#coop is toasty from all the chickens

[rhiannatruex]

This is the life

[fruitcoops]

46 coops 🤭

(46) “Hey, have you seen the..? Oh.”

Remus hummed under his breath as he put the chicken in the oven and double-triple-checked the oven timer. He may not be winning any awards for his food, and he might still get roasted for being 'stubbornly healthy' (whatever that was supposed to mean), but he'd be six feet under before his chicken came out dry.

"Remind me to turn this in twenty!" he called, wiping his hands on the sides of his jeans. The whole kitchen smelled faintly of rosemary and sage. Warm and toasty, right at the end of a long winter.

No response came from the living room, but that was alright. Sirius was likely knee-deep in his playbook. Remus had planned to join him earlier, but then they were out of carrots and it was too nice of a day to warrant a drive to the grocery store, so everything got pushed back for an evening walk.

It didn't matter. The point was, his chicken was going to be delicious and he was going to watch hockey with his husband, and planned to enjoy all three immensely.

An odd noise gave Remus pause.

The game continued, faint and familiar sounds of clicking sticks and the buzz of media monotone. He couldn't hear Sirius rustling around--couldn't recall who was playing--but he supposed it was possible for a game to be interesting enough that Sirius didn't need as many notes. Half the time, though, it seemed Sirius took notes just for the love of the game.

Remus turned the faucet on with his elbow and guided the mashed potato pot beneath it, watching the yard grow dark outside. Hattie would need to go out in a bit for an evening perimeter search. The squirrels had grown bold with the onset of spring.

"Baby!" he tried again, craning his neck toward the living room. "Remind me to flip the chicken in twenty minutes!"

Not even a sound to acknowledge he had been heard.

Remus frowned, but waited for the water to cover the potatoes before elbowing the sink off again and setting the pot on the stove. Sirius wouldn't have fallen asleep. Not this early.

The TV fizzed with an excited bustle; that noise came again, clearer now that Remus was away from the hum of the oven and fridge.

Sirius was laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked, turning the corner. "Oh, and baby, have you seen the--oh."

00:15.3

Period 3

TOR: 5

SLY: 1

[ethicaltreatmentofcowplants]

Havisham House (no cc)

TYPE: Residential SIZE: 20x20 BEDROOM: 2.5 (study can be converted) BATHROOM: 2.5 COST: 51,172 LOT TRAITS: Great Soil, Home Studio, Natural Well CHALLENGES: Off-the-Grid PACKS: (may be some additional with hidden objects)

PLAYTESTED: Using for my current odd money gen, so yes - to within an inch of its miserable life. In fact, you may even find a dirty diaper somewhere on the floor... GALLERY ID: hayley247 (simsfileshare). There may also be a shell build on my gallery somewhere. OTHER: MOO and bb.showliveeditobjects before placing

This was the handiness gen, so one of the goals was to handcraft as much furniture as possible. I stretched that to painting, fabrication and knitting, so most of those objects were made by my Sim or her spouse (or were but replaced when they mysteriously disappeared from the lot - likely her klepto mother...)

more pics + layout below (i build better than i screencap - not that it's saying much...)

Other Notes:

All lighting works off-the-grid, as do all the appliances except the television and laptop.

To cook, click on the stove and select the 'cook-off-the-grid' option (it will also select salad options). Otherwise your Sim may end up prepping a bunch of ingredients that they have no use for.

I temporarily turn power on to make Harvestfest and Winterfest meals. Just make sure you refill the ice in the fridge the instant that you go off-the-grid again.

Infants find winter cold. Since unlike toddlers, they can't change their own outfits, I just put them on the playmat/sleep item from Growing Together on the floor. Nice and toasty.

With the fireplace fully upgraded, I haven't had one incident (touches wood...).

My legacy Sim has a high gardening level and all the plants have been evolved at least once, which should carry over. Alas, her plumbing and furniture upgrades don't seem to :(

This is just a tip but if you do choose to play off-grid, I make one parent collect water once daily. My system is if you go for a run, you have to grab some water on the way back. In winter, you can also collect the snow.

Also a tip but unless your Sim likewise has the NERD BRAIN aspiration, I'd personally replace the rocket ship with some playground equipment - like the Growing Together treehouse. Or a Cottage Living chicken coop if you want to be even more self-sufficient.

Happy Simming and entirely optional, but if you end up using this for your own gameplay, I'd love a comment or a tag <3

[shadyufo]

Odd day.

Woke up to news that a huge bomb had gone off down in Nashville and took out 911 emergency services for a lot of middle TN as well as phone and internet service for thousands. Few folks I know who live downtown were woken up by the blast. Weird and scary deal but thankfully only a few minor injuries.

Little later I had to move a mangled deer carcass some jerk dumped right in front of my neighbor’s driveway. Morons.

Then after I got home from dropping off some cookies and truffles I made for a few friends and family (all while masked and safely distanced of course!!) I found my smallest chicken sitting outside the coop in their playpen, so cold she didn’t want to move. All of the others were inside out of the wind and nestled in their straw and under the heat lamp, but for some reason little Miss Brownie decided to stay outside and let herself get chilled to the bone. So I picked her up, tucked her in my coat until she warmed up, then gave them all eggs and mealworms—lil protein boost—for dinner to help them stay toasty tonight while it’s in the teens, brrr. 

So yeah, weird day but still lots to be grateful for too. Had a lovely lil visit with my dear old dad and a friend of mine gave me a birthday cinnamon roll (even had a candle tucked in the box with it) that nearly made me cry. :’)

Hope all those who celebrate it had a wonderful Christmas and I hope everyone else had a rad Friday <3 Much love and gratitude to you all! Stay safe out there!

[chain-unchained]

December 5th Pt. 1

Once again, featuring dialogue from the lovely @jojaqualityheadcanons Immersive Characters - Shane mod! <3 Download it for extra chicken husband goodness.

December 5th marked the first snowfall, and the first official day of winter in the Ferngill Republic. Several inches fell overnight, blanketing the entirety of the valley in a pristine white. A rough night meant Shane was up at 4, and he just stood out on the porch for a time, watching the snow fall in thick, fat flakes. Listened to the sound of them hitting the ground. It was… nice. Peaceful.

“We got, what, a foot?” He said to Marnie as they waited for the coffee to be ready. “Foot and a half?”

“Sure seems like it.” His aunt set two coffee mugs on the counter and got out the creamer. “You remembered to turn the heater on in the barn, right?”

“Yeah.” He paused halfway to picking up the pot. “… I’m pretty sure I did.”

“… Maybe go and double check to be sure.”

“Yeah, I’m on it.”

The barn was nice and toasty warm when he stepped into it, and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Sorry girls,” he knelt down to pick Charlie up and give her a cuddle, “can’t let you out today. You’d get lost in the snow.”

He patted the flank of Marnie’s cow with a faint smile. “… Shit, I hope Ashe didn’t forget the heaters…”

Jas poked her head into the barn. “Ms. Penny says that talking to yourself is a sign of loneliness,” she announced, and her uncle jumped a full inch off of the hay-strewn floor. “Why not go and ask him?”

“Kiddo, we need to have a serious talk about sneaking up on me.” He set Charlie down and walked over to his niece, planting a hand on her shoulder, “How about we don’t do that anymore? I’m getting old, I might end up having a heart attack.”

“You’re not that old, Uncle Shane.”

“I’m 35. That’s practically ancient.”

“If 35 is ancient, what does that make me?” Marnie called from the kitchen.

Shane started to sweat. “Young at heart?”

“Uh huh. That makes me feel so much better. You’d better come and get your coffee before it gets cold.”

“Right—” Shane gave his goddaughter a very serious look. “Jas, Aunt Marnie might kill me in my sleep tonight. If I die, I want you to look after the blue chickens in my place.”

The little girl’s pom-tails bobbed up and down with her head. “… You could stay over with Ashe tonight?” She whispered. “Aunt Marnie can’t get you there.”

“Honestly? I’m tempted.” His back cracked and popped as he stood. “Let me get my coffee and I’ll walk you to meet Ms. Penny.”

 ###

 There was something incredibly satisfying about the sound of snow crunching beneath his boots as they carried him up the road towards Ashe’s farm. The downside was that the trek there was made all the more arduous by its height; by the time he made it to the first line of fencing, he was thoroughly winded. He needed to suck it up and drag himself up to the sauna to use the gym again…

He caught sight of Ashe just as the farmer stepped out of the chicken coop, covered in feathers. “The girls not too happy about being cooped up?”

