Surprises

Look who I found the other day when I went to check on my girls!  This little puff ball was hiding under mama.  I had let the chickens out one morning and when I got home that evening, I went out to feed and water.  I saw the barred rock still sitting on her little nest and decided to see how things were going for her.  As I got closer, she ruffled up her feathers and was "growling" at me.  She wiggled a bit and I swore I could hear little peeps coming from underneath her.  About that time, I saw this little guy poke his (or her) head out.  I was so excited! 

We started the mama out with four eggs, but one by one, they started to disappear.  I figured she rolled them out as she realized they weren't viable.  Not sure where they went though.  I know my chickens have had egg eating tendencies in the past, but these were completely gone.  No empty shell or anything. 

This mama was in the corner of the coop sitting on her eggs like a trooper.  As all the others would wander in and out during the day, she faithfully sat on her clutch, only getting up for a short period of time to eat or drink.  Then, back onto the nest she went.  One afternoon, my husband came up from the pond with a duck egg.  He slipped it under the mama, but I'm not sure that one is going to hatch.  We've never hatched ducklings before, so this in an experiment.  It's still sitting there, so I'm afraid it wasn't fertilized to begin with. 

Now that baby chick is here, all the other girls have been kicked out of this pen.  Luckily I have two smaller pens inside the big coop.  I've locked mama and baby in one with their own food and water and all the others have to share the other pen for a while.  They still have plenty of room to move around when they get shut in, but for the most part, they are wandering in and out during daylight hours. 

I'm really hoping this little one does well.  We haven't had a mama chicken hatch babies since we've lived here.  I'll try to post pictures of his/her growth progress!

This post shared on: The HomeAcre Hop
From the Farm Blog Hop
Homestead Barn Hop

Timber!

This weekend we finally said goodbye to an old friend.  Well, we've only known this friend for about 5 1/2 years-since we moved here, but it was old none-the-less.  We had an big oak tree in the front yard that we think was hit by lightning a couple years ago.  Over the last three years the drought has stressed it out and it finally decided to die.  It was very sad.  I loved it's big branches that shaded the yard.  It was so pretty in the summer covered with leaves and it always had that soothing rustle when the wind blew.

We started noticing something was wrong three summers ago.  That year it leafed out and we were hit by 100+ degree weather for several weeks in a row.  The heat together with very little rain stressed out a lot of plants and trees in our yard.  The oak lost it's leaves by early August and we thought that was strange.  That's when we think it was hit with lightning.  The next summer only about half of the tree leafed out.  We knew something was not right when that happened.  Watering and feeding just didn't snap it out of what we thought was going on.  We were just hoping it was trying to stay in it's dormancy state due to the stress.  We don't know much about trees, so we were just guessing at this point. 

Throughout the winter, we started noticing that the bark was falling off the branches at the top of the tree.  Smaller branches started to fall out when the wind would blow too, so we knew it was done.  By the time spring came around, the top branches were bare and falling apart.  Only one small branch tried to put on leaves.  They only lasted about a month and then turned brown.  We knew it had to come down before falling branches hurt someone.  Luckily it was a fairly straight tree and we could cut it down so it wouldn't take out any other trees or power lines.

My husband took the chain saw to it and cut a wedge out on the side that he wanted it to fall towards.  He started cutting on the back side of the tree and it finally popped and fell.  He was a little off on his wedge and the tree fell more towards our large sycamore tree.  It only took off a couple little branches from the sycamore.  Nothing too severe. 

Now we have this big open spot in our yard that I want to fill in.  I'm thinking another oak needs to go back there.  This time I'd like one that turns a prettier color than drab brown.  It does need to be a sturdy tree though.  We get lots of strong south winds in the summer that cause trees to lean.  One sycamore tree in the front yard is leaning to the north due to the wind when it was small.  No matter what we decide to plant, it will be nice to have a replacement out there that will grow into a big stong tree for the next generation. 

Shared at the Homestead Barn Hop

Fresh Meat

This summer we purchased a 4-H pig from one of the kids in our club.  We brought him home to finish feeding him out so he would be ready for the butcher.  We also had a lamb from the fair that we decided to finish feeding out.  Well, this morning was the day.  They went to the locker for processing.  It's always a hard day when you take an animal to a locker for processing.  No matter how hard of a person you are.  If you have put the time, effort and love into raising them, it tears you up a little when you say goodbye. 

