To live life one must make sacrifices

Waking up this morning was a rude awakening...I realized much too early, that today was a chore day.  Now don't get me wrong, I like to work, it's honest and humbling, but some chores, while necessary are neither fun, but more of a reminder that to live is to take.  Yes, giving is part of it, but this blog is not about giving, nor recieving, it is simply about taking.

You see, I raise chickens, dual purpose birds.  This is a working homestead, with pets; but the chickens are not pets.  For the past 2 1/2 years, I have raised the chickens and gotten eggs for a good 1 3/4 years, reliably.  But the eggs have slowed off, even in the late summer when we had plenty of light.  Research shows that Chickens give eggs reliably for about 2 years, then they slow down. Natural.  My plan has always been to give my chickens a good life and one bad day.  Today was that day.

I had 3 chickens this morning.  I believe in and practice humane methods of killing the chickens, and processing them myslef.  I need to know that between the time they are taking from their coop, to the time  they die is minimal and the last thing they hear is my soothing voice...no hysterics, no load noises.  I try to stress the chickens as little as possible.

Is the prayer I say for their benefit or mine....I try not to think about that.

Is it better for me to be here, doing this; or blindly purchasing chicken from the store?  I wrestle with this constantly.  Yes my conscience could be clear (if I don't think to long about confined chicken breeding practices, or they mechanized way birds are processed,) but I wouldn't know what type of hormones, chemicals, and feed the chickens recieved.  Raising my own is a trust.  I trust myslef to feed them as naturally as I can, let them roam as free as I can, keep their coop clean, make sure they have water and security.  For this I take their eggs, and in the end their life.

My grandparents had no struggles with this.  You farmed, and Harvested the produce, raised livestock and butchered it; all so you could eat and live.  In a nutshell, to live is to take.

Yes I will miss the chickens clucking in the morning, running back and forth in search of who knows what in the grass.  But in March/April, I will start again, with new chicks.  Why?  Because this is a working homestead.  And while I wasn't born on a farm, I am a city kid, who wants more control of my food.  And sometimes, we must do things we are not comfortable with.  But I have a trust.  A trust to treat my animals, pets, family with respect and love.  I try always to do that.  But my livestock are not my family.  They raised to feed my family.

I have come to grips that to live, I must either kill or condone killing in my name.  I will miss the chickens, but I knew when they came into my life, that they were destined to end up on my table.

I can not pass this chore off to someone else.  I know that bringing home the chickens when they are a day old, that one day, I will have to take their life, so that I may live.  It is sobering, Humbling, and opens my eyes to the reality of life.  In this the season for giving thanks, and giving gifts; I give thanks that I have the courage to face my convictions, for the gifts my chickens gave to me and my family.

Still plenty to do indoors

So even though the weather is turning to Winter here.  And working outdoors, though it's necessary isn't as fun as it was a few months ago.  And to be honest, it was baking time again.  We were running out of bread, so I took an afternoon to make up some more.

I figured out that 4 loaves last us about a month.  So I decided to make up two loaves of Basic white bread, and two of Honey, Nut Oatmeal Wheat.  The process is pretty basic, mix up the ingredients, knead 8 minutes or so, and allow to rise for about an hour.  Punch down, divide in half, form into loaves, plop them into a greased loaf pan and allow to rise for about 45 minutes or so.  Heat up ovens, pop them in for 35 - 40 minutes or until Golden Brown and Delicious (GBD hereafter).  Pull from pans, and allow to cool completely.  Slice and eat…repeat: here are some photos:

Basic supplies, Flour, Yeast, Salt, Water, Sugar for the Basic White

Everything mixed up and kneading is about half done, looking to make this fairly elastic.

Proofing in the oven with just the light on for a bit of warmth.

Start of the Honey, Nut Oatmeal Wheat.  Wheat bread flour with Pumpkin seeds and Sunflower seeds

Egg and Yeast…

Oatmeal….1 cup of old fashioned oats, with 2 cups boiling H2O, allow to sit 15 minutes for Oats to soften.

Mixed and kneaded Honey, Nut Oatmeal Wheatbread

1 hour rise time, yep I think she doubled in size!

Honey, Nut, Oatmeal Wheat on the left, Basic white on the Right.  I always butter up the loaf pans for easy de-panning upon baking completion.

Basic White on final 45 minute rise…again in the oven with the light on for minimal warmth.

Honey, Nut, Oatmeal Wheat final 45 minute rise.

