We've started picking the mulberries. Our ginormous mulberry tree is fully loaded. The first fruits were made into mulberry scones this morning. Here they are, those yummy mulberries. Yes, the little green stems are soft and fully edible - we... Continue Reading →
We've been in the deep freeze since our first snow on Friday night, bottoming out at a wind chill of -7°F. The chickens are so cold they haven't come down out of their houses for more than a minute to... Continue Reading →
I noticed a shell-less duck egg about a week ago rolling around in the bottom of the duck coop. I thought, the ducks have started laying eggs! BeepBeep, the Icelandic chicken (who we are pretty sure is a rooster), noticed... Continue Reading →
Here's what my barnyard looks like on a typical morning. It's a bit crazy here. What's your typical morning barnyard/garden/backyard look like? I've been letting Clove, my 2021 bottle lamb, come and graze the clover around the barnyard while I... Continue Reading →
It's that time of year again! When the feathers fall, eggs slow or stop coming altogether, and hens start to look like they have mange or have been attacked by marauding raccoons. Don't worry - it's just feather regeneration time!... Continue Reading →
Every day I have to let my big male siamese cat, Ermine, into the master bedroom so he can get up on his carpeted cat tree and watch "birbs" out the window. It's the only window in the house with... Continue Reading →
When we lived on the U.S. Territory of Guam, the locals would use the carabao to "do bush cutting". Back stateside, we would probably refer to that as weed whacking and we would use a weed whacker. Well, here on... Continue Reading →
It is looking more and more like the one chick that hatched is going to be all alone! We've left the three remaining eggs we thought were viable on lockdown in the incubator. Tomorrow will be day 23 and we... Continue Reading →
There's something in there! Is it a t-rex or a velociraptor? We have to wait a little while longer to find out! We did discard one chicken egg and one duck egg as they were duds. The remaining four duck... Continue Reading →
Well, it looks like we only have 3 viable chicken eggs (out of 6), but we are going to wait until Day 14 to make that final call. Meanwhile, we have a stunning success rate so far on the duck... Continue Reading →
We decided we are going to start raising our own chickens and ducks. We just received eggs from Sugar Feather Farm on Monday. So, we have a couple of weeks until the excitement begins. I'm really interested to see what... Continue Reading →
I can't wait for the #PolarVortex to be fully gone! We've had either negative wind chills or negative temps every night since the 5th and we've been solidly under 25°F this entire time. Serious #DeepFreeze! However, we've had perfectly wonderful... Continue Reading →
Even though we are in the throes of winter now, the days are already getting longer. Yes, it's cold. The stock ponds are frozen over. It can be very dreary and monochromatic this time of the year. No, we haven't had any good ice storms or blizzards, yet. However, I've already seen the light at the end of the tunnel!
We've been getting lots of rain, which is a good thing because I'm a grass farmer; sheep gotta eat. Makes for long days when you're a chicken though. The front deck is the new hangout and I don't have the heart to chase them off like I normally do.
They say this is one of the worst winters they've ever seen around here. Good, because if this is normal, I'm leaving ASAP! It seems like spring will never come.
Well, we made it through Hurricane Irma after sheltering in-place. We did not have any significant damage. The worst that happened was the metal cover over our ag well was peeled back like the lid on a sardine can.
