The many wonders of the egg

I am not going to write about the many ways an egg can be prepared or used in a recipe.  Most people already know that eggs are good for you and can be fried, boiled, scrambled, etc.  The wonder of which I am amazed is where they come from.  I finally have eggs.  My hens are now almost six months old and in the last week and a half, I have collected a dozen and a half eggs.  I think they have all come from one hen, too.  I have not finished my nesting boxes yet, even though I knew the hens were becoming mature enough to lay.  So, I was pleasantly surprised to find two eggs laying on some nice soft pine shavings inside the coop one morning.  Forgetting all I had read about leaving an egg behind so the hen believes it is safe to continue laying where she has, I took both eggs in my excitement.  Imagine my chagrin when there were no more eggs laid in the next few days.  Unsure what to do now, I was certain the hen had to be laying somewhere else.  Surely she couldn't hold those eggs, but I could not find where she was now nesting. 
A few days later, I took my son up to the barn and pressed him into egg searching service whilst I fed the horse and chickens.  He looked high and low, but I was becoming discouraged.  I was fairly certain the chickens did not venture far from the barn during the day, but it was possible my laying hen had been spooked when I took her eggs and wandered away to lay her eggs in secret.  Suddenly, I heard "I found them, Mommy!" in my son's piping little voice.  Inside the storage stall, we have a trash can in which the feed bags are placed when emptied.  The can had been filled to the top and the last bag had been laid flat across the top.  Ms. Hen had turned the bag into a nest and had laid six eggs on that feed bag.  Little man was so excited he looked like he was about to pee in his pants.
In an attempt to get the hen and eventually the other hens to lay in the coop, we placed plastic eggs in the spot where I had found the first eggs.  However, Ms. Hen has decided she prefers the trash can and feed bags, even though all her eggs had been removed.  Since, we have found seven more eggs laid in that spot.  They're perfect little brown eggs.  It can be a little disconcerting when you ponder the fact that they come from a chicken's butt.  However, since we have been eating eggs our whole lives, knowing the chicken butts personally will not deter us from enjoying these little brown wonders.In fact, I think we will enjoy them even more.  Now, I can't wait to start finding little blue eggs in about four months when my Araucanas are mature.

The End of Summer

The kids have returned to school and I have lost my free if somewhat lazy labor.  It was at just the wrong time, too.  For the past three weeks I have been dealing with a cold, sinus infection, and a nasty cough from chest congestion.  Add that to my regular issues with asthma and getting outside to do some physical labor has not been high on my list of priorities.  As a result, the garden is just about done.  I do still have some tomatoes ripening and the beans can probably be salvaged.  Luckily, I had already planted my second round of corn and pumpkins, so if I can get myself out there to care for them I will have something to show for my work.  I think it's time to pull everything else up and plant some cover crops now.  I may sneak in some late summer plantings of lettuce and broccoli to see how they do. 

Pickles out the wazoo

I have had a great crop of pickling cucumbers this year.  So many, in fact, that I have managed to put up almost 20 jars of 3 kinds of pickles.  And they'll be used.  Dill spears for the kids to chomp, hamburger dill chips for, of course, hamburgers, and bread & butter pickles for everything else are busting off my shelves.  But, I have realized that while pickles are all well and good, I need more useful veggies from my garden for preserving.  My corn hasn't done so well.  Hopefully my successive crop will give me some for summer eating as well as freezing for the winter.  And the peppers are maturing, so I will have something to preserve from that harvest.  But, cantaloupes, watermelons, and squash are not known for their great preservation qualities.  My tomatoes are struggling.  My beans are barely producing.  My pumpkins have failed. 

However, even if those three crops were doing better, it just feels that the garden is not providing all I need.  It's supposed to provide a way to keep my grocery bill down, but that hasn't happened yet.  I am still spending as much as I ever was and my freezer and pantry shelves are still bare for the coming winter.  I think this means I am going to have to reevaluate what is grown in the garden.  Maybe more beans, especially the kind I can dry. I may have to pay a little more attention to my tomatoes.  This is going to take better planning for next year.  None of my normal slapdash, last minute tomfoolery.

