22. 4 Monthiversary
I’m overdue on an overview for the farm and house.
We’ve been here four months, now, added 70 chicks, 2 geese, 2 kittens, 3 pear trees, 20 raspberry and blackberry canes, 5 blueberry bushes, a bunch of seasonal produce, a fancy mower, and have torn out carpets and ceilings, repainted almost every wall, and still have so much to do!
The hubs has been a valiant DIYer with an eye for perfection (often maddening to us both) and he has slowly been plugging along at improvements. Right now, he’s struggling with the ceiling in the family room/room with the fireplace. When we moved in, there was warped bead board covering the ceiling, which looked suspicious to us. When we took it down, lo and behold: water damage and mold.
Mold-a-licious!
So he tore the entire ceiling out (just to be safe), created a veritable wonderland of old insulation and flakey ceiling bits on the floor to wade through for a month or so, and then installed a vapor barrier, and has begun working on the shiplap.
I think I neglected to mention this, but we got a couple of kittens, as no farm is complete without a couple of farm cats.
Lenny and Carl are our newest additions, and they’re just about everything you would expect from a couple of kitten dudes: cute, cuddly, pouncey, and purry. They are adjusting to life with chickens, and so far, seem to think that they’re one big, happy, furry and feathery family.
Hubs is a bona fide kitten-whisperer
Meanwhile, the geese are HUGE. These girls, Roman Tufted Geese we named Calliope (Lolly for short) and Juno, are the same age as the chicks, and about five times bigger. They are excellent guard geese, corralling their little buddies around the yard, finding the best nibbles, and warning them of potential danger.
So now, it’s time to transition to fall crops. I know, I know: summer just got started, but it’s all about the succession planting for seasonal eating, keeping ahead of the weather, and as always, learning, adjusting, and improving.
In sadder news, with this heat wave, my oldest hen, Wanda, died. She was 7 years old, and a lovely girl who laid blue eggs up until the last year of her life. She was a talkative, curious, calm leader, who led by example, rather than pecking cruelty. She will be missed.
So with an eye on fall and lots of work to complete, we move forward with our eggs, produce, orchard, and berry patch. By September or October, we’ll be swimming in eggs, squash, gourds, kale, lettuces, carrots, chard, and Brussel sprouts (I hope).
A quarter of a year…Wow!