Construction request from the hens

It seems that the girls want a few more nest boxes than the 8 they presently have. Today three laid their eggs in the far corner under the roosts in a new nest they have constructed. We have also had two eaten eggs this week and a lot of fighting over boxes. Sometimes three try to get into the same box all at once. Esmeralda still lays her egg on top of one of the Buffs in the same box each day. The Buff then protects the egg until we get it. I wish I had the camera with me when it looked like the Buff had two heads, one coming through in the middle of the Buff's body. Quite strange. The little ones are adjusting to their new digs, and though they come from two different batches and are not quite the same age, they get along very well. Their conversations in the garage seem to have scared off the squirrel that was living there. No sign of him since their arrival.

The vegetable gardens are becoming part of the Coop now, with the two new raised beds finished, and some planting done. Asparagus is starting to emerge, though still small. Carrots, peas, beets, onions, garlic, lettuce, strawberries, chard, all are showing their little selves. Jeanne has been harvesting lettuce for a month. We are eating some Kale that came up from last year. The new kale is emerging also, and finally there are some recipes to use it with. Wendy has some seeds in, Jeanne is adding flowers to the garden and has peas planted everywhere, Frank is waiting for Oryana plants to come in, and Jennie and Peg will work on a three sisters corner when it warms up a bit more. We have added two pear trees, three peaches (all decent sizes), and 15 rather small Black Walnuts to the land. The trillium is stunning this year and we are keeping the tent worms under control so far. First rhubarb harvested. Now if we could only find time to finish the juvenile coop and the other two pens. The girls are thrilled to be out roaming around in the woods so much lately, gobbling up bugs. They are behaving very well and come in like good kids just in time for Boots (the dog) to have a good run after a day at the office with Wendy.

Peggy, Happy Homesteader

New Pics of the New Chicks

Hi All

Well I wasn't able to make it over to the coop to take pictures today - This whole "working" thing is really starting to cramp my style! Fortunately Wendy was able to head over and get some pictures of the new chicks for us. At least she made a valiant effort to do so. Apparently having a camera lowered down into your enclosure is a fairly terrifying experience when you're a three week-old chick, so Wendy ended up getting lots of pictures of little chicken backsides as they were running away. The best picture she managed was the first and that is the one now gracing the top of this page. The rest look a lot like the photo that accompanies this post...

Matt

Famous Hens and New Additions

Just back from two weeks in Key West, and is it ever nice to be home. The trillium are in full bloom, completely blanketing the forest floor in places, and the gardens are coming along nicely as well. While Key West has it's own beauty and charm, as a little girl from Kansas once said, "There's no place like home."

Our girls are now famous, gracing the pages of the spring edition of Edible Grand Traverse (on newsstands everywhere and on the web at http://www.ediblegrandtraverse.com). Susan Ager gave a great write-up and her husband Larry took some fabulous pictures. As is often the case when a story goes to press, this one was edited down a bit and some important (important to us at any rate) details were lost. The biggest omission was any mention of some of the folks who were instrumental in getting the co-op up and running but have since had to step away from the group for personal reasons. I'm referring of course to the Moehle family and Keith Brucker. The Moehle's not only designed and helped to build the coop, but they also raised some of the chicks at their home. Keith was a great help during the construction of the coop and the pens. I was erroneously credited as being a "key player" in the construction of the coop when in reality illness and travel prevented me from participating at all. Just wanted to set the record straight and make sure that all parties received the recognition they deserve for their efforts.

In other news, our flock increased by 10 today. Peggy picked out the new additions from a group of three week-old chicks and came home with 3 Barred Rocks, 3 Wyandottes, and 4 New Hampshire Reds. The reds are a new breed for us and are known for being good layers of large, brown eggs. They are currently dwelling within the relative safety of the garage in a custom home designed and created by Peggy. They are cute little fluff balls at the moment, but won't stay that way for long so we're going to have to get busy with completing the "juvenile housing" and pen in the near future. We have a plan as well as most of the materials we'll need, but are lacking in free time right at the moment. I've just started a new job, Wendy's work is getting busier, Frank Jennie and Keith are booked solid, and Peggy and Jeanne have an impressive array of projects, obligations and activities. I'm sure it will all come together, but it's going to take a bit of juggling to make it all happen.

That's about all the news for now. I'm hoping have a photo session with the new chicks tomorrow (photographing children is so difficult!) so that you can all see them at their cutest and we can finally get a new picture up for the blog - I do believe it is time to replace the picture of Pete standing in the snow-covered yard...

Matt