In 2007 I started a fiber arts blog where I wanted to focus on my primary hobbies, knitting and spinning yarn. It had remained my obsession for over 5 years now, but the posts to my blog are fewer and further between.
I also created this farm blog when we bought our first property last year and have be posting about our farm, animals, canning, crafting, and a little bit of cooking whenever I get the chance.
I couldn't find a good reason NOT to merge the blogs into one, because really, my life isn't segregated, so why should my blogs be separate? I think anyone who appreciates home arts can appreciate fiber arts, and vice versa, and ultimately the goal is to bring sheep to the farm for my fiber arts, at which point my worlds really will converge.
Since my fiber arts blog has been around longer, I decided to move the posts from here over there, so please check out the link at the top of this post and see this blogs new home, and the other fun things I like to do.
Get caught up, familiarize yourself with some of the fun new links on the right sidebar, and get geared up for what's ahead. Tomorrow is a brand new day, and the start of some fun new posts. I'm really excited for what's to come, are you? I hope to see you there...
Springtime really can't seem to make up it's mind. In the past two weeks we've had sunny 60 degree weather, rainy 50 degree weather, snowy 30 degree weather, and yesterday we had a particularly unfriendly windy raining ice storm with intermittent sun. I'm really happy that we've taken several opportunities to get ahead on early summer farm work when the sun is shining because there really is no telling how long the nice weather will last.
Yesterday, despite the wind, we rushed out to try and finish the chicken coop. Luckily most of the work was inside the coop and we were able to finish while there was a lull in the stormy weather. All that's left is a coat or two of varnish to seal the floor and we we can move the chicks into their new home. I'm so glad, they've really outgrown the bathroom and they have created quite a mess. I'll get some pictures of the finished coop when the weather is a bit nicer. Although, in order for it to be truly finished, I'll have to wait for a sunny day to paint it.
Panorama from the top of the property in late March (you should be able to click on the image to make it bigger)
Last Weeks Freak Snowstorm
As long as the sun is shining, the puppies have to play outside, whether they like it or not.
The chicks are getting older, almost 4 weeks now (but 3 weeks in the video/pictures below), and as they get older they get more and more entertaining to watch. I find myself getting my morning coffee and going downstairs to see what's new in the chicken world. I can sit there and watch them for what seems like hours.
Most of the time I'm looking at their features, how their feathers are coming in, and trying to guess if they'll be boys or girls. I also try to guess what colors they will be when they're fully feathered and what breeds they might be since we got mixed breed chicks. My opinions of each chick seem to change from day to day, but as they get bigger I think the answers are becoming more clear.
The most interesting thing to watch is their behavior. Some chicks are proficient scratchers and are the main reason their water is always full of wood shavings. Other chicks seem to be "whiners", walking around and chirping their very distinguishable high pitched chirps. A few, I'm assuming they will be boys, are very macho and walk around stealing food from other chicks. I'm always impressed with the chicks who seem to be learning to steer when they fly and can perch up on the edge of the brooder to get a better view of their surroundings (although the minute they see my they fly back to safety.
I feed them treats and try to handle them every day because they are still pretty spooked when I move quickly or stand up. Some are getting better and rush to see me, while others hide in the back and wait to get their treats after I leave. I'm hoping by the time we move them outside in a few weeks will will all be friends. I don't like the idea of running around trying to catch chickens when it's time to go in the coop for the night.
Here's a video of the chicks at snack time. I talk a little bit about them, where they are in their development, and their current temporary chick home:
While I wasn't able to catch any chicks for their movie debut, I was able to snap a few pictures.
This is Sadie, she is one of my favorites (I hope she's a she!). She seems very delicate and shy compared to the others. She's one that has a distinguishable chirp and always hangs back and waits for her treats. I am in love with her grey coloring.
Sadie at 3 days old
Sadie at 3 weeks and 3 days old
This is Hank. I'm trying very hard to not get attached to the chicks that I think might be boys, in case they end up going to new homes or in the stew pot, but with Hank I just can't help it. It's very sweet, the first to come to me for treats, and will perch on my hand so he gets the best access to whatever treats I'm hand feeding the chicks. I'll talk more about why I think he's a boy in another post, but it has to do with feather color, his legs, and his comb (the mohawk between his eyes).
Hank at 3 weeks and 3 days old
This is Poe. She looked very much like a Raven when she was a chick, but is feathering out in the neatest leopard pattern. I'm still on the fence as to whether she's a she or he, but for now I'm going to be optimistic and call her a girl.
Poe at 3 weeks and 3 days old
All of the other chicks were to anxious and the pictures turned out blurry, but I'm hoping to do a new photo shoot on Tuesday, when they are 4 weeks old.
One of the best parts about having a farm is almost here! Growing Season! Being the Virgo that I am (as my bosses would say) means that I'm almost as excited about the PLANNING of the garden as I am about the actual production of our own food.
We've narrowed down the sites where we want to plant, have begun prepping the areas (aka- weed whack the heck out of it), and starting choosing what we want to grow. My mother in law gave me very sound advice- focus on a couple of things and learn to grow them well before expanding and trying new things. She obviously knows how enthusiastic I can get about things, and while her attempts to reign me in were valiant, she failed. Gwen, I give you permission to say "I told you so" later this autumn.
Plethora is a kind word to use when describing the number of seed packets I have acquired so far this spring. To be exact, I now have 44 bags of seeds (only 4 of which were given to me by someone local), totaling $125. I consider it an investment in my future. I just couldn't help myself. I started by purchasing seeds from some small companies close to our region in hopes that they would do well here. I couldn't find a local seed producer (I have found one since then, but even I have my seed purchasing limits) so I chose a few online. I got the majority of the seeds from Kenyon Organics in Utah, a few from Box Garden Organics in Idaho, and some lavender from Paula Jeans Garden down in Missoula, MT. After that I rounded out our collection with some seeds from Irish Eyes Garden Seeds from Washington that I picked up at the local hardware store. I tried to focus on organic and heirloom breeds, but it got to the point where every time we went to a feed store or hardware store I got a case of the "Ooooohhhh, that looks good!" and I just couldn't resist.
The Seed Collection
In the end (I hope it's the end) we have 3 different kinds of sunflowers, regional and bee attracting wildflowers, some herbs, paste and eating tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, carrots, winter squash, cucumbers, beans, and a few other varieties. Some of them, like the hot peppers, are dependent on our ability to set up the greenhouse. At the moment I'm not sure that's going to happen this year because we have so many other projects going on, but we're going to try. We may try to start some of the seeds early in the shop with a grow light we got from a friend, but really I'll just be happy if we can get the ground tilled and ready by the last frost in early June.
To prepare myself between now and then for this adventure I have torn apart every gardening magazine I own (mostly Mother Earth News) and organized the articles into categories for fruits, vegetables, other food (like grains), soil health, pest control, seasonal gardening tips, and general gardening tips, to make them easier to navigate. This way I can also add in my own notes about each thing from the books I plan to read about gardening. First up will be Organic Gardening in Cold Climates and The Montana Gardener's Companion. I also plan to start reading Zone 4, a magazine just for Rocky Mountain gardeners.
