Hunting tadpoles, Spring air and fresh greens

After a morning that began with Fresh eggs from our chickens. Fresh bacon from Farmer friends pig we bought. 1 day old toasted homemade bread and a very welcomed cup of coffee. We were off to the local State park to hunt Tadpoles. A short hunt at that. Once we discovered where the frogs had laid their eggs, we were in tadpole city! Lots of algae in the water close to the edge meant tadpole food. They attach themselves to it and eat. There were thousands of little wiggly black spots all over the area. We scooped as many as possible into our 2 small pails before heading back home to deposit our new treasure into the Garden pond.My recent "wardrobe" has consisted of that green sweater and those blue muck boots. I even wear it shopping..Much to The Captains disappointment. It goes from polliwog hunting to stopping in the local big store for groceries or new socks. I like it...

Click the below picture to look closer and see all the tadpoles on the waters edge and on the water plants.Chia has been out chomping away at the unmown yard. Dandelions, grape hyacinth and violets are popping up everywhere! Not just to Chia's delight, but to the little children who have been decorating our table with little bud vases to spice jars brimming with spring bouquets.
Chia has been itching like this alot lately. She still has some of her winter coat, which daily brushing helps. Although her way is so much more fun to watch. Babies? Yeah.. still has me guessing. No movement felt yet but she does look bigger on her right side. Not as "sunken down" as the left, towards the tail. Gotta see it, to understand it.Lil' Man has named our lone chick rooster. Meet Dandelion aka "Dandy Lion". Lil' man has a thing for lions... And the dirty face is from a day long adventure of climbing trees, playing in ponds, chasing frogs and chickens, picking flowers with his sisters and sticks with daddy, to driving the neighbors tractor. Not just a mower. Nope. The great big one that mama loves. Told you that boy is amazing. Had it down in 5 minutes.Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

Pond tenants, another freaky amphibian, wild onions

We have new tenants in the pond:

We have transported a few frogs from our ditch drain pipe. I believe where they have been living, has been effecting their spawn:This little guy croaked a bunch at us, along with jumping all over the place. Panda really loves her frogs. I snuck up on her today telling them stories...
A lot of people on the road have their grey water draining into the open top street ditch.
So far, we have counted 8 females and 5 males. There is 1 pair that have stayed in the pond all week. We relocated more today, kinda showing them where the pond is and if they want to stay- great! If not, well they can go as they please..
I have finally identified this wild edible plant from our yard:
On Foraging with wild man, he has pictures showing these as small and then when they get BIG.
I am so very giddy over discovering their potential. They have earned their own garden spot, by the old apple tree. I have been scouring the yard for the clumps of wild onions-aka field garlic.I dig the thick tight clumps, gently brush off the dried on dirt chunks. then seperate them, form a mini trench. Then plant them in the soil, spaced more then the above picture. The above clump was a half of that just last year. They multiply quickly and are great on top of pizza. (Which, by the way, I am making tonight.) These have a scent of garlic chives. when we mow the lawn, the air is filled with their scent. I LOVE that when it happens. This will be the year i try to dehydrate some for winter use.
We are up to 4 eggs a day. 1 being from sweet Bonnie, our Muscovy. Bonnie & Dr. Seuss have taken to laying theirs in the loft... Which means crawling around on hand and knees through alfalfa hay for 2 silly eggs. Thanks Ladies. I guess they enjoy making me work for those eggs.
Sweet Dreams,
~Tammie

Peeks and bits...

All fruit trees are planted. In stead of a zig zag line in the direction of the road, I had to go with one going towards the hill. We have a Catalpa tree shading the area they would have gone. Let's just say The Captain has not done away with it, as I have strongly requested. That would be it in the far left corner of the picture below. Click the pic to enlarge and you will see the fruit trees.All the stepping stones are in place and the pond with it's season temporary liner are finished. The water is murky from clay being washed off the children's feet and their rocks.(how am I suppose to clean that out?) Bonnie enjoyed it as well. She discovered it while following me throughout the garden, as I dug up the clumps of grass growing. She bathed in it a good 5 minutes before heading back to brag to Clyde. (who wants nothing to do with it..how odd, a duck who does not like deep water? Although Frog did bring a chick over for her "bath". Thankfully I caught her before it was too late. A stern 'chicks do not take bathes talk' was issued.)

