Mulberry Foraging

There's a big mulberry tree close to G's work that's plumb full of berries. 

Jaron and I stopped by today and picked for about an hour. Jaron loved being able to stretch an arm out and grab berries to eat while I picked. Sometimes he squawked at me because I wasn't close enough to the tree for him to reach a berry. 😂 I'm not sure how many he ate, but a few fell out of my carrier when I took him out at the end. 

We picked roughly a gallon. The trick is to "tickle" the berries and they fall into the pail.

Mulberries are pretty delicate and don't last long fresh, so I'll freeze the bulk of them. Last year I dehydrated them and we didn't love the texture (probably because I over dried them 😅). Freezing is easier, so we'll go with that! 

Foraging Compost

Mama chickens teaching their chicks to forage the compost pile. 😊 (Blurry picture due to morning sunlight and not wanting to get too close and spook them). 

That's one of the best things about chicks hatched by a hen instead of via incubator - they learn how to be chickens from chickens instead of needing to figure it out themselves. 
 

Freezer Refresh

Monday night we arrived home from a vacation to the Baltic Sea (a post for another day, stay tuned!). 

It's always good to be home after a long trip, and Monday was no exception. Jaron had fallen asleep in his car seat on the way home, so even though I was drooping with exhaustion myself, I took the opportunity to do a few things, like check our animals and bring the suitcases inside (G arrived home about an hour after me). 

I went into the laundry room to turn on the water- due to a leaky outdoor faucet we had shut off the water to the whole house while we were gone (our chore people turned it on and off every time they came). I noticed a strange smell in the laundry room, kind of like rotten eggs. That didn't make any sense because the diapers had all been washed and hung to dry before we left, and all of the eggs had been cleaned out of the incubator. Nothing should have been stinky in there. 

Uh oh, water on the floor. It was near our upright freezer, not close to anything that could be leaking. 

My first thought was that one of us had left the freezer door open a tiny bit (it happened once before 🤦‍♀️). But the freezer opened normally. I shut it without registering the puddle of water at the bottom. Oh no! 

It's a pretty old freezer, so I thought it had died. What actually happened: it was plugged into the same breaker as our water softener. Because we had shut the water off to the whole house, when the water softener went to run, it blew the breaker because there wasn't any water to run through it. The breaker obviously shut off power to the freezer. So our entire vacation, everything in the freezer was melting. 

Thankfully, it wasn't packed full. I threw a lot of vegetables on the compost pile, which the chickens appreciated. The last of my stored breastmilk was also dumped on the compost pile. It was expired, and I wasn't planning to feed it to Jaron, but I had plans to try making soap / lotion with it. Bummer. 

The meat was the worst loss. Thankfully, some of the meat still had ice on it, and we separated that from the totally thawed items. Our dog Jip will feast like a king! We actually refroze some of the completely thawed meat to be labeled and fed to Jip another time. 

G and I were both so exhausted, we only took the time to move the items into the fridge or compost pile. The cleaning had to wait for another day. Our basement isn't baby-proofed, which made cleaning it out quite tricky with Jaron underfoot. Finally I brought the baby tower to the laundry room and forced him to hang out in there. Not his favorite thing in the world.

I tried magna tiles on the drier (worked for a while), soapy water and bath toys in the utility sink (he ate the bubbles), and finally snacks on the drier. Between all of those, I got the job done. 🥳 

What do you mean I can't eat soap?

Not pleased to be trapped (also battling jet lag).

Okay, I guess I'll play. 

Using towels to soak up the standing water. Gross, but none of the shelves can come out. I washed them right away and they came out just fine. 

Did one wipe down with soapy water, then a second wipe down with vinegar/vodka as a disinfectant. 

Hopefully good as new!

Dirt Montage

My little planting buddy. 

He has a pail of dirt with "tools" in the garden to keep him entertained. Further entertainment was provided by the puddle of rainwater caught by the cardboard box.

He went back and forth between this bucket and a pot of lemon balm (in a pot because it spreads so quickly). I ended up taking out the lemon balm seedlings temporarily because he dug it up so much. 

That excitement quickly wore off and he wanted to use my tool, a hori hori knife. Nope. Mine. But every time I set it down, Jaron was watching like a hawk to grab it. When he tired of that he "helped" collect all the plant starts I had laid out in the garden. Thanks buddy, please leave them there! 

I'm trying to teach him to watch his feet and that some plants and okay to step on and some aren't. Slow progress. 😅 He kept stepping on the herbs I just planted. I think they'll bounce back though. Thankfully I had cages around my peppers, so he wasn't able to step on those. They aren't nearly as forgiving. 

Planting Basil

We go through dried basil pretty quickly, so I wanted to plant enough we could dry or even freeze dry for the rest of the year. 

Not sure which variety I like the best, so better plant a bunch! I have six different kinds- Genovese, cardinal, purple, Thai, lemon basil, and sweet basil. 

