May 17, 2024

Chaos in the Hen House

What is it with chickens? There can be any number of perfectly good empty nest boxes available, but they want the one that another bird is already in!  And they are quite persistent about it. They will push on in and sit on the current occupants head, even pecking her if necessary, to get her to move. If the invading hen happens to be one of Rooster Schooster's favorites, he joins in with all manner of squawking! 

Of course, when Schooster sets up a fuss, we have to go check. Even when we're pretty sure it's just over nest box squabbling, it could also be a snake or rat, both of which are egg and chick stealers. One time, we had a skunk brazenly walk into the coop in broad daylight and kill chicks! So, reasonable doubt requires making sure everything is okay. 

Egg laying is bird business, which means that none of them is interested in (or compliant with) the humans' opinions and solutions to the problem. Our efforts to sort things out are completely ignored, and the battle for the nest boxes continues with the sense of business as usual. For the most part it actually isn't a problem. It becomes a problem, however, when the occupying hen/duck/turkey is broody and wants to hatch some eggs. 

Broodies can be pretty persistent, but when they are successfully routed out of their nest by a rude chicken, they move and then stay there. This results in the eggs being abandoned which means none of them hatches. Our solution has become to keep an eye out and then move the eggs to the broodie's new next. 

This solution points to another problem however. That is, now there are more eggs so that they are at different stages of development and often become too numerous for the broody to properly cover and incubate. 

I'm guessing that at about this point, many of you are wondering why we don't use an incubator and skip the fiasco in the hen house. There are several reasons for this, which are logical to us, although they may not make sense to others.
  • We like having a mixed age flock because it helps keep egg production at a consistent level. Old hens eventually lay less, while younger hens lay the most. With a mixed age flock we can keep six hens and have a surplus of eggs to share year after year.
  • Consequently, we don't need a specific number of new chicks every year. We don't do the replacement flock thing, so just a trickle of new chicks each year works well for us.
  • It's infinitely easier to let the birds hatch and rear their own young! This is nature's way, after all, and it relieves us of the accompanying chores of the job. Plus, we firmly believe that babies deserve to have their own mother. 

So, speaking of baby poultry and mothers, here is the first hatch of the year:


Yup, our turkey hen hatched out two duck eggs and they are all perfectly content with the arrangement. The added bonus for the ducklings is that the chickens—which tend to be ruthlessly mean toward newcomers—absolutely leave Jenny's babies alone. They are all quite intimidated by her, so nobody messes with her young 'uns!

Sadly, we lost one when it drowned in the big water dish. But the other is doing just fine.

Currently we have two broody ducks and a broody hen in the nest boxes. We're waiting to see what's next. 

on 2 comments:

May 11, 2024

Gate: A Keyhole Garden Preliminary

I showed you this photo last time. 

Where the new African keyhole garden is going to be.

 Compare that to this photo from before we built the greenhouse.
 

Between the bushes and pile of bricks is a gate. The little orange surveyors flags mark the proposed corners of the greenhouse, so the gate had to come out. It was replaced with the back wall of the greenhouse.


The gate was handy for going from back to front yards with a wheelbarrow or lawnmower. Needless to say, we've missed having it. Now, with bricks for the keyhole garden to haul around, it seemed like the time to put the gate back in.

Dan made the gate from an extra fence panel

It was a pretty straightforward job.



Still to do: terrace the ground on the backside of the gate. It slopes down this side so terracing it will help prevent soil washing away.

Stepping back . . .

This is a great improvement in convenience. Once it stops raining and the ground dries out, Dan is ready to begin on the keyhole foundation. 

on 11 comments:

May 5, 2024

Summer Schedule, Summer Projects

It's May and I've turned from my winter schedule to my summer schedule. With the days so much warmer, I do my gardening in the morning now, when I still have a bit of shade and cooler temperatures. Afternoons are used for shade or indoor projects. 

Planting the summer garden will be finished soon, so once plants are growing, I'll turn my attention to mulching. I'll have harvest preservation later in the summer, so until then, I'm plugging away on the front bedroom, working my way through sorting a second round of boxes. I need to get it at least semi-organized before I put something on that big floor loom. I did a pretty hefty sort and purge last summer, when I moved my sewing and weaving stuff into my sewing room. But there was a lot of "undecideds" that seemed easier to set aside at the time. I'm going through those boxes now. That in turn, has me cleaning out our other storage spaces to reorganize and use the space better. Plus, we're about at the end of our remodeling, so everything we saved for possible future projects (like the windows for the greenhouse) are no longer needed. So we have a lot of things to donate to Habitat for Humanity.

