Waiting for Spring!

I am impatiently waiting for spring to arrive. However, I am certainly not bored while the wait goes on! I have so many projects on the go right now. I am working on my field chicken coop, and have done as much as I can while I wait for someone to help me get more much needed pallets. The good news is that what I have put up so far... is still standing!! ;-) It's a miracle, I tell you. I am not known for my building skills. I had to change my plan for the coop at the last minute. I put some of it together, then realized it was going to be wayyyy too small for all my chickens and ducks, so I expanded it before it got to late to do so. So, now I need almost double the pallets than what I needed before.

I also got a load of gravel to help temporarily repair my awful driveway. I am busily moving wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow full into all the humungous potholes. I had a guy out to give me a quote on fixing it permanently. I have to get proper ditches built, then resurface it. It will only cost me about $2000.
Guess I need to sell ALOT more veggies this summer. OUCH!

I am also busy making more garden beds. This is a slow and ongoing process, as I need to get a cardboard base down to kill the weeds first, before I add compost and soil on top. My friend John picked up a big bunch of cardboard for me yesterday, and is going to get a bunch more for me in about 2 weeks. Then, good news.... another friend of mine found me a utility trailer for my car! It is the back of a truck, and has a canopy for it. It will cost me $100, plus whatever it is for a hitch. I am THRILLED! This will save me from having to annoy all my friends for the next few years everytime I need something! I can use it to take my turkeys and chickens to the processor, to pick up hay for my gardens and chicken coops, for bringing home my little baby goats, and for picking up cardboard. To name a few uses! This will be a very well-used trailer!

I have been up a couple of times to the greenhouse. Planting, planting, and replanting. The mice and the birds are doing a number up there. I put out traps, and so did Elliot. He caught one mouse so far. Hopefully we will get more of the little buggers! All my pretty green shoots got snipped off at the quick. I've had to replant my spinach three times so far, and a few other things. A bit frustrating.
I fertilized my healthy green shoots with my homemade manure/compost tea today. Will hopefully make everything big and strong.

I bought two new fruit trees today. A Red Haven Peach tree, and a Fuji apple. I only need four more trees, and my orchard will be complete! I need 2 more apples, 1 pear, and 1 plum. The pear and the plum will be easy, but the two apples I want I am having a hard time finding. I figure you only plant these trees once, so I might as well get the kinds I want!

Dog boarding has been insanely busy of late. Last year, this was my 'slow' time. Not this year! I am going crazy. The dogs keep me so busy, I sometimes find it hard to find time to do all my farming duties. Sigh. Oh, well. At least it is paying the bills!
I joke that the dogs are getting in the way of my farming. I guess it's just growing pains, and it will settle out in the next few years.

I named my other two Dorking roosters last week. We all know Bully, the boy who is shooting blanks. Then, I had the 2 roos that I raised this past year for breeding. Well, one of them beat the bloody crap out of the other. The winner's name is Bloody Monday. The loser is Dumbass. I swear that bird has a death wish. He keeps coming out into where the dogs are. I can't believe I've been able to save him so many times! Then, if he's not trying to get eaten by a dog, he flies back in with Bloody Monday, who beats the crap out of him again.
That's why his name is Dumbass.

Snow Day

I had big plans for today. I had actually wiped my calendar clean, and rescheduled all my daycare dogs, so I could go up island today. I wanted to visit my little goats, and mostly I wanted to go start a bunch more seeds in the greenhouse. I don't deal well when a wrench gets put into my plans. It takes me a long time to assimalate and adjust.
It was cloudy this morning, and cold like it's been all week. I had all the dogs out running around first thing, and suddenly there was a flash of light. I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me... I couldn't really figure out where it came from. Almost a minute later, there was a huge boom of thunder. Then it started to snow. Just a few flakes at first, then more and heavier. Sigh. I won't drive when it's snowy out - I just don't want to take the chance that it will get worse, and I won't be able to get home again.
Anyway, in the last couple of hours, we've had about 2" worth. Not as bad as Victoria... they woke up to about a foot of snow this morning. Ugh.
I know it's still February, but I want spring! I am hoping this is winters' last blast. I thought I had planned this day so perfectly, so I wasn't going to be all rush-rush. Now I have to figure out another day to plant seeds. I was also dying to get up and see the stuff I planted last time, see how it is doing.

