Meat Birds

The Frankenchickens are on the grow! And they are drinking a LOT of water in these last couple of very hot days.....we're refilling that large waterer every 24 hours....there is maybe a gallon left in it when we go to clean it all out and refill it....Cleaning out the waterers is Really Important...they need access to Clean Water.

It's been so hot here that we turned off the brooder lights yesterday, they definitely aren't needed right now.



You can see all the chickens at the feeder...we have started putting feed down in piles around the room. This should help All the birds get fed. It's amazing how "ruthless" these chicks are when it comes to being first around the feed hopper....

We've got the windows open all day, and close two of them at night...that leaves the birds with one window open all night long. Plus the window in the door, that stays open too....

When the weather changes, we'll be sure to adjust the ventilation and heating. Sphere: Related Content

A Nice Surprise

The egg production around this place has been dropping...badly. Quite a few of our hens seem to be moulting, a once-a-year thing with hens. They lose their feathers, grow out new ones, and while this is going on, they stop laying.

Maybe they're on the rebound....I picked up these late today...2 nice surprises!

They're still usually out in their big run from mid-afternoon till evening....as long as they have access to lots of water and have the option of going in to get out of the sun, they're fine.....look at that closest hen running towards me....wondering if I brought her something!

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It's Another Hot One Today!

Took this at 4pm....36 degrees. Not much accomplished outside today (yet) - it is wayyy too hot to stay out there for long....I may go out again later and try to get something done




It was hot yesterday too....I felt like getting something done, but didn't want to exert myself too much :)

So, I thought I would tackle the clean up of all my potting supplies...the potting room downstairs was a terrible mess...and the seedling room still need to be cleaned up as well.....





I brought everything outside, sat in the shade under the aspen trees and washed it all in a bucket of bleachy soapy water...rinsed everything off and let it dry in the sun....now, I can put it all away and know I am ready for next year.




Those peppers I put into pots awhile back sure are doing well....tho the pic is kinda dark, you can see the flowers. I moved it from the sun into the shade on the porch a little while ago, the leaves were drooping a bit, I guess from the heat. Sphere: Related Content

Garden Pictures

Boy did it get HOT quick! Yesterday was quite a cooker....I took this pic of the thermometer around 5:30 yesterday afternoon....but it's JUST what our garden needs! It should really help the tomatoes, peppers and squashes....



Up and outside early this morning and I thought I would take some pictures of how things are doing in the garden....






Before too long I will have to start thinning out these cabbage...I know that's not the usual routine with cabbage....BUT remember we planted these very close together....soon the time will come to pull each second one, and use as animal feed....the pigs LOVE cabbage!

The rest we will let grow until the season ends...










In contrast, check out the red cabbage.....this is the seed I have been Totally Unimpressed with....I reseeded the red cabbage THREE times...out of a total of 63 seedlings, I have 13 plants...not good germination at all. And they are so far behind the green cabbage!














We have our first zuccini setting! The first of many, we hope!










Strawberries are setting....













I have 5 grape vines...it still looks like 3 have not made it thru the winter....I moved them all into the berry bed....now I have two that are putting out new growth....I'll leave the others just in case they decide to send out a shoot! I sure hope so....you can see dill in behind the grapes in the pic.












I seeded buckwheat into that middle berry bed for the time being....it's my first time trying buckwheat.....but I read it gets to the cutting stage by five weeks! So....I am trying it as 1)green manure 2) chicken feed...should be interesting experiment.

If it works well, I'll probably seed empty spaces in the veggie garden with it.

And the mangels....which I can begin thinning at any time, I would think. Maybe later on today. ALL our thinnings from the garden get tossed to the animals....pigs and laying hens. I am cutting leafy greens into small pieces almost every day for the meat birds.

It's going to be hot again today....we'll get a few things done, then I have a feeling it will be Hammock Time!!! Sphere: Related Content

Chicken Breasts

OOOhhhhh, we had barbequed chicken last night....home grown of course....the Gman cut up a chicken.....

