MMMM.....Bread!

I have been laid-up, so to speak, the last week because I had my wisdom teeth pulled, OUCH!
The last few days I have been feeling better and craving some good home cooked food. I got into my old Fannie Farmer Cookbook and decided to make rolls for dinner last night. I have been craving some good bread, and yearning for a new bread recipe book :s
The rolls came out ok, and I had dough to spare that I wrapped up and put in the fridge. It was a quick mix recipe, so I am hoping that it holds. I decided today to make cinnamon bread, another bread I have been daydreaming about and have never tried. I just set it to rise, so I will have to get back to you on how it turns out. Either way, it really is so much fun. Bread is like a living thing, and it is so much fun to m. make! My dear friend, and future sister in law, makes a lot of bread with her mom. They use a bread machine to knead the dough. She has this recipe for jalepeno cheese rolls that is really fabulous. My husband loves the bread, but can't eat the peppers, so I will have to omit the fillings. The rolls themselves are seriously sweet. Great for dinner rolls! I am going to have to get that recipe from them!

So I have been online scouring Amazon to use a gift card I got for Christmas. I found a few really interesting books and put some on my wish list, and others I used the card for. Here are the ones that are on the way: (I read a bit of them with the "look inside" feature, really cool!)

this looked interesting, and was the only bread book I could afford. I hope it is good!
this one I have heard about, and I love Storey Publishing, so I am confident I will love it. Plus it was less than $1...Can't beat that price!
Then I also purchased several Storey Country Wisdom Bulletins, one for milk soap, making cheese, butter and yogurt, and one on braiding rugs (I was wanting to make some rag rugs out of old work jeans for the house, LOL).
The book I am most excited about is:
This is one of those books that I would have loved to write! So I know I will love reading it. I wanted the hard copy, not the kindle version for this one!
I have already read the intro online, it is going to be fabulous! And one that I think my sister-in-law will also enjoy!

There were so many things I wanted to buy on amazon, but I will wait! But I am still in the mood for some baking and home cooking, so I am delving into my Fannie Farmer Cook book and my Fleishman's bread book, which I adore!

I love these books!!!

Chickens

This spring we bought 6 pullets (or so we thought). One turned out to be a rooster, and we gave him away along with one hen.  We now have 4 city hens, that have just begun to lay.

 The weather has turned cold, and I am about to seal the coop up so that it is waterproof.
We have been feeding the girls Layena, and I just gave them a Flock Block. 


Now comes the planning portion of my chicken project. I orginally hoped that we would be moved to the Farm by winter, but since we are not, I have plenty of wiggle room in planning the future of the Flock's coop plans.

We are currently using a Chicken Ark, which we found pictures of online, and just slapped together after a bit of haggling and banter. What we came  up with works well for a handful of laying hens, but could still use a little fine tuning to make "just right". 


I am working on a back trap door for egg collection. Our current larger door would be used for cleaning. It needs new and sturdier handles.  I need one more board across the top, before I seal it up.  I would like to adjust the roosting perches, to ensure there is plenty of room with 4-6 hens. I would like to add a few hens each year and perhaps cull the older ones. I am not sure yet.

Now the "planning" I spoke of.
I currently have 3 raised beds made with cinder block, a potato bin made of recycled pallets, and 2 compost bins, also made of pallets.  When we move, I plan to change the garden quite a bit and also expand it greatly.
I have always wanted to practice sustainable agriculture, using crop rotation, green manures, compost and animals combined to get greater fertility in a concentrated intensive growing situation. What I plan to do now, is keep this "chicken Ark" and use it for the winter at the farm on top of my raised beds.

