Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

I've got my garden planted except for the pole beans, bush beans, tepary beans, and the flour corn. It's been triple digit temps yesterday and today, with today having some humidity as well, which I am still NOT used to, having lived all my life in the arid parts of the West. We are on fire watch tonight too, because of possible thunderbumpers on extremely dry forest. I'm praying very hard that this is NOT the year I lose my home to wildfire.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Will join you in prayer for protection of your home, as well as safety for others dealing with high fire risk. Monkey Werks covers the fire and volcanic activity, as well as other "signs of the times". He's pointing out that the wild fires in USA are much worse than in past years. But, MSM does not mention that... I'm guessing that it's b/c they want us to stay focused on the plandemic.

 

[Britesea]

Thank you. Everything is good today, and the weather is a bit cooler with no fire watch so far. The Sycan fire, which was the closest one to us at this time is something like 80% contained and they feel confidant about putting it out soon.

I planted my Tepary beans this morning. Looking forward to seeing what they do for me. Supposedly I should have no trouble getting a dried bean crop out of them by early September (first frost is usually mid-to-late September). I'll wait until this evening to plant the green beans.

 

[Britesea]

Everything is up and growing, although it's been so hot that we've been watering every other day to keep the baby roots happy. I've started laying on the mulch now, so we'll be able to back off on the watering a bit. Our water pressure is low enough that we can't use a sprinkler of any kind, and the hard water deposits tend to clog up soaker hoses very quickly, so we hand water everything (or at least, DH does), it takes several hours.
The tomatoes are doing well, although I don't know what will happen to the fruit set with the high heat we have been "enjoying". We enjoyed a nice pot of green peas last night, but they are showing stress from the heat as well, so I anticipate a smaller than usual harvest of peas too. The Ute winter squashes are already setting fruit though- apparently they love this heat.

One of the two cockerels from this year's incubator batch has gone to a new home with friends. The second one we are keeping to replace Duke, our oldest rooster (he will be going into the pot before winter). This second one shows coloring that indicate that Taffy, one of our Americanas, was the mother, so I'm hoping he can pass on the green egg genes. We've named him Placido Domingo because he is the first rooster we've ever had with a 5 note crow!

We had to do some work on the fencing around the new part of the garden, because we discovered that the hens can just waltz right through the holes in the cattle panels we used (all those feathers make them look bigger than they really are). We managed to scrounge up enough chicken wire to attach to the cattle panels and keep them out though. Those piles of stuff tucked into the corners may be somewhat unsightly, but they sure come in handy!

 

[Britesea]

One of our older hens, who we know isn't laying anymore, came strutting out into the yard this afternoon with 8 baby chicks. I think they might have been only hours old, because I found one that was still alive but obviously too weak to break out of its shell, and the membrane was all hard and dry. I grieve for that little one, but Hallelujah for the other eight! This is the first succesful hen hatching we've ever had. Millie, the LGD, is just tickled pink by the babies- she hangs out as close as Mama will let her, occasionally nosing one back toward Mama when they stray too far. I'll be interested to see if this starts a trend of broodiness.
Meanwhile, we're going to have to find homes for some chickens, as we have more than our half acre can support now. Of course, some of those eight will be cockerels, which can go into the pot. We have to decide whether to keep the youngest ones and sell or give away the oldest ones, or what. The bulk of the flock is only a year old.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

How exciting! And you didn't know she was setting? What a blessing, especially since Millie will help protect those babies! I'm happy for you.

 

[baymule]

I’ve only had a setting hen once. It sure was sweet to watch that momma hen with her babies. Congratulations on the 8 new chicks. I guess their momma surprised you!

 

[Britesea]

We had our suspicions, since the hen wasn't coming into the coop at night and didn't see her much during the day. DH said she was exhibiting the "broody" posture, but we've seen that in hens before with nothing coming from it. So this was a pleasant surprise. Now if she can just keep them safe until they are old enough to be on their own!

 

[Mini Horses]

Congrats! I am so happy for you. I have broodies so often that I sometimes have 6 at a time! They stop laying until chicks are "released" by them. That's half dozen a day. It takes about 90 days from set to release. They still eat But I'm so excited with each batch and love seeing them teach. Enjoy yours!!

 

[Britesea]

I'm praying every day that the fires stay away from us, but of course, I also realize that sometimes the answer to my prayers might be "No" It bothers me that if we had to evacuate, we might not be able to save the chickens. The thought of trying to round them up and finding enough dog kennels or whatever to transport them...