Roses & Rylie

We were finally able to get Aunt Dort's ancient rose bush to bloom! I have been feeding and gently pruning this lovely rose for the past 5 years, never able to produce a bloom. After much research, I decided to prune more aggressively, cutting the plant down to only two "Mother" stems. Reduced the entire plant to about 1/4 it's size, but my brave efforts were rewarded with a TON of buds and extremely fragrant blossoms.

Our newly adopted boxer-mix Rylie has blended right into our family. Here she is, helping Daisy groom our cat Alabama.

Kittens & Chicks

Some new chicks arrived this week, all "silvers": Silver Spangled Hamburg, Silver Cochin, and Silver Phoenix. They were ordered from Welp Hatchery, and so far seem very healthy and active. We also were "blessed" with a new litter of kittens last nite. Cute little Stripe is now a momma.

Spring Stuff

Last night we celebrated the new Spring growing season with a few small fires in the newly expanded garden beds. March had been freakishly warm and lovely, but now early April is back to normal temps, including snow flurries. The past few years, once the soil warmed and things started growing, it seemed like all we did was turn our backs for a moment and the weeds would crowd in. By mid-August, we'd be so frustrated with what seemed like futile efforts, the whole garden would become pretty weed ridden. This year, we are expanding the bed to twice the size, with the aim of creating a more manageable garden. One Shermen can ride the mower through, and one we can (occasionally) spray a bit of Round Up on the paths when necessary. We'd tried to "totally organic" thing, and it was just too much work. We cannot afford all the organic sprays and oils, and the home made remedies just weren't effective enough for us. Apparently Round Up is a pretty non-deadly alternative....safe for animals, and gone from the garden in a few days. I guess the University Extension gardens use Round Up...so if it's good for them, it's good for us. All I know is it makes life much easier.

We've transplanted our strawberries into raised beds, much narrower, to reduce the space for weeds to move in. I had been letting the runners go and take root, thinking "hey, more free plants" but read somewhere that allowing runners reduces "crowning" so this year I'm cutting them back to see what happens. Red Pontiac, Yukon Gold, and Norland Red seed potatoes have been cut and are curing in the solarium. I cut, cured and planted some of the Kenneboc potatoes we had left over and sprouting from last year. Last weekend I direct sowed a few varieties of lettuce, wishing I'd started a little sooner. Now I have to wait over a month to harvest one of those mind blowing home grown salads. If Shermen doesn't make me work in the bathroom grouting all day, (see http://www.ferndellfarm.com/ferndellfarm2010.html for renovation pictures) I plan to direct sow some sugar snap peas today. I got my Rouge Vif d'Etampes and Sweet Lightning pumpkin seeds from Jung Seed Co. and would like to get those started inside this weekend. I am excited about expanding the varieties in our pumpkin bed from the oranges, blues and whites we had last year. Pumpkins are so low maintenance, and such a fun way to end the growing season since you can use them for both decoration and yummy seeds and pies. I'd like to try a few different pumpkin recipes this year, since they are supposed to be so good for you, high in Vitamin A and beta carotine.
I ordered some fertilized Norwegian Jaerhon chicken eggs. These are lovely and unusual birds, and very appropriate for a couple of Norse hobby farmers. It will be my first experience with attempting to hatch eggs, and I will post how it goes. I plan to use my hens for sitting, rather than purchase an incubator. I (plan to) also try a homemade incubator, found some plans on Mother Earth News, and will post how that goes as well. Wish me luck!!

The 2010 Growing Season Begins!