It was a good size bird, when we packaged them, we put the weight on each package, but I made a mistake using masking tape on each package to write the weight down.....well, the tape fell off in the freezer, lol...

anyway, the breasts were so large we measured them....over 8 inches!

There's two breasts in the scale container...total weight 1 3/4 pounds of chicken breast.

Dinner was delicious! Barbequed potatoes, fresh and lightly steamed garden spinach....yummy!

I think we have only one or maybe two chickens left in the freezer...good thing we'll be sending another batch off to freezer camp within the next 5 or 6 weeks!

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Hilling the Potatoes

I started hilling the potatoes today...I'll hill them at least twice over the season, maybe even three times, we'll see how it goes...here's a few pics

When you plant potatoes, your harvest is going to come BETWEEN the potato that you threw in the hole AND the soil surface....this is why it's such a good thing to hill each plant. That way, you are increasing the amount of soil around each plant, thus making more room for more potatoes to grow (and for Those potatoes to get bigger)

In this first pic, on the left are potatoes that haven't been hilled, on the right are two rows that have been hilled for the first time.

Just use your hoe to bring the soil up and around the plant....

Here you can see I've hilled the row on one side only, just to give an idea of the difference....

Aaaah...another row completely hilled on two sides.....that makes 3 rows done, about 25 rows to go...yeehaw!

I'll likely come back to this row in about 3 weeks and hill it again....and of course the bonus is, that hilling gives you the chance to hoe out any weeds in the tater patch!

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Pigs

I thought I'd throw up a picture of the 3 Little Pigs, since it has been awhile....you can see how they have grown! One day I will try to figure out how to put up video of them, because we can sit on our porch in the late afternoon and watch them have pig races.....seriously, it's what They do!





And, it's hilarious to watch....have a beer, place a bet, watch the race, lol!





This is what they looked like when they arrived, which I think was Mar 22/08

And here they are today.... Sphere: Related Content

Meat Bird Update

Back from town, and went down to feed the animals and so I snapped a few pics....

They are almost fully feathered....on most of the birds, it is just the head feathers that need to come in now....if we had our outdoor runs completed, we would at this point, be able to let them outside during the day...if the weather is nice.

But time is getting away on us, and it could be another week or two before we can get those runs finished...in the meantime, the birds will just stay in their room....they have Lots of space in there....and during the day we open the windows (3 of them) and the window in the door is open as well, so they do have lots of ventilation, which is important.

Look at the legs on these guys/gals....at this point, we can probably start calling them Frankenchickens....Big Big feet under Big Big Legs...all the better to hold them up once they start filling out more!

There are Always going to be a couple that develop leg problems....it happens. See this bird in the middle of pic on the left? He has a bit of trouble getting around...not that it's a problem for him to get to the feeder....he's just a bit slower than the others.

Leg problems are relatively common with Cornish Giants....

I am surprised this year how Active some of them are...they really bop around quite quickly! these birds are now 3 weeks and 1 day old....another 5 weeks and they will head off to freezer camp.

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Meat Bird Pics Coming Later Today

Well the birdies are pretty much fully feathered...I'd take a pic, but I'm on my way to town for a bit....gotta grab a few groceries, and do some errands.

Check back later today for a good update! Sphere: Related Content

It's a Special Day!

Today's a special day for one of my gals...it's her birthday! So here's to JP, hoping you have a Wonderful day Today!!!!





She's witty and smart...she is Always Laughing and Smiling...nuttin brings her down





Her attitude is amazing to see, I admire her for it!





She doesn't look back on what might have been, but looks to the future for what could be...she's focused and determined....and she is very special to the Gman and me!





And...she has the most incredible hair, lol..no really, she does...take a look





It's the most beautiful colour of auburn I have ever seen...and it's natural!

she's a gardener too...a gal after my own heart, lol!!!

Look at those palm trees, they were there before JP and the Eman moved in....but JP did all the flowers in that bed....










My son made her these new garden beds...they have lids on them to keep out the wild bunnies they have there on the West Coast.....

Have a Wonderful day today, hon!

