Birds Afield

The chickens have been having an evening stroll of late...moving toward more free range.

Bertha, Jane, and Hazel (Sadie hasn't ventured out yet)

Then I saw this bird out in the "pumpkin patch" at Wolfe's Neck Farm today.

Joy and the Art of Chicken Coop Maintenance

There is an architect in Blue Hill, Maine who has a series of books about little houses.  I have always been fascinated by them.  Today while I was "winterizing" the hen house, I was thinking about the joy I get from this.  I have  been thinking a great deal about enjoyment and which activities generate and perpetuate it lately.  I met with a career consultant last week-did not go well as I couldn't justify $6000+ to meet with a man who argued with me about my spiritual beliefs and never really asked me what I had been doing or thought I enjoyed.  I also recently heard a second talk on TED by Sir Ken Robinson about finding your passion.  Any way, I am trying to remain open to the process  and think outside the box or apparently inside the coop! Any and all insights and suggestions are welcomed.

Farming Fashion

These shoulder days between seasons are complicated when it comes to dressing. Too many layers?  Not enough layers? Rain gear? Sunny day clothes?  Work hard enough you still sweat like crazy, so then you need the right wicking /barrier combination.  ARGH!  What's a farm girl to do?  (Apparently, my approach is "don't give a damn". )  Don't hate cause I'm beautiful.

The Fruits of Their Labors

The girls eggs have been laying four eggs pretty consistently and the eggs are getting bigger. They are also eating a lot more...scraps and pellets.  We are feeding them an all organic diet and I put a little vinegar in their water a couple times a week to help as a digestive.  They especially relish the greens from the carrots and bean vines.  They like a juicy ripe tomatoe as well.  They also get lettuce, kale, apples...really anything but onions or garlic (the eggs would pick up the flavor-wouldn't be bad if you were making a quiche I suppose).

Put it up!

Last Saturday, we got a remedial lesson on hot water bath canning.  It is something I have always been interested in, but never did.  Mostly, because like Ralphie in A Christmas Story ("you'll shoot your eye out"), I was thwarted by my mother's undeterred fears of succumbing to a painful and undignified death from botulism  or being impaled, maimed and otherwise disfigured by shrapnel spewed by an exploding pressure cooker. Food borne illnesses be damned!  We will have apple sauce this winter!

Common Ground

This weekend is MOFGA's Common Ground Fair.  The weather was cool and overcast, the crowds manageable and sights, smells, and sounds inspiring.

Goings On at the Homestead

There is something about Fall that gets my domestic juices flowing.  I know the official start isn't until Wednesday, but there has definitely been a change in the air, the light, the smells..

I have been busy painting the coop, creating an opening in the pen, gleaning the garden and replanting lettuce and spinach-I am going to try to grow under mini hoops as long as I can into the winter-we also froze several bags of carrots,  the rest I am going to keep in the ground till frost to sweeten them.  We've been getting three to four eggs a day:  brown,  brown speckled, white and blue-green. Apples are rosy-checked and ruddy complected.  It is a fine time of the year.

Cameos by Sadie and Bertha.