Ya, time to spend a little time on a post about gardens, chickens, kids and skies. Where to begin. Guess we’ll start at the beginning. This is designed especially for you Tara, cause you asked. We are in the throws of beautiful spring, I imagine others will be moaning, as I know the snow still runs deep and wild in so many parts of our country. Take a walk by my side as I show you what is going on in the north Okanagan of B.C., at our farm and area. This is an incredibly early and warm spring. Last year, Daughter, whose farm we reside, mowed her lawn for the first time on May 1. This year, she mowed the lawn on April 1. One month, that is pretty significant. Enjoy the pictures, and narration to go with it. And, with that too, have a most awesome day, CynthiaM.
We’ll start with a couple of weeks ago, the time for the spring cleaning of the chickens’ coops. I use the small wheelbarrow for this sort of gathering, as it does not weigh as much as the usual Rubbermaid monster that I normally employ for all other “stuff” around the farm. Yes, I think there may have been 20 or more of these wheelbarrow loads, filled to the brim. Some from inside, some from outside where I had removed the matt that was about 1 inch thick in the chickens’ pens. Beautiful and new earth, sandy, pebbly and so nice to not have a slip to it, smiling. Yes, that matt of chicken stuff outside can be quite slippery and mucky when it is wet. New ground, no slip, just niceness to walk on, for me and the birds themselves. I won’t bother with a picture from the outside gatherings, already done that. This is my wheelbarrow, which is for the henhouse applications. In this stuff is of course the goods from the innards of the chickens, what goes in, must come out, the shavings, the straw and the peat moss, which are used in the henhouses for bedding and to place below the roosts, to keep the scent of awful down. Which does not exist. Peat moss is one of the most incredible products to sprinkle between the layers of chicken excrement below the roosts, as well as the shavings, etc. My chicken houses do not smell. Period. I know, after a topic last fall, every time I go in the houses, and that is frequently, I try to see if there is a scent. There is nothing. That pleases me. Good ventilation, fair air movement and chickens that prefer to poop below the roosts to the areas inside. Their inside walking areas are full of rice hulls, shavings and some straw, they like this to dust bath in and seriously, think me weird or what, I don’t think they make huge poopy messes where they like to dust bath. Maybe they do, but I have never actually seen any poopy mess where they dust in. They probably do, but I would like to think that they have more sense than that. I think chickens are much more smart than we ever give them credit for. And trust me, they know when they require to have a movement, my egg laying boxes are immaculate, the hens make sure of that one. Never, ever, ever, a dirty egg, ever. Believe that one or not. They do not mess in the place where they want their beautiful eggs to be laid. Who would like to spend that enormous amount of time that it takes to contemplate the laying of the egg and to make it happen in a poopy nest box. Well, my chickens are smart, I know that, laughing out loud.
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A closer view of some good stuff that was to be rototilled (yes with my new Mantis, and I have a rototiller fetish) in with existing garden dirt. That has been done, with another pile which is leaves and manure, which yet has been worked, so it lays at the back of the garden, awaiting the second turnover. With the rain we have had in the past couple of days, that will hasten the decomposition in a huge way and in another week or so, will be incorporated into another specific part of the vegetable garden.
If ever there was a gift from the critters on our farms that was more than appreciated, it would be the manures, from the chickens and the horses, each having their own part to make the gardens thrive. To feed us, to nourish our bodies and souls, with pureness of what we know that goes into our food.
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This is the area where I dump the wheelbarrows of critter compost. You will see all different colours and textures of the piles. That is because I do not dump all the piles in the same spot, I move them to different dumps, depending on where the product has come from. Look to the back of the picture. The pile that is very long and borders the fence. That pile is still there. It has been moved from one side to the other, a little more upright than long, as it is here. That is the manure and leaves. The leaves need to further compost, rain will assist this immensely.
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All the piles of manure were spread in this area and rototilled deeply as I could. Layers of about one foot were removed, and then the rototilling again, to further mix in the manures with the existing soil, from the previous year, which had lots of amendment done to it. A continual work of improving and adding and mixing. The then-mixed-with-last-year’s-manures and earth are then wheelbarrowed over, with my huge Rubbermaid wheelbarrow and put in piles. To later be rototilled in again with the last years soil amendment. The buff Orpingtons were having a grand time to help me spread the piles before the rototiller was put to action. These gardens show about one half of the area that becomes our nurture from the very earth itself.
