Daily update

56 and rain sun/mix.
Three eggs! Egg-cellent!

Raspberries

I cleaned up the raspberries a bit. Weeded and removed the bricks that were lining the far side. The family that owned the home before us REALLY liked to decorate with broken bricks and chunks of concrete. Yikes! They are (were) everywhere. We plan to box the berries in and possibly line it with mesh of some sort to keep the chickens from eating all of our leaves and berries. Those sneaky little Donnas!

Daily update

High of 61. Chilly later in the day, but no sweaters while the sun was out. Worked most of the day planting and transplanting. Peppers, squash, peas, beans, cukes, grapes, and salad greens.

3 eggs! Two brown, one green!

Time for a good ol' fashioned barn raising!

Andy is so fantastic! He has done a great job making this door. He was so patient with us trying to decide how we finally wanted it and figured out all of the proper measurements. He's perfect and so is this door! It's marvelous! I can't wait to see it painted/stained and mounted.
---
Tilly asked me today if I liked our farm. She told me she really liked our farm. I asked her what makes our yard a farm and she said that. Every farm has one of those! (Pointing at the shed. Our barn!)
That makes me smile.

Daily update

61 degrees. Blustery day. Sprinkles here and there.
One egg.

Seed and feed

Big trip to the feed store yesterday. I love going to the U District for my farm essentials! People always have such a quizzical look when they hear we go to the heart of the city for feed. It's a great little place with everything from chickens and ducks to coops and bee keeping supplies. I am pretty confident bee keeping is next on the big to do list. Their honey is too enticing to not be next on the list. ;)

Daily update

75 overcast most of the day, but still very warm.

One egg from an older Donna.

Getting bigger!

Here is a current picture of one of the Betsy's! They are all growing so rapidly. They have little meaty breasts! They are each about the size of a chicken nugget. It feels a tad inappropriate feeling them up knowing I want them even bigger! Hahaha

Shell-less egg and daily update (4/25)

Yesterday morning Chacha went out for her morning chores and found this egg nestled in the hay of the chicken coop. The yolk caught her eye, and as she looked closer, she realized it had a weak, thin, and flimsy shell. This egg is presumed to have come from the younger Donnas, possibly from the Russian Orloff. We will supplement with more egg shells and make sure they are getting their fair share and monitor their intake of the laying mix of grains. Today their were no eggs from the younger birds. I hope we can help her out.
---
Daily update: 78 and very sunny, 1 egg

Daily Update

High of 68 today. Beautiful day!
3 eggs gathered

Google

In all of the chicken and the egg talk we almost forget to introduce our turtle, Google. He is a survivor! He once was forced out of his pool, off the deck, down a flight of stairs and lived under a planter for two weeks before we found him. He resides inside throughout the winter and suns himself outside on warm rocks in the summer.

Daily Update

63 degrees, a lot warmer than it has been lately.

0 eggs :(

The Chicken Tractor

Andy fixed up the chicken tractor right before heading out of town, and he did a great job! He added a ladder and a nesting box for our girls and they are enjoying their time in the grass. It's warming up a tad, but should cool off again. I hope they continue to like it even in the cool evenings to come.

Easter eggs!

Today, Andy found a beautiful mint green egg in the chicken coop! What a fun sight to see. More eggs! That means our other Donnnna, the Russian Orloff, should be laying soon. I am beyond excited to see more of these green eggs! I love it!

Gutter Peas (that's a good name for a band!)

In order to maximize our minimal space, Andy thought to attach rain gutters to the front planter boxes. The peas will grow, and instead of taking up space in the garden (like peas tend to do), they will grow down the front wall and look beautiful and green.

Grapes

Andy transplanted one of Grandpa Smith's grape plants along the North fence. There are buds on the vine. I hope they flourish!

Juicy Jay would be proud!

Today we decided to buy a "Juice Weasel!" Our fruits and veggies will never go bad again! Compost? No! Chicken food? No way! The box guaranteed we would outlive everyone in our family. That means YOU!

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=b21MQqHthPs&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Db21MQqHthPs

----
The kids enjoyed their Swiss chard, carrots, and grapes tonight! Can you think of any better way to get kids to eat their veggies? GENUIS! They picked out all of the veggies and fruits, and we experimented with tastes and smells. Ultimately, we would like to be able to use everything we are growing. The juicer is perfect because the pulp doesn't go to waste. That includes seeds, stems, rinds and peels. It all goes in. I froze the pulp in a mini muffin pan and the chickens and rabbits will have yummy treats this week!

