Number 26

The farm has a new visitor for awhile. I guess he stays until his tough duties with "Meghan" and "Meghan's calf" (she is a consenting adult, don't worry) are done...

His name is "26".

He doesn't seem to be taking his duties too seriously. He spent a lot of time tackling the compost pile...

It was a beautiful day on the farm today so we got to work on the main chicken coop. The entire thing is going to cost us $20 (for the craigslist hardware cloth) plus a bit for netting over the top. Everything else is recycled.

First I cut the fronts off of these crates - they'll hang low on the wall and will be the nest boxes .

Nathan cut lengths of plywood to line the inside of the drywall playhouse (so the chickens won't peck at the drywall).

 One piece of plywood screwed to the wall. We're ignoring the creepy "god loves liam" writing all over the walls. 

The natural roosts that we found.

Ryan helps to recycle everything...

He and Abby are becoming real farm dogs. Abby's even got the grass chewing down.

Ryan got invited by Jim to help bring the horses in this afternoon. He was so excited that he was pretty much useless. Here are the horses coming in the right direction, with Ryan nowhere to be seen.

Here are the horses going in the wrong direction. Ryan is behind that post on the right about to come running back to us, terrified.

(the horses don't care about dogs at all and I don't let the dogs chase them, ever. Too dangerous!).

Back to the coop...Here it is with the two posts in and a trench dug to bury the hardware cloth (our landlord used his tractor to make holes for the posts). The trench took forever because the ground is so rocky.

Putting in the braces for the hardware cloth and posts.

Attaching the hardware cloth to the wood - we had to use nails and bend them over the cloth because the wood was too hard for our staple gun. Tomorrow we just have to put up the upper level of hardware cloth and get some netting for the top.

 Hopefully all the chicks will be healthy for their new coop. The snuffling chick has been separated from the others and seems to be the same as this morning. Zebra head in the top left corner is huge!

The plants are definitely healthy in the greenhouse. 

Peppers and cucumbers.

Tomatoes and melons.

Bathtub Hoarders

The seedlings spent their first night in the greenhouse (in pots on the ground) and all are good this morning! I think we'll leave them in pots until the danger of frost has passed, and then transplant them. It's actually warmer in the greenhouse though, even overnight, than it is in the front room where the seedlings were.

Starting some more seeds to use in the aquaponics system.

Yesterday we went to do some errands in the morning and stopped by a hatchery to take a look. Nathan asked if they had any extra tanks that they wanted to sell/give away and luckily they had a huge tank sitting in the back that they'll give us! It's about 6' x 6', so bigger than necessary, but it has a drain and it will be good to have. Later on we pulled over to look at a truck for sale and happened to find a free bathtub right there. We are either hoarders or the lucky new owners of an aquaponics set up...

Mop top. 

Her name is Meghan...and she's apparently getting a bull 'friend' in the next few days.

No trespassing or you'll get whacked. 

We spent an hour yesterday mulching the orchard. There are apples, plums, pears and blueberries.

We also continued to tackle the side yard. This is the mess that we started with. Maybe there were goats kept in here at one time? 

We tore down the entire lean-to and then carried the hutch/coop (from next to the house) into the yard. Carrying it was difficult but manageable until we got to the gate (you can see one of the posts in the photo above). Nathan instructed me to simply do a deep squat, grab the edge of the hutch/coop, then lift with a shoulder press and "we'll get it over the gate, no problem". 

Ha.ha....we had to get Jim (the horse and cow owner) to help us.

 The original location of the hutch/coop. We took this little yard apart. Apparently it used to house a neglected chicken.

A tiny (1") egg that Nathan found while weed whacking. Wonder what kind of bird it belongs to?

One of the chicks sounds congested today. Maybe it's just starting to make 'adult' sounds instead of peeping? I hope that's it, but I think it's too early for that. Some online advice is apple cider vinegar in the water, or a course of antibiotics. I'd like to avoid jumping straight to antibiotics, so I'll clean the brooder first to make sure it's nice and dry in there.

Starting the Coops

Today was the first rainy day on the farm but we still worked outside all day. First thing this morning we ran outside to check whether the seedlings had survived the night - they are all alive! We might have a bunny problem in our outdoor garden since we saw a rabbit there a few days ago. So far so good though. 