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The birds really enjoyed the leafy pile, there is lots and lots of really good stuff in there, like worms, smiling. Always will keep a watch out for any gaping. Earthworms are a host for the gapeworm, which can afflict the trachea of poultry.
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Last fall I thought that I would get my Son-in-Law to take two apple boxes that I had filled up with the earth from the garden, after the garden was all cleaned up. I filled those two apple boxes with earth, he moved them up closer to where we live and I planted in one box, the garlic bulbils that were one year old. The prior year I had gathered the little bulbils from the spent flower heads of some of the garlic. I had planted those in the ground. Teeny tiny little garlic bulbils, looked very small, about the size of half a pea. They grew over that winter and last summer. During July, when I harvested our big and mature garlic plants, I harvested these little seeds. Which were now about the size of a dime. I planted those in one of the apple bins, knowing that in the second year, those two year old seeds would make that full sized garlic bulb. They came up when the snow left and they are growing beautiful. With the other garlic I had planted, the cloves that I had separated from the big bulbs (only plant the biggest cloves, as they give the biggest bulbs the following year) are growing beautiful too. This year, tons and tons of garlic, known as Fish Lake #3. It is a medium spiced garlic, excellent flavour and a reasonably good keeper (I gave some of the one year old bulbils to a friend down in Sunshine Bay, I wonder how they are growing, they grow lots of garlic, smiling, you know who you are, smiling).
In the apple bin on the left is where I plan to grow an early potato, should grow very nicely in that old composted compost and dirt. So close to my home and I can just put my hand below the earth so easily, as it is very fluffy and malleable. There are other potato patches, but this is where the one called Caribe will grow, it is pretty, it is purple skinned with the whitest flesh I have ever seen, a lovely potato. I know there will be potatoes that come up in different areas of the garden, from pieces that still remained in the ground, that I missed. And there will be new rows made too. I like the red potatoes, can’t recall which one I had purchased, they are outside, away from me so can’t look at this moment. And also some interesting one that I had shipped from West Coast Seeds. Called....Chieftan certified organic.
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There will be more garden pictures I will bring for my friends to see, as time marches on. This is just the beginning of earth, wind and fire.
Now we will move onto a bit of a different subject. There was some very pretty skies that I just wanted to show pictures of. These two pictures were taken the middle of March. We live in a valley, which runs north and south and to both directions, the most incredible views of storms and clouds come. Storms which come, are seen before they actually arrive to where we live. This is good, it helps to prepare. Yesterday we had winds that were near hurricane force, for very short periods, and then gone, amazing how things can change and I love it.
Looking toward the south
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And looking toward the north. Note the lack of snow (March 15 2013) and the brown appearance of the field. That is alfalfa. Alfalfa fields border us on the east and the west.
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This was last night, the alfalfa has greened up and growing like a Wildman runs
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When my youngest Sister and her clan (6 kids and a Husband) came up on the long weekend, just passed, we had a very interesting day. She wanted to do something with kids and the water, so we thought we would go up to a small lake in our area, known as Gardom Lake. Surely there would be some wonderful swimming (pretty darn cold water still). Got to the lake and it was frozen solid. Out that goes through the window. Where else? Well, let’s check out the park in Grindrod. There is a most lovely beach area, which was used as a boat launch, but now no boats are allowed to launch there, they must enter in another spot. Good. Makes for a beautiful little place to have a picnic and kids swim. The river is low right now, not flowing very quickly. Soon the river will be a raging torrent, to slow down again in mid summer. At this particular place, there is an island in the middle of the river. It is a most incredible place for the kids to swim (or should I say walk right now, when water is low) to. Lots to do on that little island. So, ya, the kids donned their guts and gumption and went into the frigid water and went and hung out on the island. Along with my Niece and Nephews went our two Grandsons, aged 18 and 14, still wanting to swim and play their hearts out with their cousins, well there cousins, think it is called once removed, cause it is my Sister’s kids and my Daughter’s kids. Or is it second cousins? Never can get that thing right.
