Hiding Out in Winter

It has been a long while since I have written. I think it's the cold air. As soon as it started to creep in I locked myself inside with some knitting needles and cup of hot tea and have been knitting and baking in all my spare moments.  I have finally even mastered a simple white loaf that I make every few days from The Simple Dollar blog.  The girls in the coop should be laying anyday now and are no longer little peeps but instead big fat feathery ladies.  My garden has been resting as everything I hoped to grow through winter has died with the exception of a pea plant that seems to be hanging on for dear life.  I however have been composting and fertilizing and am excited about the return in spring. 

Still hiding till it's warmer Merry Christmas to all...

Updates on the Flock

The chickens have gotten a lot bigger and sadly we lost one:( It didn't die but one morning I went out to check on Ellie and she had grown even more over night her awkwardness replaced with really colorful feathers and she came running over and her beak was all goofy looking.  she had something called crossed beak, or scissor beak.  I did a bit of research and everything said she should be fine just make sure she's eating well and so on.  Well a few days ago, I went out to feed the girls some carrot tops and poor Ellie couldn't grab them.  She had for a few days been pecking at the feeder constantly and so I sat and watched her and she basically got a little food every five or six pecks and managed to spill all the rest of the feed on the ground.  When I let the girls out to free range Ellie stayed in and pecked at her feed and then the next morning she ran straight to the feeder and started her routine.  I finally decided that I had to replace her as I couldn't have her throwing feed everywhere and it's important to me that my chickens free range and she couldn't pick up anything with her beak.  So... I called the feed store where I got her and took her back they have some layers they keep in the back to sell eggs so he put her in with them to see how she does.  I then called my friend over at East Central Ministries as they are raising pullets to sell and I checked to see if they could sell me one early.  They told me to come by and take my pick so yesterday I went and picked up my new barred rock she is probably about a month older but has been doing great with the other girls. Asher named her Kala Polka Dot hope she lives up to that name.

Molly the Leghorn (I think) & Kala Polka Dot the new Barred Rock

I also have been taking the hens to various schools around town and talking to the kids about them.  They love it and the girls do pretty well. I really only take Annie or Duffie as they seem to be the most social of the bunch.  Today I got to go to Ash's preschool for show and tell.  Fun was had by all and I learned that preschoolers have a very short attention span.

Annie the Buff Orphington hoping for a special treat.

Last but not least we have been getting awesome little salad tomatoes from the garden and today we ate our first zucchini. For winter, I planted a ton of salad and peas and one managed to pop up where I did not plant it (weird the goings on when I am not watching) and I noticed a few salad sprouts so hopefully they make it this time.

Goings on around the Stead

So it's been awhile but I finally have a computer and thus I am able to write a bit more and update you all on everything that has been going on lately.
So since I left you last we have built our little coop in the backyard completely from things that we found or received for free from fellow freecyclers.  We had hoped to have a big coop raising party but then we realized we had no money to throw a party and so we decided to wait another week which would have been fine but apparently chickens are sort of like mutants when it comes to growing.  So we went out to check them Sunday morning and found they had all like doubled in size so we had to act fast.
They are enjoying there new digs though and I think it came out just fine for a free coop;)

The garden is doing very well.  We have a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes ready for harvest I have been harvesting pears all week and will be canning a lot of them for the winter.  I will post some info about canning when I start the process since I don't have a pressure canner I will be using the water bath pressure method which is just fine for acidic foods or even foods you add a bit of citric acid to. Overall as the weather is starting to turn a bit I realize that the garden experience this spring and summer has been mostly good.  I have learned a ton.  I now know when is the best time to plant tomatoes.  How to effectively burn a tomato plant to death,  How quickly squash bugs will eat your little squash plant, The awesomeness of the praying mantis, How to effectively freeze a tomato plant, Birds love seeds, birds are smarter than you think, Bees are our friends, good soil is the trick to growing anything, Albuquerque soil mostly sucks.

All together I killed garlic, a potato, 2 large tomato plants and a squash plant, some strawberries, and tons of beans and peas. I later realized something was eating them from underground (still unsolved).

I realized that those cool little snails are my hugest enemy and now pay Ash 5 cents for every one he finds.

Chickens are good for your health I wake up with the sun every morning to let them out and feed them and suddenly I have all this time to enjoy my garden and the nice breezy grey of the morning when I can read my bible or just enjoy the silence.  I have learned that the garden is frozen in the morning like it did all this hard work through the night and is taking in a deep breathe or praise for it's life. The chickens have helped me enjoy that and soon they will help me enjoy a fresh egg with it!

Oh the beauty or creation just passes us by way too much!

Finally with the Chickens!!

So we have been putting off getting chickens because we had hoped to be moving to Kentucky and then all our plans changed and we are staying here in Albuquerque and so I am moving forward with all my Kentucky plans here. So the first thing on my list was get the garden going which I have started and is slowing creeping over the whole yard I will take pics next time.  Alf actually suggested we get rid of our front lawn and plant veggies that is how much I have converted him to my crazy ways!! The second thing that needed to happen was chicken so we went this weekend and got our nice little flock of five.  They are in the super cute stage still and we are all having a blast watching them do their little chicken things like trying to fly and fighting over invisible things and straw.

I also finished my first self watering container and am planning a larger one very soon.  I am hoping to start the master gardener course here but am looking at the application and it is slightly intimidating so I will keep you posted.

I haven't been posting as much since Alfy has been doing webwork and currently has the run of the computer but he will be getting a work computer and I will be getting old betsy.  So I will post a ton more. I have so many things to talk about but for now just wanted to let you know what was up:)

Farmers Market Bonus Day

The Los Ranchos Growers Market had a special St. Patty's day celebration and the kids and I were not gonna miss it. They were even selling chickens which we had to drool over and bypass because we can't get any till we move. We did get some "wild" mushrooms and some plants a tomato, bok choy, garlic and spinach. We hope these will make it to the garden but it's still pretty cold out so we will have to give them extra love. The garlic, I am sure, will do just fine.