Icky chickies and the chicken tractor

Goat pics soon, I promise.  The escaping goat did not attempt escape yesterday, so maybe he can stay.


The icky chickies are finally out in their chicken tractor, dubbed the "chicken conestoga" by LJ.  It's still a little cool at night, so we've got a heat lamp in there for the evenings.  The feeder is set up so we can raise it in order to restrict their food a bit.  Otherwise they'd lie around the feeder, eating day and night.  Piggies!

We're pretty happy with how it came out, and it wasn't too expensive to build. At least the chicks seem happy!

Goats, icky chickies, quick update

Goats were delivered yesterday. 5 of them. Not sure what the breeds are, but they were free, and they have already done some serious damage to the blackberries and thistles. Woohoo! 2 does, 3 wethers. Only one wether is polled, and he may need to be rehomed somewhere else this week (today or tomorrow, preferably), as he is the size of a small pony and can clear a nearly 5' fence. The others are fine. The big boy is the only problem goat. I don't want him to teach the others to escape. He jumps the fence, even though he gets the bejeezus shocked out of him. All the others respect the fence. LJ wants to give him a couple days, but I need that goat to go away. Especially with lots of baby fruit trees, blueberries, and my garden at risk. Stressing me out. I really don't like problem animals...

Icky chickies are out in the chicken conestoga. They seem to be enjoying the forage and freedom. Now that they have room to run, they are having baby chicken battles. Pretty entertaining. At least they are getting some exercise. :)

I'll try to get pics up this week. Happy Monday!

Blossoms, fruit, and shoots

All the plants are really enjoying the warmer weather we've had over the last week.  Here's a bit of what we've got growing.  Happy Friday, all!


Strawberries are starting to color up.

Little apples are forming on the old apple tree and both of the columnars.

Some of the beans are up...

And some are still trying.

Some baby peppers are forming.

My thornless blackberry is starting to bloom.  This was a gift from a dear friend who passed away a little more than a year ago.  I also have one started directly from his own thornless, and a couple grandbabies of that baby.  I remember my friend fondly every time I see these.

Blueberries are still blooming.

Chives are tasty AND pretty!

Currants are doing well in their new home.

Hops are growing rapidly.

This lavender was here when we moved in, and has come back from the dead with a little bit of care.

LJ's potatoes are peeking above the soil.

And we may get a few raspberries this year.  Woohoo!

We're going to finish up the icky chicky's chicken tractor this weekend, and I'll try to post pics next week.  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Henry Pup's 4th birthday

Happy birthday to Henry Bob, aka Hank, aka Fatso, aka Pooter Pup, aka $&!?head (LJ's fav), aka Cuddle Pup, etc etc. This dog has lots of names. Hard to believe he's FOUR! Goodness, time flies. Seems like yesterday when we brought him home, small enough to fit in my coat. His nickname was "veal" for the first few weeks, as I carried him everywhere. :)

So little the day we brought him home!

Our silly pup is quite the cuddlebug and goofball.

And has such a lovely smile!

We're so lucky to have him!

Sneaky goose...

Yes, there's a goose on my butt. Yes, she's trying to get in my pocket. This sneak thief stole a zip tie out of my pocket one day, and proceeded to run around the yard in triumph, flapping her wings and squealing. Now, she knows what pockets are. Not long after this photo was taken, she had nearly her entire head in my pocket. Nothing to find, though. I'm hip to her game. Sneaky sneaky goose...

Garden, berries, and sunshine

We got so much done last weekend, I wish I had another long weekend. Especially this one, as I woke to a pale blue sky stretching from horizon to horizon.  Beautiful.

Garden- Tomatoes, basil, and cukes are in the ground, finally. I have more basil to plant, but it's nice to have so much out of the way. LJ also got some corn planted, and it may just have a chance. I can't remember the name of the variety, but it has a lower germination temp than most, and a much shorter length of time til harvest. Maybe this weekend we'll be able to get the peppers in the ground, with expected high temps tomorrow to give them a little boost. I'm also planning on getting my beans planted, at least this first round. They've been sprouting between damp paper towels in the cupboard for about a week, and are ready for some soil before their roots start latching onto the paper.

Onion sets are well on their way!

Berries- Awhile back, I wrote about a vendor of mine that had been pushed out of his job by a company he'd worked at for over 20 years. Well, he got snatched up by a competitor, and is now my vendor again! On Monday, LJ and I went over to his house, invited to help thin out his raspberry and strawberry patches. Woohoo! We came home with around 10 raspberries, and many more strawberries. He and his wife have been doing a lot of landscaping lately, and he also sent me home with a handful of big black plastic nursery pots. Score! Now I can repot the itty bitty baby apple trees I bought at the garden fair in May. We planted the raspberries in the rain when we got home. They were droopy for a couple days, but soon perked up. For the strawberries, we needed to pull a stump that was on top of a little rise in the driveway. LJ dug most of the dirt out from around the stump, and yanked it out with the tractor. After smoothing out the top, we planted the 4 currants (2 black, 1 red, 1 white) and a ton of strawberries around them. It was really the only area we had to put the strawberries, as the only other place is around the house, which is a serious slug zone. I hope they do alright. If not, I suppose we'll try again somewhere else.

Not pretty, but at least they're in the ground.

The meat chicks are growing rapidly, and they really do creep me out a bit. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics yet. The turkeys are doing well, but are nuts, and cleaning out their brooder is always a challenge. They are very good at escaping, and can fly a bit already. The Royal Palm is especially tricksy. Hope to get pics up of them soon.

Piggles and bits... The pigs are getting huge. We got a weigh tape to try and estimate their weights. If we did it correctly, they're about 140 lbs. Nuts! They sure are fun to have around the farm. Very photogenic, too!

Rest of the weekend... We split and stacked around 1/3 cord of alder. A buddy of mine at work snagged me some really nice pallets, so we were able to get the wood stacked off the ground. Now, I just need to pull out all the wood that's seasoned for this winter, level the ground on the other side of the shed, and restack it all. Ugh. Very good exercise, at least. And, we'll have nice dry wood this winter. Excellent.

And that's about all for now. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Grumpy bird back outside

Working the front desk for a bit so the receptionist can run some employees to the airport, so, a quick update. Grumpy bird is back outside. After several days in the house, loud and stinky, his limp is much better. Not gone, but definitely better. He was very angry about being kept inside, and squawked at me every time I walked by the tub. So, he's back out with the ladies. He's eating and drinking, and even foraging a bit, though I often see him just lying down in the shade. We'll see how he does.

Got lots done this last weekend. Hoping to get a post and some pics up tomorrow with updates on the garden, fruit, icky chickies (the meat chicks are so strange), etc. Almost Friday! Woohoo!