I lined them up on the outside of the trellis between the tomatoes and potatoes. 

My sister gave me the idea to put cups over the seedlings when adding mulch so it doesn't crush them. Worked like a charm! 

Next time I will mulch as I go. It was a little tricky to maneuver the wheelbarrow between the rows of mulched potatoes/onions. If I had done it as I planted, I could've gone straight up the wide aisle without squishing plants. 

All's well that ends well though! 

 

Green With Envy

We're downsizing our goats; six is too many for our space. We are keeping Gerda and her daughter Senka. 

It's time to get them ready for pasture. You can't just open the gate and let them out. Well, you can, but it could cause health issues. They're not used to the luscious, fresh grass, so their bellies can bloat and they can die from the trapped gas. 

The solution is to let them eat fresh stuff for small amounts of time so their stomachs can adjust. 

The other goats about to be sold were jealous. 

The day before the sale, we loaded Chai, Sage, Brighita, and Mina in one of G's work trucks. We contained them in an upside down metal basket that goes around a water tote. 😂 

Panic hit once we were on the road. The sale was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Would we run into trouble being from Minnesota? I did a little searching. Nope, as long as your goats have scrapie tags. 

Scrapies is a genetic disease that effects sheep and goats. I remember learning about it in my 4H days of showing sheep. It's a bad enough disease the government tracks it. Producers are supposed to register with the government, they give your farm an ID number, and you tag your animals with special ear tags that have the number on them. 

I hadn't realized goats needed scrapie tags. 

So. What to do? 

It'd take too long to register and have tags sent; the sale is the next day. No vet office was open at that time of day. Maybe the sale barn would have some? Or, better yet, maybe Dad has some tags leftover from our sheep days... 

He did. Whew! 

We were able to stream the sale the next day. 7am start time. 

They split our four into two groups, the young two and the old two. The young ones went first. They weighed 75lbs total, roughly 38lbs a piece. Prices are per pound (or hundredweight). I had advertised Chai at $50 and had no takers. He and Mina brought $77 each, which I'm content with. Mina is probably worth more as potential breeding stock, but we didn't have time to sell her individually. And given the poor results we've had selling animals on Craigslist, I didn't think we'd have much interest. That's the same reason I didn't try to sell the mama goats privately. 

The stockmen didn't have the babies out of the ring before they let Sage and Brighita in. Mistake. The kids turned around to rejoin their herd. It took three guys to get everyone sorted out. 😅 The mamas brought $165/head. 

We bought Sage for $150 originally. Brighita was free (born to Svetlana, who we got for free). Granted we have feed costs put into them and the salebarn will take a commission. But still, I was satisfied with that price. 

It's strange how little action is in the goat pen now. Cutting the herd in half will do that though. Next step is to find a billy to borrow or rent. 

Mulch and Seedlings

Mr. Toad is back. 

He surprised me when I watered the plant starts. I wasn't expecting a giant toad! 

Garden work is happening slowly. The past two years my vining plants all got mildew and died. They produced a little even so, but I'd like to avoid that of course. 

Mildew avoidance attempt #1- I've put a ban on overhead watering. 

Mildew avoidance attempt#2- plant at least one watermelon far away from the former mildew area.

The internet had mixed reviews of whether the mildew will remain on the trellis, so I'm taking a chance that it'll be okay to plant vines there again. 

Cantaloupe experiment - three varieties is more than I want, but I don't know which I'll like better. So this year I'll plant three and do a taste test. 

Gotta take careful notes when working with different varieties!

Garlic Scape Mac and Cheese

Last year I made the mistake of letting garlic scapes grow and flower on our garlic. The bulbs weren't very big. You're supposed to cut off the scapes right away so they put all their energy into the bulb. 

This year, I've been on the lookout and saw a bunch coming up. A few snips and I had a handful of scapes. They weren't fully developed yet, and I wonder if the ones I snipped early will be done or grow more. 🤔

I cut the scapes into small chunks to freeze for later, but then I had the idea to toss some of them in a bunch of pasta with almond milk, shredded cheese, salt, and pepper. So good! The scapes add a lovely spicy bite to it. 

Freeze Dried Cherries

My mother-in-law bought a crate of cherries from the fruit truck and gifted me what she couldn't use. 🥳 They are so full of flavor! Jaron has been eating them as fast as I can pit them. 

Unfortunately, they're starting to go bad already. I picked through the box and sorted out the bruised/molding ones. The good ones got washed in vinegar water and are being stored in glass jars, vacuum sealed for good measure. So far they've stored very well. 

There weren't as many bad ones as I thought. 

I washed them in vinegar water too, then cut off the bruises and mold. They got sliced up and stuck in the freeze dryer! 

They turned out great - great flavor and great texture. Like a healthy candy! 

This is probably my second favorite freeze dried fruit (pears are my favorite). I would do more, but they're so good fresh...

Animal Update

Can you spot the chicken amidst the dandelions? 