Basic white, baked, de-panned, GBD cooling 

Honey, Nut, Oatmeal Wheat, baked, de-panned, GBD and cooling as well

And while the loafs cool, and the ovens are hot, Peanut Butter cookies were baked!  Great with Tea on an Overcast Day!

With the Garden tasks coming to a close, and the weather turning cold and dreary, nothing makes a house smell like home quite like baking bread.  It beats anything you can buy in stores.  Try it sometime.

Adam

So another full season comes to a close.  I realize that there has been a ginormant amount of time that has elapsed since my last post, so this one may be a bit lengthy to catch up.

First off, I have found out that working a full 40 work week, keeping up with the homestead, and trying to take care of myself by exercising, and eating right, finding time for my family....well there's only 24 hours in the day and my blogging amongst other things took the hit.

I realized how much I missed the simple act of writing out my thoughts, sharing pictures, ideas, success' and failures.  I missed the community.  So I am now going to take the time to blog again.  I can't hope for a daily blog, but like my foray into the world of CrossFit, I will take it slow.  Two to Three times a week, and will try to work up from there.

So, as we head into Fall, the Harvest is over, and I can report it was a busy Harvest season:
Herbs - We were able to dry enough Oregano, Basil, Sage, and Thyme for the next year's use.  We got some Chives, Parsley, and Stevia drying enough probably for the winter, but no further.  Fresh Chives, Parsley, Tarragon, Marjoram and Sage are being used now, and will be allowed to grow for the next year.  Borage, Cilantro, and Cumin going to Seed, and will be used for further growth next spring.  The Lavender was harvested for oil, and the mint needless to say was more than we needed.  Lemon Balm is ready for harvest, and will be used for sore muscles.

Salsa - well production this year was prodigious! We had Tomatoes, Peppers (Jalepeno, Serrano, and Red Chili),  and Shallots and Onions.  Not pictured are the Cucumbers.  In all, we made 30+  Pints of Salsa more than enough for the family throughout the upcoming year!)  I credit this to the wonderful Summer we had here on the Coast.  We had a long string of 80+ degree days with mellow nights.

Pumpkins - We got 10 - 12 good sized Small Sugar Pumpkins and were able to roast and puree and freeze for soups, and yes pies throughout the year.  I even tried my hand at Pumpkin Butter.  After much research, I found that now it is not recommended for canning.  Though I know that my Grandma and her friends all Canned Pumpkin and Apple Butter safely, and so gave it a try.  I Shan't share how I did it, as I don't want to run afoul of the law...but needless to say I made sure everything was heavily sanitized, and made sure my products were of the highest quality and clean.  We have been eating the first jar (4 oz) and it came out wonderful. The other 3 have been in the Canning Cupboard, so far no explosions, we will see when we open those.

Swiss Chard and Kale - This has been fantastic as a cut and come again, and we have been using it as sides, soups, stews so far and it looks like it is holding up well.  I have read that it will hold up through the first frost when it will go super sweet, looking forward for that.

 Berries - Raspberries, Blueberries and Strawberries Oh My!  Prolific harvest this year, and still pulling Raspberries even at this late date!

Of course these little gems didn't last much after the photo...but boy were they Yummy! In the end we froze up Strawberries, and Blueberries for throughout the year, The Raspberries, being a Favorite, don't make it into the house.

As for the Chickens: 

 The girls: From Left Twinkie (Buff Orpington), MeToo (Golden Laced Wyandotte) and Diva (Wellsummer) Interesting note, Diva has stopped giving eggs, grown spurs, and has tried to crow a few times.  I thought I was going nuts, but my brother had the same thing happen with one of his hens.  Found out this isn't that rare.

 The girls really like a new addition to the coop this year, a screen door.  With the temperatures this summer climbing towards the 90's opening the door kept the coop cooler and helped them through it.

 Looks like the thrown together coop I made a few years back is still holding up well.

New addition this year number two, a watering system.  The girls took to the nipples right away, only had to show them once or twice, and the bucket holds enough water that I only have to fill it weekly, and they don't spill anymore!  It was pretty simple, and I re-used old PVC pipe from other projects!

As for the chickens, I know this isn't something everyone does, but this is a working homestead.  And while I name my chickens, they are livestock, not pets.  Soon, they will have a bad 5 minutes to end their wonderful 2 1/2 years of life.  I don't do this lightly.  I took on this project so that my daughter would know where her food came from.  And that meat doesn't come naturally covered in plastic wrap on a styrofoam tray.  She Took part in the first butchering of our rooster a year ago, and has learned more about our food system than any other "City or Suburban" Girl I know.  She has decided now to major in Nutrition and is studying in the University!  Success!

