Son of Khan

Changing of the Guard

This is Squanto. He is the son of Khan, my original rooster. Khan was a Cuckoo Maran who was the king of my barnyard for about two years. He overstayed his welcome by getting mean and aggressive. I have lots of kids roaming the farm from time to time and didn't want to worry about a ten pound rooster attacking little kids! I had to end his reign and did so in a dignified and painless way. Khan was buried in the woods. I named him Khan because of my deep interest in Central Asia and all the powerful leaders who controlled vast areas of Asia.

Ruth named Squanto today, after snapping this picture. His coloring reminded her of Native Americans and she wanted a solid name for him. Squanto was the Native American who helped the Pilgrims during their first few years in the New World. I'm sure we owe Squanto and his People much more than the naming of a rooster, but it is an honor to call him Squanto.

Squanto's mother is a Partridge Cochin, maybe Broody, the hen who hatched him! I want to believe that, so I will say that is true.


Thinning the Herd

I sold 19 hens and a rooster on Saturday. That leaves me with 23 hens and Squanto. I tend to dislike roosters, but I am taking a different tack with Squanto. I pick him up several times per week and walk around with him. He doesn't like that at all, but I want to see if he'll end up being less aggressive than his poppa.

I had 43 hens. That felt like too many to me. Each spring I hatch out a batch of chicks in my classroom and wanted to have the room for the newbies. A friend of mine let me know of a family that lost their whole flock recently and wanted to buy mature and productive hens, so I took the plunge and sold 19 hens and one rooster. It was really fun to watch the young boys race around the barn trying to catch chickens. If you have never tried to catch a chicken, you have got to put that on your life's to-do list.

Should I hatch out Green Barn chicks?, or should I order some interesting eggs from a hatchery?

The Seven Month Itch

I'm not sure if the number seven is the right one, but it sounded close. I am ready to get the garden going right now! I have plans to add additional beds and improve the existing ones. I have a ton of nicely composted chicken coop litter that I mixed with some grass clippings and maple leaves. I plan to mix that into the beds as soon as the ground will let me. I put some "raw" chicken litter on the beds last fall and hopefully that will mix in nicely and not be too "hot."

Are you feeling the same as I am? I know many of you have kids still living at home and they can really keep your mind occupied with all of their busy-ness. However, for me, I have a 28-ish year old daughter living in New York City, and a 27-ish year old son performing on a Princess cruise ship bouncing around the Hawaiian Islands. That leaves my wife Ruth and me probably a little more time to goof off than those with children responsibilities.

Ruth bought me a Gardening magazine the other day and there are some nice articles on pairing plants together, bed rotation plans, ideas on what to grow and how to keep the garden relatively pest free without dousing it with Dow Chemical products.


I spent a few productive hours perusing the Johnny's seed catalogue and made a list which will require another farm! I will probably add and subtract from this list as the next few weeks go by. I want to grow a lot of vegetables this summer, especially green beans, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. There are about twenty other vegetables, herbs, etc. on my list, but I don't want to bore you.



The Kitchen Garden in Winter

There are eight nice beds in this garden, which is between our house and the barn. I plan on extending all of them by four feet or more, and maybe adding two other 4' x 8' beds in-between some of the beds. This garden is surrounded by a circular driveway and a "still-not-completed" fence. I plan on covering the fence with climbing vegetables like beans, cukes and peas. It may end up looking a bit untidy, but hopefully it will yield lots of meals!



Like me, the garden needs a little bit of a slumber to get re-energized for another year of productivity. I am going to test the pH this year and see what exactly is going on out there.

Three Sisters Garden

Since I live in Michigan, and the "Three Fires" Native Americans lived in this vicinity, I am thrilled to use their way of gardening on land they once roamed. We have a little woodland, spring-fed pond and I want to believe that it was used by the Potawatomi and the Ojibwa. Ruth, Peter and I picked a lot sweet corn last summer and I am going to plant way more of it this year! The squash and beans did not do very well in here, but I plan on making a few changes this year to try to help them a little more. (2009 was a poor year in Michigan for all squashes!). I left most of the corn stalks in the ground. I couldn't bear to lose them last fall and they looked rather decorative for all of the Fall holidays.

When will you begin your garden planning? Maybe most of you are way ahead of me!!

Well, I'm off to find all the stuff I'll need to start seedlings in March and April. Hmmm, lighted Plant Cart, seeds, good starter mix, watering can. It was 2 degrees F (-17 C) last night and we have 7 inches of snow on the ground.

I may be just a tad early? Maybe you need to just come in for some hot coffee, or perhaps a spot o' tea?

Harvest

Harvesting my own crops is so fulfilling. I love picking things for dinner. We had many meals this year where everything on the table was something from the farm. Grilled chicken, corn on the cob, fried green tomatoes, raw zuchinni, green beans, ripe tomato slices, green onions, pickled beets, chicken and noodles, (store bought flour, homemade noodles), eggs, etc.

