farm fresh from the coop to the breakfast table

 

 

My 30 Day Laundry Challenge

Who doesn't LOVE the smell of sheets dried outside in the sun?  Clothes smell and feel so much better when the fresh air runs through them and the sun shines down on them.  I have always wanted a clothes line... I grew up playing amongst the sheets at my Grandma and Grandpa Howard's house, and I have always wanted one, and then... an opportunity presented itself :)

Kyle's Grandpa Ray was a sheet metal worker, and 40 some odd years ago, he made this beautiful clothesline for Grandma Kay.  Since they are moving and since they don't use it anymore, they offered it to me, and I am so glad that they did. 

Today, as I was hanging my latest load of colors on the line, and then my neighbor came outside and I am wondering if he thinks that I am a little "out there"  He came over to the fence that we share and said " that's a beautiful clothesline, I love that you are doing that"  I told him the story about how its been in the family for a long time and I promised that I wouldn't hang any "nitty gritties" on the line for his family to see, but something tells me that they would find it funny, and so would I.... Kyle would be mortified HAHA!

I also have a smaller portable clothes rack that was Grandpa Ray's mom's that he also gave me.  I will reserve that for inside drying on those not-so-nice days... So I am challenging myself to 30 consecutive days without a clothes dryer. I wonder if I can do it?  I wonder how much power I will be sawing??  Either way, I am excited to do it.  It brings out my hippy side a bit. And I am totally going to hang my bras on it... just to watch my dear husband squirm a bit :)

Pickeled Asparagus

My mom and I had the opportunity to pickle some asparagus, and since I had never done it before, I basically begged her to show me :)  Everyone loves my moms pickled asparagus... when I bring it out at parties, people rave over it... I found out that she uses a mixture of two recipes from my Aunt Thelma and also Ann Watkins, and then she puts her own little spin on it too.

The great thing about pickling or canning is that you can make it however you want.  we made some jars more sweet, and some more spicy and I LOVE garlic, so there is a TON of that in there. 

First we snapped a box of Asparagus to get the woody ends off... I bought it at the local fruit stand and by the box, I got it for 1.27/lb...it was from Yakama of course :)

I got all the jars ready ahead of time.  My mom says to use the wide mouth jars for asparagus because then the tops don't get scrunched and it is way easier to pack the jar. 

We peeled garlic, cut up jalapenos, and rough chopped some dill. 

Now, blanching time.  We washed it all, and then filled the sink full of ice water, and we had to do it in batches because I didn't have a pot big enough to do it all at once, but mom says to do it in smaller batches anyways to make sure it all gets cooked evenly :)  so we dropped the asparagus in... probably just 3 minutes and then straight into the ice bath. 

Then we stuff the jars.  All the herbs and spices that we chopped up before, and also some pickling spice, and red pepper flakes.  We cut the Asparagus to fit in the jar and we stuff it in! 

The liquid that we use to pour over the top is a mixture of equal parts water and vinegar with salt and Sugar...  most recipes don't call for sugar, but we like ours a little sweet and spicy :)  We pour the liquid into the jars, and set them in a water bath for about 7 minutes. 

Then... voilà! We have pickled asparagus!  the longer it sits, the better it gets, but we try to wait at least 6 months before we open one :)

As they cool, you start to hear the jars pop...ahhh, the sweet sound of victory!  every single one sealed, so we must have some something right!  We had a bunch of jalapenos left over, so I pickled them too... why not?? 

Moving Day...To The Coop!!

Our little girls have become little ladies, and it was time for them to go outside... let me tell you, chickens STINK!  Oh my goodness, they smell!  They were in our bathroom for 3 weeks, and then we moved them into the shop for another 4 weeks, and now, they are in the coop!! (with a heat lamp)

Kyle has been working on this coop even before we had the chickens.  I have helped a little here and there and the kids "helped" too, but my goodness gracious Kyle has done a lot of work.  I will post all the specifics of the coop later, but for now, here is a picture of our finished coop with out little ladies inside, and a couple of super excited kiddos!  We will paint it this spring... weather is too nasty to do it now :)

Perches for the girls

Nesting boxes... they are closed off right now because they aren't laying yet, and all they would do is poop in them.

