all well at Little Rooster Croft....bye bye Irene

It was a worrisome couple days and a long night but my motto is "prepare for the worst, pray for the best". We pretty much got the best...so many things could have changed and it could have been catastrophic, for most, it was not. As it was, lives were still lost and much property damaged.

One thing that is really annoying me is the folks I hear saying the weather reporters and the government made too much hype. Well, that "hype" saved lives. If it was worse those precautions would have been the only thing that would have saved so many affected. If those precautions weren't taken and the warnings not as they were and Irene had been worse, everyone would have cried neglect and poor warning. Having grown up in Florida, we were evacuated many many times and it came to nothing. However, there are many times that evacuation is what saves people's lives.

Anyway, I am glad I took the time and effort to prepare...much of it ended up being early winter prep!

However, my birds are not pleased with me! LOL Here are pics of the pathetic turkeys before I opened the coop.

Let us out! Impatiently waiting for me to open door!

Well...I am up and waiting out the storm

so figured since I still have power I would play on the computer.

I did a lot of prep the past two days because I have been pretty worried about my "kids". I changed plan several times but what ended up happening was:
- my friend helped me strengthen the turkey pen but I put the turkeys in their coop and locked them in
- I got 3 pieces of plywood to cover front of open side of 3 sided barn that the coops for fancy chickens and turkeys are and the rabbit cages. (seems to be holding for its purpose so far which is to keep driving rain out). Henry and his girls are able to come in and out through gaps but they are all on their usual roosts and so far no flooding in there
-got all the kayaks, trash cans, etc into the shed and made sure there was enough room still for the meaties! their pen gate did come off and they were running free around yard but now they put themselves up in their shelter which is good...so besides having to wash off the kayaks when we take them out, it should be okay
-the ducks and geese, unfortunately do not have much shelter, but the pen is holding and the tree is pretty secure above them

We still have hours of this hurricane to go though and have had some tornadoes touch down near us...so, it is going to be a long stressful night.

weather watching, more veggies and babies...

Well, the earthquake was amusing yesterday...I was at work but it didn't seem to phase the kids, feather or fuzzy. Or their little brains were over it by the time I got home anyway!

However, after the work I did in the turkey coop/pen the other night...I thought I had patched up any escape routes...you know for a turkey that is bigger than my dog! Apparently not...little miss Royal was out AGAIN when I got home. I wouldn't care if she free ranged but I am afraid for her safety. She is so very sweet though...I held her for quite awhile while trying to figure out how she escaped...she just sat in my arms...not sure she was happy about it but she was pretty good about it. Serves her right for being miss escape artist anyway!

My little Trollie dog has a visitor for the week...her old buddy Nala is here while Daddy is on vacation. So, even more confusion and chaos...like we need that...LOL oh well, what is a little more?!

AND...to add more fun, we have a lovely hurricane that seems determined to bear right down on us later this weekend...possibly at a Cat 2. Lovely. Have I mentioned the buildings at this croft are a little old and worn down? And I rent...so have only done what minimal work I can on them? And I live on a sandbar...so....yeah...not entirely sure what to do to prepare for 100 mile an hour winds and possible major flooding. Except perhaps turkeys in the living room...not an option I want to consider right now.

On a positive note...found another local farmers market where I got lots of red peppers and some green tomatoes. So, dinner last night was a lovely venison sauteed (minimally) and fried green tomatoes...every bit of ingredients local and organic including the bacon grease to fry the tomatoes! Numm Numm simplicity. Roasted red peppers will probably happen Friday since I have the day off....and maybe that darn Cajeta! Tonight is working on Turkey Pen until it is too dark to see AGAIN.

Oh and I have a dozen Buff Orpington eggs coming early next week to put under my broody Bardy...and RIR red momma is still taking care of her single chick. I will TRY to get pics if momma will cooperate soon!

more pics of my turkeys...and gardening stuff

Well, this weekend was one filled with headache and not much sleep due to stupid allergies that I am trying to fix so I can dive!

But I did get a few things done this on Sunday...in the rain. I planted cabbage, broccoli, kale and spinach and a few mums for color. I got the front garden pretty much weeded, tried for the side of the house but the weedwhacker was not cooperating. I did harvest the rest of the mint and will be freezing this batch, the other batch is drying. Siggy (Sigbjorn) was very interested in the mint...then decided to just chill with it! LOL

I have definite plans for how to do my winter garden involving straw bales and old windows. We'll see how goes!