“Oh--!” The sight of Shane made Ashe’s face light up, and he hurriedly trudged through the snow to meet him. “C-cold, need warm please.”

“Pfft--” Shane had to stifle a laugh as he folded Ashe into a hug. “Good morning to you too, bugaboo. I was gonna ask if you were staying warm, but I think I already got my answer.”

“I-I was warm when I first came out here.” Ashe’s teeth were audibly chattering as Shane blew on his frozen fingers to warm them. “H-How about you?”

“Bud, with how much insulation I’m carrying, I don’t get cold. If anything, I get too warm.”

“B-But you’ve lost a lot of it?”

The farmer lightly poked at Shane’s shrinking stomach to prove his point.

“Oh, uh—shit, you noticed huh?”

“O-Of course I have! How could I not?” He buried his face in Shane’s chest. “You look good.”

Shane’s face went hot. “Thanks, bud. I disagree, but thanks all the same.”

“Then I’m just going to have to keep saying it until you agree.”

“We’ll see about that.” After a minute, Ashe went to pull away. “Hang on, don’t go running off just yet. Now that you don’t have any crops to worry about, could you slow down a bit?”

“But—but lucky day! The mines, Shane!”

“I don’t care about fortunes or the mines, I care about you.” Shane cupped Ashe’s face with both hands. “Yoba, you kept working yourself to the bone last season. I get that taking care of an entire farm by yourself is a lot of work, but you need to take care of yourself too. All right?”

Ashe puffed his cheeks out into a pout. “Fine… I’ll try. No promises.”

“Why are you so much like me?” Shane sighed. “What’s in the mines that’s so damn important, anyway?”

“Oh, I can show you!”

He took hold of Shane’s hands and pulled him along, towards the road into town.

[keelywolfe]

Fluffy Bingo Drabbles

Notes:

As I recover from being sick, I have been feeling very stagnant and uninspired. So! I feel the need to try fulfilling these fluffy bingo prompts from twitter!

The list is here.

Finished:

1. Cold Morning 2. Rainy Nights

Coming Soon!

3. Cuddles 4. First Kiss 5. Family Dinner 6. Swingset

Hope y'all need some fluffy drabbles as much as I do!

 Cold Mornings

Twilight was fading as Stretch stepped out onto the back porch, the first smudges of the coming sunrise lighting the horizon. Early enough yet that the chickens didn’t immediately come dashing out of the coop, still tucked away in their cozy little boxes with their heads tucked beneath their wings as they dreamed of juicy bugs.

(Except Nugget. Nugget might be dreaming of world domination, Stretch couldn’t be sure, probably better not to know.)

The patio chair was a little dewy, not so bad that Stretch wasn’t willing to sit on it. His cigarettes ended up on the table, untouched, as he watched the sun slowly creep upward, ready to chase away the lingering chill in the air that was threatening to make Stretch shiver despite his fluffy robe. It was a rare occasion for him to be up first, Edge almost always beat him awake. Only today, he woke too early and not enough tired, slipping out of bed before his restless flopping around could wake Edge. He’d left his husband snoozing, but odds were good that wasn’t gonna last long.

Case in point, the sliding glass door opening behind him. He could smell the coffee before a cup was set at his elbow, steam rising from it into smoky curls in the chill morning air.

“thanks, babe,” Stretch picked up the cup and took a sip, sighing happily at the perfect mix of cream and sugar. A kiss brushed against the top of his skull, along with a faint murmur that was probably ‘good morning’. Coulda been ‘wood scorning’ or even ‘forewarning’. Nonconforming? Context probably mattered and—

Oh.

His orange hoodie clung to Edge with a slightly snugger fit than it did on Stretch, those broader bones of his taking up more room, but it hung lower, almost down to the middle of Edge’s femurs. His very bare femurs, seemed like he grabbed the first thing off the seat of the Stretch’s unofficial ‘clothes chair’ instead of his robe, probably worry-warting and wanting to get downstairs to make sure there was no early morning crisis averting needed.

Because he was a shit, Edge wasn’t wearing his leg brace and the scars from his recent breaks were still lurid against the bone, branching out, obvious and pale. Eventually, they’d darken and blend in with the rest of the bone. Mostly, anyway, Edge had enough other scars to give a good idea of how they’d end up.

Stretch didn’t really want to think about that. He let his gaze linger at femur level, looking over the rim of his coffee cup at the way the hem of his sweatshirt teased its way even higher as Edge sat down with his own cup, knees primly together to better conceal what lay beneath, the brat.

“chilly out here this morning,” Stretch said, idly, just for something to say.

“It is,” Edge agreed and while Stretch dumbly stared, he drew his bare legs up and pulled the sweatshirt over them, resting his chin on his knees as he sat all curled up cozy into Stretch’s sweatshirt.

Edge tended to be a tough ass, whether he was in a business suit or his leather pants, he didn’t really lend himself to vulnerability much. Which was probably why the sight of him, all curled up, his bony knees pushing out against the worn orange fabric and stretching out the material, was so fucking adorable. He had his arms wrapped around his knees from the outside, sleeves falling over his hands like impromptu gloves. Altogether, it made him look smaller and sweetly cuddly and too fucking young to have so much responsibility heaped on him, and the only thing keeping Stretch from yanking him into his lap to let a wandering hand see if Edge had anything on underneath was the fact that it would ruin the view.

Instead, he tore his gaze away, before it could make Edge self-conscious or worse, even more smirkingly teasing, and watched the sunrise instead, sneaking sly little glances over at Edge whenever he could. The coffee was warming, sure, settling all toasty into his magic but those looks at his husband were the thing really cranking his temperature, settling his internal stove at a warm simmer. He wouldn’t mind getting Edge’s furnace stoked before he headed off to work, but there was time for that later.

For now, this was not a bad way to start the day. Stretch sank back in his chair, draining the last sugary sludge from bottom of his coffee cup and when he reached his hand out, Edge took it, gingerly, his slim, bare fingers chilly against Stretch’s as they sat together to watch the sun rise.

-fin

 Rainy Nights

“Hand me another pot.”

There were still plenty to choose from, so Stretch decided to go with the Dutch oven, handing it over. Even as he watched Edge carefully position it, a drop of water plonked on his skull, almost right between his sockets.

“think we’re fighting a losing battle here, babe,” Stretch said. This time he went with what he was told was the bottom half of a double boiler, sliding it under the newest sprung leak. He wandered over to where Edge was mopping furiously, nearly tripping over a half-full jar on his way.

“Do you?” Edge said curtly. He wrung the mop out into the sink and started again, attacking the puddles gathering on the tile furiously. Stretch winced, yeah, his baby was mad as a wet hen, which was sort of ironic since the chicken coop was nice and dry. “And what would you suggest as an alternative?” Edge asked as he mopped, “They won’t be able to fix the roof until it stops raining, shall we allow the storm to continue to flood our kitchen?”

Stretch looked around at their kitchen or rather, the shambles of it. Plastic sheeting was taped up or draped protectively over the cupboards and counters, held down by slowly filling pots and pans, the collection of raindrops dripping into each one coming up with a cacophonous melody. Their sturdy, trustworthy roof had betrayed them as the storm surged and the only perk Stretch could come up with was at least it didn’t choose to sacrifice a room with carpet.

That probably wasn’t much consolation for Edge.

“i never have liked swimming, so a pool is out.” He slanted Edge a look. “we could start building an ark, i hear in the aboveground it’s sort of a tradition.”

Huh, guess the wet hen comparison was pretty apt because Edge puffed up like one. He whirled around, mop in hand like a weapon and before Stretch could even come up with a plan to cool his temper, (groveling was a hasty first contender), Edge deflated like a popped balloon. A wet popped balloon and when Stretch reached for him, Edge leaned into his soggy embrace.

“sorry, babe,” Stretch murmured against the top of Edge’s skull. “this sucks, i know.”

“No, it’s all right,” Edge sighed. “You’re right, there’s not much we can do except try to keep the water damage to a minimum until the storm ends.”

Stretch was pretty sure a crew was standing by, waiting for the first chance to haul ass up on their housetop, click click click. “rain is supposed to let up tomorrow, they’ll be able to patch the leak.” Stretch pressed another kiss to Edge’s skull and let him go, giving him a lopsided smile. “could try a round of ‘rain rain go away’.”

Edge didn’t smile, but he inhaled like he was holding back a laugh, “I think my voice is more appropriate for ‘Thunder Road.’”

