Farm Fresh: High Tunnel Chickens and Putting the Garden to Bed

 The chickens moved out to the high tunnel a couple weeks ago.  They have mostly been doing well in there.  They are working hard fertilizing and tilling in the compost.  We have had to be careful about opening the doors on sunny days as it can quickly get to 100F, even when outdoor temperatures are in the 60s. Watering them is another issue. It gets near or below freezing at night now and the hoses are put away for winter. Big sister A is watering all the birds by carrying buckets from the house spigot. I moved the mobile roost in there on Saturday because a chick got stuck between the roll-up bar and the baseboard and perished. We think it was trying to roost on the baseboard. The ducks are a little confused about these new doors on their sun house. The muscovies and guineas can and do fly in if they want. 

Hubby spent a lot of time this week organizing and cleaning out the barn.  He gave away our old lawnmower, got rid of a lot of junk, and pressure washed the floor.  He also put up new lights. It is spic and span now.  Plenty of open space. The cub scouts are still meeting outside with masks and Brother M's den will have their den meeting here. 

I clipped, chopped, and dug out the diseased boxwood near the front door. 

I replaced it with another Smokey Saskatoon.  Based on last year's success, I am really looking forward to harvesting from these bushes. I planted a third one in the orchard along with some black aronia bushes.  

The garden is mostly ready for winter now. We dug out all the sweet potatoes -- despite the issues, there were many more than we can eat/preserve.  I gave some away and also put some in the high tunnel. The chickens seem to love them?! 

Taking it easy on the gardening this year has left me with lots of energy for next seasons' garden projects. I already ordered all my seeds and some of my plants.  

Here is the current plan for the high tunnel and fenced garden areas:

I love this design from Harry Dodson's Victorian Kitchen Garden.  I am working on gathering some clipart to make similar designs in the future.  Walled gardens are so incredible. 

Thanksgiving Followed Immediately by Christmas Decorating

 I dread butchering days. But unless and until our family decides to all be vegan, they happen. I say vegan because egg laying hens and ducks get old or sick, and I won't be wasting that meat. I could have gone to the store and bought a turkey, raised by unknown hands and circumstances, but I choose certainty. I've known this duck for 3 years. He's had a life of freely wandering 6 acres, plenty of sunshine, and has multiplied himself by twenty. I captured him, prayed over him, and for myself, to do my part well and appreciate his sacrifice. He had no scary ride to a facility, just twenty steps in my arms and a razor sharp knife. I am grateful to raise my own flocks and herds, to give them a good life, and most especially for every bit of meat and the sacrifice it represents.  I also butchered 9 khaki campbell ducks that afternoon, 4 year olds which were no longer laying.  I respectfully prayed for and thanked each of them. It is a somber thing, taking lives one by one, but it does allow me to really be present and appreciate each one appropriately.  

I had a lot of wonderful helpers getting things ready for Thanksgiving.  Brother S set the table. Brother M made the winter apple pie (apple, pear, fig pie), including the crust.
Our duck turned out delicious. Better than steak, I think. I used this recipe. 

Hubby made his family's traditional monkey bread.

I made orange ginger spice gravy with the duck juices. 

We feasted. Despite taking it easy this year we still used quite a few ingredients from our garden: duck, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, rhubarb, elderberries, and herbs. 

I made "healthy" pecan pie - just maple syrup and eggs for the custard instead of refined sugar. 

I also created a new spin on our rhubarb pie by adding a cup of elderberries and a cup of sour cherry jam that hadn't jelled properly instead of the sugar. 

First thing Friday morning we headed out to our local tree farm to pick out a tree. We were there right when they opened this year, but there were a lot of people already there! 

We spent an hour perusing the options and enjoying being outside in the fields. 

Of course, we chose a tree in the farthest field and downhill from where we started. 

We counted the rings to see how old our tree is. About 10 years old. 

We are pretty good at this Christmas decorating thing.  Both the older kids know the traditions, and all I did was put the lights on the tree.  They brought up all the boxes from downstairs, hung the stockings, decorated the banisters, and set out the nativity.  They were anxiously waiting for me to finish wrapping the tree in its thousands of lights. 

Baby A's Life: Taste Everything!

 Baby A had his first solid food last Sunday evening. He did not like his oatmeal porridge and spit most of it out on himself and I. We have kept at it and he has had it every night for dinner... but still does not seem to be any more excited about it. Peas are on the menu for his next new food tonight.