You can see the Bee hive's placement in the below picture. Thought I would share our sod roof toad house by the pond, I previously mentioned. We used a broken clay pipe - broke out one side so the bottom is dirt as toads prefer and the top is the pipe. We laid the grass sod thick pieces on top of the pipe and made an entry way with wide stones. Just have to remember to water it, so the grass will not dry out.I made a trip to the wine supply store for some equipment. I should not have spent the many as of yet, which my trip was just to get the yeast...I got corks (taster's corks are my preference-20 cents each- since they have the black plastic tops making it easier to remove without use of a cork screw)

A Hydrometer ($5.99)~ which helps measure potential alcohol content, sugar content, and when fermention is done and bottles can be corked.
A nylon straining bag ($3.99)~ to remove the must, seeds, and such.
A tube of pH indicator strips ($1.99)~ since a few recipes seem to call for these.
2 different airlocks~cap lost from my previous one
A bottle of wine conditioner($4.49)~ an additive to sweeten wine that is not as sweet to my taste and I do not waste a batch.
And yeast (49 cents) 1 packet will do 5 gallons
I will be stopping at the craft store to check out the candle making supplies. I can't wait to use that Bee's wax. Here is a link to a question I asked on the forum on how I use the older wax for candle making. Some great pics and methods were shared. ( and when I say "organic" it is referring to HIM not using chemicals. Not about the bee's or honey).
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

The trees and the Bees

Our order of trees came in yesterday, from Stark bros. I am very impressed with their size and the concord grapes were just as impressive. The children and I quickly opened the large box to inspect my new mini orchard supplies. I checked over the shipping list and inspected all the contents. Everything was there and impatience set in. We ran up to the garden and scoped out where we should plant the grapes. We all decided before, that we were to plant a rose bush above where Dawg is buried. His grave was mistakenly incorporated into the garden when Tractor boy came over to till with the tractor.

When we buried him, it was in an old cooler and deep down a good 5 feet. The Captain was so worried an animal would disturb his grave and the upset it would cause all of us if it were to happen. He is still sorely missed by everyone.

We decided that the grapes were to go on the east side of the garden and lined up on the south to north. One of them will mark Dawgs place. Forever (well for a very long time anyway) leaving it undisturbed from future residents.

The trees will be planted this weekend to make up our mini orchard by the barnyard.

And our "Bee Man" came by today with the hive set up! I was in pure bliss. Trees and Bees!

This hive did not survive the winter and will get its new occupants on May 7th. The bee order was pushed up on the date, due to not enough orders for the organization he orders with.

The hive is a 9 frame set up. Bee man (or "B" man haha) said this gives more honey due to better spacing (do not quote me, since I was on my euphoria high still). He uses organic methods in his bee keeping, much to my happiness. The hive has not been cleaned out as of yet from it's last occupants, as you can see from this picture:

The dark Bee's wax is from old age, not pesticides. He will be replacing the wax soon and said I could have the old wax for candles or such. YAY! I will be making rolled candles from it plus some lip balm among other things.

This is our "B" Man with the hive:

Such a nice guy. he brought his daughter out with him and the kids played while we chatted. They are a homeschooling family and live just 5 minutes away.

I am so happy to have found them and even better they are so close.

I sent him home with a dozen eggs, mixed of the banties, Dr. Seuss, and of course a few of (our muscovy duck) Bonnie's eggs. The duck eggs prevented the carton from closing and appeared massive next to the dainty Bantam eggs.

So much excitement is buzzing in the air at our little farmette. Bee's and tree's.What a day.
Sweet dreams,

~Tammie

Fernie had babies!

If you have been following for very long, You know about the Nubian mix Doe I purchased last year and named Fernie. Poor Fernie was in bad shape. She was in milk from giving birth about 3 months before my purchase and very thin. Way TOO THIN! She was so wormy, she came down with a bout of bottle jaw. A much appreciated Roseanna to the Rescue!
Fernie went home with her where she was tended to and and on her way to a wonderful recovery. Having no idea Fernie would go into heat the second she smelled The Nubian buck, Well, Fernie gave us all a surprise and invited him over...
I received a phone call from Roseanna late yesterday afternoon. Fernie was finally giving birth (at 154 days) and as we spoke she was drying off a baby.
~Fernie in Labor~ So now a very good mother to a buckling and a bottle fed doeling!The plans have not been finalized for when I get to pick her up and if the buckling will be left at her side. Waiting for another doe to give birth down there which will determine all of it.
But soon, Fernie will be back home with us. So YAY! Fernie will come back to us!
On a different note, the bee man will be here this afternoon and the UPS guy with our Starks Bros. order.
So much happening in the next 24 hours to share with all of you.
So until then, enjoy the pics of Fernie and her babies (above) courtesy of Roseanna!
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

Look what we found in the garden!

