Homestead Happenings

Greetings and welcome back to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's going on here on our Zone 8 Piedmont property.

Although I'm still having difficulty loading pictures easily,

I managed to figure out a new way to get them onto the blog.

It's time consuming, but it works.

The hyacinth bean vines are doing a fine job

of covering the southern end of the chook run.

This gives the girls ample shade and

the bonus is, that they enjoy munching on the blooms.

You'll never guess what happened!

In my last written post,

I told you about our dear Saffron,

who was quite poorly.

The vet had been called and she didn't give us much hope.

After two days of giving her the prescribed pain medication,

and a lot of TLC, she is back to her old self.

You would never know she was on death's door just weeks ago.

Bless her lil' ole chicken heart.

One of the projects started this week,

is the fencing off of our woods.

Three of our chooks like to wander,

and when I found them recently all the way on the other side

our our neighbors' yard, I knew this task couldn't wait.

I'm reusing the nylon fencing that we used to have for our

chicken runs, and simply stapling it to the trees.

This should keep them on their own territory,

and it's barely noticeable.

About half of the area is completed,

and I will work on it as I have the time.

C and I have been slowly working on the woodchip pile,

and we've gotten it down to a fraction of its original size.

It's always nice to have help with these type

of chores, and I enjoy seeing him outside for a change.

The garden is in full swing.

These cucumber plants are an experiment,

as I've never grown them at this time of year.

Our weather has been spectacular of late,

and I'll be curious to see if we are able to get a harvest or two.

In one of the raised beds, we have turnips, lettuce and kale growing.

Everything will continue to be covered with netting,

as I have some very agile chooks

who like to jump up and eat the goodies.

In another raised bed, there is a leftover basil plant,

some lettuce, kale and more cucumbers.

It feels great to see the beds filling up 

with cool weather crops.

Some volunteer pumpkins were nibbled on by something,

and so I used this wire cage to cover them 

until they are large enough to recover.

This also keeps the chooks from scratching and digging around the roots.

We've had visits from rabbits, groundhogs and skunks this season.

Once these starts get a little more size to them,

they will be transplanted into awaiting beds.

There is broccoli, cabbage, kale, and a variety of lettuce

to be added to what is already growing.

I hope you saw the photo I published yesterday.

These monarch caterpillars have been

absolutely magical this year.

We have been totally inundated with them,

and I couldn't be more pleased.

We are overrun with chrysalises everywhere

from clay pots, to rocking chairs, to plants.

We are hoping to have an explosion of color

once they start hatching out.

It is an exciting time indeed! 

Two chrysalises under our bird bath.

Yesterday I checked to see if we still had cats eating the milkweed.

Yup, sure enough, there are at least a handful of them

still devouring what is left.

This multitude of magical milkweed munchers

has done my soul good this summer.

nasturtiums and coreopsis

Although our temperatures have been quite mild,

we haven't had rain since earlier this month.

Watering has been done a couple of times a week,

just to keep everything from looking like a hot mess.

Incidentally, the Florida ligustrum seen here under the left window

has many monarch chrysalises dangling on its leaves.

I will be able to watch them from inside!

I have to say, that I really like the color combination

of the chartreuse and purple elements here.

The dome asters, ajuga and butterfly bush

all serve as a beautiful backdrop for the pops

of bright abelia.

Thank you for keeping your distance!

On a recent neighborhood walk,

an unexpected guest appeared.

S/he was there in broad daylight,

and waddling across the street

like nobody's business.

(If you click on the picture, it will be easier to see.)

Esmerelda eating the blooms!

It feels good to be able to write again,

and share the photos of the homestead.

I'm hoping I can find an answer as to why

I can't get pictures from my phone to my laptop,

but until I do, at least I've found a way around the problem.

The next time I post it will be autumn, my favorite season,

even without all the pumpkin-spiced goodies.

I hope you have savored your summer

and have something to look forward to 

in the coming season.

God Bless.

Homestead Happenings

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's been going on 

here on our zone 8A Piedmont homestead.

The gazebo frame is being covered in morning glory.

Unfortunately, the loofah that I had planted (twice),

never took off.

We'll try again next year. 

The garden is a bit of a mess at the moment.

