Homemade Stuff

For the first time in my life yesterday, I made a pie. From scratch. Actually, I made two pies! A blackberry, and an apple. Both picked from my own back yard. I'm not sure if it was because of all the effort that went into these pies, but they were seriously the BEST I've ever had. Maybe because the fruit was picked just an hour or two before baking? Who knows! Now that I've made them, I'm really not sure how to eat them myself. I think I am going to pawn some off on a friend tomorrow, who is helping me out. Pies are good for all sorts of things! Next time, I am just going to make tarts. They are little, and I can just take one out at a time for dessert, and won't have to worry about the rest of the pie going to waste.
I would like to thank my new friend Amanda, who came over and taught me how to make a pie. Kind of sad when a young 20 year old knows more about homesteading projects than you do.... lol! Anyway, thanks to her the pies turned out lovely, with a nice crust. The blackberry pie was a bit on the sweet side, so a little less sugar next time. I am going to try to make some apple/blackberry tarts in a few days... an experiment. Sounds good...

I also made my first-ever blackberry jam a couple of weeks ago. I did the freezer type, so I wouldn't botch it, and it turned out great! I am just now trying to finish off the store-bought jam I have, so I can get started on the home made stuff. I will never have to buy jam again! I've already found a huge difference in my grocery bill. It's gone down by about $150 a month. Imagine what will happen when I really get things going!!

Turkeys Day Out

Well, I FINALLY finished the turkey coop today. It really shouldn't have taken me so long, but it always goes back to my old problem... not enough moulah! I just needed a few more supplies, but needed to get paid first to do that. Anyway, it got done, netted roof and all! The little turkeys are so happy, having dust baths, and foraging in the weeds. They have been cheep-cheeping all day. It is almost 8:30 at night now, and they are still cheeping away! They are way louder than the chickens.

I have taken pics of the turkeys and chickens. They are both about 6 weeks old now, and doing fantastic. I have been talking to other people about their chicken and turkey experiences, and the more I hear about the losses and troubles people have with their hybrids, the more I am glad I chose to do heritage breeds. The one and only downside to a heritage is the fact that they take a bit longer to mature. Big whoop. I think it makes up for it just by having no fatalities to speak of. Hybrids seem to die on people left and right.

I am still trying to plant a few crops for fall. It is getting a bit late now, but if we have an indian summer, I will still get some veggies out of it! I am hand watering every day. STILL no freakin' rain. I am getting tired of watering! I just do a few beds everyday, so I don't put too much pressure on the well. I've now planted a bed of spinach, and one of beets. Worst case senario... I lose a few seeds that I planted.

Now that my turkey coop project is finished, I am working on my next projects. Today, I outlined an 8 x 10' space where I want a root cellar. I will probably be digging that out for the next century or so! I can't start digging until we get rain, and if it proves too hard, I will be forced to hire a back hoe to help me. I really want to do it the old fashioned way, though! More satisfying that way! I am going to do a hybrid type cellar, dig down as far as I can, then build it up a bit above ground with hay bales, and cob it. I've seen similar projects, but no one seems to report on if they work well or not... I guess we'll see! If nothing else, I'll have a new funky tool shed, I guess!! It's funny how on the farm, even if something doesn't work out, you find a use for it anyway!!
I also have plans to build a funky fence around my garden beds, and then plant lots of lavender around it. I am hoping that this may help to deter the deer, but if not, it will look pretty regardless! With the added benefit of helping to keep the naughty dogs out of it. Maybe. I hope. We'll see. !!!!!

Busy, busy, busy

I had my first day off in a long, long time yesterday. It was much needed, and I had tons of fun!

I was all rejuvenated, so I got to work today. Over the last few days, since we had that little bit of rain, I was able to crack the surface of the soil, and have been working on digging post holes for the turkey run. It has been a long, slow process. One foot down is a clay hard pan. I was trying to dig holes 2' deep. I would have to pour some rainwater down each hole, and wait for hours and hours for it to perk down and moisten the clay. Then, I would scrape off a bit of it, millimetre by millemetre. Felt like it took forever. Then, a surprise. About 16" down, I hit something. At first, I thought I misjudged, and hit my electical cable. I can't imagine how awful that would have been! But no, it was TIRES. I'm not sure if they are down there for some purpose, or if my property was built on a landfill... scary thought! Anyway, needless to say, my holes didn't get any deeper! I got the fence posts in (these are 10' tall- I wanted to build this coop 8' high). Then, a trip to Rona. I swear, I keep the local store in business all by myself, I have spent so much money there! I got a roll of stucco wire, and hinges and a latch, and a few other sundries. Came home, and got the bottom 4' of wire up. The amazing thing is that when I came home, the fence posts were still standing! I thought for sure they would've toppled over;-)
I built the door, and hope to hang it tomorrow, and get up the top 4' of wire. I will probably have to buy a second roll to get this totally finished. Then, I just have to put netting up over the top (which I think will be tricky), and I'm done! The turkeys should be able to start coming outside in the next day or two.
These heritage breed turkeys FLY. When I was at the breeder's, there were turkeys 60' up in the trees, roosting. It's amazing, really. You always think of turkeys as too fat to fly!

The chicken poults came outside for the first time today! They only came out a few feet- they are still to 'chicken' to explore much yet. A few more days or a week, and they will be all over that run, foraging like crazy. Hopefully, I won't have to feed them as much, as they will have alot of bugs and weeds to eat.

My hens stopped laying for me a couple of weeks ago. I miss my eggs like crazy. Funny, before the farm, I almost never bought eggs. Now, I feel like I can't live without them! One of the hens is broody again, and I'm just leaving her there. Maybe she'll give me babies. The eggs I put in the incubator didn't do anything... AGAIN. I though there was a couple that might hatch. I have to admit, I am quite disappointed by this. I don't want to have to buy more poults every year! It would be nice to get some of my own going.