Yesterday afternoon, We were up in the garden planting more garlic. Panda found a toad in one of the gate's post holes. She relocated the toad to the sod roof toad house. Then went searching in the other holes. In the other gate post hole, she found this:Panda quickly brought out her book "all about frogs" by Jim Arnosky.
She discovered this is a tree frog, which turns this color for the winter, to camouflage itself.
Makes me wonder if this is the green tree frog we found in the Squash leaves.
Panda read in her book that if their ear circles are smaller then their eyes, then it is female. So you are looking at a female tree frog. Of course the pictures were drawings, so this is what we matched it up best to.
And if your feeling a bit "froggy", heres a silent quick video of her moving around. Shows the discoloration of the skin, where the legs and arms have stayed close to her body.Nothing professional or big deal. Just neat to look at.

We have 4 of the 6 hops in the ground. About 30 or more garlic cloves planted. 3 more full bulbs that need separated and planted.
The first week in May will be Fence time. All posts will be put in and the fence finally in it's permanent home.
We are putting in a platform step system for the children to climb up into the bottom arch of their Magic tree.(having the garden fenced in with their play area is becoming a big "I can't wait" excitement.) On the other side will be an 8 foot long slide. Nothing will be affixed to the tree itself. Just a place they can climb up, then get over her branch to get to the slide. That's the plan, but we all know how plans work around here. Always changing.
I added 2 more concord grapes to the fruit tree order. It appears none of the grapes from last year survived.
I have more italian rustic loaf starter on the stove and am having Tuesday over for a visit today. I think I may invite her up to the garden for a garlic planting party!
Sweet Dreams,
~Tammie

Store bought herbs into plants

Remember my post about the store bought fresh herbs on March 15th? Panda and I Prepared them and placed each in their own containers. Then were placed in gallon size zippy bags with a small portion left open for air. Some in 2 liter bottles to act as a mini green house..
Well they are ready to be transplanted almost 1 month later! All have taken root! We spent $2 total and received 4 rosemary plants and 6 thyme plants from the fresh herbs. Thats about 20 cents a plant with about 2 cents worth each of the powdered hormone to start the rootings. Add in the soil and we may have spent 30 cents on each herb plant. Now take in mind, if I were to purchase a plant about the same size as my starts, they would cost me anywhere from $3 to $5 each! We spent around $3 for our 10.
Here is the thyme panda started, which is showing the white roots:And the Rosemary showing roots:We did not plant all the cuttings in the bag we bought. I did save half for culinary use. Some were woody as you can see from the rosemary rooting in my hand. That was also the one with the most root tendrils. I noticed the top was starting to peek out the top of the 2 liter which spurred me to check for signs of roots. So now they are in their new pots and I am buying more from Beiler's market this week! Hopefully there is a bit more selection in herbs to add with my need for more Rosemary. I will be giving some as gifts for Mothers day so need to get them going ASAP. Gotta add more pots to the list. Speaking of pots, Lowe's had a nice array on sale that have the tray and pot as one piece. Pretty glazed pots at that.
So now you know, store bought fresh herbs WILL root despite being woody- plus using rooting hormone. Just make sure they are still fresh ...
Sweet Dreams,
Tammie

The Bee's are coming! and other tidbits

I have been so determined I was not to go another year without Honey Bee's, i made a round of calls. At first, knowing the Beekeepers have taken a loss in so many hives, i I thought I would just buy my own bee's. The equipment needed would not be in the budget which is why i thought maybe I could find a beekeeper willing to mentor me with my bee's but their equipment.
My success came from a local beekeeper, just 5 minutes away, who is picking up a new order of bee's on the 20th of April. He decided that he will bring out the hive and set everything up with in the next week. Then on the 20th, he will be bringing out a batch of bee's from his order to add. I do not have to buy Bee's this year, but will get the experience and knowledge of Bee Keeping over the next year or so while I accumulate new equipment during that time.
So YAY! The Honey bee's are coming to The Unusual Farmchick's Suburban farmstead! I will be able to get some of the homey for my mead making and when he heard me say thats what I wanted it for, he said he would give me all the Honey I need if i share in the mead I make. Double YAY!
On another note, Chia still has me guessing- once again.She has been eating WAY more hay then usual and drinking water alot more. Rarely ever saw her drink before, but now I am getting frsh water 3 times a day. The ducks discovered her bucket so she will not drink it after they dirty it up- I do not blame her.
If she finally took to being breed this year, she should be about 10 weeks along now. I have not felt any movement, but of course, she is a chubby goat. She has girth in the ribs/barrel , which gives her the thicker look.I tried to feel just in front of the udder area which was a feat in itself. I have to straddle her back (my bottom towards her head) and let her back up into a wall to keep her still... So I thought I would share a few shots to record any progress as we go.
Back shot looking down:Booty shot:Which was fun chasing her trying to snap pics while the neighbors were out in their yards... I'd laugh too if I saw the neighbor following her goat around, snapping pics of its Butt....