I plan to clean the coop thouroughly when the butchering is done, and next March when new chicks are available, I will get 6 chickens and start the process again.

As for the bunnies, that is my Wife and Daughter's project.  

My daughter is cutting the nails on our male Holland Lop Snowball.  We have a female Sunshine (not pictured) and my daughter is planning to mate them.  Next project is a new hutch to acomodate 4 cages, two for the existing bunnies, and two for the babies (have to separate boys from girls as they will breed like rabbits don't you know.

So, still left to do...harvest potatoes, butter nut squash, last of the tomatoes, spinach, kale, chard, raspberries, oh and play with the new greenhouse:

 Built this potting bench from discarded Pallets!

 Red Chili's this is the last of the season.

 Serrano's; Mason Bee's pollinated, then I dug them up and transplanted into pots, and moved them into the greenhouse, I now have 10 or so Serrano's growing nicely!

 Stevia, it's been chopped and put in the greenhouse to overwinter.  The rest is drying in the garage to powder and use this winter.

 Orange Bell pepers, don't think they'll go orange, but I like them green as well.

 Jalepeno's doing very well.

Basil, these were smaller in the garden, wouldn't have had a chance with the weather turning but seem to be thriving in the greenhouse!

Well, that's just about it for the wrap-up from the homestead.  I will try to update a couple of times a week throughout the winter, as I have more projects on tap that I hope to get accomplished prior to Spring.

It feels good to be back...

Adam

New Addtions to the homestead

Well, everything is doing well here on the homestead.  The Peas are growing tall, we have Blueberries ripening up, Spinach is just about ready for Harvest, the beets were a hit, and the onions and carrots are going gangbusters! We have had a wonderful Spring!

But backing up to Mother's Day, on our annual trip out to Flower World...the little missus and my kiddo both fell in love with some bunnies running around.  Skip forward some, and I began to notice Wild bunnies in our neighborhood, must be 5 - 7 of them, running around where the City Hall was, and now there is only grass.  Seems like somebody was pointing me in a new direction.

Fast forward again to just last week, and I found myself putting together wire cages for you guessed it, bunnies.

So today, I spent the day putting together a hutch for the bunnies, as we were to pick up two furry furies this evening.

Here I am in front of the frame for a two tiered rabbit hutch.  One of the cages is in the frame for measurement sake. Each cage is 3' x 2'x 18".  This two tiered hutch will eventually be 5' high at the back, and almost 7' long!

Here's a closeup of the construction.  It's made from 2x3's, and the cages will hang above trays for the bunny poop.  One cage on top, tray in the middle, another cage below, and tray below that.  The Hutch will hold 4 cages, the idea is for 1 buck and 2 does, with an extra cage for the litter.

Well, everything was going smoothly, I had the siding on the back and both sides,  when my lovely wife realized that this was going to be too tall for in front of the window!  After some careful deliberation, and more than a little head scratching, I made an executive decision to scrap the original plan, and push forward with a more moderate one.

My kiddo is peeking out from the left of the photo, her Beau Irving is seated (in red) helping me race to put the changed plans together, and my father (in background) giving sage advice (which we probably didn't listen to), my charming missus is taking the photo (thanks Luv)

So, the more moderate plan is to make a single layer hutch, with two cages inside for now, as we are only getting the two tonight.  This photo was taken 40 minutes before we were to leave to get the bunnies!!!.  The back OSB panel was used to make a temporary roof (I will be getting White plastic sheeting (not corrugated) to cover the roof) then the OSB will be cut down for the back piece.  The sides are not in the picture, but unfortunately didn't quite get on before we had to boogie.

Here is the "nearly" finished hutch, with rabbits, water, food, hay.  The sides are just laid up against the hutch now, I will attach them tomorrow.  The buck is in the left side cage, the doe in the right.  I will be adding more cages later.

Well, we hightailed up north to pick up the bunnies.  We got two New Zealand Red Rabbits, a solid Red Buck, and "Broken" Red/White Doe.  They are 12 weeks old, and weigh just under 6 lbs.  When full grown in 5 more months, they will push 10 - 11 pounds, and be ready to mate.  The litter could be; all red, "broken" red/white, or all white.  The idea is the litter will be used for meat rabbits.  Though some could be sold if there is a market.  

