Well, it's pouring down rain outside, so it seems like a good time to blog. The outdoor projects can be put on hold for a day or so. The rain is much needed around these parts.
The fall garden has been struggling due to cold temps and the limited rainfall. The collards and cabbage are doing fairly well, but the lettuce has been especially hard hit by the freezing temps, even though I put covers on the garden when temps get really low. We're also growing kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and arugula this fall, and next year's garlic crop was planted recently. Other than that, there's horseradish ready for harvesting, and there are some Egyptian Walking Onions. The gourd harvest has finished drying, and I'm in the process of cleaning them, preparing them for various craft projects, including making birdhouses.
The outside of the barn is nearly complete. Yesterday, we finished adding more tin to one part of the roof that tends to leak a lot, but this morning there was another puddle in the middle of the barn. We also finished the floor and prepared it for bedding to be put down on the left side. We need to work on the stairs, do more caulking on the roof and cover it with a sealant, and then complete the interior. We plan to split the barn in half. On one side will be the milking station and hay storage, and the other side is for the goats. There will be two sections on the goat side, so we can have a separate kidding stall, when the time comes. Therefore, we need to section off the interior and make a hay trough and second milk stand.
This past weekend was a busy one for us. We thoroughly cleaned out the chicken house, made a batch of soap, and attended a Theatre on Cedar meeting to plan the 2009 season. It was a cold day on Saturday, and it took a while to get the water pressurizer machine to work, but we managed to get the chicken coop and yard ready for the chicks to move in. At the meeting that night, it was determined that Jeff will take the lead in producing some Monty Python skits to be preformed in March and Shannon will put together a script for the summer production, adapting the novel Jitterbug, by Tom Robins, to the stage. Additionally, there will be biweekly gatherings to do some improv work, which may lead to the production of an improv show eventually. The fall show is still undiecided. After the meeting, we transferred the chicks to the coop, so they woke up in a new home on Sunday morning.
The chicks spent all day inside, getting used to that space, and then they ventured out into the yard for the first time on Monday. However, they've needed a little help getting back into the house and finding somewhere to roost at night. Jeff crawled under the house on Sunday night to retrieve one little girl. She continued to be shy and confused last night, but, luckliy, we were able to use a net to get her out that time. Inside the house, some of the chicks choose to sleep on the short roost that Jeff and I made them for use in the brooder. Others want to get up on the "big bird" roosts, but most have difficulty getting up there. A couple successfully used the short roost as a launching point. The Ameraucana girl kept flying up where a bunch of chicks were already perched, knocking some of them off before falling back herself.
Hooligan, the barn cat, and her kid look on as the chicks feed in the photo on the left. The chicks have also found the waterer in the yard and enjoyed foraging for tasty bugs. The Welsummer baby roo (pictured in the foreground of the foraging photo below) is totally bad-ass. Not only is he the first of the baby roos to crow (which is actually a little weak still, but I pretend that I'm all impressed :) but he is the only chick that I've seen put up a fight- and win - when the older chickens peck on them. I don't think that the small Mottled Java (another relative newcomer) will mess with him again.
In other chicken news, the large Mottled Java has started laying eggs. We actually thought that she was a male, initially, but the roosters court her and now she's pumping out eggs. Way to go, Java lady!
Lastly, I have finally landed a paying job. While more income will be nice, I'll miss having so much time to be with the animals and work on farm projects.
-Annie
We also harvested a whole lotta horseradish roots. Anyone have good recipes for horseradish?!
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