Eggopotamus

We were goofing off the last time we ate this, which is how we came up with the name Eggopotamus. Actually it was me that called it this. It's a spin off tortilla de patata.

Eggopotamus

3 medium potatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
8 eggs
2 T butter
1/2 t each garlic powder & onion powder
Salt & pepper to taste

Peel your potatoes, then grate them onto a plate lined with paper towels. Spread them into an even layer & press more paper towels on top of them. This gets them as dry as possible for frying. While your potatoes are drying between paper towels, crack your eggs into a bowl & whisk with spices.

In a well-seasoned cast iron skillet, melt your butter. Add onions in a layer & spread your shredded potatoes atop the onions. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Fry on medium heat until browned on the bottom. Lay a plate on top & carefully, but quickly, flip the potatoes & onions onto the plate. Slide back into the pan. Fry until browned. Add eggs, fry until they are done on the bottom, then flip again onto a plate. Slide into pan & cook until done through. You may also put them under a low broiler rather than doing the flip if you prefer.

Cut into wedges & serve.

Rabbit in the Crock Pot

In the comments section, I was asked for a rabbit recipe. This is a favourite in our household. It was originally used on an older doe, and I went with the crockpot method, as I knew she'd be a bit tougher. We left her whole & cut her up after she'd simmered all day.

Rabbit in the Crock Pot

• 2 rabbits, whole or cut into serving pieces
• salt and pepper
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes (30-32oz)
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 cup dry white wine

Salt and pepper the rabbit to taste. Place the rabbit in the crock pot. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over rabbit stirring to coat. Cover and cook on low for 6- 8 hours. Serve and Enjoy!

Butchering Day

Today I've butchered 2 of my 5 month old rabbits. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm far behind on so many projects. These rabbits should have been done 2 months ago. I have 2 more rabbits to butcher today, then I'm caught up (for now) on rabbits. My other batch will be ready for butcher in about 4 weeks or so.

I learned how to do rabbits a few months ago when a friend of ours came to show me. It took awhile since he was explaining everything & I was learning & asking questions. The first rabbit I did this morning took over an hour. My 2nd took just 36 minutes. I'm hoping they go quicker & quicker as I get more accustomed to doing this.

It's not all fun & games!!!

This is a tally so far. We're not done yet, but I wanted to get this logged.

This year's additions:

• 7 baby bunnies (1st litter)
• 5 baby bunnies (2nd litter)
• 10 more baby bunnies (3rd litter)
• 21 White Plymouth rocks for meat
• 2 barred rocks
• 2 easter eggers
• 2 Rhode Island reds
• 2 silkie bantams
• 3 turkey poults
• 1 rouen duckling
• 5 chicks hatched by Floppy
• 5 chicks hatched by Goldrush
• LOTS of seedlings

This year's losses:

• 1 adult doe rabbit obtained August 09 (she refused to breed)
• 7 baby bunnies (1st litter; 1st time mom, and she killed them)
• 5 baby bunnies at birth, 1 several weeks later (2nd litter)
• 1 silkie bantam (pecked to death)
• 3 turkey poults (mycotoxicosis)
• 1 rouen duckling (didn't take to eating or drinking in the first 24h)
• LOTS of seedlings

This year's miracles:

• We had TWINS hatch in Goldrush's batch. TWIN CHICKS!!! This is a Very Rare Thing!!!
• Hubba got an assistant manager
• Hubba allowed me to bring a new kitten onto the home
  

This year's obstacles:

• A death in the family
• A family member that cracked some vertebrae in his neck & spine
• A family member that cut off his thumb
• A family member that escaped murder in a home invasion
• A sewage flood in our home
• The ENTIRE five of us coming down with the stomach flu within 38 hours of each other
• Hubba lost his assistant manager

This year's WAY behind projects:

• New rabbit hutches
• Weeding the garden
• The garden
• Butchering animals
• Schooling
• Painting
• Fixing the chicken coop & run

This year's accomplishments:

• New flooring downstairs
• Front porch restained
• I have ended my daycare business
• I have a part time job that will net more take home pay in about 1/5 of the time
• I have another part time job as a greeting card rep that I do about once a month for one store & quarterly for another
• I stayed out of the mental institution just one more year

A Miracle on 1/10th!

Do the math:

We had FIVE eggs left. There's still an egg in the nest.

We have FIVE babies

WE HAD TWINS!!!! That's almost unheard of- twins hatching out alive!!

A brief snippet from a 4-H site says:

"1. Can two chicks hatch from one egg?


Yes. It is a rare occurrence. When two chicks hatch from the same egg, the egg usually has two yolks. Usually, one embryo out competes the other and only one chick survives to hatch. Many time both embryos die before hatch."

Never in.my.life did I think I'd be blessed enough to see this!!!

More pics!!!