We brought a couple of dozen buns, a whack of meat slices, cheese slices, homemade mayonnaise, mustard and lettuce. Lunch for 14 for about $14. What more could ya ask for...beautiful sunny day, kids playing, adults playing and eating our hearts out. Lots of good food and drink that weekend.
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We’ll start with a couple of weeks ago, the time for the spring cleaning of the chickens’ coops. I use the small wheelbarrow for this sort of gathering, as it does not weigh as much as the usual Rubbermaid monster that I normally employ for all other “stuff” around the farm. Yes, I think there may have been 20 or more of these wheelbarrow loads, filled to the brim. Some from inside, some from outside where I had removed the matt that was about 1 inch thick in the chickens’ pens. Beautiful and new earth, sandy, pebbly and so nice to not have a slip to it, smiling. Yes, that matt of chicken stuff outside can be quite slippery and mucky when it is wet. New ground, no slip, just niceness to walk on, for me and the birds themselves. I won’t bother with a picture from the outside gatherings, already done that. This is my wheelbarrow, which is for the henhouse applications. In this stuff is of course the goods from the innards of the chickens, what goes in, must come out, the shavings, the straw and the peat moss, which are used in the henhouses for bedding and to place below the roosts, to keep the scent of awful down. Which does not exist. Peat moss is one of the most incredible products to sprinkle between the layers of chicken excrement below the roosts, as well as the shavings, etc. My chicken houses do not smell. Period. I know, after a topic last fall, every time I go in the houses, and that is frequently, I try to see if there is a scent. There is nothing. That pleases me. Good ventilation, fair air movement and chickens that prefer to poop below the roosts to the areas inside. Their inside walking areas are full of rice hulls, shavings and some straw, they like this to dust bath in and seriously, think me weird or what, I don’t think they make huge poopy messes where they like to dust bath. Maybe they do, but I have never actually seen any poopy mess where they dust in. They probably do, but I would like to think that they have more sense than that. I think chickens are much more smart than we ever give them credit for. And trust me, they know when they require to have a movement, my egg laying boxes are immaculate, the hens make sure of that one. Never, ever, ever, a dirty egg, ever. Believe that one or not. They do not mess in the place where they want their beautiful eggs to be laid. Who would like to spend that enormous amount of time that it takes to contemplate the laying of the egg and to make it happen in a poopy nest box. Well, my chickens are smart, I know that, laughing out loud.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
A closer view of some good stuff that was to be rototilled (yes with my new Mantis, and I have a rototiller fetish) in with existing garden dirt. That has been done, with another pile which is leaves and manure, which yet has been worked, so it lays at the back of the garden, awaiting the second turnover. With the rain we have had in the past couple of days, that will hasten the decomposition in a huge way and in another week or so, will be incorporated into another specific part of the vegetable garden.
If ever there was a gift from the critters on our farms that was more than appreciated, it would be the manures, from the chickens and the horses, each having their own part to make the gardens thrive. To feed us, to nourish our bodies and souls, with pureness of what we know that goes into our food.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
This is the area where I dump the wheelbarrows of critter compost. You will see all different colours and textures of the piles. That is because I do not dump all the piles in the same spot, I move them to different dumps, depending on where the product has come from. Look to the back of the picture. The pile that is very long and borders the fence. That pile is still there. It has been moved from one side to the other, a little more upright than long, as it is here. That is the manure and leaves. The leaves need to further compost, rain will assist this immensely.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
All the piles of manure were spread in this area and rototilled deeply as I could. Layers of about one foot were removed, and then the rototilling again, to further mix in the manures with the existing soil, from the previous year, which had lots of amendment done to it. A continual work of improving and adding and mixing. The then-mixed-with-last-year’s-manures and earth are then wheelbarrowed over, with my huge Rubbermaid wheelbarrow and put in piles. To later be rototilled in again with the last years soil amendment. The buff Orpingtons were having a grand time to help me spread the piles before the rototiller was put to action. These gardens show about one half of the area that becomes our nurture from the very earth itself.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The birds really enjoyed the leafy pile, there is lots and lots of really good stuff in there, like worms, smiling. Always will keep a watch out for any gaping. Earthworms are a host for the gapeworm, which can afflict the trachea of poultry.