Next we cleared out and weed whacked the side yard where we want to keep the 4 adult laying hens (that we pick up on April 15th) at first, before they can be with the chicks. We might end up separating the meat and egg chickens and keeping the meat chickens in the side yard and the egg chickens in the converted playhouse. 

After that we took a lunch break and went to the bakery in town to buy a delicious loaf of fresh bread and a cinnamon bun. Good thing we're getting lots of exercise...

Then we did some work for the landlord (we're working about 20 hours a month for reduced rent) levelling out the rows in his orchard and weed whacking to prepare for adding mulch in the next few days. We thought that would take us a few hours but it only took us an hour total. 

Next we cleared out a little yard that had a rabbit hutch/chicken coop structure in it. We're going to drag that into the side yard to use as a coop in there. After that we started 'predator proofing' the playhouse-coop. 

This is the kind of predator we're trying to keep out....

Digging a trench to bury the hardware cloth:

We used a staple gun to attach the wire to the wood but had to hammer the staples in the rest of the way - need a stronger staple gun.

Meanwhile, Abby has become a horse instead of a farm dog. Grazing together...

Ryan, too. They keep finding bits of hoof trimmings.

Hardware cloth folded along the ground and ready to be buried. The ground is pretty hard and rocky so it would be hard for anything to dig in, anyway. We also put that piece up on the left side of the porch and we're going to make a door on the right side of the porch.

All buried:

Later in the afternoon there was time for chick training...now when I open the crate door most of them come out and sit on my arms and in my lap. Ignore my highly fashionable attire. And yes, there is chick poop on my right knee.

First Planting

We planted the first seeds today!

We started out by moving 4 wheelbarrows worth of compost from one of the paddocks into the greenhouse and out the back for our garden. When the landlord came by later he was surprised that we hadn't waited for him to help us with his tractor...

Then we watered the beds. Today Abby and Ryan finally realized that they could relax outside while we worked in the greenhouse and they lay down in the grass...for a few minutes. They are so used to "outside of the yard" meaning "run like crazy" that the farm freedom is taking some getting used to. They both ignore the horses and cows which is good.

Nathan built a trellis for the peas in the outdoor garden and then we planted (Nathan and I have a slight issue where he thinks in metric and I think in imperial. My american roots are making it very difficult to picture centimeters and meters! We each have our own tape measure...)

Peas (1 x 8' row)
White onions (sets, 2 x 4' row)
Red onions (sets, 2 x 4' row)
Green onions (seedlings - 8)
Manoa lettuce (half of one 4' row, will stagger planting)
Mizuna mustard greens (half of one 4' row, will stagger planting)
Spinach (1 x 4' row)
Mesclun salad blend (half of one 4' row, will stagger planting)
Arugula (seedlings - 9)
Broccoli (seedlings - 3)
Kale (seedlings - 3)
Carrots (2 x 4' rows)







Transplanting some kale.

In the greenhouse we planted:

Herbs:

Basil (9 seedlings)
Cilantro (3 bunches of seedlings)
Parsley (6 ish seedlings)
Dill (1 x 4' row)
Oregano (3 bunches of seedlings)

Broccoli (seedlings - 6)
Kale (seedlings - 3)
Red onions (sets, 3 x 3' rows)
Bush beans (2 x 3' rows)
Eggplant (1 x 4' rows)
Carrots (2 x 4' rows)
Zucchini (1 x 4' row - 2 plants hopefully)

There is supposed to be one more frost so we might have to try and cover the stuff in the greenhouse to protect it. It's hard to know if we have to worry about it - the greenhouse is so hot during the day (10 degrees outside and 30 degrees in the greenhouse - and for some reason temperature is Celcius in my head) that it's hard to imagine it freezing in there at night.

Nathan levelling a path between the two beds.

He also levelled the section on the other side of the greenhouse where he'll set up aquaponics. 

Before:

 After:

This morning I turned Ryan's crate into a chick mega mansion. As far as I know none of them have gone up to the second level yet. 

You can see the two new little red chicks fitting right in.

Ready to Plant (and 2 new chicks)

 Another busy day today! 

The poultry swap turned out to be a handful of trucks in a parking lot with some chickens, rabbits and ducks. It wasn't too exciting...but we did come back with 2 Rhode Island Red cross chicks that were born April 4th. They are supposed to be sex linked, so a 97% chance of being hens. I don't really understand the 97% part - I'll have to google that. They seem to have fit in with the other chicks. We gave them all worms from the garden this afternoon and the little ones were right in there stealing bits of worms and running away to eat them. 