This doorway bouncer is the only baby toy that I saved from the other kids.  I think I was picturing myself as a grandma, like Goomie, hanging it in the dining room doorway during Sunday dinners at her house.  

Baby A likes reading his books from Grandma S, but he also likes tasting them. I now remember why all of our board books are so beat up. 

He really seemed to be enjoying taking turns sucking on this cucumber that I was munching.

Baby A had his 6 month vaccinations a couple days ago and has been a little less cheerful than usual. He had a fever of 100.2F and was crying almost constantly the evening after his shots, but I gave him one dose of infant Tylenol and that seemed to take the edge off and got him over the hump. 

Farm Fresh:Sweet Potatoes, Comfrey, and More Rodents

 We brought all the potted plants in for the Winter. Miss L harvested two meyer lemons for us and there are 3-4 more that we are waiting to ripen. 

Shark heard something in the gutter.  I came around the corner and she was furiously digging to try to get at whatever it was.  Probably a chipmunk since it is hickory nut season. 

While I was digging in the sweet potato patch I hit a rock.  Of course, I thought I should just take a minute and get it out... Half an hour later, I unearthed this boulder. The sweet potatoes that I dug out while I was near the rock had been nibbled by something. And sure enough a vole ran out while I was digging.  It was not terribly smart and hid with its head in the dirt, but I could still see its hind end.  I mercilessly called all the cats. None came. The dogs were quick to respond to my whistle though, and equally quick to catch on to what I needed help with.  I dug and they hung out nearby. They killed all 4 voles that dared to skitter out.  I love these dogs!   Star came later and spent some time hanging out while I finished digging around the boulder.  I imagine that the cats have kept the numbers down somewhat, but with such plentiful food available, there are probably a bunch more voles down the line.

We dug up about a third of the sweet potato patch with mixed results. I planted 4 different varieties and they all had some XL ones near the main plant that split -- too much water or sporadic watering is likely the cause (irregular rains). 

I have purchased a lot of comfrey plant roots over the last couple years.  I finally felt confident enough to harvest some from my own plants. I usually buy about 50 at a time.  I chopped these into 47 pieces.

I planted them in gallon pots in the basement.  They usually take about a month to sprout.  It will be too cold to put them outside then, but I should have space under my grow lights since I will not be doing the plant fair again this spring. 

Family Schooling: Indian Summer

 We have been enjoying a beautiful extra-long Fall. The nights are cool and the days have been mid 60s and even 70s a few times. 

I heard great things about this lovely little book on Monet and we finally read it. It's a wonderful story about a little girl who goes to Paris to see his home and gardens. Big sister A and I both felt a little home sick for France while we read it.

We discussed the similarities between Monet and Renoir's impressionist style of painting.  And then we looked closely at Grandpa J's paintings to see whether they were impressionist (not at all -- his are very detailed). It was wonderful to have some real canvas paintings to look at. 

Big sister A was very proud of how hers turned out and did not want to risk water and paint brush ruining the work that she did with the water color crayons. 

We finished our science unit on Arthropods and switched back to American History. I want to go over it again with a different curriculum and make sure that it is well cemented in our minds. We are using the "History of US" series that a friend gave me.  We learned about Beringia, Eskimos, and early hunter-gatherers.  I loved the parts about how the Native Americans settled down and started farming -- potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, corn, so many of our current vegetables, were improved/tamed and cultivated in this promised land. 

The kids spent some time helping me in the garden, digging for buried treasure!

Baby A is sitting up well and getting droolier by the day. 

His sleeping habits have not improved much and I am anxious for him to start eating solid foods. Hopefully, then I can get at least 5 consecutive hours of sleep. 

He wore a church shirt for the first time last Sunday.  We were lazing around in bed since I was sick with a migraine, chills, and body aches.   I thought I might have Covid and was tested on Saturday. It took until Wednesday morning to get my test results back -- negative. By then I was already feeling a lot better. 

Big sister A captured this funny picture while she was watching baby A for me. Look at those cute chubby legs!

Miss L singing him a shark song and telling him about sharks. 

The girls had a sleepover at the cousins' house this weekend. They had a great time, but were pretty tired when they came home.  Miss L slept about 4 hours that afternoon. 

Brother M learned about campfire cooking at cub scouts. He had to plan and make his own foil dinner. 

They went on a hike near the Patapsco River.