Bed #1 would be ready to plant...after having composted there previously.
Bed #2 would be current compost. Two bins that cover an entire bed. One would be the active bin, the other would be used to turn the compost into for the finishing stage.
Bed #3 would be the current location of the Chicken Ark. It would be used for one month (during winter and possible late fall or early spring, depending on that particular season). Straw would be used in the upper chamber along with pine shavings for bedding or nesting material. Each week this area would be scooped out, but the litter thrown below to the ground level.  As water and food is changed out, a new layer of CLEAN straw several inches thick would be added to the soiled straw, and the clean food and water brought back in. After 4 weeks, a thick layer of bedding and manure would be left. And the Ark moved to the next bed. This bed would then become divided into the 2 compost bins from bed #2.
Bed #4 would be the last of a cold frame crop (which there should be several to stretch through winter). As the crops are finished being harvested, the left over vegetable debris would be left for the chickens, when the Ark is moved onto it from Bed #3. This is done as in Bed #3. The chickens eat the vegetable debris, and bedding is added for 1 month, and all is composted once the birds are moved to the next bed.
Bed #5 Would be another cold frame, exactly as in bed #4 but at an earlier stage of maturity. This would be harvested at the same point that the Ark is moved from Bed #3 to Bed #4. The Ark would be moved here after spending 1 month on Bed #4. Followed by composting the manure and bedding.
Bed #6 Would be a hoop house that would have been put up about the same time as the two cold frames. The crops in the hoop house would likely differ from the cold frame crops. These would be brassicas, specifically Brussels sprouts, and Broccoli, Cabbage, etc. Perhaps some clamped potatoes, Some onions, leeks, garlic, etc from a fall crop.  This should be harvested by the end of the cold season (usually by March) and the hoop moved to the beginning of the beds to harden off transplants started elsewhere. The Cold frames can also be moved to the beds that are ready and have been composted to start more carrot, spinach, lettuce and other early plants in Spring, as well as early potatoes.

By the time that the chicken ark has moved from Bed #1 to Bed #6, the season should be warmer. The hoop house could have the plastic sheeting removed, leaving only plastic netting. The Entire hoop would be moved to pasture, and a shelter/nest box could be put inside. This structure would be light enough to move daily during the months when the grass is very green and there are many bugs. You would have to come to the location of the hoop house to collect eggs, feed and water the chickens. But they would get the full benefit of pasture, without being harmed by predators or becoming messy around the farm buildings.

At the end of the warm season, the chickens would be transferred to the ark, and the process would begin again. The hoop could have the plastic put back on to protect late vegetables, and the chickens would be moved successively as the crops are harvested. Ant new beds would be planted down to the winter crops for the cold frames.

My plan has so many advantages, and I try to take sanitation into consideration. By building a hot compost pile, all at once and turning it into the second bin, the bedding and manure should reach temperatures hot enough to kill harmful microbes and bacteria.  The sanitation of the ark is considered, by cleaning the upperchamber weekly, and refreshing the litter beneath, giving them a clean and safe place to walk about (normally it would be much too snowy for them to be outside.)
And the benefit it provides to the owner, by keeping them close to the house (as is the garden) for taking care of them and collecting winter eggs. Also by being close to the home in winter, added light or heat can be used more easily.

Web Soil Survey...a useful tool

I have been studying again and I am trying to make a good, practical plan of action...step by step.
I am trying to be sure, what comes first!
Yesterday I went back to the PFI website, which I enjoyed so much last season, and I started looking at some old archived farminars.
Today that farminar led me to this INVALUABLE site, provided by USDA web soil survey.  The speaker was pretty great and I regret that I wasn't able to participate while it was live, I really enjoyed the recording anyways.
whole farm soil planning . It would have been a foreign language without having looked at it on the farminar, and listen to the discussion about it's infinite usefulness. It was better than the Christian County GIS, which I really had a ball with last year, and this is yet another useful tool in the box. I could see how incredibly helpful it would be in CHOOSING a property to farm, or even just for folk about to build a home. It is soooooo worth checking out. It has information about your soil type, it's water holding capability, and so much more.
For us, this could be areas prone to flooding (our house in town), or sinkholes (the neighborhood), moreso than the GIS, which I believe only gives info on existing sinkholes (in other words, the people using the system are the ones trained to put the clues together about what the maps mean).

I enjoyed many farminars in the last 48 hours! And feel like I have caught up on a lot going on and hope to stay up to date.

A slow spring with Books to read!

   At the local library again, with a relatively limited selection, I chose a few reads. The first two, were about chickens.
   The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Poultry for Fun or Profit (The Joy of Series
This was a good read. The author genuinely likes the animals and cares that they are kept humanely. She educates others very well on what to expect when starting a flock for the first time, and seasons after. She gives a good general picture of chicken keeping, on the smaller scale, but still in a "for profit" venture, as well as just to have the pleasure of keeping a flock of your own.

   Keep Chickens! Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs, and Other Small Spaces I found this book to be a bit biased, as the author made clear that she didn't care for the idea of naming, and then butchering her pet chickens. She keeps them on a very small scale purely for their eggs and her personal enjoyment on an urban sized scale (in her case, 3 hens, in my case, I currently have 6 in town).
   Although this book did have some good information, it seemed to lead to the authors own personal opinions too much to recommend as an all around good chicken book. Most readers would lack the information they really need to get started, it read for me, more like a chicken novel.




