Sunday, December 07, 2008

The Newbies


We brought the babies inside this week. Luckily we have a brooder facility my husband built last year for the chicks we ordered. The new birds both have sidestockings like their daddy and are slightly different in coloration suggesting two separate mothers. The surrogate mother hen was a bit out of sorts at first when we took the babies but she seems somewhat reintegrated into the flock. A good thing as she had lost alot of weight.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Nearly a year since I blathered

How is it that every time I set down to enter a blog post I end up reading everyone else's and decide there's nothing left to say? Perhaps I'm lazy. Let's just pretend that we've not missed a year, that I am merely pickingup where I left off.

What's going on? Unbeknownst to us, one of our chickens who we thought had vainly been setting on eggs, has in fact hatched two babies. Good job, Mama Hen! They may not even be her blood relations but she's the best damn surrogate I've ever seen.

Our does kidded this Tax Season 2008. The boy is named 'Little'...not so little now, and the girl is named Heddar...rhymes with cheddar...as in I woke up this morning and took a heada outta my mutha's womb. She needed help being delivered so I was initiated into the scary and sureal vocation of goat midwifery. Yikes. I hadn't planned to be elbow deep in a goat uterus that morning. At least not before my coffee. WTF. It was crazy. I'm glad I could help the doe and the kid. I'm not looking forward to kidding season this year.


In other news my husband bought a tractor and we're planning to use the back field next year to grow more veggies and let the goats forage. We've got 20 lbs of garlic in the ground and that's a start. I planted a bit more last year, but in a smaller area. This year I added another variety and spread em out more.

It's getting colder and we've got our food put up for the most part. Tomatoes, potatoes, tomatillos, beans, edemame(need to plant more next year), pumpkins, apple butter, squash, cabbage, celeriac, garlic, onions, pickles, peppers and blueberries and assorted roasted veggies in the freezer. We sold alot too through a CSA and hope to up the ante next year.


I will attempt to write more in the near future...a pre-New Year's resolution.
Happy Harvest!

Friday, November 30, 2007

Eggs


Check out this comparison of our own backyard chicken eggs and store-bought, large scale production, though somewhat local, eggs. Note that our eggs have larger, darker yolks as well as overall superior size. It's proof positive to me that controlling your own food source has tangible advantages above and beyond the peace of mind and satisfaction of growing one's own food.