One of those storage spaces is our shed, which needs it's foundation redone. Dan put it on pallets when we moved it to put up the clothesline, but these are beginning to rot so that it's listing. Makes the floor mushy too.

I've cleared out all the pots and garden stuff, which
will have a new home on shelving in the greenhouse.

So that's something on Dan's summer project list. Another project is doing something about the bare spot where he pulled out the crape myrtle beside the greenhouse. (You can see that action here). 


We removed it because it created inopportune shade. Last summer, it grew a mess of weeds, so this year he wants to put in another African keyhole garden. With the crepe myrtle was gone, this seemed like a good spot for it. 

My big outdoor project will be re-painting the barn. 



It was painted six years ago and so didn't make its 10-year guarantee. What's even more amazing, is that the paint on the chicken coop, which was built and painted four years before the barn, is still in good shape. Walls of both are plywood, but the chicken coop got oil based barn paint, while the goat barn got latex barn paint. 

The real disappointment is my barn quilt. It was painted with good quality exterior paint on Lowe's best outdoor use plywood, but look at it. 


It's screwed onto the barn doors, so likely it will just come down. Not sure about making another one at present. I'll put that on my "someday" list.

You may have noticed that what isn't on the project list is finishing the walls in the office and front bedroom. The construction part of these fall under Dan's domain, and so I have to wait on his motivation. At any rate, we have plenty to keep us steadily busy this summer, weather permitting.

How about you? Do you have a seasonal project list? Care to share?

on 13 comments:

May 2, 2024

Product Review: Marchpower Cooling Comforter

It's May and summer temps are here. Even though it still gets comfortably cool at night, it's only a matter of time before that heats up too. And this is why I am pleased to share another product with you, one that I was happy to review and can wholeheartedly recommend, the Marchpower Gradient Cooling Comforter.

Queen size Marchpower Cooling Comforter

Is it really cooling? Yes! Through advanced textile technology (called "Arc-Chill"), jade nanoparticles are woven into the fabric. Somehow, this makes something amazing happen; heat and moisture are wicked away to produce a wonderful cooling effect. 

So, how is the comforter different from the cooling blanket and t-shirts I reviewed two years ago? The comforter is triple layer. The top and bottom are made of the same Arc-Chill cooling fabric. The inner filling layer consists of a 3-D hollow structure fiber. They're cushioned with air, which makes for a delightfully lightweight, fluffy comforter.


First Impressions
  • The comforter is lightweight and deliciously soft and silky. 
  • A nice sleeping weight.
  • Mine is a pretty gradient blue, but it comes in gray too.
  • Queen size covers both of us nicely.

Laundering
  • Machine wash; cool water, gentle cycle. Laundry bag recommended.
  • Line dry. I know some people think this is a deal breaker if they don't have a clothesline, but I often dry blankets and comforters by spreading them over the back of the sofa and turning once. 

Cooling Tips
  • During the night, the comforter may seem to loose its effect. Simply change positions or give it a shake.
  • Using a ceiling or room fan on low will crank up the cooling effect.

Who would benefit from a cooling comforter?
  • Anyone who wants to lower their electric bill.
  • Anyone who wants to lower their carbon footprint by not running their air conditioner so much. 
  • Off grid situations like camping and backpacking.
  • Backup cooling in case the electricity goes out.
  • As part of an emergency kit for a summer road trip. Keep cool if the car breaks down on a hot day in the sun!

Okay, I know I sound like some sort of scripted advertiser. But honestly, I'm just so happy to have cooling products in our life. We strive to be as low energy as possible, and in my part of the country (the hot, sultry southeastern US) products like this truly help us achieve our goal in comfort. 

You can see more photos and information at the Amazon link:  

And! You can get  10% off with the following discount code:  
WS8AZQW4 (expires Sept. 30, 2024)

on No comments:

April 27, 2024

Garden Notes: April 2024

April is tree leafing month

Rainfall

    • 3rd: 0.75"
    • 9th: 0.58"
    • 10th: 0.13"
    • 11th: 0.28"
    • 21st: 0.47"
    • Total: 2.21  inches

    Temperature
    • range of nighttime lows: 33 to 63°F (0.5 to 17°C)
    • range of daytime highs: 59 to 87°F (15 to 30.5 °C)

    Weather Notes
    • We've gotten a little bit of everything - except snow! We've had rain, scattered frost, and hot summery days. Typical April!
    • We've had several days of drizzle with no accumulation. I didn't include these in my rain totals.
    • My daily schedule has switched to summer mode: I work outside in the morning and inside during the afternoon. 
    • Spring always seems to be shorter than autumn! Why is that???