“split the difference and go for ‘singing in the rain?’” Stretch offered. Another huff of almost laughter and Edge turned away, heading over to dump some of the half-full pots into the sink.

And if he could hear his baby humming very softly, Stretch didn’t say a word, only raising his own voice in song, with the dripping of the water in pots playing backup, “…just singing in the rain! what a glorious feeling, i'm happy again—"

-fin

[cyberrat]

39th Batch Of Fics: 12th Fill

Shane/Charlie (Chicken) – Stardew Valley – animal fucc; DEAD DOVE: DO NOT EAT – Look at the chars and the tags and only read if u r ok with them pwease :)

---

Shane wakes out of his alcohol induced slumber with a snort and a flail. Everything is still slowly tilting on its axis and for a heart stopping second he anticipates rolling off a ledge and right into water.

Neither of it is happening; instead he can feel the sharp sensation of something digging into his thighs. His limbs are also weirdly….. bound up? Or something? It is hard to think.

He blinks and slowly stares at the old cobwebb-y ceiling of the chicken coop. He knows that one by heart, and it calms him instantly. It’s dark, only the bright light of the moon illuminating things through the grimy windows. It reminds him that he really needs to clean them again, even though the chickens spend most of their time outside in these warmer months.

His aching eyes slowly look around the barn. Here and there are the warm, round bodies of the ladies; fluffed up and sitting in their nests as they sleep and prepare to lay their eggs. To be waking up in the coop is so comforting that his whole body relaxes. Even the throb of his head seems to recede instantly.

Shane then looks down and sees a blanket has been thrown over him. Ah…

He vaguely remembers falling asleep in the coop after taking a sixpack of beer with him from work and probably drinking most of it, if not all, on the way back here. Aunt Marnie must have found him passed out on the floor. Damn. But it is better than falling asleep on the pier.

There still is a lingering fear that he might roll into the water one day…

He shifts a bit. Everything is toasty warm. Blearily he realizes that he’s got a hard-on.

“The Hell…” he mutters. God, he thought he’d gone all but impotent what with the alcohol and his constant bad moods. But here he is; abdomen nice and warm and cock pulsing slowly in his underwear.

He sighs. Tonight is shaping up to become better and better. He should just seize the moment and rub one out real quick before finally dragging himself back into his actual bed for a couple hours of sleep.

He slips both hands beneath the blanket; then encounters a warm, feathery little body. His brain lags behind; it takes him stupidly long to figure out that he got a chicken sitting on his lap.

Shane lightly lifts the blanket and peers underneath. He can’t see much, but he knows that it is Charlie that has somehow crawled beneath his blanket. Or maybe she had slept on his lap even before Aunt Marnie had come in? Who knew…

“Come on, Charlie…” he whispers, trying to gently scoop her up to deposit her next to him – but she is digging her talons into his jeans and hunkers down even more.

It is like she thinks his warm, slowly pulsing cock is an egg that needs hatching. His ears start to grow hot. He’s vaguely surprised that they aren’t glowing in the dark.

“Charlie… gimme a second, alright? Damn…” He manages to slip a hand beneath her, palm pressing against her soft, warm belly to lift her up and put her next to him where she blearily blinks at him and stretches her neck to peck at his sleeve. She is not amused about being woken in the middle of the night. He murmurs something apologetic but he doesn’t think he managed to string together actual words.

He looks down again and awkwardly opens the button of his jeans. He misses Charlie’s warmth somewhat if he is being honest. His cock doesn’t seem to mind, though. It practically leaps into his palm as he stuffs his hand down his underwear. It’s warm and silky and he can feel his heartbeat in the thick vein along the bottom.

Shit, it’s been so long since he got to jerk it… maybe he’s forgotten how it works?

He snorts softly. Nah. Don’t forget shit like that. He rubs his calloused thumb over the head and hisses when the skin catches at the sensitive tip. He wishes he got some slick in here, but he won’t get up to get it, either. He’ll just have to deal with it.

Before he can deal with anything, though, Charlie is back in the mix. There is a flutter and a low cluck, and the chicken is back on his lap, sitting her warm, feathery body down on his cock and wriggling around like she’s in there for the long haul.

Shane hisses. He tries to move her with the hand she is now sitting on, but Charlie’s talons dig in deep; like she wants to make sure she is not removed this time.

He pulls his hand out from beneath her. His cock is slowly flexing, pulsing, snuggled into the soft feathers of her belly.

Oh, this is wrong. This is wrong and bad and everything in between.

“Charlie, come on,” he whispers. He’s trying to move her, but all he manages to do is make her slip along his cock, sparks of sensation racing along his spine. Up and down and right into his extremities…

“O… Okay…” He doesn’t want to get too rough with her. He doesn’t want to get rough with them at all. Any of them. He loves his chickens.

But that doesn’t help his cock any. It’s still stubbornly hard. It’s like he can feel Charlie’s little chicken heart thumping against the tip. He presses a hand over his eyes and groans; the other is on her back, nervously petting her feathers.

“This is no good, Charlie,” he whispers, but she doesn’t answer… of course.

He’s stuck, and all his aching brain can come up with is to slowly move; fucking against her. Trying to push the throbbing tip of his cock into her feathers.

His hand is moving down her back slowly, grasping her tail. He stares down, watching himself lightly bend her tail feathers up so he can see the little hole hidden between those tiny little feathers there.

He reaches down slowly while his hips keep doing a weird little upwards undulation, rubbing against her belly. This is all bad and disgusting, but he can’t stop himself…

Shane touches that little hole. It feels so silky soft… he can’t believe that she presses eggs out of it daily. It’s way too small…

His cock pulses again. He’s pretty sure he’s getting pre-cum onto Charlie’s feathers, and all she does in response to him feeling her up and using her as a warm little fleshlight is to coo so low and satisfied as if she were purring.

He wonders… he wonders just in the privacy of his mind…

if she could easily make that little hole spread around her eggs… would she mind if he were to make it spread around his cock? Would it hurt her? Would she notice much? His cheeks are as hot as his ears. Everything is pounding thick and fast with the beating of his heart. His cock jerks, pushing right into the thick belly down she has while his thumb is starting to round her little hole like its a pussy.

He can feel it lightly moving against him. It seems almost… He knows it is not, but it still feels like… like she’s begging for it.

“Fuck… Fuck, shit,” he whispers, his temples aching more fiercely with his hangover as he barrels toward orgasm wondering how it would be to gently clasp Charlie’s warm, round body… press her wings to her rump; maybe hold her little chicken legs as well to not have her accidentally scratch him as he carefully nudges his way into her…

He’s the worst kind of pervert. Disgusting. Horrible. But he can’t stop thinking of it. In his mind she is even hotter inside than she is trying to hatch his goddamn dick. All those muscles for pressing out the eggs pushing down on his shaft.. on his sensitive, swollen crown…

Her fluttery heart beat felt everywhere…

Shane’s head sinks back. He groans low and mighty as he comes, pulsing his thick load into her feathers.

He’ll need to clean her. Oh God, he’ll need to clean her… but fuck… fuck, this orgasm is racing into every nerve end, leaving him feel blitzed and out of it and stupidly happy.

Shit...

[benjamingarden]

This Month On The Farm: September 2020

September officially marks the end of summer and I am tomato'd out!  As noted in previous posts, it was a toasty one here this year, as it was for so much of the country, so I am very much ready to move on to the next season.  Bring on the pumpkin spice everything (yes, I am THAT person).

Starting last week our walks around the yard consist of a crisp crunching under our feet.  Our trees are not only changing to their fall colors but are also shedding them quite quickly thanks to some much needed rain.  And so, leaf raking season begins.

I am still toggling between hot and iced coffee, depending on the day.  We've two had days of almost frost and more opportunities are on their way.  I celebrated fall by ordering two new sets of our very favorite flannel sheets from LL Bean.  We replace our well used sheets every few years.  They are expensive but honestly the BEST flannel sheets we've tried.  With the bitter cold winter temps we receive for 5 months of the year, it's well worth it.

Jay also finished building both a food storage pantry space in our basement plus and large pantry shelving unit to go behind the door that leads to the basement.  This has really allowed us to stock up nicely.

Putting Food Up

With the summer garden completed the fall garden is focused on winter squash, green beans, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, greens, and beets.  Food preservation is mostly complete.  I planted way too much cabbage so I was able to shred quite a few heads, blanch and then freeze them.  It will be perfect for soups, stir fry's, and unstuffed cabbage casserole.  I've left a few heads in the garden to use up before the first freeze is on the horizon.