Love ya, Annie and the Gman Sphere: Related Content

Monsanto Earnings

Monsanto Co. (MON) said third-quarter earnings jumped to $811 million, or $1.45 a share, from $570 million, or $1.03 a share in the year-ago period. The St. Louis-based agricultural-products provider said total net sales rose 26.4% to $3.59 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet Research expected, on average, earnings of $1.36 a share on sales of $3.6 billion. Monsanto also raised its full-year profit guidance to $3.63 a share.

Big business, unreal... Sphere: Related Content

I Must be Getting Sick

I must be getting sick...it's been coming on the last week or so....I think it started once I got most of the garden in.

I said to the Gman last week...something like "I should clean those windows, they're all spotty". that moved on to "Next week, I'm gonna get the windows all cleaned"....yeah right he probably thought.

I hate doing housework, oh, I just can't Stand it....Boring drudgery. I can Always find something else to do....and it's usually outside. Especially at this time of year, the last thing I think about is cleaning up the house.

And now, I have washed all the outside windows on 2 floors. That was yesterday. This morning, I am thinking I should go plant those turnips today, and what do I so instead???? I wash the windows on the inside, in the living room. (Boy do they look Nice! So, That's what clean windows look like!)

Right now I'm fighting an urge....I' contemplating washing two more inside windows...what the heck is wrong with me???? Don't I know I have to plant turnips, and then I can gather eggs, let the girls out, throw more hay down on the meat bird room floor? Walk thru the garden, do some weeding...stare at the 3 Little Pigs?

Just now, I looked to the right out my sparkling windows....beautiful out there. But between me and the windows, I notice a spider web hanging down.....That should come down, that not looking too good, lol!

yeah I don't feel too well....if you don't hear from me later, send in the troops...I've probably starting dunging out the kitchen and pantry!!

If you hear a loud crash, that's my Mom who fell out of her chair when she read this!

(I'm gonna try to get outside to get those turnips in.....unless I make a grab for the glass cleaner stuff instead) Sphere: Related Content

Tomatoes

I spent an hour yesterday working on the tomatoes in both greenhouses....you can see some of the plants are flowering....

by and large, they are looking quite healthy...there are 2 in the second greenhouse that we may lose...they don't look so good! I am wondering if maybe they have a split in their stem? These are the ones that were sooo leggy when I put them in...easy for them to bend over and end up splitting in two...maybe I didn't notice when I planted them?

First I added another round of the Velcro tape, higher up the stem....the tape will help hold up the plants, especially once they start fruiting...the plants will be quite heavy by then! And the bigger they get, the harder it will be for me to get in between the rows, so I try to do this early in the season.....

then I removed all the suckers (they come out in the "crotch" between stem and side leaf growth...see them?

a pic of suckers removed.....I try to pull them off just about as fast as I see them...we don't want any suckers....there is no point in the plant putting any energy into them

I also removed all the lowest leaves....see the white splotches on the leaves? That's because the leaves are getting wet when I water them....that's not good, it leads to disease. So pull of the lower branches (they won't have any fruit on them anyway). I waited just long enuf till I could see good top growth to ensure the plants were settled in.

I also got some more weeding done, and got all the outside windows washed...had to use the ladder for a lot of them....but now, I can give them a cleaning on the inside and we should be set for awhile!

Today I have to remember to plant some more turnips in the main veggie bed....I had planted kale but I sure had a lousy germination, so I'll throw in some turnip seeds to fill up the bare spots....

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Meat Birds

A few updated pics on the meat birds, settling in well....

Good to see they are not huddling all around the brooder light...means they are comfortable with the temperature...

You can really see in this pic how well the feathering is coming along....

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Let's Think of Weeds as Green Manure

I've still been busy trying to get all the gardens planted....meanwhile, I look around and see my garden beds infested with weeds.....but still haven't had the time to thoroughly hoe each of the beds.....
so I got to thinking yesterday (justifying? rationalizing?) - anyway I'm reframing the way I have thought of weeds....

Why not think of my weeds as one type of green manure? They help break up the beds and help air get into my clay soil, which it sorely needs....