If I don't throw treats into the run before entering the coop, this happens (yes, that is a view from the door to the coop barely open):


Remember the babies born in March?? These are the 3 girls. One looks JUST like her Daddy, only her spots are a little lighter.


And these are the 9-day old new babies. Their eyes are ALREADY OPEN!!!


Here is a MUCH better pic of that gorgeous cockerel. His tail feathers are finally coming back in. When Momma & babies were reintroduced to the flock, a couple of them would wander off. She'd bark at them, but would stay with the majority of the chicks unless she HAD to leave the larger group. So little mistah got all his bum feathers pecked of, LOL. I also love the colouring of the other one in the pic. Guess what? That's a cockerel as well.....


Here are 2 more of the broody's babies. The black is shaping up to be a girl, and I think the little tan & cream one is as well. The tan & cream has beautiful colouring & pattern, too. She seems to be getting some black (little) spots on her now as well.

8 weeks 1 day

Our baby chickies (from the broody hen) are 8 weeks, 1 day old today. They are cornish hen size, like what you see in the grocery store. I plan on keeping them a bit longer. We have 2 cockerels, for sure.

Here he is in the middle (from top to bottom)

And here he is in all of his beautiful cockerel glory.

Oh HOW I wish I could keep him. He is BEAUTIFUL!!! I'll get a better pic of him on the real camera soon. This was taken with my cell and he wouldn't stay still.

And the layer of this one is.....

Well..... We're not sure. We *think* it might be Floppy's egg, but I thought she'd been laying for more than a week already. Maybe so, maybe not, but she'd been in the nest box several times. This was found on the floor of the coop, as was another one.....

That's a nickel for size comparison ;-)

Quick update on the funny farm

After the baby bunny debacle, we lost 2 more. The 5 left are in with Momma & she has resumed her Good Momma status. Yay!

The chicks are all doing well.

Of the 3 poults, we've lost one white. After getting the buns situated & everything became calm again, I was checking the brooders & found a dead poult. No warning, just..... gone. I noticed the other 2 were acting very strangely. Lethargic, watery poops, listless & EXTREMELY thirsty! I immediately brought them into the house into a makeshift brooder, aka ICU. I was able to use google & narrow their illness down to mycotoxicosis. Saturday night I almost culled the white, but Hubba talked me out of it. The poult was convulsing & his poop was pure clear liquid. He had zero control over his body, and the poor thing couldn't stand. He had even quit eating & drinking. I decided to force feed both of them some vitamin & apple cider vinegar water and pray for the best.

The next day I started out feeding them the same water mixture, and later in the day after the convulsing had quit, I started alternating between the water mix & baby rice cereal mixed with milk. I scrambled an egg & mixed in some dairy kefir & apple cider vinegar. By early evening they were FIGHTING me on the force feeding. By Monday evening their poops had become a mix of clear liquid & white liquid. There was no more convulsing & they began chirping quietly. They were still a bit listless & lethargic, so I added some rolled oats & dry rice cereal to their PICU (poultry ICU). They weren't touching it. Before bed I added a smidge of the feed they were accustomed to & by morning, it was gone. Every.little.bit. Tuesday morning brought the sweet songs a poult sings, solid poops & hunger. They were up on their feet, they were once again interested in my rings (oo, shiny!), they were eating as soon as I added food. They were even FIGHTING over morsels!!! Last night at 3am, we were awakened by the VERY.LOUD.singing.....

For fear that it was the feed as mentioned in the above link (as well as copied below), we've decided to begin getting the animals over to homemade feed. It's been on my list, but this turkey thing has me ready to jump into it!! I've already begun on a small scale with the poults- rolled oats, dry rice baby cereal, kelp, hulled sunflower seed. I'm currently waiting on some prices from a local store to order some bulk bags of stuff. I've found several recipes & pending prices, will decide on the mix we can afford that we feel is right.

So as of today, we have 2 healthy poults of 3, 5 healthy baby bunnies of 10 & an urban homesteader in need of some calgon.

MYCOTOXICOSIS

Alflatoxin and many other mycotoxins are produced by fungi growing in raw materials or finished feed. The toxins are very stable and remain in the feed indefinitely. Major effects vary from slight ill-health to substantial mortality. Symptoms include reduced appetite which may be due to unpalatability of the feed, lethargy, diarrhoea, thirst, prostration, poor growth, reduced egg production and immunosuppression. There is frequently severe damage to liver, kidneys and other organs. Diagnosis of disease in the birds may be difficult or impossible. Products are available to prevent mould growth in the stored feed. No effective treatment but vitamin supplements may be helpful.