It's so damned hot!

August in Ky is always hot.  It's always humid and it always burns.  But this August has started out with excessive heat advisories.  The heat makes wanting to work in the garden very discouraging.  While I'm inside, before I've opened a door, I think about getting out there and checking the harvest, picking pests, and pulling weeds.  As soon as the door opens, though, any attempts at pushing myself through the miasma of humid, hot air and soul sapping sun are thwarted.  I know I have to get out there or all of my hard work will be for naught.  I just can't convince my body that it is for the best.

Harvest Time

I am finally getting some veggies from my garden.  And, surprise, surprise, I actually have ripening tomatoes.  For the last two years, I have had problems with my tomatoes.  Two summers ago, I had a ton of tomatoes on my vines, but not a single one ripened.  There's only so much fried green tomatoes a person can eat, but I couldn't let them go completely to waste.  Then, last summer, they would start turning, but would stop short.  I had a lot of orangeish tomatoes that ended up worm ridden.  I came close to having no tomatoes this year.  I really didn't want to have to use the Sevin dust this year, but the homemade pesticide and manually picking the bugs off the plants was not working.  All my leafy veggies- kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts - were almost gone and the tomatoes were showing signs of infestation.  So, I had to break down and use it.  But, as always, I use it sparingly and hope that getting it under control will allow me to use my home recipe. 
I have managed to pick quite a few cucumbers this year already.  I have six pints of bread and butter pickles already put up.  I used my grandfather's recipe.  Hopefully, the family will actually use them this year.  My cantaloupes are coming along.   The vines I laid down are popping this year.  There are about 20 melons out there right now.  Just waiting for them to ripen.  My luck, they'll all ripen at the same time and we'll have more than we can eat.
I have learned my lesson with my beans.   My husband told me to use tepees to hold the runners up, but I went my own way as usual and tried a trellis system.  Only, the garden twine has not been strong enough to bear the weight of the vines and I didn't have enough trellises for the vines to grow up.  So, now, I have a mess of vines that aren't allowing much sun to penetrate and ripen the beans.  Plus, It's difficult to find the few that have appeared.  So, I have already purchased the bamboo poles to use next year and allowed my husband to gloat and tell me he had told me so.  It is just in my nature to have to see for my self.  He'll learn eventually.

My carrots could drown

It has rained a lot this week.  On the way into town, Otter Creek was edging up its banks and preparing to bust out all over the road.  Normally, this is not such a big deal, but we've already had extensive flooding this year and people have had to move from their homes that were destroyed by this normally very dry creek.  Fortunately for me, the creek just creates issues getting home.  If the road floods, I'm stuck at home or in town.

However, even though my home is way above the flood plain, all this rain is threatening my garden and yard.  I am very glad I built up raised beds this year.  My husband doesn't think they've helped any because he thinks the yield is down.  But, he doesn't work the garden like I do.  Yield for this time of year is down because I was late planting stuff.  And, last year, we had nearly as much rain as this and the garden was so waterlogged I lost onions and my tomatoes never ripened.  This year, though, even with all the rain, my garden is not a swampy mess in which my shoes are sucked off my feet when I walk in it.

Now, the trick is to see if the raised beds retain water in drought years.

Days away

I went camping with my Cub Scout den and son last week.  I left very simple and detailed instructions for my husband and daughter.  Of course, because my husband is working during the week, the burden of the work was supposed to be completed by my daughter.  I should have known very little would happen.  She did, thankfully, feed and water the new chicks and the old chickens, but when it came to picking cucumbers and the occasional weed, nothing was done.  The darling man did go and brave the blackberry thorns for me and pick just a few more off canes that are starting to show signs of the dreaded June bug.

So, now I'm home and there is so much to do that I am tired before i even start and I come up with excuses to stay out of the garden.  As a result, it is starting to look a little ragged.  It doesn't help that the yard between the house and the garden hasn't been mowed in three weeks.  We have somebody do the mowing because the type of mower required to safely mow our acreage is extremely cost prohibitive. If I ever win the lottery, a commercial mower will come right after a tractor.

Anyway, I just went out to the garden to pick some cucumbers and check on everything else.  I finally have beans (YAY!).  But, my pumpkin vines are doing the same thing they did last year.  A few pumpkins will get started and then the vine dies before they get any bigger.  I think I need more water as the days are hot, but the ground under the cucumbers is very wet.  The point being, using the sprinkler would wet everything and not just what needs it.  I have a soaker hose, but the plants are such a mess, getting a hose in the right place is very difficult.  My good intentions each day to get up early in the morning before the heat of the day makes it dangerous to work outside always seem to disappear at 6 in the morning as I'm laying in bed trying to convince myself to get up.  I don't understand how I can get myself up for a job each morning when I had one, but can't get up for my own benefit.  A good spot for character development :)

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Here come the blue and green eggs.

I have new chicks.  After the slaughter of over half my flock by the neighbor's dog, I decided to bring in some more chicks and create a little diversity.  So, I ordered 10 Araucana chicks from Healthy Chicks.  The thought of getting blue and green eggs intrigued me.  Plus, the adults look really neat.  But, I'm not sure if I have Araucana or Ameracauna chicks.  Both lay the blue and green eggs and the order form didn't specify.  But, the box had Araucana written on it.  So, I assumed that's the breed they are.  After looking at the photos of the chicks, I'm not sure now.  They look more like the Ameracaunas.  I guess I'll have to wait until they're grown to know for sure.  There are supposed to be differences.  The Araucana chickens have ear tufts and hte Ameracaunas have muffs and beards.  Either way, I have more chicks!

The heat is on

Well, after last week's beautiful weather, the heat is back.  We have heat advisories in KY this week.  Of course, this is supposed to be one of my heaviest work weeks outside.  I was going to buckle down and get some things done.  Little girl was going to learn to work instead of lounging around all summer.  Now, we'll have to limit some of the activity to early mornings and maybe late in the evening.  I'll have to prioritize to get what has to be done finished before taking my boy to Webelos camp.  Hopefully, I'll get the brooding pen done before our new chicks come in.  And maybe even the chicken run. 

The end is in sight.

It has taken me three months to get this far. If an individual labels me a procrastinator, it definitely does not illustrate any great insight or perception. This is my most obvious trait. In any event, the chicken run is almost done. I just have to wire up and then hang the gates so we can get into it. Maybe then I won't have to run the weedwhacker up by the barn. It's my hope the chickens will keep the weeds down.
Unfortunately, the gates will stop the horse from entering the fenced area. For some reason, our old Paso Fino has gone out of his way to enter pasture in the area I've fenced for the chickens. It's odd because he has an acre of hillside to do this, but at a certain time of the day he likes to come up to the barn and walk through the gate area and graze. I'm still working on some way to let him in with the chickens and still keep them safe from marauding neighbor dogs. If I can swing it, I'd like to let them into the barn for their run, too, so I won't have to build a shaded area to keep them cool during the summer. But, that will probably involve cutting into existing walls and I'm not handy enough to feel comfortable cutting up Dad's handiwork. Knowing me, it will happen. One day, I'll just look at it and get disgusted that I haven't figured out something and just do it. And it won't be as bad as I have feared.

Will the blackberries ever stop?!?

There are still more blackberries. So far, I have canned 12 pints of blackberry jelly. That took about 6 quarts of blackberries. Since then the kids and I have picked another 2 quarts of berries. And, it doesn't look like it is ever going to stop. Two bramble patches are finally picked out. But, there are at least three more patches close to the house that are still ripening or even only have immature berries. Then there's the multitude on the back part of the farm. That area is my normal picking area and, in good years, I have always been able to pick enough to make another 12 pints of jam. I could pick more back there, but by that time I'm tired of the heat and the mosquito bites. I usually decide I have enough and leave the rest to the June bugs. I haven't gotten to that point this year. The new canes are so close to the house I can't pass them by without picking berries. Now, the weather has turned pleasant and berry picking this week might even be fun.

I will, of course, leave some of the berries for the bugs and birds to eat and spread the seeds, but not nearly as much as I have in the past. We'll have blackberries all year long this time.

Blackberry Picking Time

It's time to pick blackberries again. Maybe. Mom told me that in Kentucky, you know it's time to head on out to pick the wild berries around the 4th of July. She said they should be ripe by then and the June bugs shouldn't have swarmed in to decimate the canes yet. But, for the last couple of years, the haul from the canes has been minimal at best. Last year, I waited to head out until a day or two before the 4th and they had already been picked clean by the loathsome bugs. The year before, a drought caused the crop to be puny and not even worth donning the overalls, long sleeved shirt, and hats in the sticky July heat.

This year, we have new canes growing on the road up to the barn. And they have been ripening for the last couple of weeks. As of yesterday, I already have over 4 quarts of blackberries picked from these new canes. And there are still a ton more that are bright red and won't be ready for almost a week. In light of this, I headed out to my regular blackberry patch yesterday morning. At first, I thought the June bugs had already been through as I didn't see a single red or black berry. But, as I tromped through the high weeds, scratched my face on the thistle thorns. and started at every sound in the woods, I discovered that the canes on the farm hadn't even popped their berries yet. The blossoms had just died back. Not a single cane showed any signs that my voracious enemy had been through.

So, this year it looks like Mom is right and not right. Very odd that the canes so close to the house have proved her wrong and yet those only over the hill may have proved her right. In any event, I will have pints and pints of blackberry jam for the winter. Too bad my nephews who had stolen so many of my jars the last time I made jam aren't here to do so again.

The Garden Grows

Well, the garden is growing along nicely. The raised beds seem to be working out really well. It's actually freed up a lot of space in the garden vs. my old traditional rows. So now, I can get seeds for plants I don't normally grow and try some new stuff.

I am trying potatoes this time. They're growing fast and thick, but the Colorado Potato Beetles are threatening them. They aren't bothering anything else. That's the plus. I've tried lettuce this year, too, and it is growing wonderfully. But, I seem to have too much. I do this every year. I guess it's better to have more than I need than less. I can always give away the excess.

The chickens are also growing quickly. The ducks, too. We had a mishap with the dog, though. He's left them alone this whole time. Nosed around a little, but stayed away from the barn. The fence is still incomplete, but we've been letting the chickens run outside of the coop during the day until we get it up. Big mistake. Sammy managed to get 4 of my chickens. Now, he spends his days in side until I can get the fence complete. At least he didn't get the two ducks. They are the kids' pets.

Everything is on its way!

Well, I have managed to get quite a few things done, but there is still so much more to do. The coop for the chickens is coming along slowly. We finally have all the material to finish it up, sans the nesting boxes, but it's started raining and I can't finish the whitewash until it's done. Throw in coaching soccer, being a Cub Scout den leader, prepping for the GMAT, and trying to find a job and the farm is not getting as much attention as it should.

Another couple of weeks and it will be time to transplant my seedlings. If I manage to keep them alive that long. I had thought about going ahead and putting them out even though we're well ahead of the last frost date for the area. Usually, I don't mind gambling a little, but it is still getting dangerously close to freezing every night. Not sure covering them would be good enough. Plus, I'd probably end up losing them to the rabbits that are eating all the leaves off my broccoli. The dog is supposed to be keeping them out of the garden. He has every year until now. He's still chasing squirrels, birds, and snakes so I don't know why rabbits are suddenly verboten for him.

I've also finally planted my two blueberry bushes. Since I've been told they attract snakes, I decided to put them on the hill that the snakes like already. As long as I keep the grass and weeds down over there, it should be okay. Might as well keep them where I know they are instead of inviting them elsewhere in the yard. I still have to get my blackberry bushes planted, though.

Finally it's started

I have finally sowed my seeds, planted my seedlings, and potted my herbs. It only took me almost a week from when I said I would do it. Now, we'll see if I've planted any of this stuff too late. I have planted onion sets, broccoli seedlings, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, and brussel sprout seeds. I have a very large garden and normally we plant in rows. But it makes for a very large row. Even when we split the garden in half. This year, I decided to try raised beds. I'm not sure if I'll do it for the rest of the garden after my started seeds are ready to plant. It took forever to make the bed for my cool weather crops. My husband made fun of me and asked for the 20th time what the point was. Then he proceeded to tell me there were rototillers that would create raised beds. At this point, I told him that unless he was willing to go get me one of those tillers, it was time for him to shut his mouth. I didn't ask him for help or advice. He really shouldn't have supplied it.

I have set me seed starters up in the sun room. I know you're supposed to cover the seed trays or keep them under a light to keep them moist and warm. But I think the sun room will do the job. There are so many windows in this room that faces the east, that the sun shines into it for hours. It could be 50 degrees in the rest of the house and this room could feel like it is a balmy 80. So, hopefully, this will be good enough.

A day wasted and lost forever

It's amazing how fast time goes by when you have something you need to do, but everything else shoves itself in the way. I never did get those seeds started. Something else that will be pushed off to tomorrow, or the next tomorrow, or the next. The chicks are too big for their brooder and I still haven't pulled that other trough out of the field to move some over and alleviate the massive overpopulation problem on the island of Chick Brooder. Maybe Congressman Hank Johnson could address this issue and tell me how to keep it from tipping and capsizing into the ocean... As the admiral said, "We don't anticipate that." But, now I would have no excuse if my brooder did tip over and capsize. The possibility has been raised. So, no more delays, they will be moved to an unpopulated brooder tomorrow. That one will not be delayed.

I did manage to till the garden again. The husband insists on doing it one more time before I transplant my spring veggies, but if he delays this one, too bad. I can't delay these any longer either. Before I know it, spring will be over and what is the point of growing spring vegetables if it's not spring.

It's not as if I sat around doing nothing for the past two days. My dad is in before he flies off to join Mom in Belgium. Not sure when I'll see them next. With no current employment, a ticket for each of us is not feasible. So, I spent time with him. And I've scanned pictures I found in my recently deceased great aunt's house to share with Mom, aunt, and cousins. I just haven't done any of my farming/gardening. And I feel like a slacker. So, tomorrow, I am forgoing the event in Garrard County, damning the expected rain and daring it to come, and buckling down. Those seeds will be started. The seedlings will be planted. The brooder will be depopulated and saved from catastrophe. I will do it.

Planting Day

It's finally warm enough outside to plant something. Of course, the garden itself is still too wet from Monday's rain, but I'll start out with starting some seeds today. It may just be bought potting soil, but there's nothing like sticking your hands in a bunch of dirt and then scrubbing your nails later.
I know it's a little late to get my onions and lettuce started. Don't really care. This is when I'm able to do it and this is when I'm going to do it. Hopefully, this time, I'll actually get a harvest from my onions. I never seem to do it right. I know what I'm supposed to do and I've followed the directions. This time I'll do what feels right. I think I let it get too wet before. Or, I didn't dry them properly. Or I didn't wait long enough to harvest. Or, I planted them too close together. Whatever it is, I'll figure it out eventually.
Going to sow some herb seeds in my hanging baskets too. It'll be nice to have some inexpensive fresh herbs for my recipes. Too bad Dad and Mom are moving to Belgium. I hope too have some good tomatoes, fresh basil, and homemade mozzarella this year. One of Dad's favorites. Of course, going by the last couple of years, my tomatoes may not turn out at all. I hope so. The only kind of tomatoes the kids like are fresh grown garden tomatoes. Store bought just don't have the right flavor or texture. If I get some Romas this year, I'll make up some spaghetti and pizza sauce.
May try to take the chicks outside today and let them roam around the tilled garden. They're two weeks old now and getting too small for their brooder. I need to give them something to do rather than peck at each other. It'll be warm enough for them to be safe. Since this is the first year I'm raising chickens and they're living things, I'll follow the instructions as much as I am able. But I'll push it where I think it's best. We'll see what's best for these chicks for next time. If all goes well, I may not have to order chicks again. As long as these survive, there's enough hens, and my dog doesn't like chicken meat (yeah right). Although, I'm thinking of ducks or turkeys or guinea fowl for next year.

Third year of gardening and I might have learned a few things or maybe not

I have been growing my family's summer vegetables for about three years now. I have learned a few things and yet it seems I have so much to learn. I never considered myself a gardener before. Until I moved into my parent's house to take care of it while they gallivant around the globe, it never occurred to me that I might want to. They have about 80 acres, of which all but 3 or 4 acres is used by the neighbor to run cattle. But that 3 or 4 acres has so much potential. Dad had grown a garden before - mostly tomatoes, peppers, the basic garden stuff. Growing up that's about all he had done in the container gardens he would have because we moved every few years. I don't know if he kept it safe because he didn't want to have to deal with stuff with which he wasn't familiar or he didn't trust himself and grew only what he knew could be grown in this climate.

I'm a little more adventurous. My first year, everything was new to me. I grew tomatoes, peppers, and corn because I like them. But I also tried broccoli, onions, garlic, potatoes, and lettuce. I picked out four different tomatoes and five kinds of peppers. In the end, I had enough food to feed a family of 20 for the whole summer. My family was only me and two kids. That year, I learned not to grow more than I could use, give away, or preserve. I haven't applied that lesson yet, but I did learn it.

The next year, I was married and my husband refused to let me till the garden. He felt it was his manly duty to run the rototiller. I let him do it because it makes him happy, but I get really tired of the swearing that echoes across the hills to my neighbors ears. When it gets too bad, I pack the kids up and we go to town. What gets me is that he thinks that's the hard part. He doesn't do all the weeding, harvesting, and clearing that I do. I've been known to be so sore the day after some hard core weeding that I can't move. That year, I grew too much again. This time I had no tomatoes though. They fruited, but they never ripened. I had tons of green useless tomatoes. My husband thought maybe it was because we needed to have the ground disced by a neighbor farmer on his tractor. I hate asking for favors from people I barely know, so we didn't do it the next year either. This time, though, I learned that letting the weeds get away from you is really not good for the garden. I harvested quite a bit, but it didn't last as long. By the end of the summer, I was tired and everything became grown over.

My third year, I did much better. My husband insisted I use string to make straight rows. It was easier to weed and till between the rows, but I'm still not convinced that was the best way to lay out my garden. My tomatoes ripened that year, but they were eaten up by bugs before they were ripe enough to pick. I also learned to test my soil and found that my dirt is almost perfect in all the essential minerals and ph balance and what not. After three years, I haven't had to add any fertilizer. The hubby still claims I need to get the ground disced, but until I have a tractor of my own, that won't be happening. The tiller will have to do. This year, I'm going to be even more adventurous. I'm trying artichokes. Dad says our growing season isn't long enough, but our garden store was selling the plants and I'm only out a few dollars if it doesn't work. If it does, my daughter will love me. I'm trying some cabbage and lettuce too. I have problems with the colder weather crops because I can't get the ground cut up until it thaws a little. But, I grew broccoli in the summer even though I planted it in late May. I did it once, I'll do it again. It's all trial and error for me. I read the books, note the important or interesting stuff, and then ignore it all. Next, I'll try turning my brand new chicks out in the garden before planting to get rid of grubs.