Now it's time to meet the newest additions to our homestead:

Mr. Nibbles our Buck.  He has certainly lived up to his name so far, nibbling on anything he can get is teeth on.  

This is Isis, she is our "Broken" red/white doe.  The term "broken" refers to any multicolored patterned rabbit, She is termed Heavily Broken as she is predominantly Red, with white belly, feet, and cheeks.  She is really shy, and more than a little bewildered by her new surroundings.

Well, this was a successful little project, one that I hope grows, and proves successful later.  I am already thinking about my next project, a watering system for the chickens, and possible rabbits, that will hold 5 gallons of water and allow them to access it at will.  It will use a 5 gallon bucket, and some PVC pipe.  If all goes well, I will post my project here.

Happy Spring to everyone!

Adam

Okay, okay....I have been shamed into blogging again.  I apologize for the gap (heck a gap as wide as the grand canyon..) I have only myself to blame.   I shan't share my woes, suffice it to say I got lazy and stopped writing. 'Nuff said.

So to update folk, if anyone is still reading....

I started last Spring with 4 new chickens, well, one started to crow, and we had him for dinner the next week.  So this Spring, I still have 3 chickens.  Twinkie the Buff Orpington, Diva the Welsummer, and MeToo the Golden Lace Wyandotte.  Here you can see how they've grown (the playpen is new for them, made it to take the place of the wooden ark that was too cumbersome to move around by myself.) They are laying a remarkable amount of eggs, often 3 per day.  I really didn't expect this type of production, but it's nice.  And really, once you've had fresh eggs, eating store bought just doesn't make sense.

 This is the playpen, I realized the girls needed more space, so this is 1/2 inch pvc with plastic chicken netting.  It is 

6' x6'x3' so the girls have plenty of room to roam, and I can pull this around the yard with one hand.  Have to get rid of the crappy old blue tarp though. 

 Twinkie in the fore, MeToo in the rear.  MeToo got her name due to following Twinkie wherever she goes.

Diva is perusing the buffet...what no desert tray again!!! Shot this photo though one nesting box.  The coop is really holding up well.  You can't see it in the photo, but I re-purposed the infrared light from the brooder box into this coop to keep it warm on nights it dips below freezing.  This winter, the inside of the coop was a balmy 46 degrees and the water never froze, even though we had weeks below freezing here.

As for the veggie side of the operation, I made some changes to my layout.  We were gifted 3 lovely mature Blueberry bushes to go with our previous 4.  So I had to add 3 new garden beds and moved all the blueberries together.  I also made two new beds from cinder blocks I got from Craigslist, and filled one with Strawberries, and the other with Raspberry, Marionberry and Boysenberry.  I now call this the Berry Corner.  It is joined by my pallet board compost bin.

 Here are the two cider block beds, the strawberries were picked up last fall from the plant farm, they had a sale, 25 for 10 bucks. so I dropped the "dime" and put 25 strawberry plants, plus a few we had from before into this 4x8 bed.  I mulched over the winter with bedding from the chicken coop.  The Strawberries are tremendously big now!  The other bed took in the Raspberries, moved from the driveway beds, as they kept spilling out into the other beds.  Let's see them try to go through cinder blocks! Ha!  oops should not tempt them.

 Here is my thrown together pallet board compost bin.  I am thinking of taking off the farthest bin, as I really don't need it.  I have some really sweet compost in bin #1, and am starting anew in bin #2.

Here are the newest beds, paired with some put together last year.  In the nearest, I have Onions and Carrots, the one with trellis' are the Peas, and the next three hold Blueberries. Seriously hoping for mondo amounts of Blueberries this year.

So, having moved the Raspberries from the Driveway beds, due to them spilling (is that possible...or would invading be better) into the other beds, I had a 2x4 bed that I needed to find a use for, then it hit me:

Lettuce, yes some thinning is needed here...

Lettuce, we really don't eat enough to plant a ton, and it always comes up.  I planted 5 varieties, because it just makes salads more fun.  Salad bowl (a fav!), Revolution (the red), Flashy Trout Back, Pom Pom (so cute they named it twice) and Mache.  I'll thin some out, and use it on sandwiches, or burgers, then when they grow up, it will be cut some leaves, and let them grow out again.  No need to re-plant, cut and come again.  Love it!

We spent today celebrating Mothers Day, as my lovely wife has to work tomorrow. So we went and had brunch at the Maltby Cafe (always a winner) then went over to Flower World.  Man, does this trip always bust my chops.  I so want a little spread of land to have Lambs, Goats, Chickens running free, harrumph...sigh.