Baby Bunnies

This morning, 6/12/2010, Bunnicula birthed 10 babies..... outside of the nest box. She didn't even nest this time, and after she had them, she freaked & was running around the cage. We got the 6 bunnies we could reach with ease into the nest box, and then I was able to reach 2 of the 4 that somehow got stuck up under the wood & between that & the hardware cloth. Bunnicula proceeded to jump in & out of the nest box trampling the babies. 2 more were even further back & I had to cut the wire to get to them. My hand is all cut up now, but the babies were out. They were SOOOO cold & we were so worried she would kill them by stepping on them, I brought them in to warm them. After they were warmed, I took 4 back to the hutch to see how she'd react. I slathered vicks's vapo rub on her nose, and went about my business. The 4 were fine about an hour later, so I checked the buns inside. 3 of those were gone :-( I took the remaining 3 back out to the next box & will continue to check on them throughout the day.

I did make a run to the store to purchase some items. If the babies are not fed by morning, I'll need to make formula for them in an attempt to save them. From what I understand it's going to be near impossible to rear them by hand, but not totally impossible.

The white Easter Egger chick

I picked this little "girl" up & she immediately decided she wanted to snuggle.

Another quick pic

This is one of our new Easter Eggers. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL colouring.

Just a quick pic

I had to share this pic. Many things going on around here, so I'll get back as soon as I can for an update, but this week we have VBS & I've been super busy.

Here is a pic of Keenan & one of our silkie chicks. I took it with my phone near sundown last night.

A Funeral on the Funny Farm.....

Yesterday we went to pick up our chick order. 20 White Plymouth Rocks for us, 10 White Plymouth Rocks for a friend, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Easter Eggers, 2 Barred Rocks, 2 White turkeys, 1 bronze turkey. An order that was canceled had 2 silkies. The lady gave them to us. Then there was this.....




The kids begged for him. I'm a sucker for the last one left..... So he came home with us. I jumped online & dove into my books to learn how to care for this little 'guy.' I set him up just as I'd read, but by bedtime, he still wasn't eating or drinking on his own..... And sometime in the wee hours of the morning, he moved on to Duckie Heaven. Keenan is quite upset, even though I'd warned him that we may not be able to keep him alive, never having done this. I'm used to this, though. He cried when the hamster died. He cried when the lizard died. He cried when our dog ran away.... He's a very sensitive little man.

One of life's lessons..... Today we'll have a funeral for the little duckie.

On a good note, the 28 chicks & 3 poults are doing wonderfully. Hubba thinks the silkie pictures on the web look like poodles. We've taken to calling them "Choodles." Fitting if you ask me.

Chicks & Baby Bunnies

5/12/10- The baby bunnies will be 8 weeks old on Friday. For some reason I was thinking they were between 6 & 7 weeks old. Thankfully I looked at the calendar. They HAD to be separated by Friday or I run the risk of them breeding each other. Sunday evening we sexed them. Today I sexed them again, without looking at the notes I'd made, to see if I agreed with my previous judgment. They all matched Sunday's thoughts.

We have 3 girls & 3 boys if my sexing is correct. The boys will be butchered once they come to size, which could be in as many as 3 more months. Of the girls, we have plans on keeping 2 for breeding stock. As far as inbreeding goes, when breeding for meat or pets (in other words, not for show) you can breed mother to son & father to daughter. I've read not to do any further inbreeding than that until I know more. I'm not really sure I want to know more as in- I am happy with the aforementioned arrangement.

I also bred Bunnicula again to Cowboy. If all went well, which it appears it did, she will be due on or around June 12th.

On to baby chicks. I've read that sometimes (though not 100%), you can sex a chick as young as a couple weeks old based on tail formation. Apparently pullets feather out in the tail sooner than cockerels. If this is the case I have 2 definite pullets & another that I think may be a pullet. Of course, I'm not banking on this entirely, but I'll be excited to see how this pans out. 2 of the 5 chicks have very big tails (in comparison), 1 has a tail half the size & the other 2 have no tail feathers as of yet.

Update- Early May 2010

The weather here lately has been such a roller coaster. We can go from low 60's on day with sun & a breeze to 30's with snow & rain from one day to the next. It makes gardening..... interesting, to say the least. I'm very far behind on my gardening.

I attempted to sex the bunnies again on Mother's Day- 5/9. I had Sebastion help me out for a 2nd opinion. We *believe* we have 3 girls & 3 boys. They have to be separated by the weekend, as they turn 8 weeks on Friday. I'll be calling someone who goes to our church & asking if he used to sex his bunnies when he raised them & if he's any good at it. I'm hoping he'll be able to come help me out. My plan is to do it again on Wed, separate them & pray for the best. It seems to be getting a little easier to sex them, though I've never done it before. So I could be wrong, LOL.

Floppy has been a GREAT little Momma hen. The 5 chicks turned 2 weeks this past weekend. Momma is beginning to get a little antsy. She's almost ready to be reintroduced to the flock. It cracks me up to watch them. The babies like to ride on Momma's back. They are eating, drinking & scratching. All things a baby chick should be doing.

