in the garden...

The Gladiator allium that I ordered last year from Breck's are up.

The pansies are doing well with the cooler rainy weather we've been having lately...

The irises are blooming ahead of the poppies this year ~ usually they do so together, but the poppies are late this year...
A white bleeding heart surrounded by some hostas... And, the chicks arrived yesterday from Murray McMurray Hatchery...
...araucanas, silver laced wyandottes, partridge & buff rocks, and jumbo cornish x rocks.
New chicks in the spring always make me happy!

joys of Spring

Spring flowers and new baby chicks are two of my favorite joys of Spring.  I can't pass up the dollar pots of tulips, which I will let bloom inside then later plant outdoors to enjoy year after year.  I also picked up  a couple pots of pansies for the urns on the front porch, which will tide us over until after the frosts/end of May planting time.

The baby chicks arrived last week via the post office, where we picked them up at about 7 AM,  the box fairly bursting with the sound of all 26 peeping at once.  There are Cornish X Rocks to eventually fill the freezer and Araucanas and White Rocks for egg laying--everyone is doing well out in the barn, warm and cozy under their heat lamp. 

In the garden, I've been pulling some leeks for potato & leek soup--my favorite, and I planted two rows of red potatoes and a row of fingerlings.  I also planted two raspberry bushes and a rose bush.  It's impossible to stay indoors when the weather is nice, hence the lack of 'spring cleaning' posts.

Most importantly, thank you all so much for your comments on the shawl collar sweater!!

raising chickens

Karen asked recently if I had any advice

on raising chickens,

so I thought I would mention

it here, rather than just in comments.

Raising chickens {10+years}

 is still a learning process for me,

and we've certainly made some mistakes

along the way.
I started out by reading up on the subject,

and Ashley English now has a nice

book out called

Homemade Living: Keeping Chickens with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Care for a Happy, Healthy Flock

which might be a good place to start.

I've been ordering my chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery

from the beginning.  Great company to deal with,

and I have always had great luck with their birds.

They supply you with good instructions for getting

your baby chicks started.

We began with Rhode Island Reds,

but soon branched out to other breeds.

These are my favorite layers:

Araucana/Americana

Black Australorps

Partridge Rocks

Buff Orpingtons

Speckled Sussex

Buff Brahmas

My Araucana's are my best layers,

and their colored eggs are lovely.

Picking a breed suited to your climate is a good

idea too--the catalog recommends certain breeds

that are good winter layers for those of us in

colder climates.

I think keeping our hen house very clean,

and providing fresh water daily

are two important factors for healthy hens.

The biggest trial we have had with our chickens,

has been dealing with foxes--we lost many

of our hens in the beginning.

We did not make the fence surrounding the chicken

yard high enough, and they were able to fly out.

Many an evening we would have to herd

them back in through the gate,

and not all would cooperate.

Somehow it was much harder for them to figure

out how to fly back in,

and by morning there would be a pile of

feathers left in the yard.

We have since extended the height to about 6 ft.

and it keeps them in.

The fox has also dug under the fence,

so it is important to bury part of the fencing

 below ground level.

~

I hope this helps a little bit Karen,

~Deb

catching up...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May has been such busy month here { busy in a good sense },

that today's rainy weather seems a good time to sit and catch up.

 

* Mother's Day brunch was celebrated here with family.  Mother Nature provided lots of blooms-- including tulips, lilacs, and blossoming trees.  Mike cooked and washed up, and the kids gave me 2 gorgeous hanging baskets

and a book I wanted, An Amish Garden: A Year in the Life of an Amish Garden . 

 

* We set off on a road trip to attend an out-of-state wedding in a charming little chapel set in the woods in Tennessee.   We took a week off and did some

sightseeing along the way--places I've never been to, like

Berea and Lexington, KY and Kingwood Center in Ohio.  I'll

have some pictures soon to post.

 

*Upon our return, I've been planting and weeding, but still haven't

finished either.  Most of the tomato plants are in, seed potatoes are planted,

and cucumber, string bean, nasturtium, and sunflower seeds are sown.

 

*Yesterday was our annual visit to a local flea market, and as always

I found some good stuff--

grain & feed sacks for totes,

vintage curtain fabric,

knitting needles,

old books for journal-making,

linen napkins to replace the ones we've worn out,

pads of cardstock for shop tags,

a $1 ironstone platter,

some silver spoons for plant markers,

embroidered linens for pouches,

and a little $2 lamp in need of a shade.

 

*And, last but not least, the baby chicks have arrived...I love Spring!

 

 

 

 

between the April showers

 

Winter's hold on us seems to have ended

as we begin to have a day here & there

of sunshine and blue skies in between the frequent April showers.

The daffodils and primroses are the first here to bloom.

 

I've started work in the raised beds,

turning the soil and weeding,

and planting some lettuce and spinach.

I planted a bed of garlic since the cloves I planted

last fall never came up.

I pruned the raspberries and blackberries,

though not sure I really know what I'm doing there...