Little purple crocuses are popping up around the yard, as well as tips of daffodils and tulips. Signs that my bulb planting frenzy last fall was not in vain. My hands are covered in blisters from raking, but the yard is looking tidier. We've got the seed catalogs out, I've already picked up a few packets of the cold weather crops.....snap peas, gourmet lettuces, beets. I'm trying seed tape for the beets this year. I never have the patience to strategically plant those tiny, tiny seeds, I just sprinkle 'em over the soil. Nor do I have the patience or the heart to thin the seedlings, I want them all to live and grow and be yummy. What they wind up doing is elbowing each other right out of the soil where the chickens can peck at them. So anyways, this year I'm trying the tape which should eliminate the need to thin. I also purchased one of those little tools that you put the tiny seeds in so you may sow them one at a time.
My last minute garlic from last year, (cloves thrown into chunks of frozen ground then immediately covered in snow,) seems to have actually produced a few sprouts. The chickens scratched up a few, but I pushed them back into the earth and then topped the area w/wire. The chickens are happy and free, already the egg yolks are turning a rich golden orange, far more nutritious than the weak yellow of winter when they are living on mostly feed. Of course, now the hens are also back at the egg hiding game. Daisy's coat is gorgeously shiny from her renewed diet of stolen eggs. I'll probably have to start keeping them in the coop for the first half of the day if I want to collect any eggs. We lost our last bantam, the beautiful Beloved, a couple weeks ago. Those tiny birds are so lovable and sweet, but they just cannot defend themselves against the various predators around here. We are sticking with the large breed birds from here on out. I've ordered a few silvers and need to get the chick rearing area ready for their arrival, sometime in early April.
We are making quite a bit of progress inside the house. Shermen built a really lovely wall / shelf area in the downstairs bathroom, and I am (supposed to be) tackling my storage insanity up in the attic so we can start tearing down walls and putting in the 2nd bathroom and (!!) baby room.
We are sending in the completed application to Pauquette Adoption Agency this week. Wonderfully exciting and busy times!
A great resource I've found for what to do with all that produce we'll soon be finding in our gardens or at farmer's markets, Clean Eating magazine. Recipe ideas, as well as good articles on healthy living. I'm trying to move more and more in the direction of avoiding processed foods, eating as "clean" as possible. They also have a facebook group.

Our Adoption Journey Begins

On Shermen's birthday we went to an informational workshop at an adoption agency. We had both done some research on a few different agencies, and have chosen Pauquette as the agency we'd like to work with. We left the workshop feeling positive, knowing we have a long and very challenging journey ahead of us, but obviously one well worth the struggle. Our biggest obstacle is the remaining work on the interior of our home, and the very minimal funds we have to achieve that task. We have support from family, in both morale and dollars, but dont want to burden them too much. The tax credit was a cushion, in case we have to borrow to cover costs, but we found out that after 2010 it will probably be discontinued / greatly reduced.
Yesterday we went upstairs and reviewed the task ahead of us, the different options and potential costs. I kind of melted down, realized I'd been somewhat starry-eyed about the whole project, mentally minimizing the work needed to bring our upper level up to code etc. This will not be easy, but it shouldnt be, and I know we can do it.

Chicken Killing 'Possum Smackdown

After losing my beloved Japanese Bantam rooster Leif and a sweet Barred Rock hen to unknown predators, I did some online research. Chicken predators can be partially identified by the manner in which they kill....in our case, the predators left egg shells and a partially eaten carcass. This ruled out weasels, which apparently kill randomly and only for the taste of blood, biting the head or neck of the chicken then moving on to the next victim. My mother remembers one of the few times she'd seen her own mother cry, when a weasel got into her hen house and killed about 30 hens. The fact that the animal left empty shells indicated either an Opossum or raccoon, since other predators take the eggs with them to consume later.
Predators are an ongoing bother for anyone raising chickens. I took care of our current "bother" the other night when I surprised two enormous opossums in the act of raiding my hen house. Because I did not have a firearm of any kind, it was "deux contre un".....me against the two nasty creatures, with nothing but a large stick and a five gallon pail to finish the job. It took about an hour. As I dragged a bloody feed bag through the snow to the garbage, I felt monstrous and victorious all at once. I had protected my girls. When I returned to the barn, I found the tail feathers of one of my lovely white Brahmas, and a live hen with a large bald spot on her bum. I had arrived in the nick of time.


Rest in Peace my lovely Leif