Heirloom Chicks

These Speckled Sussex chicks love being on the grass. At night they still sleep in their brooder but by day they enjoy the fresh greens, insects and sunshine that they can only get in the great outdoors.  

In order to keep out predators, Chris has their run secured with two different sizes of wire mesh. Outside that is an electric fence so that Pauley's Pampered Poultry remains safe and secure.  

Then, before long, they'll be ready to move into the Chicken Condo where they will have even more room and a larger outside run. The free range chickens will continue to be secure from predators, the greatest threat to their health. 

Known for being an heirloom breed, the Speckled Sussex numbers are limited. That may change as people begin to recognize their ability to withstand heat and pathogens, something newer hybrids don't handle so well.

Making egg-laying pets of these little chicks should be fun. Varied markings and already distinctive, but friendly, personalities will make it easier to name them. They're fun little chicks.   Maybe we'll decide to raise a brood hen so that we can raise and perhaps sell more of these delightful little cuties!

(If our suspicions prove true, 

there's one daring little rooster in among the fifty little hen-chicks!)

Vitis Grapes!

Just as the season for planting was coming to an end, WOW! A surprising find! After searching locally, online and in catalogs, and after asking several people, Chris finally found our vitis grapes, supposedly good for our soil type and climate. This variety is the Edelweiss grape, yellow-green when ripe, a mild, sweet grape.

Vitis grapes are specially cultivated for wine. The flavor they hold depends heavily on the soil the grapes are grown in as well as climate and rainfall. Since rainfall is an uncontrolled variable, harvests will be different from year to year. Another experiment in winemaking!

In 90 degree heat, Chris prepared the new bed for planting and added a 40-foot arbor to the vineyard. Then, to beat the oncoming storm, he planted at night by truck light. Funny, he enjoys a good glass of wine about once or twice a week. Grapevines require months of growing in good conditions then harvesting at just the right time for winemaking, which adds a few more months. This is a fine example of delayed gratification. All gardening and farming is! If it all falls into place, we hope to share a bottle with friends and family--in about a year--and then I think Chris will feel that it was worth the hard work! Hmmm!

The Mystery Beans

This jar stayed in the basement for only God knows how long. Mystery Beans is what I called them. They had belonged to Chris's dad, so I knew they were his seed crop. They had to be good. We'd heard of seeds from a pyramid that still germinated and these seeds weren't THAT old so we gave them a try in our garden. Then I scouted out similar seeds at bulk seed suppliers and was able to identify them as the Kentucky Wonders, a pole bean! OOPS!  We planted them wrong. 

Just to be sure they were worth the extra work, I made venison chili using some beans from the mystery jar. YUM! They ARE worth the effort! Full of flavor, they're similar to a kidney bean and produce their own rich brown broth.

We were already experimenting this year with Bush's Blue Lake Pole Beans. Since we'd never grown pole beans before, Chris, being the resourceful person he is, supplied our garden with poles by thinning out the young maple sapplings from our maple grove. If nothing else, it brings back the nostalgia of our trips south and the way things used to be done. Especially, it brought back memories of his dad's huge garden. Sure, it's going to be more work but, without this extra work, it's hard to experience the goodness of the flavors and textures of the way it was, of times gone by.

                                                                                          

Bean Poles ready for Action

 

 

The Water Hydrant

An ancient dug well has been our water supply for the pampered poultry. After the ducks discovered their wading pools, packing water became a time-consuming chore! Now, with baby chicks in the brooder, Chris did the necessary thing. He spent a large portion of one day installing a water hydrant near the chicken condo (still in progress). 

Life is good for the Pampered Poultry

There's always something to do if you're trying to raise much of your own food.  Since Chris isn't running back and forth to the well, he has more time for gardening. He'll be glad to have the hydrant for that too!