 THIS IS SUCH A GREAT BOOK!!!!  :)
This book appealed to me on so many levels. I have absoutely always found it facinating what it was like to cook through the ages, particularly in america. I found so often in my middle school history classes that they had really disconnected history in their books. That it never really added up for me how people lived from day to day and I always enjoyed opportunities to reenact or imagine how they lived. I loved to read books with historical themes, and especially loved to read books about being "holed up" somewhere in the middle of winter, maybe in a cave, maybe in a cabin, struggling to survive, and living by skill alone. I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, I loved visiting the Williamsburg, Virginia and Jamestown reenactments and historical sites. I loved getting caught up in the ways of old, and this book really takes you there, all the way up to our unfortunate current way of life, so dependant on outside input and prepackaged, disposable life. It was all that I had been wondering about my mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and all their mothers before them. All the stories about "back in their hay day", I could see so clearly what the history books couldn't say. I am sad to finish the book, because I know how it ends, with my generation of google, Wikipedia, and digital books. How our lives are electronic, everything is e-commerce. Kids don't recognize fresh raw broccoli at school, they don't know how from my parent's generation...the boomers, to my generation, the x-ers, or whatever my kid's generation will be...things change SO FAST!!!
Since the industrialization of American women, since technology has reined supreme in a man's world...nothing will ever be how it used to be. And a major thing to remember, although this fast paced change has revolutionized cooking in a mere hundred years....it has opened up a world of opportunity for women. We truly take for granted how short a time has passed since women were the workhorse of all humanity. Life truly was not possible without mom. It is nice to learn the traditional ways of cooking. And get back to our roots, get back to the land..but we must be thankful for some of that change. I would love to own this book, it is on the wishlist, especially if in a hardcover!

This is another book I have picked up, but haven't read yet, since I have been absolutely engrossed in the previously mentioned book. But I will recheck it if I must.

I have absolutely always planned to have honey bees and become a bee keeper. It has been another on a long list of future hobbies.







This year, in the last few weeks, actually, we have been discussing getting Guineas.

   They love eating bugs, and even with a very cold winter, and exceptionally cool Spring, we have seen a very large number of ticks.  I hate the idea of spraying the entire property with chemicals. It's bad enough the herbicides required to kill 6 foot tall poison ivy plants. To add insult to injury, I refuse to use pesticides, unless over run with some horrible plague of insects like the end of Creepshow!

   My husband suggested the guinea fowl as a method of controlling ticks and after reading up a bit on them, and seeing one in person, I like the idea a lot. They get along with chickens and are even more hardy and helpful!

   I have read that they are very noisy and sound warning alarms toward strangers, and danger alike. Some people don't care for them because of this. With guineafowl, "Birds of a feather, flock together", they are gregarious, as bird lovers say. They are very social and it can be used to train them to return home to roost. They are called "The poor man's pheasant" and can be dressed as such. But in my opinion are much more useful as a pest controller than anything. I already had planned to build a permanent chicken coop on the farm, when we finally move, so now, I will also account for space for the new poults as well!! They are right around the same price range as chicks, they eat turkey starter, and mash initially, but when more mature, it is said that at least 90% of their diet is insects through all the warmer months. And after two weeks of age they are hardier than any other poultry. That sounds too good to be true. I am so glad that we are taking on birds for the farm as a start. I cant wait to start including critters on four legs!

Four legged animals are great for lawn mowing! As we have been having trouble keeping the grass cut and do not have the funds for a tractor, we now have a riding mower. I know we aren't ready for pets at the farm yet, and I can't keep something furry here long, besides the cats. I doubt the mower will last for ever, since it came from craigslist, but it is a start. I would like to get a little more yard clean up going on both properties this season, and start tilling up some plots for vegetables. Creating compost bins and getting water to them. We have human sized weeds to chop down, grass to mow, and poison to irradicate. I have flowers, and trees to plant. Berries to move around the land, and more to plant from town. I have planning for orchards, groves and vineyards, and I have animals to account for and arks to build! I have lots and lots of projects, here there and everywhere!

   there is plenty to do in the barns. to fix up and organize, to clean and move out of the way. Sorting, storing, and clearing away the cobwebs of years passed by. Fixing up for years to come! The grass just keeps on growing! Along with everything else!