So, I am getting an unexpected snow day. I am mostly just lazing about, reading a book, doing some laundry. I plugged in my new-for-me incubator, in preparedness of putting some Dorking eggs in there soon.

Some cool things happened yesterday, though. I had a client of mine talk a friend into bringing me some scrap lumber. It is all pieces of plywood. Nice pieces, too! They will be perfect for helping me build my chicken coop and goat shelter. PLUS, my friend Amanda and her hubby helped me to get a truckload of pallets. I am going to use those for my shelters, too. FREE;-) Just my price. I will have to get a few nails and 2x4's to finish the job, but my expenses just went wayyyyy down with these materials. As soon as the white stuff melts, I will get started on the chicken coop. Can't wait! All of a sudden, I will have more work outside than I know what to do with. Hope the weather improves soon, so I can get started!

What's New in Poultry!

I am trying very hard to teach myself a valuable lesson. The lesson is this: If you have a good plan, STICK TO IT. Don't be a dumbass, panic, and move away from the plan!
I had my awesome chicken/poultry plan this year. I had arranged to get all my chicks and poults in at the same time, so I would only have to brood once. Smart, eh? It would be, if I stuck to it!
Lately my eggs have been selling like hotcakes. I've had to tell people no. I hate telling people no!! So, I panicked and got Amanda to put 20 eggs into the incubator for me. THEN, I realized... DUH, they won't all be hens! So I upped it to 40. At least they are dual purpose...
So, in about 2 weeks, I will have 40 chicks coming. It is too cold out, so I will have to start brooding them inside. Ugh, smelly! Then, I realized I still need to build my new coop out in the pasture, so I can move my other laying hens out there, and let the one coop regrow and recover before I put new chickens into it. I've got my work cut out for me!

About a week and a half ago I moved a bunch of my Dorking hens into the coop with my 2 new roosters, so they can start fertilizing eggs. I plan on putting a bunch of them into my new-for-me incubator and hatching a bunch. I will hopefully sell a few, and keep some for myself.
A couple of days ago, the roosters started trying to kill each other. I actually thought one had died yesterday, but he was just playing dead until the other left him alone. So, I put the poor loser into the duck pen, so he could recover. I went to a heritage turkey meeting yesterday, and they said that 3 males was the magic number. 2 would kill each other, but if you had a third, it would be enough of a distraction, that the fights wouldn't get so out of hand. When I have enough males, I will try it. I would really love to get some fertile eggs happening!

My muscovy ducks are starting to lay already! I've had over a dozen eggs now. I will have enough to start selling the odd dozen soon, then I will start harvesting them and put them into the incubator. I am hoping to get a lot of use out of this incubator! I can't wait to use it!!

Update on Chickens and Turkeys

I keep forgetting to update on my chickens and turkeys!
I got 25 Cornish giant chickens and 10 white turkeys in last month from a new hatchery that I haven't tried before. They were the littlest, wee-ist little birds I have ever seen. Some of the turkeys were DOA, so out of 10, I ended up with 4. Out of 25 chickens, I still have 20. They are about 4 weeks old now...  almost half way through their lives. They seem to be doing quite well, though, and are eating me out of house and home. Yesterday, I started letting them out of their brooder, to explore outside. It has been sunny and gorgeous the last couple of days, so the little guys won't get cold. I hope!