And a "lounging in the grass while the sun is still warm" shot:I have half of the Mangels planted. The other 2 pathways are done. A sod roof Toad house is erected on the back(north/west) side of the pond- with a few flower seeds planted in a few choice cracks. Sweet Pea's are sown in Panda's garden.
The Blackberries and other plants have been given a big heap of compost to add some Spring Boost. I lost 2 rose bushes over the winter, but not one was from my heirloom rose find- Thankfully.
There is an old Lilac tree out back which died away and I cut up a few years back. I left some of the branches and I am happy to report, it is sprouting suckers from the root crown! It has done nothing for over 2 years and this was the year we were to pull it out.
ALL chicks are now out in the pen yard (broilers during the day in A frame chicken tractor.) All are doing well and the chicks seem so happy to take a dust bath and stretch out beneath the sun.
I spent yesterday shoveling 2 trips worth of Compost from Farmer guy's family Farm. Frog and I discovered a penned young bull calf (no one was home) and quickly became overcome with giggles as it's soppy tongue tried so hard to find milk from our arms. We also discovered Farm Guy's dad bought a horse! Not sure if it is a clydes dale- I do not know my horses that well- but It is a Plow horse and a blonde, massive, beauty at that! I will make sure to bring the camera out next time. I thought of it before leaving, but who would want to see a 150ft long mound of composting manure?
I have Chia's hooves to trim tomorrow and the Goat cabin needs cleaned out-BAD! Too much of the bedding and hay accumulating for this weather.
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

The Garden begins to take shape

The weekend brought beautiful weather at 63 (F) degrees. I have sunburn (in Ohio-in early April!) on my shoulders from wearing an A tank, while we played in the dirt.

I have all the fence post holes dug for the posts around the garden, waiting on the fence. A bit of advice, It is easier to dig in wet clay then summer dry clay! The ground is still wet deep in the earth which made it so much easier of a job!

I have the frog/toad habitat pond in place and the rocks surrounding are done for the most part. I have the leaf stepping stones in place and level for 2 of the 4 walking paths plus a path around the pond. I ran out of stones, so will need to go back and get about 15 from Lowes to finish it up.

The cabbage, onions, and garlic are all in the ground, covered with straw and looking good.

The 1 bean "tepee" is in place. I plan to use a different system of 2x1's/ twine for the rest of the bean supports. The tepee is a project I made mid winter that did not come out as well as I would have liked. I did not buy scrap lumber for the legs, but the wood was not straight. There for not giving me the option of a lattice effect on the outside of the legs. Instead, I had to go with the inside to add more stability. I will use twine around the legs for the beans to climb up, and by doing this, it should "tie in" it's look with the rest of the bean supports.

The mini orchard is taking shape.Right now the yard has the appearance of an insane pirate's treasure quest. Holes everywhere!That is, the holes are dug in preparation of their arrival in 1 week. (The trees, not the pirates). I added compost to the holes bottoms and mixed in some soil.

The chicks got their first feel of sunshine and their first taste of grass and dirt. The meat birds and the layers went into chicken tractors for the day. This will be a daily thing since the goal is to have them out by 6 weeks. Although a few of the chicks are smaller and escapes through the wire spaces were made, they stuck close to the cage and my well behaved barnyard paid them no bother. Clyde actually sat by the cage almost in a protective watch. He has been in a rather odd disposition lately. I know it is most like to do with the season and weather. he actually bit at my pants leg a few times. Frog has got it down to snapping at him "No CLYDE". Shaking her chubby little fingers at him at batting at his beak (which she misses- every time). None the less, the mating has begun more frequent between him and Bonnie. I have caught her up in the hay loft- I think she is looking for a spot to lay eggs. I will not let her hatch out any this year.

The captain made a new fire pit. i am rather happy about it. The last one was so, ummm, ugly. And not well made at all. (Sorry honey). Our dryer broke mid winter, so we had it sitting in the garage, waiting to go for scrap. The The captain let Lil' man tear it apart with his need and hunger to unscrew things. And that he did! That boy had the dryer apart in 2 days! he is such a mechanical genius. he never fails to amaze me (frighten or tick me off- depending on the event) with his thinking skills. He finds solutions to what ever is at hand effectively. he has always been this way and since he has been in preschool, it seems to have calmed the the frightening and upsetting ones. I no longer have to check all the outlets to see if the face plates have been screwed off, for example. he hid a screw driver under his pillow for that very job at age 3... I kept finding screw drivers and could not figure out how he was getting them- until The Captain put a lock on the tool box.