I'm counting down now to my chick order arriving. They should be here next week. 30 meat chickens (20 are ours), 6 layers & 3 poults. Speaking of orders, I'm also anxiously awaiting a call from the processor any day now or within the next month. The beef should go to the processor within the next 5-6 weeks and as early as next week.

We have babies!!!

You may click on image for a larger view.

There are a total of 5. We got 10 eggs, one broke a few days later, 3 quit forming & one died before completely hatching (the shell was broken, but the baby never got out). Not bad, I'm happy. They are so cute. I'd forgotten how tiny they are. We have 3 whites, 2 as seen above, 1 black one & 1 brown one. The black one hatched yesterday (4/24) and the rest overnight & today. Momma's being so good. She's lightly pecking at them when they get out from under her & she's lightly pecking at me now that they are hatched I can still get in there & mess with them, and she doesn't seem to mind TOO horribly. She's definitely not being mean to me, but letting me know they ARE HER babies So stinkin' sweet! I'm in love all over again!

Forgot....

Thursday April 15th, we began raising mealworms for the chickens.

Log

• Today Mary was butchered. She is currently in the fridge in a bucket of salt water.
• We begin our 1-week countdown either tonight or in the morning, re: broody hen & eggs. Hoping we have babies soon!
  
• Water pipe was fixed on Wednesday which means we officially have water outdoors again. No more hauling jugs of water to the garden plots.
• Peas were transplanted to the garden last Saturday, April 10th.
• The baby bunnies were 4 weeks on Friday. They are fat & healthy. Nest box was removed on Friday, and they began eating pellets & drinking from the waterer the Friday before that.
  

It's a beautiful time here, with the exception of us all being sick. But the world keeps turning, so we do as well.

Some of my favourite homesteading/self-sufficiency links

A-Z Poultry Disease Index
Backwoods Home Magazine
Backyard Chickens (and their forum)
Backyard Poultry
Grit Magazine
How to Sex Your Rabbits
Mother Earth News
Starting a biointensive Garden
Vegetable Planting Calendar
Weather Channel (living in the Rockies, this becomes a favourite, LOL)

Active bunnies, a broody hen & a freezer full of meat.....

Today I went out to take care of Bunnicula & check her babies. They are starting to come out of the nest box to investigate. They are getting huge already. The baby that was out the first time I saw this, was sniffing at the fresh food I'd just put down & licked it a couple of times.

A few days ago I had a Buff Orpington that whenever she was in the nest box & went into the coop, would ruffle up her feathers like a peacock & "bark" at me. Today I went out to take care of the rabbits, and I decided to check for eggs one last time. Floppy was STILL in the nest box, as she was 7 hours before. I had removed the eggs from under her earlier this afternoon, so she was sitting on nothing..... It dawned on me that she is broody. I immediately texted a few times with a friend of mine that has hens & roosters to ask for eggs. I came home with 10 eggs from her various breeds, marked them & put them in the nest box with Floppy. She moved them underneath her, and I'm hoping in 3 weeks I'll be a new chickie Momma (again).

While I was over getting the eggs, they gave me a trash bag half full of frozen, sealed meat to bring home. Hubba & He had made an agreement for us to buy the deer meat he taught me to butcher several months ago. He wouldn't take payment from me, and added some elk meat to the bag as well....

A bit of an update

Baby rabbits are now 9 days old (confirmed 6 kits). They should be opening their eyes tomorrow or the next day. They are HUGE compared to when they were born. They have their fur, and they are so soft. 1 black one & 5 white with spots. Momma's doing very well this time!!

Tina Turner was re-introduced to the coop the evening of the 20th. The next day the other hen(s) were still pecking at her bum, so I rubbed vicks on her, and we haven't had any issues since. Since she was on antibiotics, her eggs are not being consumed by humans for 3 weeks. I am, however, feeding them to the pup so they don't go to waste. They are still being logged in the amount of food we raise. LT is thoroughly enjoying that treat.

We've been planting seeds like crazy. Hubba bought more plant & aquarium bulbs for my grow light set up, and we'll be borrowing 2 more light fixtures for them. I'm just running out of room. On a good note, everything that has been planted & should have germinated by now has.

My redneck greenhouse is holding up well. It was more or less a test to see if the plastic would hold in this Wicked Wyoming Wind. I don't have any use for it for still another couple-few weeks. I wanted to get it done ealry, so if it fell apart on me, I would have time to come up with another plan.

Hubba started buying 2X4's to build the greenhouse. When we moved in all of the old windows & doors from the house were under the porch. Our plan is to clean them up, paint them & use them for a greenhouse.

Baby rabbits!!!

Or as Hubba says "Congratulations, Granma."

