It's almost the end of July...and already my thoughts turn to winter. I can't help it, it's in my nature to think about things to come, almost to the point that I can't really enjoy what I'm doing! I have a LOT to do before winter, but I've gotten a lot done so far.
CHICKEN UPDATE
My little drumsticks turned three weeks old yesterday! We had a party, with balloons and a clown. Well, actually, I just let them outside for the first time, into the pen I put up with electric netting. I then cut a hole into the side of the shed, almost big enough to crawl out of. It took about an hour, but eventually about half of them went outside, and started eating! I don't think there were too many bugs to eat, but they were eating grass and dandelions and picking and scratching away. Once in a while, one of them would poke through the fence, and get a painful shock, which was somewhat entertaining. Irritatingly, many of the birds are small enough to actually slip through the fence at the bottom! They usually come back through right away though, and by nightfall, all of the birds were curled up inside the shed.
My next project will be to create a movable shelter that will be situated inside the penned area. The chickens will sleep inside that, but it will only have three closed in sides, to deflect the wind and most of the rain. I'm counting on the fence to keep any predators out! I saw a pretty neat little design using cattle panels arched over a frame, and covered in a tarp. It would take about an hour or two to whip up, and cost very little. It will also be lightweight, which is great, since I have to drag it about on my own!
Here are some pics of the three week old birds. Note that they are almost completely feathered out.
This one has got color on his comb, which really make him look "chickeny".
This is the penned in area. I have a couple of solar panels (yes, that one in the photo is actually cracked) and the birds were sheltering under it during the hot part of the day yesterday. Then, when it cooled down, they resumed their hunting for stuff to eat.
This is the somewhat messy setup for the fence. Obviously that's a car battery on the bottom, connected to a trickle charger, and also hooked to the energizer on the bottom rung of the ladder. Since it's raining right now, I stacked everything on the battery, and put a rubbermaid tub upside-down over it to keep the rain off. My eventual plan is to take a small solar panel that I just happen to have lying around, and connect that to the battery instead of a charger. The fence does not require much power, and most people use much smaller batteries with no trouble. This one was free, and free is always good!
GARDEN UPDATE
With all the talk about chickens, it's easy to forget that I also have a massive garden growing as well. Some of the plants could use a nitrogen feeding, maybe some compost tea or manure tea, but the peas are doing fantastic! I've picked about two buckets worth of peas since the 19th of July, and I know that they will keep producing till the middle of August. What I'm not sure about, is if there will enough available at one time to sell...the beans are not doing much (they need some feeding) and the carrots aren't ready yet. I will be planting a second crop of peas, which will hopefully produce during September, which is about the time that I plan to start harvesting chickens. With chickens, carrots, peas, and maybe beans, I will have something to actually sell at market!
MILESTONES
I will be thirty years old in 9 days, and my tenth wedding anniversary is six days after that! Yes, that means I had just turned twenty when I got married. I was ready, and I have never, ever regretted that decision. Now, with two kids I finally realize that despite all of the hard work on the farm, the good job, and the relative success, I will have utterly failed if I cannot pass my knowledge down to the next generation. To train them, and love them, is enough to fill a lifetime if I never did anything else. I constantly tell them how important it is for them to learn from me, and never a day goes by where I don't spend some time playing or reading, or doing something that they enjoy. Even my son gets grumpy if he doesn't get some Daddy time!
I hope all of you will recognize the same God-given task. Nothing you do will matter, if you do not properly train your children!
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2 comments:
Hows the greenhouse working out? Without reading back i believe you were growing strawberries in there, are they producing well? And will u be planting any late season crops in the greenhouse in hopes of having a longer growing season in it?
Will you be taking your crop and chickens to a local market or have you found a retailer for them?
I am also curious how you manage to do all this while working a full time job? I am assuming you must be a high ranking officer that allows you to take some extra time off?
Aaaah, the greenhouse. There was a mishap involving a thunderstorm, and winds exceeding 90 kph, and it torn out of the ground and tipped over. No permanent damage, but it weighs about 500 lbs, so putting it back is beyond my capability. Just the end cap is almost too heavy to lift. All the plants that were underneath are now out in the open, and there were strawberries. I am pinching off the blossoms, and encouraging runners. I need more plants, and I've got quite a few now, quite healthy indeed!
I plan to take my produce to my local farmers market, and sell them directly. It's quite common, and for a small seller like me, about the only real option I've got.
Thank you for assuming that I am high ranking, lol, but I am just a front-line patrol officer. We work a rotation that gives me more days off than most people get, plus I get 3 weeks vacation which I plan to use in September/october when the chickens are ready.
It may seem like I am quite busy with these projects, but truthfully, it really doesn't take a whole lot of extra time. I simply don't do a lot of things like, watch TV or whatnot. I spend about 1/3 hr per day on the chickens, and a couple of hours per week in the garden. I try to work efficiently, and I like to use time saving technology when I can afford it.
Thanks for reading!
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