Supper from the Garden

(This is yet another old post that didn't get published in time. Can you tell life it getting away from me?)

Remember than cucumber?

It was followed by a second ...

And then Adam decided to dig a hand into his potato tub, just to see ...

Tonight we started with a light salad of cucumber, tomato, and basil --

all from our garden.

For supper we enjoyed baked chicken, potatoes (two of which were ours!), 

and sweet peas from our garden too.

It was quite satisfying to eat so much of our own food, and I don't feel as if we've really started using the ground to its potential yet at all. Several things failed: the winter garden, the wheat. But many things have succeeded: peas, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuces. We're learning. Tonight's dinner made us feel as if we've done a few things right.

And no ... that chicken was not from our farm.

Prepping for the Girls

(This is an old post that I wrote but failed to post before things progressed and the next post was ready to publish. Still, I want it in the record, so here it is for future reference.)

Adam has worked hard on the chicken coop and yard, and it's nearly done!

Now we have a walkway for us into the coop and new weighted fencing and a door into their yard.

That door has a spring so it will close on its own quickly, and it has a latch, of course.

Adam hung this door on the coop doorway with a big latch too. We want them to feel secure at night.
I watch lots of videos from Becky's Homestead.com. She lives in Florida, built her own homestead from scratch, and raises some happy birds. Plus, I have several good friends locally who do a great job with their chickens too. So I have lots of good teachers. Becky recommends these laying boxes made from plastic tubs, so we will give them a try. They are cheap, private for the birds, and easy to clean. They're up off the coop floor on a 1x8x8 board on cement blocks.

Close-up. Instructions for these boxes are found on Becky's site.

This morning while I was at the farmers' market Adam built a roost.

We'll only have four Barred Rock hens, quite young ones, at first, so this is plenty of roosting space, and two nesting boxes will be more than enough for them.

We bought two bales of hay and 10 lbs. of start-and-grow feed to begin. I'm researching all the various advice about feeding. Becky recommends feeding oats also in the summer and whole corn in the winter. My chicken friend Bob says that's not necessary. Some say alfalfa. Some say crumble and some say pellets. All I know is that feed is expensive, and we don't want to buy anything that's not necessary or helpful. The feed will be stored in that cooler to protect it from mice.

Adam cut a little chicken door in the side of the barn for them to go in and out. There's a hook to keep it open in the day and a latch to secure it closed at night.
Becky says that chickens lay much better if they feel safe and are kept stress-free. So I want them to feel absolutely safe from predators.
What's left? Install the waterer and a shallow feeder, which we have, and add four hens.

 Each day we're getting a handful of tomatoes, and it will increase. I hope to take some to the market next Saturday.

Our grape vines are putting out tiny grape clusters -- so cute! And our figs are ripening well. 

The peas are about done. I do enjoy how the harvest on a farm gently shifts from one plant to the next.

Last but not least, Adam's sweet corn. It's quite a bit higher than this now; I took this photo about a week ago. His corn is well behind other fields of corn locally, but for good reason. He looked up their schedule and planned for his corn to mature 2 - 3 weeks afterward, to prevent any cross-pollination. He doesn't want any contamination. So we may have to wait a bit longer, but hopefully we'll have better corn for the wait.

It's Coming In!

Here's this morning's garden gathering:

The last of the peas, the first of the broccoli. Cucumbers keep coming at two or thee daily. And the tomatoes are doing great!

Those yellow pear tomatoes are adorable.
Our herb bed is doing very well. Nothing has died, and most things are thriving.

The oregano has exploded. I had this oregano in a long rectangular pot for many years. I think when it realized it was finally in real soil, it screamed, "FREEDOM!!!"

Bushy basil:

 I noticed that one flower head of my dill was limp and lying over. Then I noticed why ...

The parsley is fabulous and healthy.

 The cilantro went to seed ...

... but all that means is that we have lots of coriander!

I finally bought myself a Lady Banks Rose. I had one in Statesville about six years ago, and oh! how I miss her! I put this one inside the little wooden arch that Adam cleared out recently.

She's small, but I've always heard that they grow so fast, so I'm hoping she'll be all over this archway by summer's end.The English ivy that encased this arch was very well established:

One of the thick ivy vines at its base

Last but not least, here's our fig tree. It's not a fig bush; clearly it is a TREE :)

It's as tall as our house. And it's loaded with fruit this year -- all ours, if we can beat the birds to it!

 

 The tiger lilies, given to me by a stranger at the farmers' market last fall, are so happy in their bed. 