And I love my new turkeys...they are still skittish but are very sweet. They are the only turkeys that have figured out how to roost in the coop and have managed to escape coop and pen several times! So, they are smart. They are getting a little harrassed by the other turkeys so I am letting them chill by themselves in the coop for a few days...except in the middle of the monsoon yesterday I started worrying about the turkeys so I went out in all my rain gear and shooed them all in the coop and locked them up. They all survived to this morning...of course this morning I was bouncing out of bed and running out there to let them out afraid there would be mayhem keeping them all in the coop for too long!

smart turkeys

Well, my Royal Palms are how I remember the breed...too smart for their own good! LOL

Guess who figured out how to escape the pen when none of the other turkeys have figured it out? They were sitting nice and pretty in the barn when I got home. After putting them back and after it started raining I went and checked on them. Guess who are the only turkeys who figured out how to roost on the ladder in the coop...all the rest were wet outside? Yup...smart turkeys.

scary food stuff

I am not really sure why folks would eat meat from a grocery store. I is pretty much why I was a vegetarian for 20 years.

Read this article...makes me definitely not trust the FDA and "American Corporate Food Industry" even more.

http://www.foodrenegade.com/deadly-salmonella-not-illegal-foods/


Know your food. Know your farmer.

busy busy....that is the time of year!

Well, haven't made the cajeta yet....but I have gotten lots done. Besides the fencing for the front garden which is successfully keeping the chickens out and the feed and water bowl table for the hens that is quite successful, I have been doing little things like harvesting and drying my mint and just domestic chores...the house needs work too! That is a losing proposition while my brothers are living there...but I am trying.

My most exciting news is that one of my hens hatched a baby! I let her set her eggs in the shed but really didn't think anything would come of it. Actually had 2 hens sharing the nest. So, the RIR was the one with the chick yesterday morning...it took a bit but finally got both of them into a brooder...really don't want to lose the chick. The other hen, my Buff Orpington was the one setting on the eggs and she was NOT happy when I lifted her to check on them. So, I left her there. Yesterday evening after returning with my other exciting news....(have to wait for that one) :-)....I checked on everyone and my Buff was on a perch in the hen's barn and left the nest unoccupied in the shed. So, I transferred all the eggs to the RIR...we'll see if anything comes of them.

So...for the other exciting news...I got a pair of Royal Palm turkeys finally! I am so excited. They are very pretty and the same age as everyone else and seem to have settled in after a bit of squabbling! So, I believe, if all goes well, I have my breeds for now. One pair of Buffs, one pair of Royal Palms and my Bronzes - Tom and Spring. The other four mixed breeds will probably all go to freezer camp now. Especially since I saw the that the darker Tom is a bit of a bully....might keep one of the Slate looking hens...not sure yet.

Pics coming later...couldn't get any decent ones last night.

little things done...and rain...and cajeta!

I had a very busy weekend off the homestead mostly but I did get a few things done (besides normal chores).

Last night I made more roasted red peppers, got some in the olive oil in the fridge (since I am already dipping into them...LOL). I made a roasted pepper, mustard, olive oil sauce for crab cakes Friday night...came out quite yummy! I got the rest of the roasted peppers into a freezer bag. I also roasted jalapeno peppers and got them in the freezer too. I did my first batch of tomatoes, blanched, skinned and smooshed and also in the freezer. I was going to can, but since I had to get the 2nd freezer up and running because I STILL hadn't made enough room in the first freezer AND I still have chickens to put up in the next couple weeks....figured might as well freezer more stuff because jars are so darned expensive.

However, I have a project for myself tonight...I am going to attempt to make Cajeta with the last gallon of goat's milk in the freezer....then can it. Wish me luck!

Oh and we finally got rain...uh LOTS of of it! We have been getting bits here and there but now, we have buckets...supposed to rain a good portion of this week. Perhaps if there is enough dryness in between so my plants won't drown...I might get some more veggies finally!

piggy in the freezer...

Since I have not yet made the jump to raising my own pig (but am seriously thinking about it for next year if I can get a good enough pen - super strong - built) I bought half a pig from a local farm that I believe in. Greenbranch Farm in Salisbury, on the Eastern Shore Maryland is doing what I think is good and what needs to be the future for farms...small to medium organic, raised on pasture animals. This is the first animal I have bought in bulk like this. Last year was the first time I had a big animal to put into the freezer (the deer my friend gave me and Shawn and I processed). The venison is pretty much all gone but now I have half a pig in my freezer plus lots of veggies I have been putting up recently. I have some bison from the local farm here too and a few bird parts left from this winter. My own chickens will be going in the freezer soon, I am thinking 2 or 3 weeks...a day that is cool and on the weekend when I have a little time. So, I am feeling good going into the fall and winter with food. Hopefully I can add to it with my own venison and geese (raised and hunted) later in the winter too!

