Homestead Update #14
Hi friends! I'm so happy to be back to a regular schedule and routine. I've got lots of updates (and very few pictures) to share with you! I guess I've been really busy getting things done and haven't taken as many pictures as I normally do. But I do have a few. Anyway, you're probably not here to debate the number of pics. HEHE.
Eggs
We always start with an egg count. So. I collected 38 eggs from 5/3-5/9/2021. Those Anconas are laying machines! I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm still surprised at how they all lay eggs everyday. I thought because of their smaller size they wouldn't be good producers. But they are my best layers. Go figure. Of course, I have 4 brown egg layers and I'm not sure who lays which eggs. So it's hard to tell but I suspect my Barred Rocks are prolific layers as well. Winifred hasn't been laying many eggs. I think she probably was before she got sick.
Speaking of Winifred and sickness. She was doing so much better. I've been putting her out in her crate in the run with the other chickens and then bringing her in every night. Yesterday I was in the garden working and could here a ruckus from the chickens. When I went to investigate, Winnie's eye was foaming again. So I've brought her inside. I'll call the vet again today to find out what I should do. I'm not sure Winnie will be with us for much longer. Interestingly enough, none of the other chickens have gotten sick. I'm not sure why. I don't think I'll go through taking her back to the vet. It's a long drive and puts her under more stress than necessary. Maybe keeping her fully separated will do the trick. But she is so unhappy when she's stuck inside. Time will tell.
Garden
The garden! Y'all. It's so nice. I actually don't think it's big enough to do everything that I anticipated doing. HAHA! Isn't that how it always goes? Anyway. With last week's update I was saying how it was at a stand still. I got fed up enough that I said something to the guy working on the fence. He'd show up for 30 minutes and work and then disappear until the next day. So I told him on Thursday that he needed to finish up with whatever he could and that the Mister and I would do the rest. I guess that was enough to get him moving. He stayed all day and worked and got it finished! I should have done that weeks ago! Live and learn.
I've had a truck load of mulch delivered so I can use that on all the beds. So far all I've really done is finish moving everything down from the old garden (except the dirt) and arrange everything where I think I want it. I put down landscape fabric and mulch on the cranberries and the sage. I planted sage in the ground last fall just to give it a temporary home, but it made it through the winter so I decided to leave it and make a sage bed. Why not?
I still have lot to do! I need to get a load of compost in for the big garden bed and get that worked in. I'll purchase most of my plants this year and also direct sow a bunch of seeds. If you recall, I don't think my seedlings are going to make it. I did plant some calendula and globe amaranth today. I also moved the raised beds again. I'm going to forgo the path that I was planning on having. I thought that it would get too messy with driving the tractor on it. So I'm leaving it grass. And I decided to use one of the raised beds for strawberries. I'd hoped to have the berries all be together on one side of the garden (blueberries, strawberries, and cranberries) but the patch ended up being too small. So I'm moving the strawberries into one of the raised beds. But I moved it so it's next to the flower garden.
The List
Anyway, I'm happy with the progress. My goal is to have it ready to plant by the end of this week. And finish up the chicken coop renos as well. There's not a ton left to be done with that. Speaking of! Let's check in on the to-do list:
1. garden: finish moving to new location, plant garden and flowers
2. make soap
3. make mozzarella for the freezer
4. chicken coop expansion: clean out coop and run; move coop and run; expand chicken run; put metal roof on run; expand roosts in run; fix door between coop and run; add rooster to the flock; install curtains, move nesting boxes, hang waterer in run.
5. make and dry pasta
6. do something with cherries
business end of things
This is where my biggest changes are going. It's funny how we learn things on the fly or because of a situation that we didn't anticipate. I've been really, really busy with classes lately and that's led me to reconsider how I'm organizing them. So I'm working on that, behind-the-scenes. It won't directly affect my venues but it will help keep me better organized and therefore more productive. I hate not feeling productive and like I'm just keeping my head above water! So after this week and a little time spent reorganizing, I know I'll feel better about moving forward with my classes.
But. Let's do a recap of where I've been and where I'm going! I had my first class at North Branch Inn. You can read more about that here. I also had my first natural dye class and am working on the second workshop. I had a few library programs throughout the week. And next week I only have two classes! One is for a garden group in Middletown, NY, and the other is a chicken keeping class for kids and adults at my local library.
And to round out the rest of May, I have the other dye class plus several more library classes. I also have several chicken keeping classes scheduled. It's very exciting!
the rest of the story
I don't have much else going on at the moment. I'm slowly making my way 'round to your respective blogs. I took time away from social media (and here and everyone online, really) while I was so busy. I'm slowly making my way back to those platforms as well. I think I'll end up shopping for my plants this coming weekend so I can pop them into the ground right after I purchase them. Or soon thereafter. I need to redo my garden planting plan. I think the part where we dug into the ground is going to be big enough to hold most of the garden. So that leaves 3 raised beds for other things. The gentleman who delivered my mulch also gave me two onion sets. So I think I'll use one of the raised beds for onions. Maybe I'll plant beets in one and then garlic in the other for a fall harvest. The possibilities are endless!
'til next time
-k
xoxo