 I am excited to get the chickens out of the brooder, and into their chicken ark permanently. And perhaps buy those keets! But alas! The weather has stayed cool all season! Plants aren't in the normal stages for this time of year. we are all getting a slow start!

  

Gotta Hurry

I spoke with the county office yesterday, and they said that our permit was set to expire this month. I gave her my sob story, that I had been in the hospital and worked had slowed to a crawl since January. I asked if we could have just the plumbing inspected. It's ready. And the HVAC is almost done, but we are behind finishing the electrical. She said don't worry, she will bump up the expiration date in the books and just get it all ready for rough in. I told her I wouldn't be able to afford a new permit. She said don't worry, about it. So hopefully that will buy us enough time to get done.
I know everyone expected us to be done by now. But that is how life goes. Life is trying and expensive. You have to roll with the punches, as they say.
So now we have to get to this punch list. My husband threw his back out and has been down for the count for most of April. He's feeling a little better, although it still hurts him and it is a nagging pain. We are hoping that he can go to a doctor or chiropractor soon, but it is just a matter of convincing him to go. For now, it's back to work, again.

I have been working on a few things. I have a few tricks up my sleeve as they say.

1. We bought baby chicks last weekend, they should be a week old today. 6 pullets, of different breeds. I only know that 2 are supposed to be "golden comet" and the other four are "chickens"...I am not sure what they will be later.  Our intention was to keep them here in Springfield, because they just changed the ordinance last year, to allow them in the city. They would have to be kept in a chicken tractor, and never allowed out. we haven't built them a building yet, and I think that is my job. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperative, and we had monsoon like storms until just yesterday. 
2. I spent some time last week trying to mow  by the old farm house. It looked really good, but after the storms, it has all grown up really fast! I found a morel mushroom under the lilac bush, a big one! And that got me excited! And yesterday, I nearly got a bullfrog with my mower. But luckily, the blades missed her, and I carried her up to the pond. Last night, we had a garter snake in the living room, a pretty good sized one. It had a spot that looked a bit skinned, and I set it free...I am guessing it was supposed to be a gift from one of our cats...most likely Mr.Meowers.
3. I am wanting to put in a garden at the little farm house. We made a mess with the bobcat last year, cleaning up stumps and debris. the land is rutted up and hard to mow. We will be looking to rent bobcat again soon, and I will scrape off the sod to compost, and put in corn, potatoes and beans for summer. The soil down there is old, which means it is full of nutrient.  There are lots of maples and walnuts down there. and there is a long row of daffodils by the clothes line. I plan to put the garden in there, right along side them. It should benefit all of us, and will make for good cook outs and bonfire parties by the barn. :) Hopefully someday, there will be harvest parties!
4. My Springfield potager is coming along, slowly. I have harvested asparagus, which I blanch and freeze if I can't eat it right away. You can hold it over for a while in a glass of water in the fridge, if need be. I also have chives and garlic we put in last year. I am not sure how many cloves I put in, but 4 remain, and that is a start! The chives, I cut with scissors, and dry in the dehydrator. It makes the whole house smell like onions! But it gives me a good supply for baked potatoes, salads, and whatever else I can find to use them in. Other crops, that we direct seeded, are sprouting: spinach, carrots, peas. I put in seeds of onion and leeks, but I don't think they will fruit out, so I will replant something else there. My intention is to grow a lot of salad greens, carrots and beans this year. And corn and potatoes.  I have eggplants and tomatoes as well, and a few pots of herbs.
5. At the big house, I would like to start a little bit of naturalizing landscaping. Some natives like purple coneflower, I have already thrown out there. But I was thinking of a combination of things. Some natives along the borders of the fence rows, and some old fashioned favorites landscaping the house. I have so many plants here that I am proud of. Now I plan to dig them out and transfer them to Rogersville. I hate doing that, but I have just recently started to invest so much effort into them, that it would be a shame to not be able to enjoy them. In a rental, you never know what your tenants will decide to dig out and replace, so I only plan to leave things like vinca vines, and a few other ground covers. I will take the specimen plants with me, and make up the new landscape. That should help with our appraisal as well. 

That's it for now. These are our accomplishments and plans for the time being. This weekend they are calling for more rain, so we will probably work indoors on electrical, which is really needed.

I will try to post more, now that my computer is up and running again! :)