It's heeereee!

In the spirit of better late than never, I finally got the mower deck out from under my little tractor and got the snow blade on.  Since the weather service was calling for snow (they were right) I could procrastinate no longer. 

Once I got the 3-point hitch blade on, I had one of those (very) rare moments of inspiration.  When I did the last mowing, I intentionally did it so to have my lawn clippings in what amounts to windrows.  Since I see my most of my lawn as a pasture with no critters, it pretty much never looks neat and manicured.  It usually looks like, well, a pasture with no critters.  That means lawn clippings are between 6 and 12 inches instead of the usual '1 inch off the top to keep it even' some of the neighbors who choose a suburb-in-the-country lifestyle.

My intention was to mow it into rows, then pitchfork it into my truck then onto the garden or mulch pile.

Here are my "windrows" ready to be moved into a mulch pile or the garden.

 My brain-flurry (not enough to be a brain-storm) was to use the back of blade to turn the windrows into mulch piles, that will make it much easier to pitch into the truck.

A short blade means multiple passes.

This pile is about 1/2 leaves.  The other four are the same size and mostly grass.

This method scuffs up the grass a bit and still leaves tufts behind.

 It turns out I got this done just in time.  I did this work on a Friday evening.

This is Saturday morning

This is Saturday afternoon!  We ended up with about 8 inches of the white stuff.

What a difference a day can make!!  In any case, all that good stuff is there and ready to be moved.  When ever I can get to it....

Col 1:9-12,

Mark

Very Last of the Garden

Ok - It's done.  We'll aaallmmmooossst done.  (I'll get to that in a moment.)
We've had a couple of good frosts and a freeze, so it was time to bring in the last of the last.

We left green beans on the plants to dry down.  It was about as dry as it was going to get, so it was time to bring them in.

Dried beans on the trestle ready to bring in.

The day before we picked them one of our NE Indiana fall winds came up and dumped one of the four trestles over.  It did not take the local opportunist long to figure out this amounted to a 'windfall' for them.  Had I left them down another day, the yield would have been dramatically reduced.  We got about a 5 gallon bucket full of unshelled pods.  We're holding off shelling them until the grandkids get here for Thanksgiving later this week.  They love to shell beans and peas.  I'll get pics.

Didn't take long for the 'chicken helpers' to locate a new treat.

They seemed to be a bit put out when set them up and started to do my own harvesting.

The other 'last of the last' harvests were:

Brussel Sprouts.  A couple of good frosts and even a light freeze really sweeten up brussel sprouts and they get to be just excellent.  We find folks who normally turn their nose up a 'sprouts' find them to be OK, if you pick them after a freeze.  Confession time:  I have three more of these plants out there to harvest, so they will be the last of the last of the last.  (I can't believe I wrote that....)

And Horseradish.  I didn't take a lot out, but there should be plenty once it's processed, since I'm the only one in the house who really like it.

I'll do a post on the processing in the near future.

So I guess I can call the 2015 harvest done!  Once again, God provided an amazing bounty.  And to make it even better, the first of the seed catalogs arrived in the mail!  Woo Hoo!

We are Blessed!

Col. 1:1-12,

Mark

Guess I don't think like a chicken

When we built the coop, we made sure we had plenty of good nest boxes and yet, for some reason, there are apparently shortcomings in the eyes of some of the girls.  I try to keep by barn closed once the barn swallows have moved out but I do have to get in there once in awhile and, when I do, the mob moves in right on my heals.

 And when they do, at least one of the girls heads straight to a shelf: The shelf where I keep my chainsaw.

As you can see, they've knocked over several bottles and such to make the corner more cozy.  When they sit facing out, mostly they just sit awhile then move on.  However if they get up,

 Turn themselves around,

 And sit with their backside out,

 You need to come back later.

 I'm not sure why the chainsaw shelf is better than a laying box, but I guess I don't think like a chicken!

Col. 1:9-12,

Mark

For the Folks at the Day Job

I'm taking some time away from the "day job" this week and part of next.  A vacation policy change meant that a number of us 'old timers' can no longer carry over vacation so we're all on a mad scramble to 'burn it'.  I've gotten far less outside work done than I had hoped, but have done pretty well on catching up on inside chores.  I have high hopes it will be the other way around next week.

I have a few friends at work that have been trading vacation pictures as we're off visiting family and friends and just getting away.  There were pictures of the Smokey Mountains and the ocean off Myrtle Beach.  There were pictures of sunrises over the water in Vermont with mountains in the background and picturesque docks and piers.  Not me.  Most of this year has been work-at-home vacations.  This is not a bad thing by any means, but the opportunities for scenes from far away places are pretty thin.  