The heritage Blue Slate turkeys I got in June are doing AMAZING. I have had them on a special 'heritage' feed almost their entire lives, and I'm pretty sure it is making a huge difference. They seem to be very close to the size my last batch was when I got them processed... only they are just half the age. I will probably get them done in Dec or Jan, depending on when I feel like eating a turkey;-)

The new Dorkings I got in from my friend are also doing well. When they are ready, I want to put each one in a coop with about 5 or 6 females, and see if I can get some fertile eggs from them. If I could start breeding my own, I would be that one big step towards self-sufficiency... I wouldn't have to buy chickens anymore! Plus, I could sell the babies for $7-$10 each, and maybe make a bit on the side.

I got a bunch of new egg birds wayyyy back in April? I think. They are JUST starting to lay. A bit. I feel like I have been feeding them for free for a very, very long time! I can never keep up with demand for eggs. I always have more orders than I can fill. 3 of my egg shares that I sold finish in about 3 or 4 weeks, so that should lift some of the egg pressure. Need more eggs! I put a light into the layers coop until about 10 pm each nite, so I hope that is going to help bring up production again.

Another Spring Day

Even though it is an absolutely gorgeous day out there today, I am trying to do a few more 'indoor' jobs. For the last week, there has been something wrong with my left foot- the heel is all swollen and painful. I have been hobbling around the whole time, just trying to suck it up, thinking it will go away. It hasn't. It's been getting worse. I guess the only thing I can do it try to get off of it for a bit. It KILLS me to stay still, though. There is so much I need to do! I really don't need a bum foot slowing me down. Even so, I still mowed most of the lawn today, and did just a few other necessary chores. With farming, even if you are dying, things still need to get done. Chickens to feed and water, doggy beds to wash, kitchen to clean, it's endless...

I decide a week or so ago that I wasn't getting enough done around the farm, so I reluctantly cancelled my TV service. It was really, really hard to pick up the phone to call, but the funny thing is, I'm not missing it at all... I think I will just keep it during the darkest days of winter, and otherwise let it go. I am getting more done without it, although there are still not enough days in the week, or hours in the day....!

I got my first order of meat birds in last week. I feel like I have succumbed to the pressures of society with those. Grow quick, get paid quick, get them out quick. I guess you just have to do what you need to do to pay the damn mortgage. Regardless of that, I will still continue to raise my Dorkings for meat as well as eggs. Hopefully I will be able to get more people behind them as time goes on. Here is a picture of the meat birds.

There are 74 birds... I ordered 75, got 78, but 4 died. That's normal.

 I have had a strange couple of months in the dog boarding side of thing. It's truly feast or famine out there. March was so slow, I was certain I was going to starve to death. The first 2 weeks of April was so busy, I couldn't breath or even go out anywhere. I just hope things even out as time goes on. Managing the budget is hard when it's so up and down like that! Can't wait for my gardens to start making some money!

Crazy Days of Spring!

Well, spring is proceeding with it's usual undecidedness. Warm and sunny one day, frost the next night, and pouring rain next. You never know what the weather will bring!
Things are progressing in the garden very well for the most part. Broad beans, peas, some lettuce, arugula and carrots are popping up. A few lettuce varieties I planted haven't shown up yet... not sure what is up with that. I'm going to wait until it warms a bit, then try replanting them. I need those early crops!
I am stoked to report I finished all 50 of my garden beds on March 26. It was 11 days later than my goal, but that's ok... I got it done, and am feeling quite proud of that fact. Most beds are planted now, but I've saved a few beds to plant assorted beans into later this month when it gets warmer. I've also been working on doing yet another business plan... I am applying to the government for a grant, to see if I can get further funding so I can put the rest of the garden beds in, as well as finish my orchard and berry patch. I also want to build a few new chicken coops, so I can rotate their pasture, and the chickens will always have fresh pasture to forage in. After this winter, the chicken runs look like giant mud patties. I can't imagine that it's the healthiest thing for chickens to walk around on.
A friend of a friend gave me 30 laying hens a few weeks ago. They are just the regular laying hens, which give you huge eggs, but I still love my Dorkings the best. The new layers just drop dead every once in a while... they are definitely not as hardy as the heritage breeds.
Here is a sample of the difference in the eggs:

Even though the Dorking eggs are smaller, the birds win the contest for overall hardiness and ease of keeping. I am keeping my fingers crossed right now.... 5 of my hens are broody, and I am hoping for some little Dorking chicks soon!