Since we've contained our goats to let the pasture grow, the dandelions have really taken off. The goats have adapted to their smaller area. 

The feeder continues to work well. Even the young birds have figured out the feeder! And I'm it has continued to need filling every other day. 

I converted the tire with the water bowl into another dust bath, this time with soil and coconut husk. I'm curious if they'll like that more than the sand. 

Jaron and I started hauling spent hay from the goat pen to the garden to make pathways/cover weeds. He loved watching the goats. 

He spotted a bunch of goat poop on the ground (their poop is a bunch of tiny pebbles) and picked one up, holding it out to me. "Ball!" he announced decisively. Why yes, Jaron, you're right, that is the shape of a ball! 😂😂😂

Garden Volunteers

Time to get the garden in hand. When the weeds are out of control, I recommend using a weed whacker. 😜 

Much better. 

Because of the weeds, I haven't planted anything yet. I really want to get them under control via cardboard and mulch before I plant. However, my garden is full of volunteer plants (plants I didn't plant but are growing anyway). 

My oregano is flourishing. I did plant that last year, and it overwintered very well. You can see the onion that accidentally overwintered in the background (top right). 

A bunch of teeny cilantro are growing. I haven't planted any this year, so they must be from seeds dropped last year. 

There's some dill popping up too. No calendula as far as I've seen, which is disappointing because I heard they are self seeding and come back easily. 

The mulch path I put down a while ago is growing pumpkin seeds all over the place. There's probably 20 seedlings popped up. I hate to pull out nice plants, but we don't need 20 mystery pumpkins. 😂 

I'll keep a few of the better looking ones. 

I forgot the straw got put on top of the big mound of decomposed pumpkins. The chickens enjoy scratching through the pile, so I should've known that seeds would've been mixed in with the straw. 

Oats or wheat? I think wheat. Must be from the mulch put on in the fall. 

I actually dug them up and transplanted them in the pasture in the hopes it will be another food source for the goats or birds. 

Along the fence line so the goats can't eat all of it...

Container Potato Update and the Bionic Boy

The other day Jaron brought his arm to me and then wore it for three hours. It didn't seem like he wanted it for a specific task, just wanted it on. The day before he held my hand a lot walking around the house and I remember making a couple comments that I needed my hand back for a moment; I needed both hands. I wonder if he felt bad that he only had one. 🤔

Back to homesteading...

I brought my container plants over to our house. Well, technically G did. The plants winter in my in-laws' garage and harden off on their patio. Finally time to get them to our place! They are hanging out in the orchard near the potato containers. 

My experiment in growing carrot and cabbage seeds continues. Looks like I'll be successful with the carrots!

I put a mesh bag over the flowers to catch the seeds. 

My poor aloe plant took a beating with the cold night temps a few weeks ago. I think it'll make it though! 

And now the potatoes. Such luscious leaves! This pot is after mounding. There'll be space for one more mound, I think. 

Baby Rescue

The good news- we had one guinea keet hatch on Sunday afternoon. 

The bad news- I don't think the other two eggs are going to hatch, so it's going to be lonely unless we buy another baby (chicken or guinea) or find a hen to adopt it. 

I counted back the days to see if I could remember when I first noticed the broody chicken (the duck was broody later). There was a possibility she could be hatching her eggs in the next day or two! 

So I went out to the shed to keep underneath her and see if there was any hatching going on. What do you know, I heard tiny peeping as I walked up to the shed. There were three baby chicks on the ground on the chicken side of the shed! Good news! 

But the broody hen didn't seem too interested in them, which made it seem like she was not their mom. I heard nervous clucking from the haymow... 

When I poked my head up there, I saw two broody hens sitting on eggs with more peeping coming from underneath their feathers! I honestly think it's the same hands that hatched chicks earlier this year. 🤦‍♀️ I decided to name them Thelma and Louise because they are always causing us trouble. 😂 

Long story short, I collected the chicks in a bucket, grabbed one hen, and brought them down to the back goat area. The other hen did not like that I was taking her chicks, and she followed us from above in the haymow and then jumped down to be with the chicks. 

Gathering the babies:

Good news- the guinea successfully adopted a hen as its mom, and the hen adopted it as her baby. One problem solved! 

But what to do about the abandoned eggs? 

Another easy solution- the incubator was still running from the guinea eggs and all 22 eggs from the abandoned nest fit inside. Two of those eggs are in the process of hatching, and one last guinea egg is hatching! 

We'll wait till it gets dark and then add the newly hatched babies to the hens. They're more likely to adopt them in the dark. 

By the time I got back out to the shed with feed and water, Thelma and Louise had safely gathered all the babies under their wings. 

Whew!

But wait, this means my chicken count is off. I didn't account for two hens in the haymow. I also spied the missing Leghorn (with the other Leghorn, so I know we have both). That brings our bird total up to 57. Oh wait, I didn't include the chicks in that...