When we got back we got to work in the greenhouse. First I unrolled the row covers

and raked through and watered the soil. It needs some compost on top before we plant in it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Nathan installed the drip irrigation. He dug a trench across the greenhouse for the main hose since the pump is on the opposite side from our beds.

There will be 6 lines of drip hoses. The two that aren't in yet will be longer and will go right out the back of the greenhouse to water our outside garden bed.

This is what we started with for the outside bed.

We moved it into place behind the greenhouse and Nathan screwed it all back together and levelled it. I recycled some of our moving boxes to cover the grass under the bed.

We then spent the next half hour filling the bed with soil from piles near it. All it needs now is some compost on the top and it should be good for planting tomorrow! It will have peas, lettuce, arugula, kale and spinach. 

First Few Days

It has been a busy few days but we are finally moved in! We spent Thursday on a (failed) mission to find an aquaponics tank while we had the uhaul, then packing up the truck, getting on the ferry and unloading the truck at the other end. The plants and chicks (and dogs and us) all survived the trip over! I was worried about the chicks getting too cold but they huddled together in the car and seem none the worse for wear. 

On Friday we met with the landlord and explored the farm and then proceeded to tidy some stuff up that we'd seen the day before and said we wanted to do "eventually" (so of course we got right to it...). Nathan fixed up the main gate; he braced the post that was falling over and took off a bunch of wire and rope that must have been used to keep some small animals in at some point. The entire farm property is fenced, which I didn't realize. Our house, though, isn't - there is a fully fenced yard about 10 m from the house but I'm lazy and I like to be able to let the dogs into a yard right from the door with bare feet and pjs when it's cold out. To fix that problem we extended the yard right up to the door of the house. It isn't the most beautiful fencing job (a mix of different sizes of hardware cloth and an xpen at one end) but it actually looks better now than it did when there was a separate yard away from the house. 

Yesterday we had to drive an hour south to return the uhaul truck (so glad we had a one way rental - Thursday would have been awful if we hadn't). We stopped and got some small tools, plants for the front of the house and a *lot* of food. The only grocery store within 20 minutes is small and expensive so we stocked up...and could barely push the cart through the store. 

The greenhouse is pretty much ready to go. We just have to add some compost to our half and rake through it, and then lay down irrigation. The pump and supplies are there so it shouldn't take too long.

I want to get the broccoli and kale seedlings in there to free up some space inside, and plant the lettuces. We're going to make a small outdoor bed at the end of the greenhouse (in the deer fenced section) for peas, arugula and some herbs. The first tomatoes that I planted a month ago are getting huge! They're already over 6" tall.

Happy farm dogs!

Today we are off to a poultry swap...just to look.....

 The old playhouse that we're going to convert into a coop.

Crunch Time

I can't believe we move in 3 days! March has gone by so fast.

The chicks are a lot of fun to watch. Because I've never really been around chickens, everything they do is interesting to me - scratching around with their feet to look for food, wiping their beaks off, grabbing worms from your hand and taking off at full speed with them (it looks like chick tag football)...I like how they stretch their legs so carefully after they wake up and how they sometimes fall over on their sides because they get so tired, and then just go to sleep like that. 

I've been offering them tiny bits of sunflower seeds with grit once a day for treats and today I started associating that with a bell. Step one of chicken recall! It's all an experiment, really, so we'll see what happens.

The meat birds are growing way faster than the egg birds already. Little black one with the yellow face is my favourite - she (please!) sits on my hand all the time and falls asleep there.

Gulping down the worm treasure in the corner.

Gaining weight quickly!

Smallest next to biggest.

This adventure is going to turn us into vegetarians...good thing they don't stay this cute for long.

 The seedlings are all looking good - I've been putting the tomatoes, melons, kale and broccoli out in the sun for the past few beautiful days. The broccoli leaves got a little sun burnt..or else affected by the cold or the recent transplanting to bigger pots. They have some whitish spots on them but I think they'll recover. Five cucumbers sprouted and so did five 'gold nugget' tomatoes and two eggplants. Oh, and the parsley. Still waiting on thyme and sage and the rest of the eggplants. I fertilized the bigger seedlings today for the first time with a seaweed fertilizer. They were looking a little droopy and since they're still in the original seed starting soil I thought it couldn't hurt. We're going to have an intense few weeks of planting ahead of us!