The temperatures here have been blistering,

as in much of the country,

and motivation to be outside has waned.

With this weekend being a little cooler,

I am hoping to give some attention to filling the raised beds

with adequate growing material.

There have been several disappointments this season.

This Seminole pumpkin that I had great success with

the last two years, has not produced even one gourd.

I think that it is too late in the season to expect 

any recovery, so another thing to look forward to next year.

I guess it's not surprising,

as even the nasturtiums,

seen here in the bed next to the round strawberry bed,

have withered in the heat, despite hand watering.

The Red Ripper beans never disappoint.

They are starting to take off and dry on the vines.

These red beans have a mild flavor,

and are great for using in chili, sloppy joes,

and anywhere you might use meat.

These store amazingly well, and, in fact,

I recently just finished last year's harvest.

Some things currently growing are green beans,

leeks, okra and turmeric.

Fall seedlings will be started soon.

Although their timing is a bit off,

these volunteer pumpkins did exceptionally well,

despite the scorching heat and humidity.

These three were harvested yesterday and brought inside,

and are absolutely beautiful.

There's no way they will make it until fall

left outdoors.

As I don't know the variety, I was planning to keep them

for decorating the front porch.

We'll see how well they do.

The morning glory is vigorously adorning the compost area.

For some reason, it seems a lot of folks in this state

don't care for it.

The heart-shaped leaves alone are so pretty,

and the purple flowers just add to it.

There are a number of orbital spiders residing here.

It was mesmerizing to watch as this gal

turned this moth into her silk to trap it.

Nature is fascinating.

A few of these yellow fuzzy caterpillars 

were found on the baptisia this week.

It may be an American dagger moth caterpillar.

I'm so grateful that critters can find a home here.

Our neighborhood groundhog (?)

has been visiting the garden as of late.

I wonder if s/he could be the culprit

eating one of the green bean plants?

Something not as welcome are the bag worms,

which infest our persimmon tree every year.

These insects are a true menace,

and can defoliate and destroy many types of plants.

Just look at the inside of one of the sacks.

It is best to remove the entire bag

and dispose of it in the trash, not compost.

These gluten-free almond flour muffins

were made this week.

I tweaked the recipe just a bit,

and they turned out great!

This will definitely be going into

the family recipe file.

You can find it here.

There is some good news to report.

All of our girls are together again,

enjoying ranging time as one unit.

The two chooks who were broody,

despite our efforts to dissuade them,

broke their broodiness all on their own.