I was successful in getting enough green beans for plenty of fresh eating and enough leftover for the freezer.  My goal was a minimum of 20 servings in the freezer and I believe I will make it.  Good thing I planted more late summer!  I was also successful in keeping up with the tomatoes.  I think I only lost 4 or 5 to rot, getting the others either tossed in the freezer for future processing or processed on the date of picking.  We have a ton of tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, and oven-roasted cherry tomatoes for sauce, pizza, pasta dishes, etc.  I'm planning to grow greens into the winter so I haven't worried about getting those put in the freezer.  I've already roasted and froze some pie pumpkins and winter squash.    My husband's favorite stuffed jalapenos are in the freezer along with 10 bags of sliced bell peppers and 4 bags of roasted poblano peppers ready to stuff or use in soups or enchiladas.

Also in the freezer I have some bags of corn, mixed vegetables (green beans, carrots, corn and onions), corn salsa (corn, poblano peppers, and onions) as well as mirepoix (celery, onion, carrots) for soup making.  We have 6 bags of frozen strawberries, 4 bags of frozen blackberries, and 6 bags of frozen shredded zucchini for future baking.  Speaking of baking, we have many loaves of zucchini quick bread, a couple batches of chocolate zucchini cake baked as cupcakes, and quite a few batches of chocolate chip zucchini muffins and zucchini crumble muffins all in the freezer.   Those recipes are so moist that they freeze perfectly.  I've also been making a ton of homemade chicken stock.  We buy whole chickens from a local farmer friend and I cut them up and make stock with the carcass.  I freeze the stock in mason jars for use during soup and stew season.  

Good thing we now have 3 stand-alone freezers!

In the cupboard we have canned pickled jalapeno slices, cucumber relish, salsa, tomato jam, and enchilada sauce.  We dried garlic, onions, elderberries, herbs, and pumpkin seeds, and harvested over 20 pounds of sweet potatoes that are cured and stored away.

In The Coop

Feathers.  Feathers everywhere.  That's what you'll find in the coop.  We have hit molting season so every morning it looks like the Coop Girls had a pillow fight the previous night.  Unfortunately this also means they are laying very few eggs.  In the years past we would have added new girls in spring so they would be laying while the older girls are molting but not this year.  Because we're working on reducing our flock size we won't have younger girls laying during molt season for a few more years.  So, we've increased their protein to help their aging bodies with the change and wait for their new feathers to emerge.

Oliver

Oliver is acting a lot more like Emerson now.  We noticed this about 6 months after Emerson, Ollie's brother/litter mate, passed away almost 2 years ago.  He never used to be interested in food much at all whereas Emerson was obsessed with food.  Well, Oliver is now obsessed with food.  This isn't a bad thing, necessarily, because at least he eats without much effort now.  It's just very funny to see the transition.  Despite him taking on Emerson's food obsession, he's still sensitive and quirky Oliver who requires sticking right by my side, has a dislike of trash cans, shakes when the vacuum cleaner is running, and absolutely detests all white trucks and minivans (both of which the only neighbor that he can see has).

I am taking full advantage of the last of the nice days to keep my sensitive little man preoccupied.  Because he is truly glued to my side all day, I can keep him (somewhat) happy if the temps are relatively warm and there is sunshine on the deck.  So, I lure him outside whenever I can and race to get as much accomplished indoors as possible before the barking to be let in begins.

What I've Been Reading

I've actually had time to read!  I'm so happy since I absolutely adore getting lost in a book.  So my evenings and early mornings were spent with a cup of (herbal) coffee and a book.  The first few books I've read are memoirs about country living or homesteading and I've thoroughly enjoyed each of them.  

So far I've read (affiliate links):  Follow Me To Alaska, by Ann Parker, Woodswoman: Living Alone In The Adirondack Wilderness by Anne LaBastille, Homestead, by Jane Kirkpatrick, Good Husbandry, by Kristin Kimball, Mud Season, by Ellen Stimson, Winds Of Skilak, by Bonnie Rose Ward, The Feast Nearby: How I Lost My Job, Buried A Marriage, And Found My Way By Keeping Chickens, Foraging, Preserving, Bartering, And Eating Locally On $40.00/Week, by Robin Mather, and Flat Broke With Two Goats, by Jennifer McGaha.  

My favorites were Good Husbandry, Follow Me To Alaska, and The Winds Of Skilak (and the follow-up book).

I also read a few fiction books in September.  My favorites have been (affiliate links): The Tourist Attraction, by Sarah Morgenthaler, The Year Of Pleasures, by Elizabeth Berg, and The City Bakers Guide To Country Living: A Novel, by Louise Miller.  I thoroughly enjoyed each of these - the writing styles, the fluidity, the characters and how they were developed, and the stories themselves.

Jackson, my meal planning assistant....

Stews, Soups, And Casseroles, Oh My!

I adore the change of season not only because of the weather but also because of food.  I've started to put soups, stews, and casseroles on the menu and am back to making bread.  These are all comfort foods for me and I happily anticipate making them every year.  Fresh corn soup, roasted tomato soup, veggie stew with biscuits (chicken added to Jay's), chili and cornbread, and oatmeal honey bread for breakfast have all made their way to our table.  

Speaking of meals, I've settled into monthly menu planning which is easiest for me since we are so well stocked up.  You can see October's meal plan (dinner only) in the photo above.  If there are 2 listed then I'm making something different for Jay and I.  You'll also see that I don't mind eating the same thing more then one day a week which also saves me time at dinner prep.  Jay is not a fan so he eats his leftovers at lunch.

What We've Been Making

Our farmer's market has remained somewhat busy as we're still getting quite an influx of locals and tourists.  So many things have changed this year that we have no idea what to expect from one week to the next.  One thing that does stay the same though are our seasonal products, and our fall line is finally out!  It's my absolute favorite group of soaps: Pumpkin Crunch Cake, Apple & Sage, Cinnamon & Raw Honey, Chai Tea Latte, and Pumpkin Cheesecake smell soooo delicious.  We've just made the winter soaps as well which will be available the beginning of November.

That's September around the homestead!

This Month On The Farm: September 2020 was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

[eknowledgetree2015]

Beginner’s Guide to Raising Backyard Chickens

It’s one of these days you might want to add a few chickens to your backyard or homestead. You will certainly have tons of questions regarding how to raise backyard chickens. In this post, we will go over those points, which will help you get started. From ordering chickens to transitioning them to outdoors, this guide has got it all covered. We will further discuss topics relating to chicken coop and runs.  Why you want chickens? First of all, you need to ask yourself why you want chickens. More often than not, people want it for eggs, meat or self-sustainability. It helps parents to ensure nourishment for their kids through natural eggs. In addition, some fancy having chicken as pets. Your choice of a breed should be based on the reason why you want chickens in your backyard. 

Choosing your breed

Urban vs. Rural Besides the purpose of chickens, your living conditions do have a say on your choice of the breed as well. If you live in an urban setting, you may want to keep things quiet. In addition, you can’t overlook other factors such as availability of space, compatibility with kids, etc...A breed like ‘silkies’ is fluffy cute, less noisy, less space demanding and kid-friendly. They are perfect for your urban home. Silkies are decent laying birds as well. You might also want to check out some of the fancy-looking breeds that can serve as pets. 

Egg vs. Meat vs. Heritage If you have over a couple of acres and want a free-range, you can aim for eggs and meat. Simply put, you can go for larger birds that are better on production. Breeds like black australorp and buff Orpington are definitely good for dual purposes. If you want to focus solely on egg production alone, we recommend going with a breed like Red Sex Link or white leghorn. Alternatively, if you want to focus mainly on meat, go for the Cornish cross.  Meat birds are something to be called at the end of the year. If you want self-sustainable meat, go for some heritage breeds. A classy option would be ‘dorking’, which is a slow-growing heritage breed. If you want to move down the heritage path without compromising of chicken’s growing speed, you can go for a rainbow ranger. Regardless, heritage breeds bring in the best of flavours in the meat.  You can also offset with a variety of breeds. One group of chicken will provide for eggs while another gets you the meat. Regardless, you need to do detailed research on your breeds. Make sure these breeds can survive in your region without air conditioning. 

How to get chicken?