Here is a pic of my new layers. There were 30 of them, but Reckless ate 2, and 4 died spotaneously.

I am also taking part in a challenge- it's called the Nourished Kitchen. It's teaching people how to eat traditionally, like we did 100 years ago and more - BEFORE we had tooth decay, and everyone got chubby. It's the direction I've wanted to go anyway, but didn't really know how to start- alot of the things we used to do to eat have been lost in the mass of processed foods we eat these days. So, I am learning how to make my own sourdough bread (and pancakes!) at the moment. It's really interesting! Things I didn't know: sourdough bread is WAY healthier for you, plus it keeps your blood sugar levels even, and is especially good for diabetics. This is the link if you are thinking of doing the same thing: http://nourishedkitchen.com/
I am looking for a cow to buy shares in, so I can get ahold of raw milk, and learn to make my own butter and yogurt products. It's so exciting to try all this stuff! The best part since I've been eating these foods is this:
I AM NOT GETTING THE TREMENDOUS SUGAR CRAVINGS I NORMALLY HAVE. I have been a junk food junky all my life, and every time I've tried to 'eat healthy' in the past (low fat, blah, blah, blah) I've had sugar cravings that have almost killed me. This week, I bought a chocolate bar and put it into my fridge. For anyone who knows me, that bar would usually have been gone the day, no, the minute I bought it. It has been 4 days, and it is still in my fridge. I've had a couple of bites, but that little bit was all I needed. I am so excited to try some new traditional recipes, and see where it takes me...

The cherry blossoms are out and I just had to take a picture of my little Aaron cherry tree all dressed up. Can't wait for those cherries this summer!

I also have 2 new arrivals at the farm. Katrina, who owns the horse that boards with me got 2 little Shetland ponies- Babe and Lenny. They are so cute, and a joy to have at the farm!

I went to a meeting a couple of weeks ago for people who raise heritage turkeys. You know how much I hated those damn turkeys....
Well, I am going to try again. There was some really awesome people there, and one of the ladies is going to come over and help me clip the turkey wings, so I don't have escapes every 10 seconds. In theory, it should be a little less stressful this time around...
We are also getting a new food made for the turkeys and chickens, which mimics closer the feed we used to give these birds. We should get faster growth out of them... it will be interesting to try it, and see what the difference is!

CSA Hooray!

Well, I've been super busy this week! I put in ads all over for my CSA shares, not really expecting anything, but hoping for the best. I've had enough replies that I think I've sold all my shares for this year! I mailed off my contracts to all, and will know for sure when the deposit cheques come in. I am SOOOO SUPER STOKED! The deposits will pay for my humungous seed order (about $300) and then the rest is paid the end of May. My first shares are expected to be ready to go the first week in June. I've heard rumours of an early spring, so maybe everything will grow gangbusters, and I'll make all my CSA members so happy, that all will return next year and tell all their friends!
I've also had quite a few people express an interest in chickens for this year, as well. I plan on starting some poults in March/April. I am going to do my Dorkings, but I am also going to do some hybrid chickens, just for some faster return. I plan on sending out an email for preorders at that time, so I make sure I order enough poults for everyone, plus a few for myself. It's going to be a fun and challenging spring!
My hens are starting to lay quite well, and I've now sold my first couple dozen eggs from a cooler at the end of my driveway. I am putting that change in a little jar, which I will use to purchase their feed, so now they can start paying for themselves. Things are going great on the Crazy Dog Farm!!