Even though it can be a little emotional, knowing that I have helped raise the food my family will be eating makes it all better.  I know that if antibiotics were given, it was minimum and only to help if the animal was injured or sick.  Luckily neither one of these animals were given antibiotics.  We have given them in the past to other animals, but they were needed to keep the animal healthy and it was only a shot or two.  No growth hormones are given when we raise any type of animal and they are given plenty of room to move and play. 

When both the pig and the lamb came home together, they were a little leary of each other.  They didn't grow up together and the lamb's buddies didn't come home with her.  She quit eating for a couple days, so we watched her closely.  After a few days the lamb and the pig got to know each other and they would be caught playing with each other.  The pig would play in the mud puddle we gave him and then he would rub up against the lamb, getting her filthy. 

Now that they are no longer at home, we can switch gears from feeding everyday to getting ready to fill the freezer.  Luckily my parents have freezer room, so some of it may be stored there.  I can't wait to have fresh bacon again.  The stuff you get at the store is a pathetic excuse for bacon.  The "thick cut" variety isn't very thick and when you accidentally grab a package of the regular thickness stuff, it's laughable.  I like my bacon THICK.  The type that has real meat that you have to pull apart or the whole slice will come off the sandwich or whatever you have it on.  That's just me though.  I know lots of people who like it crispy and able to fall apart when you barely touch it. 

Like anything else you grow/raise, it always tastes better when you had a hand in raising it yourself.  Hopefully in a week or so, we'll be enjoying the fruits of our labor!

 

Shared at The HomeAcre Hop

S.A.L.T.

I've written in the past that I coach freshman volleyball at a local high school. Each year we have a team theme. This year it's SALT. It stands for Sacrifice, Aspire, Leadership and Tradition. It helps keep our girls focused and helps build their camaraderie with each other.

I don't feel this is a silly thing at all. Over the years the teams have learned about something important. One year we learned about the flight that went down in NY in the Hudson river. Another year we learned how penguins live and work together. This year, our head coach decided that SALT was going to be our theme. The girls' shirts have NaCl on them. Many had questions about it, but once we explained what NaCl stood for, many of them had that "Ah Ha!" moment.

We always take a little trip somewhere close that helps bring the theme to life. This year for our SALT theme, we went to the Hutchinson Underground Salt Museum. This museum is one-of-a-kind. You arrive, get your ticket and go learn about the safety precautions. You then get your gear on and get into a double decker lift/elevator and travel 650 feet down into the salt mines. The area that the museum occupies is about 1/4-3/8 mile away from a working salt mine.

This area of Kansas was under what was called the Permian Sea millions of years ago. You can see the different layers of sediment and salt that were layed down. Some layers are thicker than others and there is one specific layer that is more prominent than the others and runs through the mine. This line was used by miners to keep the floor level and to know how deep they were mining. 

The photo above is a large block of salt that is almost pure salt. Very little sediment is found it in. It is about three feet tall, five feet wide and about 4 feet deep. That's a big block of salt!

This pillar further into the mine has a vein of pure salt running through it. The color variations are amazing to see. There is lots of the salt in layers with sediment, then there are these larger veins and then there were some red salt deposits. When the salt was deposited, bacteria were growing in the water and caused the salt to turn a red color.

It is amazing what is down there! There are lots of old machinery dating back to the early 1900s and the early days of the mining. We toured through a storage area that showed how all types of records are stored. Old movie reels, medical records and newspapers are stored there. The salt mines are very good place to store all types of things due to the stability of the environment. Yes, metal does end up rusting due to the salt, but other types of things stay preserved.

I think we all learned a lot through this fun team trip. A return trip for me is definitely in order to go through and look at things closer. If you are ever visiting the Hutchinson area, stop by. I've only highlighted a few of the interesting facts here. You can visit their site here. http://underkansas.org/

It's worth it!



 

Shared at The Home Acre Hop!

I "Can" Do it!

This is my second year of canning things. I guess I wouldn't say second year ever canning, but it's been years since I canned much of anything. Last year I had so many jalepenos that we pickled some and pressure canned some.  We also canned some apple pie filling.  YUM!!!  That stuff was wonderful!  I did several kinds of jellies and jams and several pints of green beans. 

The green beans were such a success last year, I told myself I was going to do several more pints this year.  Well, I have 36 pints and 7 quarts of beans in the cellar, just waiting to be opened up and used.  I avoided the jalepenos this year.  We just didn't use them like I thought we would.  I still have several jars of jams and jellies, so we probably won't bother with much of those again this year.  We'll use up what we have. 