Hanging food and water.  When you make it so they don't sit on the floor, they stay cleaner longer.

Pully system for the feeders.

Our COOP!!  Complete with window (hand made by Kyle) and an easy access door to the nesting boxes so that I don't have to go inside to retrieve the eggs.  Also, a completely enclosed run for the little ladies!

They dont really want to go outside...

A few brave souls :)

Excited kiddos!!

We can't wait for eggs!  Probably early July!!!

Chick-A-Dee First 5 Days

I don't want to say that I under estimated the amount of work that goes into raising chicks because we have done a ton of research and talked to many people before we started this adventure, but OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!!!  

So, first off... we had one that wasn't really acting right.  She hadn't been right since we got her.  She would just stand in one spot and sway back and forth.  I was feeding her mushed up grit and giving her water through an eye dropper ever 30 minutes but unfortunately, we lost her Sunday morning.  I don't think that it had anything to do with disease... just something that happened.  Maybe she got knocked around a little too much in transit?

Also, since you get birds that are 2 days old (who would normally be with their mama for about 6 weeks) you have to do all the stuff that their mama would do... I have been cleaning chicken butts as well.  GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING  They have these things called "vents" that can get clogged with poo, and a mama chicken would clean this normally, but since I am the mama, I got to do it... YAY for me!!  I put the girls in a warm little bath in a small Rubbermaid container and it kind of just falls off.  Not too nasty, but not the most attractive attribute!

Clogged Vent

Bath Time!!

All warmed up!

Also, I have two little misses that have a crusty eye... I was worried at first, but after looking at it, I see that it is because of our darling little girl, "Stripes".  She created some scabs around the other chicks eyes from trying to peck their eyeballs out!  I am happy to report that she has calmed down quite a bit, but she did some damage!  With the two little girls that have the eye situation, I just get a warm washcloth and wipe their eye until it opens.  I have been told to use some boric acid with some water on their eyes, but I havent done that yet.  I am not too worried since I can see that its a scab... no swelling or puss, so fingers crossed, we are good!

Also, the little darlings are MESSY!  They scratch in the shavings, which is totally natural, they are looking for food, but they throw the shavings everywhere!  I clean their waterers out a few times a day, but they are still always messy.  just part of the game I guess.  We are having a lot of fun with the girls, we each have our favorite, and I will start introducing them soon. We are learning a ton, and its just a really fun thing to have going right now.

Our Girls

Yes, they are still in my shower... easier for me to keep an eye on them.

Our New Baby Girls

So, we have taken the plunge, and we picked up our chicks today.  Our coop is almost ready, but they wont go out there for 6 weeks or so.  In the mean time, we started all 10 of them in a 45 gallon Rubbermaid container, which should have been fine, but we think that they were a little crammed, so.... we moved them into the shower in our bedroom... pretty sure that we are going to regret that decision, but for now, it will have to do.

We have 4 Rhode Island Reds, 4 Ameraucanas, and 2 Wynadotte little girls.  I am really excited for the Ameraucanas because they lay blue and green eggs!!  Cant wait!  Now its a waiting game.  We will take care of these 10 little ladies for about 16-24 weeks before they start laying eggs... happy chicks lay lots of eggs!!!

Now, on to our little trouble maker!  We have one little Ameraucana chick that thinks that her poo doesn't stink and she running around trying to peck everyone's eyes out.  I have done some research and she is a little confused... they can mistake eyes for food... They are all sleeping peacefully now, but if she starts something on the middle of the night, I have a jail already for her... "Stripes" which I have named her because she is going to be in jail most of her childhood, better straighten herself up, or I am going to serve her up as chicken nuggets!!  Little crap!  She has made it a little rough for the other ones.

Here are the girls before we moved them into our bathroom... they are finally quiet, so I don't want to disturb them for a picture!!!