Sometime during the night of 3/18, morning of 3/19, Bunnicula gave birth to at least 6 kits. As of last night before bed, there was still movement. After our last experience with her & babies (which I realise is normal), I've done my best not to mess with them too much, but I still remain a little not-so-optimistic. I was advised by a friend who has raised rabbits for meat, to use tongs to carefully lift the fur to see the babies. Giving momma-doe a carrot keeps her busy while I do the task. Each time I have opened the door to her hutch (to see if there's movement), I've made sure I had "something to do" so she doesn't get suspicious. I've given her carrots & added feed or water to her hutch.

I'll report back as things progress. Unfortunately, Mary will no longer be with us soon. I'd like to try her just one more time, but I'm really not hopeful at all that she'll conceive. Hey, on the bright side- I'll get to learn how to butcher a rabbit.

If Bunnicula cares for her babies, as she's supposed to, we'll be choosing a female rabbit from her litter. When breeding for pets & meat, you can & can't inbreed certain family members (I'll get to that in another post). When I told Hubba of my plans to keep one of the litter, and why, he suggested I keep 2..... just in case. Sometimes that man amazes me.

Prolapsed vent, redneck greenhouse, pregnant rabbit(s) & May 21st....

Prolapsed Vent.....

A few days ago I had an egg that was bloody. Occasionally, we get eggs that have a streak or 2 of blood... no big deal. Last night when I let the girls out to range the yard, there were drops of blood on the patio.... So I began checking rearends. Tina Turner was bleeding. I came in & jumped on google, and everything about bloody bums pointed to prolapse. Tina is my most standoffish hen. She just doesn't like people much & prefers to run from us. So, I had to bide my time until they roosted for the night.

I started scurrying around the 'stead- finding the chick waterers, antibiotics & kennel crate. I added the antibiotics & some raw apple cider vinegar to the water. I dug through the fridge for soft food & found some leftover brown rice. I mixed the rice with some dairy kefir. I put shavings in the crate & laid towels over the top (to keep it dark in hopes she won't lay, which can further aggravate the prolapse). I had just turned my heat lamps off earlier in the day, but knowing she would be alone & have only her own body heat, rather than the help of 9 other chickens, I set one up aimed at the crate, in hopes she'd stay warm through the night.

Once they were all in, I closed the inside door to the coop, and made my move. She didn't like me touching her, but once I had my hands around her wings, she calmed, knowing she wasn't going anywhere.

This morning when I check her at 6:15am, she seemed to be doing alright. I need to bring her in later, wash her bum, "put the vent back in place" & rub honey on it. Wish me hope. This is my first chicken "crisis." Prolapse if left untreated can be deadly in chickens. If left with population, the other chooks can let cannibalism get the better of them & peck at the vent until the affected chook bleeds to death.

Definitions of prolapse on the Web:

• slip or fall out of place, as of body parts; "prolapsed rectum"
• the slipping or falling out of place of an organ (as the uterus)
  wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• Prolapse literally means "To fall out of place". In medicine, prolapse is a condition where organs, such as the uterus, fall down or slip out of place. It is used for organs protruding through the vagina or the rectum, or for the misalignment of the valves of the heart. ...
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolapse

The redneck greenhouse....

Hubba has been saying for quite some time that he would be building a greenhouse for me..... Well, he hasn't even started, so yesterday I took matters into my own hands, and I produced the redneck greenhouse!!!




Pregnant Rabbits.....

Yesterday I also placed nest boxes in the doe hutches. Everything I've read says to place the boxes just a few days before EDD. I'm still pretty sure only one is pregnant, and she started pulling fur almost as soon as I placed the box.

May 21st.....

Last but not least, the lady from the feed store in Rock Springs called me to let me know that she had an estimated arrival date for the new chicks & poults!! May 21st. She was trying to order early, so she could get them early, but they wanted to send partial batches throughout the next couple months. She told them "No. I have people coming in from out of town, and they need to be here all at once." So May 21st, was the soonest they could ship everything she's ordered. She's a wonderful lady & very receptive to her customer's needs.

Planting seeds

Sunday, 3/7

36 Genovese basil seeds

Tuesday, 3/9-

Tomatoes:
5 each- Tumbling Tom, Orange banana
6 each- Black Moor, Isis Candy
7 Rhoades Heirloom
3 Cherokee purple

Broccoli:
6 Calabrese
12 Romanesco

Wednesday 3/10

Flats of
Buttercrunch lettuce, Baby's leaf spinach, Giant Noble, Bunching onions (24), mesclun, Rocky top mix lettuce

Saturday 3/13

Flats of Yellow of Parma & Red of Florence onion

I built an indoor greenhouse yesterday, so I'm hoping this will extend my season. A little later I'll get today's seed flats into the greenhouse.