Well, I won't soon be getting my own slice of heaven on earth, but both my daughter and my wife started talking about Rabbits; hmmm....now there's a thought.

I'll try to take pictures of the hutch when I start the build later this Spring. 

Enough for a 1st time out in a long time.  I will try to write regularly, I didn't realize I missed sharing this much.  Thanks to those who took the time to read my silly rantings, and those who needled me to get back into the saddle and write some more.  A big thanks.

Adam

Veggie Explosion!

Well, the garden update from our return from vacation cruising while long overdue is finally here.

The tomatoes are on the left of the photo, and the bean trellis is on the right.  The Nasturtiums in the fore front draw the aphids, a real problem here, from the beans and Toms,  as the aphids seem to like the Nasturtiums better.

At bottom left you can just see the Faba beans, (Actually harvested now, and eaten last night. (Amazingly, my daughter said that was the best thing she had ever eaten, and could tuck right into a big bowl of them....)  The Zucchini are huge in this photo, (these have since been harvested and we got 20 small salad slicing Zukes, and 12 large shredding Zukes before dusty mildew set in (also a problem here) and I had to pull the Zucchini so the dusty mildew doesn't set into the Cucumbers next to them before they start fruiting.  Just to the right are the tomato plants spilling over the garden bed.

And speaking about tomatoes, here is my experiment from last year.  I took all the green tomatoes, at the end of last season, and through them in this garbage can (previously used as a potato bin about 8 years ago) with holes drilled into it, and 8 or 9 shovelfuls of dirt and compost.  Well these Volunteers are going strong! (We have been picking cherry toms off this now for the past few days...got to love Open Pollinated varieties!)

My heirloom shelling beans are going nuts!  Everyone who walks by wants to know what they are.  In the bed on the right, is Cranberry beans, and Jacobs Cattle.  In the bed on the left are Canelli Lingot, and Hidatsa Shield beans.  These being Dry shelling varieties, I will let them fruit, then dry on the vine, collecting them when they feel like little stones.  Yes I know that dry beans are super cheap, but from experience, I know that the Cranberry and Canelli Lingot I grow taste infinitely superior to anything I can purchase.  These beans serve as a protein in Soups, stews, and risottos we will eat throughout the Winter months.

Harvesting of the garlic.  Got a good haul, from the 4x4 bed pulled 48 head of garlic out.  Most medium sized, but some good sized ones I will save for starter seed, and some small, I will chop up and use in sauces.  These are now finishing their drying in the Garage, and will begin using them this week.  This is an Italian Heirloom variety of purple tinged Soft Neck Garlic, it is one of the best I have ever tasted.

Carrots!!! Real Carrots!!! Wow, I have tried carrots over the years, but my 8" tall beds just didn't give good results.  So putting them in my 24" tall bed, really worked.  Also, the TP seed tape worked wonderfully!  Not sure what type of carrots these are, as I forgot to label them when planted.  I just know they are tasty as all get out!  These have been used, and the bed still holds 35+ more carrots, so we pull them as needed.

As of this writing, I have harvested much of what was planted earlier, here is a brief synopsis of harvest so far:

Faba Beans - 4 lbs

Zucchini - 30 lbs

Cucumbers - 12 lbs and still going strong

Onions - 10 lbs with another 30 lbs in the ground still

Garlic - 8 lbs

Green beans - 6 lbs and still going strong

Kale - 2 lbs

Beets - 10 lbs and still going strong

Spinach - 3 lbs

Peas - 4 lbs

Lettuce - 3 lbs

Raspberries - 2 lbs

Blueberries - Scant Handful....but hey, they are still young plants

Tomatoes - 2 lbs, with approximately 40 lbs at the breaker stage on the plant, and another 20 lbs green.

I have also planted, Butternut squash, and Small Sugar Pumpkins, with the weather we've had, I don't expect to get pumpkins by Halloween, but since I these are for Culinary use, if they come in November I'm happy with that.

And my experiment for this year is Watermelon and Cantaloupe.  These have gone bonkers in this warm weather we are having, and I have tons of little flowers, and 12 visible small watermelons and 8 visible small Cantaloupe.  I have not dug through the morass of vines to see whats on the inside of the 4x8 raised bed (the vines have spilled 3 feet out from this bed onto the rocks around the bed!)  I am optimistic by nature, but realize that I need strong weather we are not normally known for through September to call this experiment a success.

Next post will be an update on the Girls...big news there.

Adam