It's such a blessing to see them all 

hanging out together again.

~~~~~

For those of you who were thinking about our son C,

his surgery was a bust and he is scheduled to see

another oral surgeon next week.

Fingers crossed that these folks will be 

 able to help him.

He's been so patient through it all.

We are looking forward to having it behind us.

Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome back to Homestead Happenings.

Our Piedmont home and garden is coasting toward autumn.

Here's what's been going on around here.

The zinnias and other beauties keep on comin'

and adding a touch of summer to the indoors.

The container is actually an old pitcher

my momma used to store milk in when I was young.

What a treasure!

The squash vines just keep on-a-sprawlin',

and are invading any bare ground they find.

We haven't had rain in a couple of weeks,

but you'd never know it by these crops.

It looks like we'll have a nice harvest

of red ripper beans.

This variety is always easy to germinate,

has no pest issues,

and provides months of pods to pick.

We let them dry on the vine,

so they are ready for storage for the rest of the year.

The teepee turned out well and will definitely be repeated.

Although we've had a fairly mild summer,

this week's higher temperatures

boosted the growth of the loofah.

We once again have gourds growing on our gazebo frame,

providing much needed shade for the chooks.

Although these can be eaten when picked small,

we will most likely leave them to grow

so that they can be given away as loofah "sponges".

Pumpkins keep showing up,

in various sizes, shapes and patterns.

Seminole pumpkin

Some were planted,

and some are volunteers,

and I have absolutely no idea

what variety they are.

It's the most success I've had with squash,

so I'll gladly give them a home.

The nasturtiums cheerfully fill in

some of the Birdie's beds.

The flowers added to the veggie beds

attract pollinators to work their magic.

Next season, more flowers will be added

around the veg garden.

It's a win-win!

Some time was spent this week

harvesting herbs from the designated bed.

There is no dark room in our home in which to dry them,

so I simply use paper sacks to accomplish the task.

Here, we have oregano, which will be placed in the food processor

so that we have it for the entire year.

The Monarchs butterflies are here!

One was spotted early on in the week,

and we have the milkweed plants to support them.

Here you can see the aphids that are covering the milkweed,

but not to worry.

After some observation,

I noticed that the plants where this lil' mystery guy (gal) resided,

the aphids were gone.

So, I've been moving them from plant to plant

in hopes that they will take care of the aphid problem.

This will create a healthier milkweed plant

whenever the Monarch cats decide to show up.

I choose to use the natural approach to gardening,

and don't spray or otherwise interfere with Mother Nature.

She knows what she's doing.

Once our baby chooks started laying,

they have been cranking out eggs like crazy!

We are getting almost 2 dozen weekly,

although they are smaller than the average size egg.

They will increase in size as the girls get older.

Feeling very rich, indeed!

3 out of 4 of our baby olive eggers

Speaking of the babies,

would you look at this?

There are three nesting boxes in our 

Omlet Pro coop,

and yet, they all want to lay in the same one

at the same time!

They seem to be working this out,

but now we have one broody hen 

who refuses to leave the box all day!

Every two hours, we take her out,

so that she can eat and stretch her legs.

It's always something,

but our lives are richer because of them,

so we will deal with any drama that comes up.

The three older girls, or as they are also known,

the bullies, get free range time at least once daily.

They live in their own run,

as they are merciless with the babies.

They seem to be enjoying their freedom,

and are very good about staying close to home.

Betty eating homemade applesauce

I'm sorry to report that our sweet Betty passed in the last few weeks.

She was a good friend to our beautiful Queenie,

her twin sister Wilma, and dear Ruby. 

I hope they are all together somewhere 

and catching all the crickets they can eat!

With each chook passing, I am getting better

at dealing with it and giving them some comfort.

It's never easy losing a beloved pet,

but I know that they've had a good life with us,

and I send them off with love and peace

(and a boatload of tears).

May September usher in for you

new adventures and a peaceful heart.

Hail to the Queen!

 

This is Queenie.

She came to us via a friend who was moving out west.

Her moniker came with her, and she was aptly named.

Queenie's personality was bigger than life.

She will be sorely missed.

Her sweet spirit floated up to the sky this week,

and I may never be the same.

Absolutely heartbroken.

She was always a leader in the flock,

although she would not use her position to stifle the other hens.

When we got that first group of chooks,

she was Gandalf's favorite girl.

That waned over time, and she took it in stride.

Queenie was the only one of our chooks

who would sit on the front porch 

and watch the world go by.

At least, until she spotted a grasshopper

or other tasty morsel in the grass.

Then she was johnny-on-the-spot

and quick as lightning to gobble it up.

She was a fierce forager.

When she first came to live with us,

she would follow me around quite a bit,

and would even peck me,

as if I were one of her crew.

Over the last year or two,

she was my digging partner.

Whenever there was shoveling to do,

she'd be right there,

just waiting to see what popped up!

That girl was slick!

She and Betty had become best buds.

Due to Betty's balance issues,

she had to be isolated from the other chooks.

(They mercilessly pick on anyone who is not in the best health.)

Betty was initially paired up with Ruby,

one of our comets who was often picked on by the others.

When Ruby passed, I put Queenie in with Betty,

so that she wouldn't be alone.

This worked out great,

because they were both older

and not that happy about Gandalf's still frequent advances.

So, we created an "assisted living" coop and run for them,

and they lived together for the last year or so,

happy as clams.

Here, Queenie is being less than generous,

keeping the new comfy resting spot for herself.

Betty holds no grudges.

So glad these two had some quality time together.

Betty seems to be adjusting,

although I sometimes wonder if she is looking for her buddy.

When the baby chicks were placed outside,

she was the only hen who appeared to be curious about them.

She sat next to their coop for the longest time.

I think she would have made a great momma.

 Queenie, my girl,

you were one in a million!

I hope we meet up again someday.

Rest in peace, little girl.