Tuesday 3/16

Thyme (sprinkled in 4-4" pots)
Thai white ribbed eggplant
Catskills Brussel Sprouts
Green Macerata Cauliflower
Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Monday 3/22

More basil (sweet leaf) & parsley

Tuesday 3/23

Peppers- Purple Beauty, Rainbow Mix, CA Wonder, Sweet banana, Jalapeno
Big Mammoth sunflower (24)

Saturday 3/27

Peas- Little Marvel, Alaska
Tomatoes- Omar's Lebanese (Keenan's pick), Mountain Princess (Tristen's pick), Gajo de Melon (Sebastion's pick), Green Zebra (my new pick for this year)

Sunday 4/11

Alaskan peas transplanted to garden
Tomatoes- 15 each- Fuzzy peach, black krim, Amish paste, yellow pear

Please pass the ketchup.....

I should know by now to find out the correct info, I should just do it myself. We've been told all along that we were on a scant tenth acre. For some reason I got a wild hair up my butt & decided to measure the backyard myself. We're at .14 of an acre in the backyard alone. Of course, I did not subtract the house, shed or garage that sits in that rectangle from my measurements, so technically yard space itself is below 1/10th. And the front yard? Can't use it because of the deer. Not for food anyways. And it's postage stamp sized anyway...... The tax assessor lied.....

But if you'll pass the ketchup, I'll eat my crow, and will be working soon on making the measurements written on this blog correct.

Garden plans 2010

Garden plans 2010 (seeds to sow/number of plants desired)

Tomatoes:

Black Cherry- 5/3
Cherokee Purple- 3/2
Rhoades Heirloom- 7/5
Orange Banana- 4/2
Black Moor- 6/4
Isis Candy- 6/4
Yellow Pear- 5/3
Amish Paste- 15/10
Thessaloniki- 5/3
Black Krim- 5/3
Omar's Lebanese- 8/5
Big Zebra- 8/5
Mtn Princess- 8/5
Gajo De Melon- 8/5

Tumbling Tom- 5/3 (Container)

Peppers:

Rainbow Mix- 15/12
Jalapeno- 15/12
Banana- 15/12
CA Wonder- 15/12

Cucumbers:

True Lemon- 12/8
Tendergreen- 12/8
Marketmore- 12/8
Bush Champion- 12/8

Beans & Peas:

Ky Wonder Beans- 20/15
Jade Bush Beans- 20/15
Pinto Beans- 20/15
Royal Burg Beans- 20/15
AK Peas- 60/45

Squash:

N Eng Sugar Pie- 8/5
Luffa- 12/8
Zuke- 12/8
Crookneck- 12/8
Patty Pan- TBA (waiting on a swap)

Melons:

Sugar Baby W- 10/6
Katanya W- 12/8
Far North M- 12/8

Carrots:

Chantenay
Little Finger
Nantes

Corn:

True Gold Sweet 100/75

Other:

Copenhagen Market Cabbage
Pak Choi
Rutabaga
Evergreen bunching onions
Broccoli Calabrese
Romanesco- TBA (waiting on a swap)

Herbs (Some will be in containers):

Oregano, Dill, Parsley, Sage, Cumin, Stevia, Feverfew, Echinacea, Cilantro, Lavender, Basil, Chamomile, Borage, Thyme

Greens (Containers):

Rocky Top Lettuce
Butter Crunch Lettuce
Black seeded Simpson
Giant Noble Spinach
Baby's Leaf Spinach

Perrenials/Trees: grapes, strawberries, raspberries, elderberry, cherry, apricot, plum, blueberries.

Egg Tally

This is a list of how many & how many pounds of eggs we gather each month. The girls laid their first egg on October 20, 2009. It was a double yolker & such a sweet egg. Hubba got the first one, but I got a taste. :D

Notes- In March 2010, I removed the overwinter lights in the coop. Since this was their first year laying & it happened as weather turned bitter here, I chose for the first year to add a winter light. Since removing their light, our egg production has dropped & in April, it dropped even further when some of my girls started to molt (already!!!).

October 2009- 1#13.7oz; 20 eggs
November 2009- 19#4.7oz; 190 eggs
December 2009- 28#11.4oz; 248 eggs
January 2010- 28#9.4oz; 254 eggs
February 2010- 23#14.9oz; 195 eggs
March 2010- 25#0.5oz; 199 eggs
April 2010- 19#4.6ox; 152 eggs
May 2010- 20#4.4oz; 158 eggs
June 2010- 25#7.6oz; 187 eggs
July 2010-
August 2010-
September 2010-
October 2010-
November 2010-
December 2010-

2009/10 total-

Nubbies in the belly

I checked the rabbits yesterday- 2/27. I have one that has a hard stomach & one that doesn't. The one that does is Bunnicula & she is good at submitting to Cowboy. Mary, who we've had trouble breeding from the get-go has a soft belly. This leads me to believe (because I can't feel definitive nubbies *aka* baby bumps), that Mary is not pregnant & Bunnicula is. The EDD is on or around 3/18 or 19.