Bernie and the Girls

It was another banner day on the farm! Today we acquired our rooster. I considered what his name should be, and the first thing that popped into my head was Rooster Cogburn. (If you haven't seen that movie, you ought to.) So the rooster's name is Bernie. No political insinuations intended :)

Bernie came from the same friend who gave us the hens. I'm so grateful to her! It's just a little bit more of my dream-come-true, and I know she understands that part.

 All five of them were together at the other farm, so they all know each other. He hopped right out of the crate when I set it in the chicken yard and ran over to his gals. They're doing fine together.

 When I went out to check on them all a couple of hours ago, three of the hens had "flown the coop," as they say. All but Ruby had jumped the fence into the yard behind the barn. I scooped them up and threw them back over. Adam plans to add another panel of chicken wire on top of the one that's there. That part of the fence is a little lower than other parts.

But as my friend told me, they won't go far. They were by the fence, trying to get back in their yard.
In other farm news:
Our first pickling cucumber arrived! It was hiding in there under the leaves, and I had no idea it was there. Adam wants to make pickles.

 And broccoli is finally coming along.

 Each day we have a few more tomatoes ripen. These were from earlier this week. By Saturday I hope to have some to sell.

 I used some to make this bruscetta on Monday -- sliced French bread, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, and fresh basil, and a little drizzled olive oil, salt and pepper.

It was quite fresh and delicious!

The Girls Are Here!!!!!

Their first time outside in the chicken yard

 Oh my word, I am beyond excited and thrilled!! I have CHICKENS!

Discovering their coop

 A good friend and owner of dozens of hens (and a few roosters) had these birds left over when a neighbor gave her some extra Easter birds. So she gave them to me. Be still my heart. I'm over the moon.

 The two black-and-white speckled ones are Barred Rocks. They are named Lucy and Ethel.

 This gal below is dark and is an Ameraucana. Her name is Punkin.

The beautiful brown one is a Rhode Island Red. Her name is Ruby. We got an "A+" from my friend on our chicken coop and yard, so we were ready to go. I love to watch them. Now I gotta go and put them up for the night. Wish me luck!
Update: I walked out to the chicken yard, wondering if they'd already put themselves to bed. Ha! Lucy, Ethel, and Punkin were SITTING ON TOP OF THE WOODEN GATE. Eeeeek! They looked like they were roosting for the night, but honestly, they could have jumped down and walked out into the pasture at any minute. (gulp) I shooed them back into their yard, got in there and picked up each one and put them into the coop, latching their little door. Thankfully, Ruby was already in the coop, being the good little girl she is. Bless her. I went in the coop then with a flashlight, and Lucy was already hopping around on the roost. But the other three were huddled on top of each other making scared, nervous noises in the corner by the door. Poor things. I think they're very stressed by the move. I think our best option now is to clip their wings. It will make them floppy flyers, but it's better than being lost or dead :(

Tomatoes, Chickens, Soaps, Rains

Yesterday, my ripest little tomato looked like this:

Today he looked like this:

Tomorrow he'll be ready to eat! Yippee! I have loads of plants with cherry and full-sized fruit. I can't wait! This particular plant is a Matt's Wild Cherry. So many look like this:

Adam is busy working on a chicken coop. A good friend offered us four young hens if we could make a good, safe place for them. We weren't really planning on chickens just quite yet, but I'm quite excited! The chicken area is this:

 That door opening leads to what will be their coop.
It's on the left end of the barn.

Adam bought a new roll of chicken wire to add new fence and reinforce existing fence.

He also put in two new solid posts.

He's building a new fence so that we don't have to walk through the chicken yard to get into their coop to collect eggs and clean up. He will build a small door for them in the side of the barn that will lead straight into their yard.
The back of the fence has openings too large -- they would go straight through it. So he's layering chicken fencing over it.

inadequate fence

Just having Ned in the barn, on his rope, with his door open, should cut way down on any predators. We've discovered Ned is a mouser and a rat-catcher. We're quite pleased with that!
I mentioned I made a second batch of soap. It turned out so pretty! Look!

lavender, tea tree, sandalwood

 I sprinkled little soap shards I had leftover from the previous batch, all along the top. I love the look.

a long block of lavender soap, ready to be cut

 Close-up view:

And the rains. Hurricane season is beginning, and I'm concerned about the heavy rains we get sometimes. On May 11, our entire house lot was under water, like a lake. We have low areas.

They drain right into a hard black pipe.

It feeds directly into a ditch that has remained absolutely full since May 11. It isn't draining out.

That ditch in turn drains into a larger ditch on the side of the highway ... which is also still full all these weeks. This is the reason the side ditch won't empty.

This ditch is the problem, and it's the responsibility of the department of highways, DOT -- I called today and filed a report with them. Hopefully they'll attend to the drainage before we get another gullywasher.
I'm off to work! I hope your day is going great!