Cilantro!

Our aromatic cilantro is never more than arms length away! :)

A good sign.

We have leaves and buds growing on our pear tree and apple tree! It is such a beautiful sight to see when you waltz through the backyard. I knew they would grow, but until I saw leaves, there was a lingering feeling of possible failure! Not this time. Not these trees. They are perfect! They will not bear fruit for a couple more years, but just seeing leaves gives me a growing sense of accomplishment. Evan picked them out with the dream of walking into the backyard for a piece of fresh fruit for her own lunch box. What a great dream to have! Wish us luck!

A new bunny!

We just recently added another happy rabbit to our family. Evan named her Mary. She and Eve will help to fill our freezer full of lean and protein rich meat for our family. Just another small step...

Our start.

This is one of our bell pepper starts. We transplanted tons of green onions, bell peppers, cilantro and chiles this afternoon. I hope they grow vigorously!
Our veggies planted so far include:
Cilantro
Chiles
Bell peppers
Green onions
Walla Walla sweets
Radishes
Carrots
Peas
Runner beans
Three varieties of potatoes
And many starts waiting to be transplanted into their permanent home in our garden.
Here's to a great start!

Every farm needs a barn!

It was a beautiful afternoon, so we decided to finally paint the shed. We picked a nice "chianti" red color. It's going to look cute! Each of us had a job and we worked together to get it (almost) done. We still need to touch it up and finish the trim, but it's getting there.

Clamoring for Clams!

This weekend found us enjoying the rain and sun in Westport, WA. The clams were abundant! Everyone was able to dig their 15 clam limit! We have four full bags of clams waiting in our freezer. I cannot wait to cook them up. The girls really enjoyed our time out on the beach, and we have talked all about the many ways we are provided with food. Thank you for sharing another fun experience with us, Smiths and Downeys!

A new kindle.

Looks like our rabbit, Eve, gave birth over the weekend. She is tending to her kits more than the last time, but we did lose one. Evan was so fascinated by this baby. She said, "I just wish it would come back to life." So innocent and sweet. I hope the others make it. I'm not sure how many there are, but it would be nice to see the small ones with fur!

Our doorbell.

This is our new doorbell. Andy promised a quaint shopkeeper's bell. It has a sweet and soft ding, but the contraption he thought up to mount it looks very space age to me. He has promised to paint it and swears I will not notice all that it took to make it work. On the outside is a cord to pull. Now if we could only get others to use it! The neighbor said he knocked because he felt like a bucket of water was going to cascade on his head if he yanked!
We're crafty, but we're not mean!

A warning!

If you have chickens and the back door is open they will come inside!
What a surprise! These girls are hilarious! Just pecking and scratching all around before I shooed them back outside.

It's a learning process.

With the torrential downpour we experienced yesterday, we learned to make sure there is adequate drainage in our pots. Even though that is something we should have already known, we are always learning.

My Donna

Here is my Donna. She is so photogenic! She was happy in the planter box and then hit me with the crazy eyes! What a weirdo. I love her. She's one of the family.

Sooo meaty!

These girls are growing so fast! I can't believe how big they are! Maybe 6-8 weeks is accurate. I'll do my best to keep up to date on their growth and development. I'm excited to see them plump!
-------
From the backyard to the kitchen table. It's nice to know exactly where these birds have been, what they were fed, and how they were treated. It's an easy lesson to teach the kids, and I appreciate the fact that Chacha understands how important that lesson is.

Calci-yum!

Our Donnas need calcium more than any other nutrient. There is nothing more sustainable (or frugal) than feeding them their own egg shells. I just crush them in my grandma's molcajete and mix them in with their feed. The girls love it, and we have yet to collect a shell-less egg.

I can't get enough!

One of the Betsy's

That's what the girls decided on....the Betsy's. The egg layers are the Donnas, and I suppose Betsy sounded meaty enough!

More new chickies!

Easter chickies are here! We decided to round out our city flock by adding four more birds to the crew. We now have four egg layers and four broilers. The broilers will be ready in 6-8 weeks, or so says Google. :) I'll let you know how it goes. The 8 hens puts us right at the edge of the law. Seattle city municipal code allows 8 chickens per household. It's nice to live in a place that is so welcoming to a more sustainable way of life. I just can't believe the amount of food these four chickens will provide for us at only $1.99 each!