Lucky for me, most of these friends have very limited experience with gardens larger than large patio pots and no experience with livestock of any kind.  That makes the chickens fascinating.  When I threatened to post a picture of my rooster instead of the ocean or mountains they were all in.  Below is what I emailed out, with references to the company deleted.  (After retirement day comes I'll spill the beans on what I do for a living.  Until then it'll just be "The day job".  Nothing "James Bond" or anything, but still best not shared with the broader audience.)

_______________________________________________________________________________

Ok,  Here are a few of shots of Ivan Crossbeak the new "Roo" in the family.

 

Seen from a distance with some of his "girls", he's a pretty handsome looking bird.  Really!  As birds go he's a 'looker' (from afar).

Up close: Not so much. Crossbeak!! Crossbeak!!

 

The closer you get, the worse it becomes.  I think its the "buttercup" comb combined with the crossbeak.  Ugh!  Still, he does have beautiful coloring.

 

As you recall, Ivan took over as the flock "Roo" for Fred, his "Daddy".  His "Mama" was one of the buff colored birds in the first picture.  Fred was a really pretty bird who would be around today if he hadn't decided it was ok to bully (meaning 'leave scars on the legs of') De and the daughters.  Not Cool!

 

Here's Fred in is heyday.

 

This is Fred today.  A far less colorful, but much cooler bird!  He's pretty laid back these days, and is just chillin' out waiting for his turn in the "hot tub".  There's probably an object lesson there, but I think I'll leave it alone.

De and I will be in Indy tomorrow.  But I may put together some more shots this evening.  For some reason I've got a couple of birds that like to lay in the barn behind where I keep my chainsaw.  I heard a couple of them in there as I came inside that were singing the "guess what I did" egg song, so now I gotta craw back there and go find the eggs.  I got one pic and will see if I can get some more while I'm digging around.

  __________________________________________________________________________

 So that's what I sent.  They seemed pleased with the submission, and so for no one has howled about sending beautiful Fred to 'freezer camp'.  I suppose that means I'll have to do better next time.  :-)

I do work with a great group of folks, and the ones I share pics with are especially wonderful.  One more way that I've been blessed.

Col. 1:9-12,

Mark

Hen House Lessons-Learned

Yesterday dawned cool and clear and I, somewhat later than the sun, arose ready to get completely through my lengthy list of fall tasks.  As experienced homesteaders have already figured out, I got one (just one) mostly done.  But it was a good one, and I got a chance to reflect on some chicken coop lessons-learned while I was doing it.

#1 - It seemed like a good idea at the time 
When we built our coop a friend suggested we put a cheap plastic tarp down on the floor before I put in the bedding (pine shavings in our case).  The theory was when you did your once-a-year right-down-to-the-floor cleaning you just haul the tarp out and, as if by magic, the rest of it comes right along.  At the time it seemed like sheer genius and I went with it.  The reality was a)  Having the cheapo plastic tarp on the floor snagging your pitchfork or shovel made it much harder to do the in-between weekly cleanings. b)  Near as I can tell, there was far more muscle than magic associated with getting the floor clean.   Pitch it down far enough to get to the edges (that means most of it), rip it free from wall, roll it up into a messy bundle, and draaaag it out leaking the contents all along the way.  Lesson Learned - The new stuff went down right on the floor where it belongs.


#2 - This'll work, won't it?
Since we refurbed an existing structure when we built our coop we had less choice in the floor plan than we would if we had started from scratch.  Getting a decent perch in he limited floor space was one of the challenges.  What we ended up doing is getting a section out of a pine tree that needed come down anyway to sit in the corner.  In reality this worked pretty well with a couple of exceptions.  Since tree was pretty much a what-you-see-is-what-you-get affair, some of branches where less than optimally placed.  The birds liked it, and still do, but some of those less than optimally places branches had the unseemly habit of catching your clothes, or shovel, or your head.  Lesson Learned - I don't care how much the birds liked their pine-tree perch  Au naturel, we need to get in there, too.  Yesterday there was some tree trimming.

The 'snags' sticking right out towards the door.  You can also see the "magic carpet"  (See #1)

A little tree trimming does wonders for access!

#3 They must know what they're doing!
When we outfitted the coop we looked over the available options for feeders and selected one a common commercial version.  It fit, mostly, in the space we allocated for it.  After awhile, though, the flaw in that design became clear.  Our store-bought feeder seems to be inviting the birds to waste feed.  Big time.

Yep, all the stuff on the 'magic carpet' is not pine shavings.  You can see the "Magic carpet" here too.

 There had to be a better way.  We found it at the local hardware store in the plumbing section.  After a little bit of sawing and gluing we assembled our alternative.

3" PVC cut and assembled

Installed before putting the new bedding in.

We set them to be filled from the "Foyer".

Feed and water ready for use!

Lesson Learned:  The jury is still out on this on since we just put it together, but the home built solution gets great reviews from other folks. It frees up space and will be no worse than the "store bought" option for waste.  I do plan on also adding some plumbing so that the water bowl can be filled from the foyer, too.