You can get chicken via few routes now - online hatchery, local breeder and craigslist.  The easiest route as of now is ordering via online hatcheries. These hatcheries give you the option to vaccinate your chicks. We leave that choice up to you since we don't consider vaccination absolutely essential. Moreover, they do not vaccinate bantam chickens, which are otherwise called miniatures. In regards to local breeders, you can do your research on what breeds they have. Generally, local breeders do not have a wide range of breeds. The local breeders usually carry 2-3 different types of breeds. Without proper research, you might end up driving around different breeders to get the right mix. On the other hand, the chickens are not being shipped in an uncomfortable position. In addition, you are establishing solid relationships with the local breeders. An interesting option to get chickens is via craigslist. You can find tons of chickens being given away or sold crazy cheap. If you are looking for some good bargain chicken, craigslist is where you need to be. You might find people who are giving their chicken for cheap since they are moving out of state. If you are dealing with a hatchery or breeder in craigslist, make sure they are NPIP certified.  It ensures you are not introducing disease to the current flock if you have one. Try to know who the seller is, and how they are taking care of the chickens.  Did you know? All chickens have something called the egg tooth. It is what helps them to break out of the eggs. They will eventually lose them in 1-2 days. 

Getting the chickens home...

Sexed chickens: Roosters, hens & straight run When you order chickens, you can order roosters, hens or straight runs. Roosters and hens are obviously sexed chickens. A specialist looks into the vent to tell you about its gender before you order them. Whereas, a straight run translates to chickens which are not sexed. You can't be sure what will you get. As a rule of thumb, it's usually 60 per cent roosters and 40 per cent hens. Going to a hatchery rather local breeder introduces you to the advantage of picking chicken based on gender. Moreover, auto-sexed chickens can be told on the gender-based on their colors and stripes.  When should the chickens arrive? Most people want their chickens to arrive in April because of its Easter time. Moreover, it's easy to involve kids around this time. However, if you want some heritage breeds, there is no point waiting till March/April. The rarer breeds sell out quickly, even in large hatcheries. If you want them for April, start planning by November. Once you place your order by November, you get a selection of dates for the chickens to arrive in your doorstep. Choose the date that is convenient for you. You need to be home during the day and even the corresponding week. The chickens may arrive at any time of the day or week. With the kind of postal service for chickens, ignore the tracking number. They are seldom updated or precise. Chickens are good to survive for 3 days in the mail.  Your chickens should be indoors for at least 4 weeks post-delivery. When you move them outside, the temperature should be - 75 degrees. If not, you need to provide the supplementary heat. There are mini-thermostats that can precisely set a temperature these days. 

Nurturing newborn chickens

For the first month, the chickens need to stay indoors. Considering there is no hen around to nurture them, you should rely solely on gadgets. Using an EcoGlow brooder or heat lamp becomes essential. You need to have the right setup prior to the arrival of chickens. As far as supplies are concerned, you need to invest in chicken feed, electrolytes and vinegar solution.  Setting it up... Firstly you need a plastic tub to keep the chickens for about a week. You should put in an inch of pine shavings in the bottom. A few breeders suggest using a paper or sheet to cover the base of the tub. But, using a paper sheet may cause the chicken legs to frequently slip and result in splay legs. You can then place a water container for electrolytes and lid for chicken feed.  Selection of brooders As far as brooder is concerned, our first choice is definitely EcoGlow. It’s nothing but a warming plate that acts just like a mother hen would. The chickens can go under them to get warm and toasty, whenever they feel like it. You can control the temperature that’s under the brooder.  We suggest keeping a temperature of 90-95 degrees during the first week. You can reduce the temperature by 5 degrees every week thereafter. Alternatively, people can use a heat lamp for the same purpose. Using a red lamp or amphibian light helps avoid pecking from the little chickens and doesn’t prevent them from sleeping. Nevertheless, chickens prefer heat plates. 

Supplies

The first supply you need is chick starter. It has higher protein content than grower feed and layer feed. Optionally, you can choose medicated feed, which helps prevent Coccidiosis, a parasitic disease affecting the intestinal tract of chickens. However, medicating the feed is not absolutely necessary. We suggest going with non-medicated organic starter feed and medicating when necessary.  Organic being 100 per cent natural, has a default appeal to it.   The immediate next thing you need after starter feed is electrolytes. Electrolytes will provide your chicken with energy. It’s almost like Gatorade for chicks. After being shipped, chickens tend to be dehydrated. Giving water after mixing with little electrolytes gets them perked up.  Apple cider vinegar is good to have in your supply kit. Putting a splash of it on your feed supplies your chicken with potassium and energy. It also has anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-parasitic properties. More often than not, you can stumble upon a good organic brand in vinegar as well.  A little board above the pine shavings can be used to place the water container. You can supply water with electrolytes and vinegar through the container. You can put in the feed on small lids. Ironically, a good treat for chickens would be scrambled eggs. You can also give them corid amprolium, which prevents the intake of b1 vitamin, thereby preventing the formation of Coccidiosis.  The first thing you need to do with your chickens is to pick them up and dip their beaks in the water. If helps in finding out whether they have arrived healthy and fine. Secondly, you should tap on the feed to show them where the food is. After they have tasted the food, make sure they have access to food and water at all times. Ensure your chickens have arrived nice and warm. 

Transitioning to backyard

Transitioning to the backyard is never straight forward in case of chickens. You should introduce them to a bigger structure after the first week. Regardless, for the entire month, the chickens should stay indoors. A week prior to bringing them outdoors, you should introduce them to the native soil. For this purpose, add the native soil mixed with wood ash to their indoor shelter.  Chicken coop and runs The one-month-old chickens which have been properly nurtured are considered fit to be introduced to the outdoors. You can either use self-built or industry made coops to house your chickens. My Chicken coop provides some of the best coops for chickens, hens and roosters.  The extensive catalogue has deluxe chicken coop, premium chicken coop, super large chicken coop, villa chicken coop and more. You can also purchase chicken coop with the large run to enable chickens to roam freely.  You can place all the add-ons such as nesting boxes, chicken drinker and chicken feeder inside the coop. The hens and roosters can be introduced safely as well.  Predator-proofing your backyard Coops are so essential for raising chickens in the backyard.  Besides coops, you need additional protection as well. You need to know every possible predator in your area.  From foxes to raccoons to black snakes, there are many ground predators. Using an electric fence effectively prevents the intrusion of ground predators. To combat digging ground predators, you can dig down under the coop and put some mesh down there.  For aerial predators such as owls and hawks, string up colored mason lines 2 feet above the ground. It is because the bigger birds do not like to dive down in an area where they are likely to get trapped. They will fly over, come close, but won’t come past the colored mason lines. 

Final steps...

For the first two days, the chickens should be locked inside the coop. They need to make the coop their home before introducing them to the grass area. This way, they will know to get back to the coop during the night. To assist the transition, drop-in pine shavings in the coop. After a couple of days, you can open gates to the run.  The chickens shouldn’t get past the run for at least 4 weeks. They shouldn’t meet the larger fowl before they are at least 8 weeks old. Move the coup regularly around your backyard. Make sure to close the gates before night, to lock the chickens safely inside the coop. when they are 8 weeks old, let them in and out of the run using a small chicken door. Read the full article

[headsarolling-blog]

Going Home Chapter 2: Casper describes a farm

Keep your eyes on the sun at all times during this journey. Do not ever let it out of your sight. Do not blink. Let the warm rays of sunshine burn your gelatinous orbs into a new dimension as you cross the folding planes of time and space. Take the East road past New York and the Unfathomable Depths of Nova Scotia, swing north at Conception Bay and enjoy a fine lunch in Greenland and then continue South-East until the trees recognise you.

Enjoy your trip and remember to be back at Wollstonecraft Academy before the start of your first class on Monday morning.

Reagan stood dazed in the trees on the edge of its property, attempting to blink its now toasty gelatinous orbs back into this dimension. Ardghal nudged its back impatiently while Guinness attempted to make off with its bags into the forest behind them.

“Oh hold yaselves,” Reagan grumbled, snatching Guinness’s reins before she could get too far and shoving Ardghal’s head away with its elbow.

While sun spots still burst across its view it placed its head in the holder on Ardghal’s saddle and, with reins in each hand, marched through the woods to its cottage. Reagan hadn’t been home at this time of year since it first started at Wollstonecraft, and it had missed the light, cool rain and the clouded skies that gave the forest a foreboding atmosphere and its cottage a cozy appeal. After striping the horses of their packs and equipment Reagan left them to reacquaint themselves with the property and other horses while it settled in for the weekend. Mostly this involved stripping the furniture of their dust covers and lighting a fire to warm the cottage through. After that it spent a few hours wandering the property, adamantly avoiding the task it had come to complete despite its limited time.  