    Greenhouse Notes
    • The greenhouse is getting pretty warm on our sunniest days. The cool weather plants are finishing up, but my volunteer tomato is thriving!
    • This summer I'll experiment with keeping the heat out of the house.

    Planted (direct sow)
    • okra: saved seed Clemson Spineless
    • sunflowers: Russian Mammoth
    • Swiss chard: Fordhook and Rainbow
    • black turtle beans, saved seeds
    • potatoes (last year's sprouting)
    • calendula: 
    • cucumbers: landrace F2 and F3
    • dill: Long Island Mammoth and Bouquet
    • corn: Trucker's Favorite from saved seed
    • cantaloupe: Hale's Best from saved seed 
    • black turtle beans, saved seed

    Transplanted (from greenhouse seed starts)
    • tomatoes: saved seed
    • winter squash: sweet potato squash
    • Swiss chard: Fordhook and Rainbow
    • basil plant (purchased)
    Harvested
    • lettuce
    • radishes
    • broccoli
    • kale
    • asparagus
    • chickweed
    • wild lettuce
    • chicory leaves
    • oregano
    • thyme
    • peppermint
    • hopniss
    • strawberries
    • lambs quarter
    • snow peas

    Garden Shots

    Bed with radishes in front, snow peas & lettuce behind

    cherry belle radishes

    looseleaf lettuce

    I've been concerned our lettuce might get bitter or start to bolt due to our hot days. Fortunately, these are followed by cool days, so the lettuce remains sweet. Even so, I'm certainly glad to have my "Fresh Keeper."

    Lots of lettuce = lots of salads. This one includes lettuce, kale, chickweed,
    asparagus, radish, hard-boiled duck egg, and grated goat feta cheese.

    fresh peppermint

    first strawberries

    snow pea vines in flower

    Volunteer cherry tomato plant in the greenhouse

    Apparently, we've had a peony all these years. It's in a bad spot though, 
    and always got cut down because of where it was growing, poor thing!

    Parting Shot

    Homegrown meal: Scrambled eggs with asparagus
    and potatoes. Dish of canned figs and goat milk kefir.

    Anyone else busy in their gardens?
    on 20 comments:

    April 21, 2024

    Greenhouse Rainwater Collection System

    The rainwater system in the greenhouse is assembled and connected! Rain is imminent in the forecast, so we'll soon know how well it works. Ed (Riverbend Journal) was interested in this project, so I hope the photos explain it well!

    All the pieces are 4-inch PVC

    Dan removed the downspout from the gutter and replaced it with the set-up you see above. The clean-out plug serves as a roof washer and will catch most of the initial debris washed off the roof and gutter when it starts to rain. It has a removable cap at the bottom for easy cleaning out. 

    Close up. Still to do - seal the gap around the PVC pipe entering the greenhouse.

    Once the clean-out plug is filled, the water will runoff into the two barrels inside the greenhouse.

    (Note the overflow pipe on the right.)


    We didn't buy anything for this project; everything was from previous projects. The only thing he didn't have was another elbow to direct the water into the barrel. 

    So he made his own from an old screw container.

    The last step was an overflow pipe. Remember in the above photo I said to note the overflow pipe? Here's the rest of it.


    The drain pipe empties out over an overgrown French drain that Dan dug years ago. It directs roof runoff away from the house and toward the garden swale, which is directly downhill from the greenhouse. 

    Stepping back . . . 


    This will be so much more convenient than hauling buckets of water! I'm planning to attach a hose and a watering wand for indoor plants.

    What I'm really curious about, is how it will function as thermal mass next winter. Thermal mass is anything that retains heat. In this case the barrels will be heated by the sun and hopefully retain enough heat at night to help keep my plants healthy on our coldest nights. 

    I'm really happy this is finally done!

    © April 2024 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com
    on 15 comments:

    April 16, 2024

    Front Bedroom AKA Storage Room: Something's Happening

    April is prep and planting month. Mostly, I've been busy outside, spot seeding pasture and doing final garden bed prep, but when we had a forecast for three days of rain, I reckoned it was a good time to work on one of my winter project goals, i.e. trying to make the front bedroom functional again. The motive for this is to begin setting up my Glimakra floor loom. 

    There have been a lot of steps to reclaim that room as living space. The first (and a biggy) was unpacking, sorting and purging things we simply don't need. Next is figuring out what to do with items we want to keep: mostly seasonal things like space heaters, box fans, beekeeping equipment, soap making supplies, archery items, surplus tincture bottles, etc. With no basement or garage, and limited attic space, I'm thinking our old garden shed may be the storage answer. Except cleaning it out is another big project. 