#4 And while you're at it.
The last job was not really a lesson-learned thing.  It was just a job the needed to be done.  A few weeks ago the glazing on one of the window panes gave up and let the window out with predictable results.  Yesterday, as part of getting ready for winter, the pane got replaced.

Guess which pane is the new one....

I still have the rest of list to do, but getting this done just about makes the coop ready for winter. 

It was a beautiful day to be outside, and a lot work got done.  We are blessed.

Col. 1:9-12,

Mark

Surprise!

After declaring the green beans in the garden "done" for about the 3rd time, De and I spent some time today picking green beans.  I'd like to say the beans are now really done, but since we're leaving quite a few on to dry, I suppose I can't even say that until they are done producing, all dry, and the pods have been harvested for shelling.

De and I have been talking about how the hens seemed to be slowing down on egg laying this week, and whether or not we needed to start thinking about working in some replacement hens.  It seems a little early for this, but we knew when we picked them out that the Red Stars would lay like the dickens for a couple of years and then taper off very quickly.  Ours a few months short of two, so it's probably time to make plans either way.

As we were picking beans, De noticed something under one of the trellises.

So what's that under the trellis?

Is that what I think it is?

You gotta be kidding me!

So that why we haven't been getting all the we eggs we should be!!

Sure enough - six eggs in all hidden under the trellis.  All of them tested good, so we suspect they are less than a week old. We checked the other three trellises with no results, but we have growing suspicions there is a similar surprise awaiting us in the barn.  We looked twice with no 'finds' but the barn is currently in a bit of an 'overstocked' state with lots of nooks and crannies.  There may still be a surprise awaiting us.

We also picked banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, and tomatoes.  That leaves green beans, a few more peppers, beets, and a boatload of brussel sprouts, and horse radish  to finish out this year.  We did declare the tomatoes 'done', and to seal the deal we opened the gate that had been keeping the birds out.  It didn't take long for them to start taking care of the 'left-overs'.

We are at the point in the growing season where it will be OK when the garden is done.  We want to be faithful with all the produce that God has granted us, but when the season is finally finished there will be no regrets on our part.

Hopefully your gardens are both doing well and finishing up.

Col. 1:9-12,

Mark

Yep, It was time!

Fred the Rooster has been sent off to freezer camp.  In my last post I mentioned the final straw was that he was getting to be a bit of a bully with De, the kids and the grandkids, so we set the date and off he went.  But not before K, our neighbor who loves all our animals to a fault, told me yesterday that Fred got into her a couple of days ago as she was helping a couple of our hens out of her yard.  And M, my sister-in-law who lives a 1/2 mile down the road, told us Tuesday that Fred chased one of her friends who was out running as she ran by our property while the hens were down next to the road.  Yep - It was time. 

My brother-in-law, who has butchered out chickens fairly regularly, walked my son (who had come home for the learning experience) and I through the whole thing.  We skinned rather than plucked and ended up with more meat than we expected.  He was something like 16 months old, so we don't expect the meat to be really tough, but just to be sure when the opportunity presents itself he'll go into the slow cooker with some homegrown potatoes, onions, and spices out of the herb garden.
 

Aug 2014

Sept 2015 - Yep, It was time.

As I mentioned in my last post, Fred was never able to 'Rooster Up' and get the top spot in the pecking order, so he was always picked on: Hen-pecked as the saying goes.  As a result, he had lost all of his beautiful tail feathers and a big part of the feathers on the very top of his head.  Yep - It was definitely time.

Lessons Learned:

1. While Fred was, in his prime, a beautiful bird, that crown made it difficult for him to see.  Since he couldn't see the hens or people coming he startled easily and that may have contributed to his tendency to be picked on and to attack.  No more birds selected 'just for looks'.
2. When we grow and process our own meat birds in the next year or so, we need to gear up a little better.  A killing cone would make that process easier, especially if we are doing several at time.  I also need a couple of good knives more suited to processing poultry.

 
On the plus side - No more worrying about Fred bullying family, friends, neighbors, visitors, and passers-by. (Yep, it was time!)

Also, the one thing I expected to miss most with Fred gone was hearing him crowing on a clear, cool morning.  That always evoked wonderful childhood memories of growing up on a working 1960s family farm with all the livestalk that came with small farms of that era.   Just in the last couple of days Ivan Crossbeak, who is about four months old and is now the rooster of the flock, has started belting out (well - squeaking out) his own call.  He's far from full-voiced but it is good enough for now.  I see that as a blessing and am very thankful for the privilege of enjoying it!  For now, we've decided to keep Ivan through one batch of chicks and see how he does.

Ivan Crossbeak - The new 'Roo' of the flock

Col. 1:9-12,

Mark