Its mother had set up much of the farm, though neither its father nor the few faeries who had talked to her new why. The chicken coops seemed the only practical part. Reagan had attempted to restore some order and organise the birds into egg producers and meat suppliers, though it wasn’t certain what the faeries it bribed to feed them while it was gone actually followed its directions. Either way, there were still a decent amount of chickens in the coops now, which probably meant the faeries didn’t just steal and replace them all.

The cows made less sense. They were a small sized herd, a third highland cattle, a third Irish mottled, and a third something else, and Aoife had shown no propensity for either slaughtering or milking so what she had them around was a mystery. Reagan, likewise, tended to ignore them for the most except to milk one occasionally while it was home. The other faeries had found a better use for them anyway, using them to barter with humans and replacing them with different cows stolen from other humans.  And because Reagan knew about it, the faeries were always polite.

The horses, Cearbhall explained, were just something Aoife enjoyed, which Reagan couldn’t fault her for but was slightly bitter about. Most of the horses on the property were untrained and unrideable, though a fair few generations off from being considered “wild”. These the faeries only took with Reagan’s permission, because the last time one had tried behind its back it had come at them with iron. Small perks of being a Dullahan and a half-blood.

After checking on all the animals, or at least as many as it could find since the horses and cattle were left to roam the forest as they pleased, Reagan stopped by its father’s sídhe, a long shallow hill topped with braided tree roots. It didn’t venture to close, not wanting to call him out if he was there, but it couldn’t locate Cearbhall anywhere in the pocket dimension. He must have been out in the forest somewhere, perhaps a court had been called. Either way, it hoped he wouldn’t return for the weekend.

Finally, now thoroughly soaked by the rain, it turned its mind to the task at hand; finding a spell that could help protect it. Aoife had taken all the spellbooks and grimoire she had written herself, but left behind many other books that could still be of use to Reagan, most of which had been shoved in the attic to collect dust. It took Reagan three quarters of an hour and a tower made out of a coffee table and two chairs to open the attic and clear out all Aoife’s left behind books and it was left with a very dusty sitting room and a good ten hours of spellbook perusal ahead of it. So, without further ado, it got to work.

[iqvts]

8146 W Monroe Road, Elwell, MI 48832 from iQ Visual Tours on Vimeo.

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Stunning custom built log home on over 2 acres! 2 Bedroom 2 bath home is just waiting for you. River rock fireplace will keep you toasty in the winter. Full basement waiting to be finished into another bedroom or family room. Main floor laundry, all appliances, generator and ORV hookup, great size deck, reverse osmosis and whole home water conditioning, are just some of the perks to this home! Chicken coop and chickens can stay with the home if you would like. Schedule your personal showing today!

Contact: Angela Devereaux (616) 255-5772 adevereaux@cbwmh.com

[josephkitchen0]

The Pros & Cons of Coop Heating: Do Chickens Need Heat in Winter?

Recently, I’ve been writing about safely heating backyard chicken coops and addressing the question: Do chickens need heat in winter? In New England, we get buried under heaps of snow and experience temperatures in the negatives. During these times, my mind becomes pre-occupied with staying warm.

But these posts often stir up a debate: To heat or not to heat a chicken coop? Here are some facts to consider when deciding for yourself.

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Why You Don’t Have To Heat A Coop

Chickens are amazing animals, and can survive some pretty harsh environments. If birds have a place to perch without a breeze, they can keep warm in cold environments. When a chicken perches for the night it puffs its feathers and looks quite comical. This puffing creates an air gap between the skin and feathers, which serves as an insulating barrier. To protect their feet and legs, birds usually fluff enough to encompass their legs and to guard against frostbite. They tuck their head under a wing. Also, if you have a well-insulated coop and a fair number of birds, then they will keep the coop warm with body heat all on their own.

Why You Should Heat

Just like us, a chicken’s body prioritizes its functions. High on the list are functions like circulating blood, breathing and other life-critical purposes. Guess what is last on that list … making eggs. When a bird’s needs are met, production is rampant, but when faced with conditions like extreme cold, you’ll have an answer to the why have my chickens stopped laying. Bottom line: Cold weather can cause a drastic reduction in egg production.

The poultry industry got some real flack a few years ago when the public heard about the industry’s method of force-molting chickens through reduced light duration and removing all nutrients. Basically, you stop the water and hold the feed and the bird’s body goes into chaos. This chaos starts with an immediate halt in egg production, the beginning of feather molting and a long path to regeneration (as short as a month, if properly managed).

When the temperatures drop, water freezes, not excluding your water dispenser. If your water freezes (some people prevent this by using a heated chicken waterer,) your flock goes without water. If your birds go without water, they will also go off their feed since they need moisture to eat. If they stop eating and drinking, they stop laying. If this happens in the beginning of winter, odds are your birds won’t lay again until spring.

When eggs are laid, the shell and protective bloom keep bacteria and other organisms out. This keeps eggs safe to eat, but if they freeze, they crack. A cracked egg will become contaminated, so these eggs are inedible. It’s a shame to waste eggs, so keep your coop above freezing.

Frozen eggs are unsafe to eat.

Even during the day in New England, we’ve seen long stretches where the temps have been bitter cold for days on end. This brings up another issue known as frostbite. Frostbite is a result of overexposure to cold temperatures, and it commonly claims toes, wattles, and combs. Frostbite is a painful thing to endure, and it’s a pain that lingers.

Do you have an old hen in the flock? When a chicken’s body puts more effort into keeping warm, it tends to exasperate existing issues and hasten the death of weak birds. Sick birds will take longer to recoup when they have to fight the cold, so keeping the coop warm will help weak birds survive a harsh winter.

What I Do

The answer to the question “do chickens need heat in winter?” is a complicated one, but here’s what I do. I try to keep my coops above freezing, but my birds can free range at will. On cold days they refuse to range, preferring to stay inside, which should tell you something. Unless you’re brooding chicks, you don’t need to keep a coop toasty warm, but I do suggest keeping your coop around 40° F. So if you want your birds to produce through the winter (in cold climates specifically), keep your coop’s temperature within your chicken’s comfort zone for best results and happy hens.

Now is the time to be thinking about winter preparations, making sure your coops are secure, parasite free and any structural damages repaired.

The Pros & Cons of Coop Heating: Do Chickens Need Heat in Winter? was originally posted by All About Chickens

[quicklime-girl-blog]

Farm Stuffed Animals

Whereas many farms boast a large number of animals, there are some that home one animal solely. Horse farms for instance, are one other type of a farm by which horses could also be used to give horseback riding classes, or they're places the place horses are bred and trained. They can also be a spot where horses are boarded as their owner doesn't have the house for which to house the animal. Boarding charges are part of the deal which incorporates care of the horse corresponding to grooming and feeding. Other horse farms embrace ones during which thoroughbred horses stay and train for use in skilled horse racing. And at last, there are additionally horse farms which are actually sanctuaries for abused, outdated, and/or abandon horses. Horses that live there are in a position to do so in peace and tranquility, often for the remainder of their lives. Farm animals are home creatures which is another motive children are so taken with Alpaca Farm New Forest (find out here now) them. Home animals will be touched and fed without risk of harm in contrast to the animals dwelling within the wild.

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Forcing the precise connection shut to ten or possibly Seven centimeter all through the surface is an efficient apparel and likewise hardwearing . Chickens require to be saved cozy in winter and cool for the summertime consequently the hen coop goes to take some kind of insulation. Most are essential to give up the sunshine source ticket back into the coop in order that it doesn’t to truly stuffy. At the same time, people who design and style the land from an reasonably priced straight slope into the foremost house, it’s going to extra supple to clean your personal hen coop. Within the occasion that hosing on the household of a coop by working with water provide plus germicides, the tank might expire away from the coop robotically, versus muddling in the middle 1 . Consequently you’ll want to grasp tips on how to get a chicken coop which is often excessive-high quality to avoid wasting.Discovering building a fabulous hen coop and maintaining that toasty plus vivid is unquestionably very complicated pc seems to be. When you've got a passion for hen coops for your very own residence and wish to learn higher than touch the article writer and hubby may possibly be thrilled to make totally different publications. Please visit this man’s other kinds of net content along hen coops to your very personal house and look any of them for glorious leisure.