Hopefully Bunnicula won't do away with them this time :-(

Glossary of terms as they apply to One Tenth

This post will likely be an ongoing project.

• #- pounds (when used in weight, like eggs or produce)
  
• Bio-intensive gardening- Compact, high yield gardening in a small space
• Brooder- A setup to raise baby chicks or other poultry, usually starting as "day-olds"
  
• Buck- male rabbit
• Crop rotation- the age old practise of rotating families of crops, so that you do not plant the same crop in the same place for at least 3 years. This is a great way to organically prevent pests & disease & replenishes the soil, rather than depleting it
• Day-old- refers to a baby bird (in our case- ducklings, poults or chicks) that is..... a day old :D. Day olds are typically what is sold from hatcheries & feed stores.
  
• Doe- Female rabbit

• Mycotoxicosis- Alflatoxin and many other mycotoxins are produced by fungi growing in raw materials or finished feed. The toxins are very stable and remain in the feed indefinitely. Major effects vary from slight ill-health to substantial mortality. Symptoms include reduced appetite which may be due to unpalatability of the feed, lethargy, diarrhoea, thirst, prostration, poor growth, reduced egg production and immunosuppression. There is frequently severe damage to liver, kidneys and other organs. Diagnosis of disease in the birds may be difficult or impossible. Products are available to prevent mould growth in the stored feed. No effective treatment but vitamin supplements may be helpful.

• Poult- Baby turkey chicks
• Urban gardening- By definition, urban is related to population per square foot. While the town we live in is not urban, our way of gardening is
• Vertical gardening- Gardening on trellises, or any other structure that grows UP

Mary & Cowboy

I'm attempting to breed Cowboy & Mary at the moment. She seems to be submitting more now, but they still haven't taken. I've left them alone for awhile (this is NOT recommended if they show any hostility), since they get along alright.

I forgot to mention, if Bunnicula took yesterday, we should have babies on or around March 18 or 19th. I will check for nubbies in her belly between Feb 25-Mar 1. She should start nesting on or around March 15.

Seed swap list

Seed swap list:


Have:


All are from Baker Creek & from last year unless otherwise noted, stored in cool dry conditions


Tomatoes:


10- yellow pear
5- Amish paste
10- Thessaloniki
10- black krim


Peppers:


5- Gourmet rainbow mix (RH Shumway)
20- Jalapeno early (Ferry Morse, organic)


Cukes:


15- Tender green burpless (RH Shumway)
25- True lemon (Gourmet seed international, “non-treated”)


Beans:


20- Jade bush (unknown company)
20- Kentucky wonder (Territorial seed, 2008, still viable)


Squash:


20- dark green zuke (RH Shumway)
5- New England sugar pie pumpkin
8- Luffa gourd (fedco)


Melons:


20- Muskmelon (RH Shumway)
10- sugar baby watermelon


Herbs (these will be measured in pinches- at least 10 seeds- unless otherwise noted):


broad leaf sage
cumin
borage
feverfew
cilantro


Lettuce (measured in pinch, at least 10 seeds):


Rocky top mix (garden girl, pkd by baker creek)


5- Pak choi, white stem (RH Shumway)


I also have the following to share as they shipped from Baker Creek, all for this year:


5-Mountain Princess tomato
5-Omar's Lebanese tomato
5-Gajo de Melon tomato
5-Big Zebra tomato
5-Marketmore cuke
25-True old sweet corn
10-Basil- genovese
Pinch or 2-Chamomile- German
pinch Lavender
5-CA Wonder Pepper
20-Alaska garden pea
5-Crookneck early golden summer squash
5-Far North melon
5-Katanya melon
A couple good pinches-Little finger carrot

I also have a whole pkg of cilantro that BCS sent me.


Wish list (looking for organic and/or non-gmo seeds from this year or last year stored in cool dry conditions):


Mint
Purple Beauty peppers
Sweet chocolate peppers
Little Marvel peas
birdhouse gourds
Benning scallop squash (I did get the patti pan, but am still interested in the one here if anyone has it)
Chantenay red core carrots
Stuttgarter onion
Red of florence onion
Catskill brussel sprouts
Early purple sprouting broccoli
Green macerata cauliflower
Romanesco Italia broccoli

Gardening in February in the Rockies, ordering birds & compost

2/15- I attempted to save some Royal Burgundy Beans from last year's garden. They don't quite look like the original seed that I planted with, so I've planted 6 seeds to test their viability. I want to know now if they are viable, rather than waiting until the last minute & having to order seeds. Ordering seeds at the last minute can mean a couple of things. Reputable companies selling non-GMO, heirloom seeds may be out of stock. It also means "Oops, it's too late to plant them." Planting in the Rockies is a very skilled task. Our season (zone 4/5) is short. They give us 100 days, but that is not always the case. Last year our night temps didn't get above 42 until mid-July. Considering that and the fact that I'd never gardened outside of Georgia, the garden did extremely well. The Lord blessed us, not only with a decent bounty (considering the obstacles), He also presented hands on learning for us. I believe we learned a LOT last year & that we can do better this year.