So as long as I make sure that NOT ONE WEED goes to SEED...I'm thinking it's just another form of green manure, and that's a good thing....

After all, until a weed flowers, it is just a plant....not one we might like to have in the veggie garden, but it is just a plant....

As soon as it flowers, PULL it out....don't wait for flowering to finish or weed seeds will be spilling all over the place. I read once that for each weed that goes to seed, that will equal 7 years of that plant being around in your garden....

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Animal Feed from the Garden

I took all those radish tops, picked some spinach leaves and brought them into the kitchen. I had a couple stalks of store bought celery that wasn't good enuf for us to use, so I chopped up some radish leaves, threw it in the bag and that was meant for the laying hens.

Had a banana peel set aside for the pigs (Split into three, lol!) Then I chopped up the rest of the radish greens and spinach leaves really quite small. Brought it all down to the barn, tossed the peels for the piggies, emptied the plastic bag in the run of the hens, and set the tin plate with the finely chopped greens down in the meat bird room.

We added a bit of the greens right into their feed tray...and watched. They did slowly start to eat it....here's hoping we can get them onto greens, so we can provide some of their feed from our veggie garden. In order to get them to eat greens, you're supposed to start feeding it to them, finely chopped at the age of 2 weeks....ours were 2 weeks old last Wed, today being Sunday = we're just a tad late....let's hope it works.

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Pretty Lilac

Our lilac is in bloom now...there are still lots of buds to open, but lots of full ones too....I Love it. We got this bush from our friends as a housewarming gift.....this is it's second year in this spot....I think it's staying here, it really sets off the bed it's in.












A pretty picture of the view of our valley.... Sphere: Related Content

Garden Pics

We've been working in the gardens, trying to keep up with the weeding...for the most part it's going well....a couple more sections need the First Weeding done, but the majority has been taken care of for the next week or so (hopefully!)

I took some pictures this afternoon.....

the Peas are coming up quite nicely....

boy does that Carrot bed need to be weeded!

The zuccini would love to flower....we just need some heat

Spinach - we've picked the first leaves....yummy in salad!

Here's the bed down at the barn....sugar beets, mangels, rutabagas and potatoes ( those freezers in the background hold our animal feed pellets). This year, we have to get the walls up to enclose that feed room.

Really needed to thin the radishes, so pulled a bunch...very tasty!

And...a pic from on the porch...our main veggie garden...finally, it's beginning to look like something!

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My Irises are Blooming!

Aaaaaaaahhhh...finally. Seems to me on the Coast, they bloom in time for Mother's Day....here it is past Father's Day! The warm weather sure seems to be taking its time in coming!

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Moving the Meat Birds

What a day...got the birds moved....up and down the hill between the barn and shop 8 times or so, just carried them down a few at a time in a small plastic tote....with the cover askew, of course!

Then, we started cleaning out the shop....stinky mess....I got it all moved into the wheelbarrow and added it to the compost/manure pile...all those wet soiled shavings will be a bonus in there. I had cleaned out the litter several times while they were down in the shop, but still....yuk! Am glad that is done with...I've just left the shop door open so it can ventilate....

So here is the setup - just waiting for the chicks to come. We've got two waterers (one of them is huge!) 2 feeders (one huge one)....so hopefully all the chicks will be able to get to the water and food. I've been checking on them several times, and yes, they can all get to what they need.

( I realize now I took the pic before I put the extra feeder and waterer in there...but they are there now!)

A closeup of the homemade feeder the Gman made.....

In this pic you can see the two doors leading to eventual outdoor runs...lots of room in this barn for all the birds....and tool storage too!

They are gathering under the brooder lights - that's where it's the warmest. I took this pic maybe an hour ago....the warmth of the day is leaving. At least they realize it's warmest under those lights....

I'll check on them a few times tonite...it will maybe be hard to sleep for Me. I'll probably be worried as to whether they make it till the morning, But my friend has 6 of these birds, and they have had them in the barn from the beginning...so I should be able to just Relax...hard to do, lol!

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