We're having curry which is gently simmering on the hob, it smells like an Indian restuarant in here which is improbable! A few days ago we received a parcel from far far away. Those tremendous fab people Bob and Diane Hey at Van Diemen Alpacas in Burnie, Tasmania had responded to a request to ship Qjori's ribbons over from Australia. I used to be anticipating to have to send them back, these things are laborious won and extremely cherished I do know. keeping alpacas Hensting Alpacas Nevertheless, Bob stated that we may keep them and wished us luck with Qjori's future. How is that for customer service! I can actually say that buying Qjori was one of the best determination we have made since we determined 5 years ago to take that first step into the fantastic world of alpacas. Anyway the explanation for the ribbon request was so that we could take some good publicity photographs for some advertising. Not as straightforward because it sounds! Sue and i spent an hour out within the sunshine with Qjori, his ribbons, the trusty Canon and a slightly gusty wind. I held Qjori, Sue took photos, Sue held Qjori, I took photos. Over 100 pictures have been taken, sometimes Sue was a little bit distracted and there have been far too many pictures of our rear ends (arty I used to be told?). Really we had to take one in every of his ribbons off as he simply had too many and appeared a little like he was standing behind a curtain. He was very affected person and we farted round attempting to get one of the best shot. We're nearly there, but not fairly. We will likely be attempting again when the sun next shines, a different background maybe. We'll get there, nothing however perfection will do.

[benjamingarden]

This Month On The Farm: September 2020

September officially marks the end of summer and I am tomato'd out!  As noted in previous posts, it was a toasty one here this year, as it was for so much of the country, so I am very much ready to move on to the next season.  Bring on the pumpkin spice everything (yes, I am THAT person).

Starting last week our walks around the yard consist of a crisp crunching under our feet.  Our trees are not only changing to their fall colors but are also shedding them quite quickly thanks to some much needed rain.  And so, leaf raking season begins.

I am still toggling between hot and iced coffee, depending on the day.  We've two had days of almost frost and more opportunities are on their way.  I celebrated fall by ordering two new sets of our very favorite flannel sheets from LL Bean.  We replace our well used sheets every few years.  They are expensive but honestly the BEST flannel sheets we've tried.  With the bitter cold winter temps we receive for 5 months of the year, it's well worth it.

Jay also finished building both a food storage pantry space in our basement plus and large pantry shelving unit to go behind the door that leads to the basement.  This has really allowed us to stock up nicely.

Putting Food Up

With the summer garden completed the fall garden is focused on winter squash, green beans, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, greens, and beets.  Food preservation is mostly complete.  I planted way too much cabbage so I was able to shred quite a few heads, blanch and then freeze them.  It will be perfect for soups, stir fry's, and unstuffed cabbage casserole.  I've left a few heads in the garden to use up before the first freeze is on the horizon.

I was successful in getting enough green beans for plenty of fresh eating and enough leftover for the freezer.  My goal was a minimum of 20 servings in the freezer and I believe I will make it.  Good thing I planted more late summer!  I was also successful in keeping up with the tomatoes.  I think I only lost 4 or 5 to rot, getting the others either tossed in the freezer for future processing or processed on the date of picking.  We have a ton of tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, and oven-roasted cherry tomatoes for sauce, pizza, pasta dishes, etc.  I'm planning to grow greens into the winter so I haven't worried about getting those put in the freezer.  I've already roasted and froze some pie pumpkins and winter squash.    My husband's favorite stuffed jalapenos are in the freezer along with 10 bags of sliced bell peppers and 4 bags of roasted poblano peppers ready to stuff or use in soups or enchiladas.

Also in the freezer I have some bags of corn, mixed vegetables (green beans, carrots, corn and onions), corn salsa (corn, poblano peppers, and onions) as well as mirepoix (celery, onion, carrots) for soup making.  We have 6 bags of frozen strawberries, 4 bags of frozen blackberries, and 6 bags of frozen shredded zucchini for future baking.  Speaking of baking, we have many loaves of zucchini quick bread, a couple batches of chocolate zucchini cake baked as cupcakes, and quite a few batches of chocolate chip zucchini muffins and zucchini crumble muffins all in the freezer.   Those recipes are so moist that they freeze perfectly.  I've also been making a ton of homemade chicken stock.  We buy whole chickens from a local farmer friend and I cut them up and make stock with the carcass.  I freeze the stock in mason jars for use during soup and stew season.  

Good thing we now have 3 stand-alone freezers!

In the cupboard we have canned pickled jalapeno slices, cucumber relish, salsa, tomato jam, and enchilada sauce.  We dried garlic, onions, elderberries, herbs, and pumpkin seeds, and harvested over 20 pounds of sweet potatoes that are cured and stored away.

In The Coop

Feathers.  Feathers everywhere.  That's what you'll find in the coop.  We have hit molting season so every morning it looks like the Coop Girls had a pillow fight the previous night.  Unfortunately this also means they are laying very few eggs.  In the years past we would have added new girls in spring so they would be laying while the older girls are molting but not this year.  Because we're working on reducing our flock size we won't have younger girls laying during molt season for a few more years.  So, we've increased their protein to help their aging bodies with the change and wait for their new feathers to emerge.

Oliver

Oliver is acting a lot more like Emerson now.  We noticed this about 6 months after Emerson, Ollie's brother/litter mate, passed away almost 2 years ago.  He never used to be interested in food much at all whereas Emerson was obsessed with food.  Well, Oliver is now obsessed with food.  This isn't a bad thing, necessarily, because at least he eats without much effort now.  It's just very funny to see the transition.  Despite him taking on Emerson's food obsession, he's still sensitive and quirky Oliver who requires sticking right by my side, has a dislike of trash cans, shakes when the vacuum cleaner is running, and absolutely detests all white trucks and minivans (both of which the only neighbor that he can see has).

I am taking full advantage of the last of the nice days to keep my sensitive little man preoccupied.  Because he is truly glued to my side all day, I can keep him (somewhat) happy if the temps are relatively warm and there is sunshine on the deck.  So, I lure him outside whenever I can and race to get as much accomplished indoors as possible before the barking to be let in begins.

What I've Been Reading

I've actually had time to read!  I'm so happy since I absolutely adore getting lost in a book.  So my evenings and early mornings were spent with a cup of (herbal) coffee and a book.  The first few books I've read are memoirs about country living or homesteading and I've thoroughly enjoyed each of them.  

So far I've read (affiliate links):  Follow Me To Alaska, by Ann Parker, Woodswoman: Living Alone In The Adirondack Wilderness by Anne LaBastille, Homestead, by Jane Kirkpatrick, Good Husbandry, by Kristin Kimball, Mud Season, by Ellen Stimson, Winds Of Skilak, by Bonnie Rose Ward, The Feast Nearby: How I Lost My Job, Buried A Marriage, And Found My Way By Keeping Chickens, Foraging, Preserving, Bartering, And Eating Locally On $40.00/Week, by Robin Mather, and Flat Broke With Two Goats, by Jennifer McGaha.  

My favorites were Good Husbandry, Follow Me To Alaska, and The Winds Of Skilak (and the follow-up book).

I also read a few fiction books in September.  My favorites have been (affiliate links): The Tourist Attraction, by Sarah Morgenthaler, The Year Of Pleasures, by Elizabeth Berg, and The City Bakers Guide To Country Living: A Novel, by Louise Miller.  I thoroughly enjoyed each of these - the writing styles, the fluidity, the characters and how they were developed, and the stories themselves.

Jackson, my meal planning assistant....

Stews, Soups, And Casseroles, Oh My!

I adore the change of season not only because of the weather but also because of food.  I've started to put soups, stews, and casseroles on the menu and am back to making bread.  These are all comfort foods for me and I happily anticipate making them every year.  Fresh corn soup, roasted tomato soup, veggie stew with biscuits (chicken added to Jay's), chili and cornbread, and oatmeal honey bread for breakfast have all made their way to our table.  

Speaking of meals, I've settled into monthly menu planning which is easiest for me since we are so well stocked up.  You can see October's meal plan (dinner only) in the photo above.  If there are 2 listed then I'm making something different for Jay and I.  You'll also see that I don't mind eating the same thing more then one day a week which also saves me time at dinner prep.  Jay is not a fan so he eats his leftovers at lunch.

What We've Been Making

Our farmer's market has remained somewhat busy as we're still getting quite an influx of locals and tourists.  So many things have changed this year that we have no idea what to expect from one week to the next.  One thing that does stay the same though are our seasonal products, and our fall line is finally out!  It's my absolute favorite group of soaps: Pumpkin Crunch Cake, Apple & Sage, Cinnamon & Raw Honey, Chai Tea Latte, and Pumpkin Cheesecake smell soooo delicious.  We've just made the winter soaps as well which will be available the beginning of November.

That's September around the homestead!

