Scraps for Chicks

Our chickens really enjoy escaping from the chicken castle every chance they get. They love spending as much time as possible foraging in the yard, overturning rocks, looking for bugs, and picking at leaves and other left over garden veggies. The really interesting thing that we noticed is that when they "escape" they do it in the same order every time. This must have to do with the pecking order in the flock but it's kind of cute.

Today they got a real treat, apple scraps left from an apple crisp. Our apples have been dropping from the tree and I have to keep them picked up before the chickens get them, so when I put a big bowl of peels and cores they all began consuming them with zest! Between the chickens that the compost our garbage can is pretty empty these days, unfortunately the garbage bill does not go down just because the can has only one or two bags in it. I does go up though if it's too heavy. Oh well, we're certainly doing our part for the planet and our family...

Harvest Time

This time of year when the season changes from summer to autumn, there are many things to do around the house and yard. This morning for example I got a semi early start and headed out to pick huckleberries from the other variety we have in the garden. These berries are more oval in shape compared to the other bush we have which resemble a small blueberry. I like this variety because the berries are a little bigger and they taste great! I picked for about two hours and got almost all the ripe berries from one of the two bushes. I will have to get out again tomorrow and pick the other one.

The thing about huckleberries is that they don't all ripen at the same time, so you have to keep going out to pick the ripe ones about once a week until they are all picked. This makes for many hours of tedious picking; it's no wonder that they are so expensive in the stores.

After I finished with the berries I decided to check on the chickens to see if they had laid any eggs, and I was happy to see that there was one egg waiting to be plucked from the box. I also noticed that a pear had fallen so I picked it up and added it to my collection. We are going to have a bunch of apples and some more pears to pick soon. I might have to make an apple pie or a pear crisp soon. The rhubarb is also about ready to pick again. I didn't get to the first picking in time, so I don't want to miss this one.


After lunch I packed up our rooster Junior so I could take him to a person that wanted a rooster. He has been increasingly noisy and it was time for him to go. So we are down to five hens now. After I got home I headed out to work in the yard some more and noticed all the girls clucking more than usual. I think they miss their man chicken.

Later on I decided to pick the squash since the vines are all covered with mildew. The squash was grown from some seeds I saved a couple of years ago, and I had no idea they would even grow. To my surprise, every seed sprouted and we have enough squash for several meals. I like the cooked with butter and salt and pepper, Terri prefers butter and brown sugar on hers.

Well that's my Saturday for now. Happy Autumn everyone.

Harvest Time

In our little yard, we have raspberries, rhubarb, blueberries, huckleberries, apples and pears as permanent plants. Sadly the blueberries are all gone, but it's time to pick huckleberries! Last year the neighborhood peacocks ate every last berry, so this year I bought a roll of chicken wire and put a fence around the three bushes and that's keeping them away. Last weekend I picked about a pound of the dark little orbs and today there are more ready to pick. Later this month or in early October the other two plants should be ready to pick and then we'll have more huckleberries than we can shake a stick at.

Some of our apples are beginning to ripen too and we took a small bag of them to our daughter and son-in-law yesterday. They look pretty nice this year, probably due to the warmer than usual temps this summer.

Finally, we planted Quinault strawberries this spring and they are just starting to produce some small to medium sized red berries. Interestingly, the runners sent out by the plants also have berries on them. I don't recall that ever happening before.

Around The Garden

The warm weather has been great for the seeds and plants we have put in over the past few weeks. So far the lettuce, kale, tomatoes and onions are doing well. The strawberries and blueberries are also looking great! Over the weekend when Hannah and I were in the yard, we saw lots of Honey Bees, little Bumble Bees and Mason Bees! I am really happy to see the Mason Bees buzzing around the nest blocks.

I also planted some squash seeds that I saved two years ago and they are coming up in spades. If I can keep the neighborhood peacocks from eating them we should have lots of little squash in the fall.

More later...