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Last fall I thought that I would get my Son-in-Law to take two apple boxes that I had filled up with the earth from the garden, after the garden was all cleaned up. I filled those two apple boxes with earth, he moved them up closer to where we live and I planted in one box, the garlic bulbils that were one year old. The prior year I had gathered the little bulbils from the spent flower heads of some of the garlic. I had planted those in the ground. Teeny tiny little garlic bulbils, looked very small, about the size of half a pea. They grew over that winter and last summer. During July, when I harvested our big and mature garlic plants, I harvested these little seeds. Which were now about the size of a dime. I planted those in one of the apple bins, knowing that in the second year, those two year old seeds would make that full sized garlic bulb. They came up when the snow left and they are growing beautiful. With the other garlic I had planted, the cloves that I had separated from the big bulbs (only plant the biggest cloves, as they give the biggest bulbs the following year) are growing beautiful too. This year, tons and tons of garlic, known as Fish Lake #3. It is a medium spiced garlic, excellent flavour and a reasonably good keeper (I gave some of the one year old bulbils to a friend down in Sunshine Bay, I wonder how they are growing, they grow lots of garlic, smiling, you know who you are, smiling).
In the apple bin on the left is where I plan to grow an early potato, should grow very nicely in that old composted compost and dirt. So close to my home and I can just put my hand below the earth so easily, as it is very fluffy and malleable. There are other potato patches, but this is where the one called Caribe will grow, it is pretty, it is purple skinned with the whitest flesh I have ever seen, a lovely potato. I know there will be potatoes that come up in different areas of the garden, from pieces that still remained in the ground, that I missed. And there will be new rows made too. I like the red potatoes, can’t recall which one I had purchased, they are outside, away from me so can’t look at this moment. And also some interesting one that I had shipped from West Coast Seeds. Called....Chieftan certified organic.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
There will be more garden pictures I will bring for my friends to see, as time marches on. This is just the beginning of earth, wind and fire.
Now we will move onto a bit of a different subject. There was some very pretty skies that I just wanted to show pictures of. These two pictures were taken the middle of March. We live in a valley, which runs north and south and to both directions, the most incredible views of storms and clouds come. Storms which come, are seen before they actually arrive to where we live. This is good, it helps to prepare. Yesterday we had winds that were near hurricane force, for very short periods, and then gone, amazing how things can change and I love it.
Looking toward the south
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And looking toward the north. Note the lack of snow (March 15 2013) and the brown appearance of the field. That is alfalfa. Alfalfa fields border us on the east and the west.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
This was last night, the alfalfa has greened up and growing like a Wildman runs
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
When my youngest Sister and her clan (6 kids and a Husband) came up on the long weekend, just passed, we had a very interesting day. She wanted to do something with kids and the water, so we thought we would go up to a small lake in our area, known as Gardom Lake. Surely there would be some wonderful swimming (pretty darn cold water still). Got to the lake and it was frozen solid. Out that goes through the window. Where else? Well, let’s check out the park in Grindrod. There is a most lovely beach area, which was used as a boat launch, but now no boats are allowed to launch there, they must enter in another spot. Good. Makes for a beautiful little place to have a picnic and kids swim. The river is low right now, not flowing very quickly. Soon the river will be a raging torrent, to slow down again in mid summer. At this particular place, there is an island in the middle of the river. It is a most incredible place for the kids to swim (or should I say walk right now, when water is low) to. Lots to do on that little island. So, ya, the kids donned their guts and gumption and went into the frigid water and went and hung out on the island. Along with my Niece and Nephews went our two Grandsons, aged 18 and 14, still wanting to swim and play their hearts out with their cousins, well there cousins, think it is called once removed, cause it is my Sister’s kids and my Daughter’s kids. Or is it second cousins? Never can get that thing right.
We brought a couple of dozen buns, a whack of meat slices, cheese slices, homemade mayonnaise, mustard and lettuce. Lunch for 14 for about $14. What more could ya ask for...beautiful sunny day, kids playing, adults playing and eating our hearts out. Lots of good food and drink that weekend.
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