    When I finally managed to clear out the floor space, Dan and I took a look at the room once again. Initially, Dan had lots of plans for this room; he was going to replace floor, ceiling and walls. But after years of focusing on other things, his enthusiasm has become much more realistic. This is actually a relief for me, because I've already waited fifteen years and am not interested in waiting many more! The question now is, what absolutely has to be done?

    The windows were replaced in 2016 (front windows) and 2020 (side windows). The exterior siding was finished then, but we left the interior walls for later.

    front window

    side windows

    For comparison, you can see photos of the original room here.

    Then there's the floor, which is in pretty bad shape.


    If I'm remembering correctly, this is actually the sub-floor, which was probably intended to be covered. I would love to put a hardwood floor on top of it. Even wall-to-wall carpet would help. But for now, we don't have the funds to do anything with it. So I need a temporary solution.

    Another problem, is this . . .

    The house originally had two back-to-back fireplaces, one in the living room and one in this bedroom. Unfortunately, the mortar in the original chimney was soft enough to poke your finger through, so everything was torn out. You can see the interesting innards of a dual chimney here. 

    It would also be nice to do something with this closet.

    It's about 6-feet long and very shallow, just 17.5" deep, which is barely wide enough for clothes hangers. The shelves are on one side only. The door opening is 23 in. by 6 ft, so it's awkward to utilize the space. Making it deeper would mean building it out into the room; an idea we've discussed. I think an easier solution would be to tear out the door and wall to the left and hang a pair of by-pass doors. I keep off-season clothing in there, but mostly it's for storage.

    Even in opting for the simplest solutions, the ability to actually do anything isn't imminent. In discussing what needs to be done, Dan said he'd be able to work around the loom, which gave me the go-ahead. The room will be finished eventually, but for now, I want to abandon the storage facility decor and make the room functional. I want to use my large loom again. 

    For now, I decided to cover the floor with an area rug and there it is. This is actually my old dining room rug, which I replaced with a new, cleaner one. The loom is in the middle of the room, with space to walk around it and get to the windows. There's enough room to scoot it over if needed.

    I still need to attach the texsolv cords, which is called "tying up." This connects all the moving parts (countermarch, shafts, lamms, and treadles).

    It's a project in itself because everything must be even and level. 

    Both Dan and I are pleased to see the loom assembled again. It certainly looks better than piles of boxes! I'd like to weave rugs, draperies, and yardage on this loom and use the table loom for smaller projects such as hand towels, table runners, scarves, etc. (My next planned project for the table loom is a small t-shirt yarn bathroom rug.)

    After the windows are finished off, I can paint, which always freshens up a room. In the meantime, though, we can at least enjoy this room once again.

    © April 2024 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com
    on 26 comments:

    April 10, 2024

    Greenhouse Update (Reporting a Little Progress)

    April is prep and planting month, so our other projects pretty much take a back seat. Even so, I have a couple of things in the greenhouse to show you.

    The first is progress on our rainwater collection tanks/thermal mass.

    They still need to be connected to the front porch gutter spout, and the overflow needs to be finished, but the big pieces are in place. 

    The second is a solar patio light. 

    I don't plan to work in the greenhouse at night, but it will be handy for fetching lettuce when winter dark comes early, or to check to see if any cats are out there. (I say that because Riley loves the greenhouse during the day. At 14 years, he appreciates long naps in the warmest places he can find.)

    I got this one on Amazon. What I liked about it (besides the price) is that it has a pull chain to turn it on and off. 

    So many of them have remote controls only. In my mind, a remote control is just another battery I have to monitor and provide, and I'd rather keep all that to a minimum if there's a simple alternative. 


    I'm happy with it.

    With the warmer days of spring, I've also been monitoring my winter plants in the greenhouse. Some days the interior temp is topping 80 (27).


    The broccoli is flowering, but the kale is still happy. Also, on the right you can see some volunteer cherry tomato plants! Last year's was my cold weather bellwether, and while it eventually froze, it provided valuable information about greenhouse temps when it gets really cold outside. I'll use this one to monitor summer temps (and my attempts to mitigate them).

    My potato containers are doing well, and my potted lettuce is still producing. I cut it back pretty ruthlessly, but it hasn't bolted yet, in spite of warm days.


    Also in that photo, you can see some of my early seed starts. That's winter squash right below the potatoes, and starter trays of tomatoes and Swiss chard in front. Working with these has emphasized the need for more appropriate greenhouse furniture! I need something tall for a potting bench and higher growing tables. 

    We're busy these days, but even a little progress is welcome. I don't plan to use the greenhouse in summer, but hopefully, it will be finished by next fall.

    on 14 comments: