Snowy Moss And Muddy Chicken Feet

The moss doesn't seem to be bothered by the snow. I took the photo in the afternoon and lots of the snow had melted away because of the rain. More rain is forecast, but tomorrow we are supposed to have a break in the weather.

It has snowed here in May and Tom says it has snowed in June. This snow history gives me a bit of slack when it comes to getting my garden ready and planted. Our weather is a bit unpredictable.

Since we are going to hopefully have a sunny rain free day tomorrow I plan to haul a bunch of leaves and dump them in the chicken pen. I feel so sorry for the muddy footed chickens.

They really want out and hate being locked up. They even stand out in the rain at the end of the pen staring at the door waiting for me to come out and free them. I feel so guilty.

But they are safe if muddy. Because of the holiday and people and dogs not following their regular routines we are going to keep the chickens locked up until thing settle back to normal.

With some luck the fox will have found himself a new place to look for his dinner. Although it may have been a vixen looking for food for her kits.

Peek at the Past

(March 31, 2009)

Mossy rocks.

[7 eggs today]

Our coop is this close to the house. The bears don't really care. They get mixed signals. Some people scare them away, shoot at them, take photos, and some even feed them. A fed bear is a dead bear because they won't go away and become bold and scare people or worse.

A big Daddy bear could rip that door off. A bear tore apart a goat shed up here to get at the goats. We have been lucky that the bears that have investigated our coop have been bears this size or smaller.

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Smiles

Sticks and Moss

A big windy rain storm with thunder and lightning moved through last night and made a lot of noise especially with all the branches and stuff blowing against the house.

I thought a photo of some of the sticks might make a good photo for the blog. I saw the sticks, but what I really noticed was how large the moss on the trees has grown.

All these mossy trees remind me of the moss covered trees I have seen on trips through Washington state.

Washington has a much wetter climate that lends itself to lots of greenery. In fact one of the few temperate rain forest in the U.S.

Well, I was surprised by the exuberant green mossy growth up and down the trees, on the roof and pretty much where ever the moss has found a spot it likes.

I think moss is beautiful and when I ever get my garden going I would love to have moss growing all around in the garden. Of course I would need to find shady places where it could thrive.

I found this recipe for growing moss, how to grow moss for your garden, on eHow. I think it would add so much to the garden to have moss established to make the garden look like it had been there for a long time.

Chicken update: The hen is doing ok? No egg today. That's good. I would rather she healed herself up than produce eggs.

Peek at the Past

(March 30, 2009)

I need another trip to the quilt store.

[6 eggs today]

I have been searching around for different ways to discourage predators. I am not looking forward to visits from bears or any other hungry critters. The black bears are hungry in Spring after their winter sleep and may come looking for chicken dinners.

It's snowing!

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Smiles

Rainy Day Plans

The chickens have been locked up for a week and now because of the rain and the fox they will be penned until at least Thursday.

The photo shows the fenced area adjoining the chicken pen. Kristine and I would like to cut an opening in the anchor fence and build a secure doorway that would allow access between the pens.

Secure is the operative word. I'm not at all sure I will be able to build a secure enough door. I will need something that will stand up to raccoons and possibly bears. The fox and other predators would have to dig in, but the raccoons and bears could climb in (and have climbed in) the other pen because unlike the chicken pen it is not roofed with anchor fencing.

So, I need to roof the other pen with fencing or put on a solid roof to make the pen secure. We were originally thinking that if we put in a door then the chickens could use the other pen in the daytime and we could lock it up at night.

It all gets more complicated as I plan out the steps I need to take. I keep hoping I will come up with an idea that will simplify the process. It can't be too difficult because I am the one who will be doing the work.

I found this site when I was looking for tonics and enjoyed reading the recipes and stories.

Chicken update: The hen is eating, drinking and the wounds seem to be healing. Not closed yet.

Molasses update: I had two teaspoons of molasses yesterday. Two too many evidently because I couldn't sleep and had a migraine episode. I will wait a few days and then try a half teaspoon and see how that goes. The molasses does seem to pack a punch. Too much sugar? Or?

Peek at the Past

(March 29, 2009)

[6 eggs today]

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Smiles

Rain And Snow Forecast

Monday and Tuesday it will rain. The snow may not get here until Wednesday, but Spring has been given a shove by Winter.

This photo is here just to prove that the sun and a breeze did actually show up last week.

Tom got me some molasses without sulfur. It does make the coffee taste a bit peculiar. Not bad, just different. Hope the molasses will serve as a Spring tonic and I will find some energy.

I found a blog that has simple herbal tonics for beginners. I am too chicken to try out any of this stuff, but I like to read about the brews.

Before I would make and drink any brews I would want to do a lot of study to make sure I wasn't poisoning myself by mistake.

This page is called Online Archive of American Folk Medicine. You enter a search word. I entered Spring Tonic. Not much info, but I suppose it depends on what is searched for.

While searching around for more tonic info I found this article on trash can tonics to keep critters at bay. I especially like the list of deer repelling plants. I know they don't eat the myrtle we have on the property. Someone told me once that deer didn't care for plants with purple flowers.

The hen is still eating and acting ok, but not healed up yet.

Peek at the Past

(March 28, 2009)

[12 eggs today]

1 egg in the pen, 1 egg from the wounded B.O.,

and 10 eggs in the nest boxes.

I'm surprised!

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Smiles

Bleh! I Need A Spring Tonic

I have a case of the blahs. Very strange considering I would have expected this to happen during the Winter when we had snow and bad weather.

Morgan has the blahs too!

Spring is supposed to bring along lots of energy and springy type thinking. Well, maybe I'm suffering from a lack of vitamins but I really don't want to do anything.

I remember reading about Spring tonics. I did some searches and found that the tonics were given to affect changes in the blood during the year. The effect of the tonic was to purify or cut the blood and make the person feel better after winter inactivity.

I was surprised to find that some of the tonics had toxic elements to them.

This is an interesting post about Appalachian tonics. Liver cancer could be the result of indiscriminate use of sassafras tea that the Cherokee used as a tonic. The Cherokee knew what they were doing and had a time limit.

The Cherokee Kanuchi sounds like a great Spring soup.

This eHow Spring Tonic article has some pointers. That's what I need... something to invigorate my flagging energy.

I think I will try using molasses to sweeten my coffee for a week or two and see if that will boost my energy level. Wiki has many reference pages at the bottom of this page.

Yawn... I'm going to go search for the molasses bottle. I know there is one in the fridge.

Kristine says I should stop worrying about the chicken. But the wounds are still open.

Peek at the Past

(March 27, 2009)

[6 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Buff Update

The Buff Orpington doesn't look or act like she has a problem. The holes are closing slowly.

She would rather eat her feed and scratch off the floor so I sprinkle the feed and treats on the straw.

We hope she is going to be ok.

Today there was a beautiful blue sky and now and then a breeze. It was still in the 50's.

I'm looking forward to seeing some green leaves on these trees. And I will welcome some warm weather.

Tom bought some 3" screws for me to use to hold the planter beds together. I was going to use nails, but I think screws will be better anchors.

I fed the sprouts to the chickens today. They made short work of them. If I do any more sprouting I will wait until I can get some better lentils. The store brand lentils didn't all sprout and they took a long time to do anything.

I enjoyed watching The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency on my computer. I liked the shows even better than the book which is unusual. Kristine got the DVD's from the library. She checks out DVD's and books for me. I'm so lucky!

Peek at the Past

(March 26, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

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Smiles

Rainy Day and Rest And Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Jaidan!

Today's rain gave us another day off!

Morgan went to the groomers and had a fun day out visiting with her friends and getting treats.

The groomers said that Morgan is one of the dogs that like to be at the groomers. I think Morgan likes the ride in the car, all the attention and treats are always welcome.

All the beauty treatments must be tiring because Morgan usually wants to sack out when she gets home. Tonight she managed to get her paw in my computer cords. No harm done.

I watched more Lord Peter Wimsey shows and enjoyed my time off. It took me many years before I could relax with out feeling guilty or that I should be doing something instead of having fun.

The Buff Orpington's wounds are healing.

She is eating and drinking.

Peek at the Past

(March 25, 2009)

Happy Second Birthday, Jaidan!

[4 eggs today]

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Smiles

Day Off

Today I had no energy and felt exhausted. (Kristine did too) So I took the day off. Kristine says we are just now feeling the after effects of the fox attack. I suppose so.

I didn't see it, but Kristine said when the fox attacked the chickens came running to the house and up on the porch. Pretty smart chickens!

The two that the fox almost caught ran away and hid for awhile.

The chickens are still locked up, the wounded Buff Orpington is healing, and the sprouts must be close to finished? I must say that they don't look very appetizing.

It may rain so even the chicken feed is inside. Poor chickens. They really are not happy having to stay in their pen, but the fox is still around. Morgan ran him out of the yard again today.

It is hard to tell but the oaks are getting ready to celebrate Spring with some new green leaves.

We may have some winter weather before Spring comes to stay.

I have been watching Lord Peter Wimsey (I like Edward Petherbridge as LPW) shows on YouTube. I would like to get them on DVD.

Peek at the Past

(March 24, 2009)

Australia?

[5 eggs today]

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Smiles

Steps To Making My Soil Sifter

Today I made a beginning toward making my soil sifter. First I had to remove the piece of wire mesh from the side of the chicken pen. Then I had to cut the wire mesh to fit. This all sounds very simple, but took a very long time.

It seemed to take forever to get the wire mesh off of the side of the pen and cut and replace it with small chicken wire. It took even longer to cut the wire mesh to size because the cutters would barely fit in the holes.

I finally got it cut to size and found some 2 x 2 that I will use to attach the wire mesh to the old window frame. I'm using the window frame instead of building a frame. I like to reuse things and besides it is easier and keeps it out of the landfill.

I sifted some more wood ash for the chickens dust bin. I also sifted some more dirt and mixed that with the wood ash.

The wound on the side of the Buff Orpington is healing rapidly, but the wound on her leg still has a hole in the middle. The hen is eating and drinking and even laid an egg. So we have hopes she will heal and recover.

The sprouts are still sprouting slowly. Rather pathetic.

Peek at the Past

(March 23, 2009)

Snow?

[6 eggs today]

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Smiles

Soil for Planter Beds

Thank you to all who left comments wishing our Buff Orpington a speedy recovery.

Kristine and I just checked the wounds on the hen and put on some more antibiotic. The wounds look to be in the healing process.

I cover the pen with plastic at night to keep her from drafts and to retain some body heat. The plastic has holes in it for ventilation.

Yesterday, before all the fox excitement I emptied the soil I sifted the other day out of the wagon and used it to fill pots in the greenhouse.

I have done some searching and found that the leaf compost I screened with the screen door was suitable for planting seeds not for a planter bed.

While I was moving the pots around I noticed that Morgan and some of the chickens were in their favorite warm spot on the side of the greenhouse.

By reading the search information I learned that fine screening will break down the composition of the soil that is needed to grow plants.

I liked watching this video of a lady showing how she gets her planter bed ready for planting.

I had no idea you could go out and rent a soil sifter. Amazing! Not going to do that either.

I found a piece of wire mesh that I am going to use to make a small soil sifter. And I hope to have enough of the mesh to make a chicken size door in the chicken's chain link pen so they can have access to the larger fenced pen next to them.

Peek at the Past

(March 22, 2009)

Snow last year!

[7 eggs today]

The injured hen is still with us in her private pen.

Sprouts are still sprouting.

Blogger editor: I don't know what has happened to the new editor but I had to switch back to the old editor because the text was not wrapping and it was overlapping the photos.

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Smiles

Why Does It Always Happen On Sunday!?

That's what Kristine asked after a pretty red fox with black legs put a hole in our biggest Buff Orpington and (we thought) ran off with one of the Wyandottes.

This is where the attack on the Buff Orpington happened.

And this is where the fox tried to catch the Wyandotte.

Morgan was on the porch when the chickens came running and yelling toward the house. Morgan took off to help the chickens, caught wind of the fox and took chase. Kristine saw the fox climb the fence and get away.

Kristine thought the fox had something in its mouth! Feathers? We counted the hens and we were short two. But then the big Buff Orpington came from the other side of the property.

We checked her and she had a wound and missing feathers.

Kristine drove down to town to the feed store to pick up some antibiotic while I made a comfy place for the Orpington to settle down.

Kristine is back now with a package of dry antibiotic and we have a new problem. How to convert mg into something we can measure and add to the chicken's water.

I don't know how to convert the mg to teaspoons and when I google for conversions they say that you can't convert because it is two different forms of measure... mass and volume. Arghhh!

I just want to add some to the water. Why couldn't they put down a teaspoon measurement?

Next step is to wash the wound with a saline solution. Then put on antibiotic cream. Not knowing exactly what to do for the hen is very unsettling. 

Kristine and I went out with treats to lure the chickens in their pen because we think the fox came back for another try and Morgan ran him off again.

Surprise!!! The missing Wyandotte showed up! She must have been so scared she went and hid out somewhere she felt safe. Wow! We checked the hen and she is fine except for some missing tail feathers and a patch of feathers on her side. She is small and fast and got away!

My thinking on the fox Sunday dinners is that since people around here go to church and probably locked up their dogs that left the area open for the fox to cruise for chickens with relative ease.

Sprout update:
Sprouts are sprouting... slowly...

Chicken update:
When Kristine and I were cleaning the side wound we also found a wound in the leg on the same side. Both wounds are in the skin not in the muscle. Looks like the fox's canines grabbed the hen and got mostly feathers and sliced the skin.

It is amazing she got away. Kristine thinks that when Morgan showed up the fox dropped the chicken and high tailed it for the fence. The Orpington feels like she weighs 10 pounds. Too heavy to hoist over the fence?

New Rule:
From now on the chickens will have to stay penned on the weekends.

Peek at the Past

(March 21, 2009) 

Jean is ok now.

(6 eggs today)

~:>

Smiles

First Day of Spring and I'm Sifting Dirt!

Happy First Day of Spring! 

I got myself outside today and started the dirt sifting process. I think this is going to take longer than it did to put together the Hugelkultur bed.

The shoveling, bending and pushing on the dirt is harder than working on making the bed. Who knew?

The screen door is coming in handy again. I shoveled some of the leaf compost on the screen and then pushed the dirt around and about half of the scoop goes through the screen.

The dirt that goes through the screen feels like flour! I really don't know what the dirt should be like. Maybe I should put some of the small stuff back in the "flour?"

The rest is sticks, stones, acorns, and odd bits. I was hoping to be able to dig the leaf compost and use it as is, but there is too much "stuff" in it still.

The chickens and Morgan come by every now and then to check on me. They probably wonder what I'm doing playing in the dirt.

I just went to check on the lentils, pulled up the towel, and wonder of wonders there are tiny little sprouts! I was going to toss them tomorrow and really didn't hold out any hope for the lentils ever sprouting.

I'll let them grow some and then feed them to the chickens. I guess these lentils like to grow on a moist towel rather than in the jar of water.

Peek at the Past

(March 20, 2009)

(6 eggs today)

~:>

Smiles

Hugelkultur Layers

Today (Friday the 19th) I finished all the layering in my first Hugelkultur planter bed

except for the last dirt layer.

See yesterdays post for a photo of the logs in the bed.

Yesterday while I was looking for pieces of fallen wood I also picked up small branches and added them to a pile to use today. I broke up the sticks before I threw them on the bed. I'm in hopes that smaller sticks will break down faster. I'm not sure the layers are in the correct order or if there is one.

(Before I started layering I tossed some dirt on the logs

and wet them down.)

First I put down a layer of leaves over the logs.

Second a layer of bedding from the chicken coop.

Third a layer of sticks.

Fourth I sprinkled a thin mix of dirt, bedding, and leaves over the sticks to hopefully help speed up the breaking down of the material into good soil.

Fifth I covered everything with about 4 inches of dirt.

In between each layering I wet the area down. 

I have read that you shouldn't expect a good harvest the first year using this method. But from what I have read that may depend on how much dirt is added, the quality of the dirt, and what crops are planted. Melons, potatoes, squash and berries are supposed to do well the first year. Some people let the bed lay fallow the first year or plant it with cover crops.

I want to plant veggies this year so my plan is to put down enough soil on the top so the plants have a good growing medium.

Tomorrow I'm going to dig up dirt at the bottom of years of piles of leaves I've raked and mix that dirt in with the dirt I dug out of the bed. 

I'm in hopes of having the hugelkultur at work below making and enriching the soil and still be able to grow some veggies in the bed in the dirt I'm adding to the top.

I can see how this method is a great way to improve poor soil just by using what is at hand. I would much rather get rid of the leaves and fallen wood this way than by burning.

This bed was a lot of work. To make it easy on myself (and to learn) I don't plan on doing the next beds exactly the same way. I'm going to experiment and make them each differently.

Sprout update: I took the lentils out of the water and put them between a damp dishtowel. I really don't think there is any hope for these lentil ever sprouting.

Peek at the Past

(March 19, 2009)

( 3 eggs today)

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Smiles

Hugelkultur Underway

Yesterday I used stakes and marked out where I wanted the planter boxes. Today I marked the area with the shovel and cut out the bottom of a bed and piled the dirt to the side.


The dirt will go back on top when I get the other layers done.


I dug out the far end of the bed first and put down some old logs. Then I took a break. This is hard work!


The Wyandotte looks like she is asking me if I'm coming back to finish the job. Bossy hen!



I finally (after a few more breaks) got the rest of the bed dug out. Screamer is going to walk around on the logs while Morgan is doing her chicken watching routine.

I didn't have enough old wood at hand so I spent a lot of time walking the property picking up down wood and hauling it back to the bed.

 The first layer is done!

Tomorrow I'm going to clean out the chicken coop and put  layers of chicken stuff, leaves, and sticks. I'll sprinkle a bit of dirt in there too. I'll top the bed off with dirt and some of the leaf compost that has been cooking for many years.

The chickens are so funny. They wouldn't come in the garden area when I was working, but when I left to take a break or take photos some of them would zip in there and check the place out.

Sprout update: Argh! Nothing is happening. Tom got these lentils at the local  market and they are a store brand. Maybe these are old, old sad lentils and are not going to sprout. I'll wait a bit longer.

Peek at the Past

(March 18, 2009)

Jean's ankle is healed and she is home!

[5 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Chickens, Garden and Happy St. Patrick's Day

I didn't work on making planter boxes today because I had to figure out where they would fit in the area in front of the greenhouse.

I used scrap wood to lay out the planter box areas. I raked most of the leaves onto the places that will be the walkways.

The two green bushes are a Rosemary and a Thyme.

There were times today when the sun came out and the hens wanted to sun bathe.

Morgan noticed the chickens laying in the sun and must have thought it was a good idea because she laid down behind them.

Then I noticed Morgan noticing something...

Oh, another chicken.

Another sun bather?

Oh... it's Screamer.

What is she up to?

She is such a spoil sport!

No, No, don't run over them.

What a bad girl.

Screamer is a pill.

Oh, well, the Australorp and the Wyandotte are running off with Screamer.

But, the Buff Orpington knows how to relax.

She's not going to let Screamer ruin her time in the sun.

Morgan is not going to let Screamer boss her around either.

I got my time in the sun taking photos and trying to put a garden together. I tried to grow veggies in this area once but they didn't do well at all. This year I hope that using the planter boxes and better soil will mean that we will have a garden full of good things.

After I get everything ready to plant I will need seeds or starter plants. I will start looking around for seeds.

Sprout update: Some of the lentils are splitting, but I don't see any little roots. I'll keep waiting.

Peek at the Past

(March 17, 2009)

[6 eggs today]

~:>

Smiles

Greenhouse and Chickens

The warm sunshine has dried out the top layer of straw, mud, and pine branches in the chicken pen!

I was getting really tired of finding muddy eggs. These chickens came back in the pen to eat up the scratch.

Today I hauled lumber for the planter box I'm going to build in the greenhouse and stacked it by the shed so it will all be in one place when I start cutting it to size.

I cleaned all the junk out of the little greenhouse that my brother built. I took out the pavers where the planter box will sit. I'll use the pavers to make a path to the greenhouse.

I was going to try and build two planter boxes, but decided to just built one in the middle positioned so I can walk along the sides.

I think I may use the miter saw instead of the saber saw to cut the lumber. I'll see how strong I feel tomorrow. That miter saw is heavy.

My brother found a rattlesnake in the greenhouse once so I find myself looking around the space carefully. Between Morgan and the chickens I think the rattlesnakes don't find themselves welcome on the property.

The sprouts still haven't sprouted. Well, some of the lentils have split, so maybe they are going to sprout?

Peek at the Past

(March 16, 2009)

I am still eating mostly fresh food.

[6 eggs today]

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Smiles

Sprouts Day Two And A Night

It was sunny today! Soon those oaks will have tiny green leaves. We are going to be having warm days for at least a week.

Kristine brought home the latest Foreigner book by C. J. Cherryh, so I'm going to post this and then go to bed and read for a while and then hopefully go to sleep early so I can get up early and work outside tomorrow.

Kristine is searching the internet for information about grants or fellowships for undergraduates. Not an easy job at all to find the information you want. There are lots of sites that will take your money  to find grants. I think I will be spending a lot of time doing my own searching for grants.

Sometimes chickens hang out together. The Buff Orpington and Dark Brahma are friends.

They looked like they were dancing the chicken dance in the first photo.



They ate the lettuce I gave them and then they came over to the slider and spent some time watching us! 

I guess that is only fair since we spend time watching them.

The sprouts still look the same and today is not really day three because I started the sprouts in the evening,  so this is really more of a day two. I did cover the jar with a kitchen towel because I read that the sprouts do better in a dark environment.

I was afraid to hide the jar away in a cupboard because I might forget about it and bad moldy things would happen.

I made breakfast (bacon and blueberry pancakes) for for dinner again. 

Peek at the Past

(March 15, 2009)

I don't keep food lists anymore.

[8 eggs today]

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Smiles