Turkeys...

It has cooled down here a bit, only in the high 80s! And it is my alternate Friday off so I spent a few hours working outside on the homestead. I even spent time hanging with the kids (my favorite part of homesteading but the thing I get to do the least). I cuddled my Polish babies...they are so cute. I also spent time with the turkeys...just put some feed down and sat down in the pen. Tom wasn't as attentive to me this time...his lady was there after all! LOL The last pic is of the pair I will most likely keep out of the 4 Slate/Oregon Grays.

A happy post about my Polish babies...

I spent Monday evening out with the critters 'til it was too dark to see. I hung out in the fancy chickens coop for awhile...held my babies and Lil Dude and took some pics. I also had some tomatoes with me...so they were all making a happy mess.
Meet 'Aine (pronounced An-yuh, meaning joy/brightness)...she is the sweetest thing and likes to snuggle. She is not easy to get a photo of though. Her pic is to the right.

My other female is Niamh (pronounced Nee-av, meaning brilliance)...she is very sweet too but more shy. Her pic is to the left.

Then there is Aodhgagan (pronounced Ey-gagone, but will be shortened to Aodhga - Eyga, meaning Little Fire because he is just gorgeous black with firey streaks on his head and tail and long feathers on his back.) He is fiesty like my Pachy was (Pachneic - meaning Little One). He is to the right with Lil Dude in the background.

I got some pics of the fancy critters...they are below. Viviane is the Americauna, Merlin wouldn't sit still long enough...crowing his fool head off so, so no pics of him today. Bardy is the Barred Rock hen, Goldy is my Gold Wyandotte, sadly lost my spirited little Wynny, the Silver Wyandotte (I believe to a hawk). Then there is Mani, Silver Polish and Czyna my old girl.

Vivivianne Goldy and Bardy (and Mani's butt)

Cyna

Mani

Another rough but productive week at the Croft

Well, first the sad news. I lost all the turkey babies. I am trying to not be too devastated but it is hard. I wish I had a mentor, but the list I am on is very helpful. I will be trying to fix 3 things, in particular, maybe one or more is the answer. 1. completely clear out and redo the coop area like I did for the Polish/Americauna coop. (maybe there is something not good there?) 2. make a specific baby area in the spring and get a thermometer and hydrometer (maybe the temperature and humidity is not as good as I had thought?) 3. change the feed (I was told that Dumor, which is the easiest available feed here, is not the greatest and maybe lacking in nutrients. So, we will see what happens next spring.

The good news, I now have 6 more half grown turkeys. I got a pair of Buff from a homesteader friend...after reading about them, I am very excited about them (I think I already posted a pic). I am still wanting to breed either Black Spanish or Royal Palm but decided babies are not something I want to try again this season...too heartbreaking. So, I got 4 mixed breed instead from a local guy. They are Slate/Oregon Grays. I do really like the Slate, so that will be okay for now. Two look Slate, two look Oregon Gray, so I will figure out who is boy and girl and then keep 2 and put 2 in the freezer. This means 2 turkeys and 4 geese are freezer bound later this fall. That will leave me 6 pair of turkeys for the spring (praying all goes well) and a pair or trio of Emden Geese and the 6 ducks plus the chickens, of course.

I am positive that I have a pair of Rouen ducks, and pretty sure a pair of Pekins...still trying to figure out the Cayuga. All the roos are going to the freezer in another month or so. Still trying to fatten them up, am about to give up on meat chickens.

I also just bred my rabbits again...I REALLY hope they took this time...I am getting very frustrated.

And finally, veggies...my garden is still slow but going well now. I had a friend come help me build a fence in the front yard (to help keep the chickens away from the road) and a new compost bin to keep some of the compost for my garden and not just a chicken smorgasbord.

I also have been buying local veggies from the side of the road stands (putting money into the community and getting fresh veggies). I have made a ton of sundried tomatoes from a bushel of Romas I got. I just made my (becoming famous) Blackberry Jalapeno Jelly - all local. And I roasted my first peppers and I love it...so will be heading to the farmstand again and adding regular peppers to my list for next year to grow!