The Farm Dogs

Currently, I have three farm dogs. They definitely did NOT start out that way. When I bought the place, none of the dogs had ever seen a chicken, goat, horse, or any livestock for that matter. They all have quite high prey drives, and I couldn't see how this was going to work...

For the first month or so living here, the dogs went nuts. The youngest, Reckless, had never had a back yard, and the two older girls, Maggie and Boom-boom, hadn't had a back yard for about 6 years... since Boom was a puppy. They couldn't contain themselves. They were wild children. I had to mostly keep them on a leash, because they would run so far and so fast, I never could tell where they would end up! Reckless obsessed on the goats, and thought they would be great fun to chase, and he's so little, he could scoot under the fence whenever he pleased. I despaired regularly, wondering how to make them into proper farmdogs that wouldn't chase the livestock, and make my life hell.

All of a sudden, one day, they settled. Maggie and Boom were first, being older and wiser. They now just trot around the farm with me, 'helping' me plant, and feed the chickens. I never have to worry about them anymore. I am no longer worried about them leaving to go exploring- they know this is their home, and no longer want to leave. I never have to have them on a leash anymore.
Reckless has calmed alot. He is not perfect yet, but is getting close to it! He still has the occasional escapade, when he gets into the chicken coop, and almost kills a chicken, or gets into the horse and goat field. The good news is that he is no longer interested in chasing the horse and the goats, he just wants to eat poo. And, he only gets into trouble once in a while when I have not been able to spend enough time with him.

Maggie is my little helper. She is part Lab, and loves to retrieve. If I drop a tool or something, she will run over and pick it up and hand to to me. It is very cute, and she loves to feel useful!

Rain....??!!

Well, it is trying to rain again today, in fits and starts. It is a real rain this time, and if it lasts more than five minutes, it may actually do some good. This is the last rain we will get for at least a week, so I hope it rains good while it lasts! It is giving me a bit of hope...
Maybe I will be able to do laundry and dishes again one day...!!

I was so excited to pick my very first canteloupe from my garden today! Who says you can't grow melons in the Pacific Northwest? To all you naysayers out there... na na na na na!! It was delicious, and I have a bunch more coming! I bought a little plant start on a whim this spring, and put it in one of my tires. The heat from the tire really made it grow like stink! This winter, I have GOT to figure out where to get a bunch more tires. There are so many things I want to grow that way... watermelon, honeydew, zucchini, more squash varieties, and pumpkins. What I can't eat or sell can go to feed for chickens, turkeys, and pigs. I can just see in about 3 years time, I will be so self-sufficient here, and my fruit trees and berries will be starting to bear fruit. I just keep thinking of how to build that root cellar... I have some ideas, just not sure if it will work until it's done!

I bought my fenceposts for the turkey coop yesterday, in anticipation of the ground softening up soon. The turkeys are doing very well, and the first 3 I got are pretty much ready to start coming outside. There will be alot of work to be done around here in the next week or so!

Followers...

Well, fellow followers, I am getting trouble already, because it's been two whole days since I posted last. Well, to be honest, it was my sister who complained, (thanks for the support, sis!!), BUT as she signed the post in our famous family tradition - by calling me a name that should not be published on a public forum - I have chosen not to publish the complaint. Everyone else out there might get the wrong idea. Regardless, I decided I'd better get off my butt and let you all in on what is happening around this crazy farm.

It's been trying to rain here since yesterday. The operative word is TRY. We've been getting that crappy, misty drizzle that really does no one any good whatsoever. After it rained for 4 hours yesterday, I decided to start my fall planting, in the hopes that we will get a good rain very, very soon. Plus, if I don't do it now, I will lose my window of opportunity, and nothing will mature before it gets cold. When I dug into the soil, the rain had only penatrated about a millimetre into the ground. NOT an exaggeration. We need a REAL rain!! A torrential downpour, to make any sort of difference.

I turned the beds over, and planted one bed of walla walla onions (which I just read somewhere do better and are sweeter if you let them overwinter- this will be a total experiment), and 4 beds of little marvel peas, one bed of little sweetie peas (these are the snap variety) and a bed of mesculin mix. This should give me fresh salad almost all winter. When it gets cold, I will put a garden cloche over it, to extend the season.
I still have some more beds I want to plant over the next week, but there's only so much a gal can do in one day;-)

Tomorrow, I plan on introducing you to the farm dogs, of which there are 3 (currently, anyway!). There is a story I need to share about one of them, though.
Recently Boom-boom, my husky-collie mix was coming in with a stained green face. For 3 days in a row, her muzzle and around her eyes was green, green, green. I couldn't figure out what was doing this. What was she getting into that would stain her green? She is a very quiet, sneaky girl, so I had to spy on her to figure it out.
As it turns out, she has been going into the garden, and helping herself to all my tomatoes while they are still green! No wonder I haven't been getting many tomatoes! And I was blaming the deer! My dogs all have learned to harvest themselves- they pick their own blackberries, peas, and strawberries. Little did I suspect they would like green tomatoes! Naughty girl!

I picked myself enough blackberries the other day to make myself my first ever batch of jam. I am just going to do the freezer jam this time, because from what I can tell, it is pretty difficult to botch that up! When more berries are ready, I am going to try making some 'real' jam, with the canner. I've never canned before, so this should be interesting! I'll let you know how it turns out!

Introductions

Well, the turkeys and Chicken Little both got introduced to their respective flocks last night. Everything went very, very smoothly, and no one got beat up! I now have 3 Bourbon Red Turkeys and 5 Slate turkeys. 3 of the Slate are about 3 weeks old now, the new ones and the BR's are about 2 weeks old.