 

The hens are happy to be outside and scratching around

to their heart's content.

The new chicks are on order and scheduled to arrive

in May.

 

I took a pair of clippers out to the edge of the woods and

cut some grapevines for a wreath.

I gathered some pussy willows, stuck them in,

and hung it on the front door - somehow it

makes Spring seem more official.

 

And, the elan mitts are now checked off the projects-to-finish list.

I am so happy I discovered  faux" fairisle!

 

 

 

 

where did the week go??

Spring is just arrived, and already time is moving along much too fast. It is Friday, and I have to stop and think, 'where did the week go ~ what have I been doing?'...

~ Sunday was Maple Syrup weekend around here, and we did need more syrup, so we headed out to a neighboring county and visited a couple different farms that make their own. How could I have forgotten my camera!! Sadly I have no pictures of: the buckets hanging from the big sugar maple trees, the wooden outbuilding full of so much steam we could hardly see when we first stepped inside, the large stainless steel vat of bubbling sap ~ heated by a wood fire underneath, the large kettle on the old stove - for the final boiling down, the farmhouse sunporch where the delicious syrup was displayed in jugs to purchase. On our way between the buildings, the chickens were wandering, pecking at the ground, and the cows and draft horse were resting peacefully in the paddock.

~ I finished knitting on my summer sweater. Now it is just waiting to be sewn together - this is the scariest part for me, for as well as it may have knitted up, you just don't know how it will all come together - will it fit, will it look o.k.? ...I hope!

~ The new chicks are ordered from Murray McMurray - Buff Rocks, Partridge Rocks, Araucanas, Silver Laced Wyandottes, and some Jumbo Cornish X Rocks. They won't be arriving til mid-May, since I placed my order much later than usual.

~ I found this new book at the library. A whole new (simple) way of making bread - very similar to the no-knead Dutch oven bread. This dough, however, is made up and can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, during which time you can break off 1-lb hunks, let it rise, and bake a loaf when needed...very convenient!

~ A Scandinavian blind (from Katrin Cargill's book, Simple Soft Furnishings) finally sewn up. I bought the fabrics last year, and it's taken me this long to get to it. Hoping to hang it this weekend.

~ Some finished totes and a shop update. And my package mailed off to Melinda for the down-to-earth shopping tote swap!

Wishing you a happy weekend!

June goings-on

 

It's been good clothesline hanging weather here, sunny and breezy.  In between we have a day or two of rain which

is keeping everything growing and green.

 

Most of the rose bushes are blooming and the peonies are soon to open.

 

We added two more raised beds to our garden.

I have some tomatoes, dill, zinnias, corn, and viney things left to get planted.  I'm still cleaning out flower beds

that haven't been gotten to yet this Spring--ugh! 

Thankfully, the end is in sight...well...there is no real end

to the weeding, but the worst will be done.

 

We've been eating lots of salads with our lettuces and radishes.

The strawberries are just beginning to ripen,

and I hope to find at least a handful to pick tonight.

 

The new chicks are almost 2 weeks old and doing well.  This little

one was quite happy until I carried her outside to the grass,

where she froze, unmoving for the camera.

 

This morning I baked rhubarb crumb bars to have with tea.

They are delicious, so if you have any rhubarb handy,

you might want to give them a try.  Recipe is from Martha

and can be found here.

 

 

some farm life

Phew! It's late morning and though it started off comfortable and breezy, I've now come inside to escape the heat. Laundry was hung, chickens fed and watered, and some weeding done in the garden--I have yet to pick strawberries, but maybe later when it's a bit cooler. Today's weather is more typical of July for us--hot {in the 80's} and humid.

That hasn't stopped the busy bees from enthusiatically doing their work...

The chickens were very grateful for some fresh, cold water. Especially the meat birds who have quickly become very pleasingly plump. Another week or two and they shall be crated up and sent off to {avoiding the "B" word} 'be made ready for the freezer'.

The new chicks--teenagers now--have made themselves at home with the adult layers. Everyone seems to get alone very well, provided the teens remember their place.

Rule #1::the Adults have first dibs on Everything ~ food, water, bugs, worms, etc.

Rule #2::All teens respectfully step aside whenever an adult comes close or they are quickly admonished with a peck.

And, remember this little peep?...


... he or she {?} is sporting quite the mohawk-sort of hairdo...

The horses are well despite a couple recent episodes of colic--always during the night, of course. At those times I'm thankful I'm not the primary 'horse person' and can head back to bed {especially when this happens in the dead of winter}, though usually I don't sleep till the crisis is past and all is well.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

the baby chicks are doing great...

I know I shouldn't play favorites, but just look at this face....

...and the poufy hairdo...

And, if only you could have heard the indignant peeping when I dared take her/him away from the others...

...your heart would melt too!

Murray McMurray Hatchery always sends one free rare breed bird, and I'm guessing this is it. I'm thinking either a Silver Polish or a Crevecoeur ~ can't wait to find out.