Along with beans, I also planted some lavender, "peppermint" (true mint will not come from seeds) and some parsley. I had 6 herb plants that were neglected while we were away & I've got those soaked down (and drained) and in a clear rubbermaid container with lid (greenhouse), hoping for their survival.

2/16- Compost has proven difficult for us, thanks to frigid temps. It's hard to turn the frozen pile in the winter, and it gets so cold that it doesn't seem to cook itself into the wonderful richness called black gold. I've taken a 3.5 gallon icing bucket from the bakery and filled it about 2/5 full of dead bean plants (from my saved seed), egg shell, coffee grounds & filters, and banana peel. I was also able to sweep up some shavings & rabbit poo from the barn floor to add. I made sure that all pieces of material in the bucket are cut very small. No more than an inch long and about 1/2" wide. I've poured water over it all, mixed it up & it has a home in the coldframe, where the temps should keep it from freezing. Not the intended use for a coldframe, but I wanted to test this thought out.

I also had to make food for my chickens. The feed store is closed on Sundays and we ran out of feed. I couldn't go Saturday as I was waiting to sell a few more eggs to have the funds to get the feed. With our emergency trip, funds are tight for us right now. On Saturday, I wasn't even aware til later in the day anyway, that we'd used the last bag. I was going to go yesterday, but when I called they were closed. I called again today, to make sure they were open today, and they are..... But not until 5pm. Frustrating stuff. But..... They had Gourmet- apple cores & peels (were in freezer for apple juice jelly- guess I'm not making that anymore), arugula, flax seed, sunflower seed, cooked pintos, popcorn, blueberry yoghurt, some dry oats and raisins. Sounds appetizing, huh? No matter, they enjoyed it.

I also cut the hole in the top of my barrel so I can try to get it set up in the next couple weeks. A bit late, but apparently our winter will slam us in March. We've had an extremely mild winter thus far. I didn't get that worked on more, because between that, digging out (frozen) soil, messing with the compost bucket & other outdoors chores, my fingers hurt from the cold. I forgot to grab my gloves. Yes, I should know better. Hush.

I have found another gardening tool, speaking of frozen soil. I brought the bag in & took the hair dryer to it. Worked quite well, if you ask me. You don't have to ask, though, I just offered that bit of advice up *grin* .

Last month I ordered more layers, more meat birds & (drumroll, please)



(picture from Dunlap Hatchery)

POULTS!!!! SQUEEE!!!!

Everything should be available for pickup in May. If I remember correctly I've ordered the following (I don't have my sheet in front of me at the mo):

2 Rhode Island Reds (eggs)
2 Easter Eggers (eggs)
2 Barred Rocks (eggs)

10 White Plymouth Rocks (for meat. And I actually ordered 30, but only 10 are mine)

3 bronze & white poults (I can't remember but it's 2 of one breed- I think white, and 1 of the other breed)

I've never done turkeys before. I know they only do straight run, & being in city limits, I really can't have a Tom. Therefore, I'm hoping at least one is a hen. I do have (a) home(s) for any that are Toms. I have some learning for sure, but just like the chickens & rabbits, I'm willing. And I'm doing a LOT of research.

I planted a dishpan of 8 garlic bulbs today, too.

I think that's all for now.

February 15th 2010

I bred Bunnicula again. She had 7 babies on the 2nd, but killed them all. Being a first-time mother, this behaviour is common & was not surprising. If she keeps at least one baby alive on her next kindling, we will keep her. I know mothers also kill deformed & unhealthy babies, but repeated litter killing can mean bad blood lines. She has another chance, and if all goes badly again, she will go to the stew pot. I have still not been able to breed Mary with success, but hope to try her with Cowboy again sometime this week. If she takes, I need to hustle & build another nest box. Mary will be attempted for breeding at least twice, but if she refuses to submit, or things don't go as planned, she will also go to the stew pot. I pray this is not the case, as I had a very difficult time finding rabbits for meat breeding here in Wyoming. If I have to set out to search for 2 new does, I will most likely have to drive to Boise or SLC, UT.

Fortunately, Cowboy knows EXACTLY what to do. He'll be staying.

Welcome to my online mini-homesteading journal

And that's all it will really be. I don't promise to be exciting. This is simply a place to log what we are doing to self & support locally on a small in-city-limits lot. Most of my posts will be short & to the point. If I've bred a rabbit, or need to add my monthly measurements for eggs, produce or remember what orders I've put in where & when to expect them, I'll be posting it here.