This Month On The Farm: September 2020 was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

[benjamingarden]

Weekending

This is a part of a post that I never wanted to write.  It was inevitable, but, of course, that doesn't make it any easier.  For those of you who don't follow us on Instagram (follow here to see more of our daily life), or facebook, you may not be aware that our sweet boy Emerson lost his battle with a brain tumor just over a week ago.  Emerson had a seizure at the end of September, out of the blue.  After many more seizures during his stay at the emergency clinic, it was determined he likely had a brain tumor.  It was confirmed a week later through an MRI.  Emmie underwent 4 weeks of radiation after which we hoped he would have another 12-18 months of good quality life.  Unfortunately, only one month after his radiation treatment ended, his tumor was back.  Come to find out, the one that our little guy had was an incredibly aggressive one.  So, two and a half months after Emmie completed his radiation, he lost his battle.

this photo was taken after Emmie's radiation.  You can see how much muscle he lost in his face and head.

He passed away peacefully at home, surrounded in absolute love.  His Auntie Kelly and Dr. Lori held him tight while J and I kissed him and told him how much we loved our time together.  Ollie, his brother from the same litter, sat by his side as he has their entire lives.  Even Jack seemed to understand what was happening. As all of you know, there is a feeling of disbelief and numbness for a few days, which is where we've been.  Oliver is very sad but he's doing well.  We're supporting him through the grieving process and loving on him even more than before. I wanted to share this with you knowing that many of you have followed us since their adoption 9 years ago and you remember reading the tales of all of their crazy antics (remember when I caught him digging in the backyard?  Oh he was so proud of the new talent he'd uncovered.....).  While some of you have joined us more recently and have shared in the weekend and on-the-farm updates which chronicle Emerson, Oliver, and all of the other critters here at Cobble Hill.  He was a super sweet boy who was incredibly laid back and loving.  We miss him terribly.

Ollie has always been by Emmie's side and was right up to the end.

Oliver is doing ok.  It was helpful that he was present when Emmie passed over.  Out of habit, however, whenever one of us comes back from an errand in the Jeep, Oliver races out to see if Emmie is inside.  That's the vehicle we used to transport him to his numerous doctor appointments from October through January.  Once Ollie sees that his brother is not in the vehicle he gets a little quiet for a bit but, for the most part, he's doing good.

We are knee-deep in winter.  About 26 inches of snow have dumped on us in the past month and temp's continue to dip back and forth between negative and positive digits, (it seems) on a weekly basis.  We are expected to get around a foot of more snow tomorrow.  Woo hoo!

Actually, I have an appreciation for snow.  It's beautiful!!  With only memories of such a beautiful fall and while we patiently wait for a glorious spring complete with tulips, daffodils, asparagus and miscellaneous greenery sprouting about, it's nice to have a beautiful sheet of snow on the otherwise dull landscape. It's the ice and sleet that I don't look forward to.  We tried different booties on Em prior to his passing to help him get traction.  We found some great ones for traction in the snow and a little bit of sleet or ice, but once the property is a shiny glaze of ice, it seems there is no good option (if you know of one I would love to know - we are still trying to find something for Ollie).  The ice presented quite a challenge during Em's last couple of months because of his 3a.m. potty break.  But we figured it out.

And we've had our fair share of ice over the past couple of weeks.  The weather forecast is for more of this too toward the end of the week. Yuck! This weather does, however, allow us ample opportunity to find gratitude for our pellet stove, which is our primary source of heat.  It's gentle hum reminds us that we'll be warm and toasty as the snow falls.  Probably the biggest downfall to pellet stoves is that they don't run during a power outage.  This means we do have to run our generator during these events.

The Coop Girls are laying a whole lot of eggs!  Those in the photo above are awaiting their wash.  Once upon a time we had pretty clean eggs from chickens who didn't find joy in playing in the mud.  This group of ladies, however, are quite different.  They LOVE to meander around the property and find any dirt or mud to dig in.  Then, when it's time to lay, they make their way into the nesting boxes and walk all over the clean eggs in the boxes with their filthy feet.  I've tried to explain this to them but they just don't care..... There's about a dozen girls who much prefer to stay inside the coop during the day rather than patrol the property.  But all of the others adore exploring.  Since there's not much dirt exposed because of snow, they don't find too much on most of the property, but there's a couple of hot spots (under trees) where the snow isn't too high and they've been successful at digging themselves a nice area for foraging.  Of course tomorrow's impending snow will give them more work to do but I have a feeling they're up to the challenge.

Business has slowed now that the holidays are very much over.  The farmer's market crowd is cut in half or more, depending on the weather that particular Sunday.  We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful farmer's market that goes year-round and is very well supported by the community.  It's something we used to love to shop at and now love to sell and shop at. Although slower sales means a lot less income for this time of year, we've looked forward to taking advantage of the extra time by trying to get things done around the house a couple of days each week for the next couple of months.  That and shovel snow.....

That's a bit about our weekend - hoping you had a lovely weekend in your neck of the woods!

Weekending was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

[josephkitchen0]

The Pros & Cons of Coop Heating: Do Chickens Need Heat in Winter?

Recently, I’ve been writing about safely heating backyard chicken coops and addressing the question: Do chickens need heat in winter? In New England, we get buried under heaps of snow and experience temperatures in the negatives. During these times, my mind becomes pre-occupied with staying warm.

But these posts often stir up a debate: To heat or not to heat a chicken coop? Here are some facts to consider when deciding for yourself.

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Why You Don’t Have To Heat A Coop

Chickens are amazing animals, and can survive some pretty harsh environments. If birds have a place to perch without a breeze, they can keep warm in cold environments. When a chicken perches for the night it puffs its feathers and looks quite comical. This puffing creates an air gap between the skin and feathers, which serves as an insulating barrier. To protect their feet and legs, birds usually fluff enough to encompass their legs and to guard against frostbite. They tuck their head under a wing. Also, if you have a well-insulated coop and a fair number of birds, then they will keep the coop warm with body heat all on their own.

Why You Should Heat

Just like us, a chicken’s body prioritizes its functions. High on the list are functions like circulating blood, breathing and other life-critical purposes. Guess what is last on that list … making eggs. When a bird’s needs are met, production is rampant, but when faced with conditions like extreme cold, you’ll have an answer to the why have my chickens stopped laying. Bottom line: Cold weather can cause a drastic reduction in egg production.

The poultry industry got some real flack a few years ago when the public heard about the industry’s method of force-molting chickens through reduced light duration and removing all nutrients. Basically, you stop the water and hold the feed and the bird’s body goes into chaos. This chaos starts with an immediate halt in egg production, the beginning of feather molting and a long path to regeneration (as short as a month, if properly managed).

When the temperatures drop, water freezes, not excluding your water dispenser. If your water freezes (some people prevent this by using a heated chicken waterer,) your flock goes without water. If your birds go without water, they will also go off their feed since they need moisture to eat. If they stop eating and drinking, they stop laying. If this happens in the beginning of winter, odds are your birds won’t lay again until spring.

When eggs are laid, the shell and protective bloom keep bacteria and other organisms out. This keeps eggs safe to eat, but if they freeze, they crack. A cracked egg will become contaminated, so these eggs are inedible. It’s a shame to waste eggs, so keep your coop above freezing.

Frozen eggs are unsafe to eat.

Even during the day in New England, we’ve seen long stretches where the temps have been bitter cold for days on end. This brings up another issue known as frostbite. Frostbite is a result of overexposure to cold temperatures, and it commonly claims toes, wattles, and combs. Frostbite is a painful thing to endure, and it’s a pain that lingers.

Do you have an old hen in the flock? When a chicken’s body puts more effort into keeping warm, it tends to exasperate existing issues and hasten the death of weak birds. Sick birds will take longer to recoup when they have to fight the cold, so keeping the coop warm will help weak birds survive a harsh winter.

What I Do

The answer to the question “do chickens need heat in winter?” is a complicated one, but here’s what I do. I try to keep my coops above freezing, but my birds can free range at will. On cold days they refuse to range, preferring to stay inside, which should tell you something. Unless you’re brooding chicks, you don’t need to keep a coop toasty warm, but I do suggest keeping your coop around 40° F. So if you want your birds to produce through the winter (in cold climates specifically), keep your coop’s temperature within your chicken’s comfort zone for best results and happy hens.

Now is the time to be thinking about winter preparations, making sure your coops are secure, parasite free and any structural damages repaired.

The Pros & Cons of Coop Heating: Do Chickens Need Heat in Winter? was originally posted by All About Chickens