I've branched out and tried a couple new items this year.   Pickles were the first thing to try.  I looked and looked for an easy recipe.  I've never done them before, so I needed easy and not many steps involved.  I know there may be pickle pros reading this and shaking their heads.  I know I should use a tried and true recipe, but I need easy!  I found some Mrs. Wages packets at my local grocery store and tried the Bread and Butter pickles.  It was as easy as add the packet, other ingredients and heat up, pour over the pickles and process!  And they taste good too!  I think I got 7 or 8 pints from that recipe.  I stopped there, since I wasn't sure how good they would be and how often we would eat them.  I also tried the Mrs. Wages packets with dill spears and dill slices.  They didn't turn out as crisp as I would like, but they taste good.  That's good enough for me and my first pickle experience! 

I had seen the Mrs. Wages spaghetti sauce packet at the store too and had always wanted to try it.  I grabbed a packet and did that too. Surprisingly enough, it worked and tasted good.  I may just can tomatoes the next time and just add spices when I want to make sphaghetti.  I'm not sure if I want to deal with the packets and trying to get them all fit into a certain number of jars.  I think it will be easier to just deal with the tomatoes by themselves. 

I'm hoping to get some more apples this year and get some homemade applesauce made.  My goal last year was to can some, but I couldn't get enough together to can.  We ate it as fast as I could make it.  I only have a hand food mill.  My mom calls is a ricer, I've seen it called a chinois (sp?), but it takes FOR-EVER to make applesauce.  I'm going to use some birthday money to buy myself a nice crank food mill.  I'm still researching which one to buy and where.  If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!

Onions are out of the garden too and filling up shelf space in the cellar.  I apologize for the bad pictures.  I have 1 light in the cellar and it's at the door.  Our goal is to get some more light in there, but the ceiling is so low, we'd hit our heads on it if it hung down too much. 

 

 

My onions have a few tendrils that are trying to sprout, but those will get used up quickly. 

 

This room is a nice place to have.  I'm not sure it was made to be a cellar or more of a storm shelter.  It's ceiling is cement, so this is why I think it was more for shelter, but the wooden shelves are perfect for storing my canned goods.  We brought the plastic shelves down for more storage and need to put some built in shelves between the plastic ones to maximize the space that is there. 

 

I think this is about it for canning this year.  I'd like to try some new things for next year.  Carrots are on the top of my list.  Not sure what else will make the list.  Any ideas?

Shifting Gears

The seasons are turning.  Well, not drastically yet, but they soon will be.  It's been getting to the upper 90's here and into the 100's occasionally and it's finally feeling like summer, just in time for fall to show up.  It's been a crazy year with lots of rainfall during July, cooler than normal temps all summer and just plain weird weather in general.  Not your typical Kansas-but what is typical for Kansas?

Yesterday morning was our first taste of the seasons changing.  Since it's been so hot the last week, the drastically cool weather this morning was a welcome change.  I almost felt like I needed a jacket.  There were a couple evenings during July that I actually wore a jacket this summer.  That's unheard of for our area!  Anyway....since things are changing here weather wise, I think it's finally time to put the garden to rest.  The chickens have been cleaning up out there, so the cucumbers and green beans are gone thanks to them.  They don't mess with the peppers much, and they haven't cleaned off the tomatoes yet.  I finally got some large tomatoes from my plants, so I'm hoping they steer clear of those plants for now.

The garden at this time of year is sorely neglected thanks to the beginning of school.  My Fridays off are a thing of the past and evenings are packed with volleyball practice and other school activities that take priority.  It's nice though to not worry about weeding, watering, picking, and all the other issues that come with a garden.  If we HAD to live off of our garden, then it would take priority, but luckily, we don't have to.  I would put up a picture of the garden, but I'm sure most people would laugh.  It no longer looks like a garden, but part of the yard.  The grass has grown in and is covering most rows.  We are still trying to find the ideal amount of mulch to keep the grass at bay a little longer, and obviously we didn't find it this year! Back to the drawing board on that one!

Anyone out there have a foolproof way to mulch their garden so they don't have to weed as much?  I'd love to have the time and resources to have a completely weed-free garden, but alas, I can not hire a full time staff to take care of it for me. 

Shared at:

 

The HomeAcre Hop

Fresh Eggs Daily-From the Farm Blog Hop