I trailed off there, sorry. Anyway, After lil' Man had the dryer in parts, The captain saw the drum where the clothes go in and thought he would recycle it into a fire ring. Buried it into the ground and used brick to encircle the showing portion. The perfect small fire ring. (With Lil' Mans help of course. He also helped transport some of the dirt with his Tonka dump trucks. Not as fast as a shovel, but he wanted to help).

I will share a picture of it in action once we get the bonfire season going. he did do a test a fire in it yesterday, burning some of the brush acquired over the winter. It did pretty well. No blowing up, toxic smells, escaping flames.

The goal this week is to get some more of those rose bushes I dug up last year. Remember the ones that were growing, untended for at least a decade on the abandoned old farm? They are still there and I am going back for more. As many as I can get as quick as possible. i guess there are plans for the property to eventually be a plaza (strip of stores/office's). I am sending some out to a woman in Florida who is sending me a started patchouli tree! I also have some Cardamom starts coming once the weather warms up more. These will be indoor plants for me, but that also means eventually I will have some to share with some of you next year in a giveaway.

Sweet sunny dreams,

~Tammie

Lil' Man~ 5 years now

Not a big deal to most of you, but thought I would share anyway...
5 years ago today at 4:34 pm, Lil Man was finally in my arms. We had hoped our second child would be a boy to complete our family.( once he became 2, I was hot on the one more baby trail which brought us Frog...) Panda was rather fascinated by the whole baby in the belly thing. Especially when he moved. Here we are when I was about 7 1/2 months along with Lil' man:Lil Man kept his baby blue eyes untill just over 6 months of age. (at 6 weeks in the below pic)Him at around 18 months with a BLONDE curly 'fro!and 2 months ago...
Ahh...how the years have flown. He is officially registered to start kindergarten next fall...
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

Franken'chick,Elvis, Big girl bed for Grizzle soon

One of the meat birds has turned freaky....I noticed the swelling this morning when The Captain was helping me relocate these stinky buggers to the basement garage. They also got some bigger housing, as in the A frame chicken tractor I built last year. Twice as much room for the 14 that have survived this far (as of 4 weeks of age).
The other chicks are doing great in their brooder. They will not be evicted from the mudroom since their stench does not start for at least 3 days. I change out the bedding every 2-3 days with them where the meat birds are an every other day event. They, for the most part seem drastically cleaner then the broilers.
Thought I would share a pic caption the Captain made up to send to one of the people he speaks with through work(city people who do not realize the variety in chickens or that there is a chicken who lays an egg color other then brown or white).
Yep. She has been named Elvis! I am so in love with this batch of chicks. They all, for the most part, have a stand out personality. Little Elvis here is the smallest chick in the batch but no one picks on her. They all get along real well. No separation like I have seen in other batches of mixed chicks. The Americaunas are becoming a bit flighty. The Mystery chick, which is the biggest chick now, has become the wing leader. I had to clip his feathers...
Grizzle LOVES to visit with the chicks. She has this thing for licking their bottoms..Gross me out and she gets a stern "no". I think she has become addicted to the feed she can lick off the floor, where they kick it out the sides. Another stern "not for Grizzle" moment. But she still will follow me in and lay down next to them.
Grizzle has outgrown her bed...She has become my little baby. Her intelligence is what has surprised me the most. An amazing knack for understanding and routines. If I bring out the shop vac to vacuum the rugs, she walks right up to me and stares me in the eye. The first time, I thought she was just curious about it. Then I proceeded to vacum the loose hair off her back. She stood still and let me know when she was done by walking away a few minutes later. Now every time I have it out she comes over for her vac treatment, walks up face to face with me and stares into my eyes... She waits for me to finish making the bed when I ask for her to get down while I make the bed- not just putting sheets on- she will wait till I have the blanket on and fluffed pillows before she jumps back up.
She just "gets it". Amazing. I have opened my heart to her and she has rewarded my patience and love with hers.
I could go on and on about the surprises she has given me (such as asking for me to share my trail mix with her by staring at me then my hand then snorts at me and how she is picky about dog treats). I just LOVE her so immensely.I thought Chia was the smartest but she has a rival on that level now. Which I thought I would share that i have shared her May Day pic from last year over here at Gaia's Garden
in their Non Human Companion's gallery. Check it out! She is the only goat at that!