I am rather new to gardening and have a much better idea for what I will do this fall and next spring. I ordered garlic and am going to plant it in about two weeks in the pepper bed. I also have loads of composting coop bedding and some "fresh" coop bedding which I will cover all the harvested beds, and till it in a little. This will provide my beds with lots of good organic material and also some good chicken poo. Letting it sit over the winter will allow the "hot" poo to break down into usable fertilizer.

Here are some of the things I am harvesting this year!

Sweet Corn

Wow! This is the "Three Sisters Garden" and I will definitely do this again next year. I need to be more diligent with fertilizer so the cobs will get a little larger. However, the corn was superb. I also harvested many meals of green beans from this bed and there are 6 pumpkins scattered throughout this bed.

Tomatoes

I love vine-ripened tomatoes. This is a Pink Brandywine ready to come in for a visit. The tomatoes grew so huge that I had to use fencing instead of stakes or wire cones to keep them upright. This didn't help too well as many branches bent over and pinched themselves to death. (all the brown leaves)

Pumpkins

I have two types of pumpkins: Jack O' Lanterns and Cinderella. This is a litlle dude hanging from some corn. I have a feeling it doesn't have enough time to be succcessful.

The interesting markings on this pumpkin were made by free-ranging chickens! The little boogars!

Banana Peppers

I don't know what I was thinking when I planted eight of these plants. We hardly eat them and there are probably over fifty of these waiting for chili or something. What do you recommend?

Basil

Boy do we love basil. Ruth makes the best pesto and we faint with the taste of freshly made basil pesto. I have three different kinds and they are flourishing. I took a bouquet of them and surprised my principal with them and the whole school office was rich with the aroma of basil.

Black Peppers

This is a pepper, (not the kind you put in a grinder), which I intended to grow for my daughter's wedding bouquet. However, the Michigan weather didn't cooperate and it is just now (6 weeks late) coming into its own. The leaves are black and the peppers will turn a cherry red. I think they are beautiful, but probably won't grow them again. They need lots of hot weather.

Popcorn

I am trying this out because I thought it sounded like something cool to do. The cobs are all a really nice size, and now I just have to wait for the husks to turn brown. I plan on giving some of this as Xmas gifts.

Zuchinni

I planted one zuchinni this year and it just keeps on producing! I must have picked 20 already and there are another 10 getting ready. This is one crop that can make you feel like a successful farmer.

I am thinking about next year and what the garden will produce. If you have something you grew this year and want to recommend, please let me know. I may name the raised bed after you!

I can't catch you up!

Well, I decided to just post some words today.

I have been busy this summer getting my daughter married off on the farm. Then I jumped back into my routine of spending a lot of time in August getting ready for the new school year. Add to that a new computer and a more complex waay of getting Ruth's photos, and I have fallen off the blog cliff.

I miss all of my blog pals!

Green Barn Update

• I have 44 hens busily laying eggs and eating grass. You can see from my sidebar the different breed I have. I have opinions about breeds and which ones I would recommend, but you don't want to hear that now.
• I don't have any roosters now. I am not sure if I will ever have one again, but never say never.
• I have seven turkeys. I had to butcher one that got injured. After spending two hours doing that job, I am definitely happy to pay the local butcher $7.00 to do that. I have an appointment on November 25 to have the remaining seven "processed."
• My garden has done a great job! We have been eating lots of sweetcorn, tomatoes, green beans, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, fried green tomatoes and various herbs.
• I just received my order of garlic bulbs to plant soon. If you live in a cold climate, order your garlic NOW and get it planted around the time of your first frost.
• My pumpkin production is way down! I have about a dozen pumpkins in various stages and none of them look all that great. Did anyone have good luck with pumpkins this year?
• I have several piles of chicken coop bedding composting away right now. I am planning on giving them a few more turns and then I will cover all my beds with about six inches of it and till it in for the winter. I would be happy to give you a bushel or two of coop bedding! C'mon out and get it. BYOBB (bring your own bushel baskets)
• If anyone is planning on a Hawaii cruise between now and next summer, my son is playing his guitar on the Princess cruise! Let me know and I can hook you (or your cute daughter) up with him! ;)
• I have vanilla still brewing in the cupboard. I ordered cute little amber bottles to put it in. Nice gifts!!
• Another Green Barn gift (hopefully) will be popcorn. I have about 100 popcorn stalks out there and it looks like a bumper crop! I hope to fill pint jars with it. Stay tuned.
• Maybe I need to have a November drawing and give some vanilla and popcorn away.
• I love beets! I grew one row and they went absolutely nuts. I cooked them and canned them and wish I had five rows. No, I won't give this away.

I need to go blog visiting. I hope to see you soon on your blog!

Five Weeks Old

New Meat Locker

That sounds really crass! I predator-proofed the middle section of my barn this past week and moved 45 chickens and 7 turkeys in, (all of them about five weeks old). They were a little overwhelmed with all of the space at first, but are now happily nosing around in all of the new corners.

The white birds in the photo below are the cornish X breed. These guys are twice as large as the red broilers I am experimenting with. I have heard that the red broilers are tastier, even though they don't grow as quickly as the cornish chicks. I bought the red broilers from Ideal Poultry, and they are growing well. I am going to try to give them a little outside time and see how they like that. Last fall, I butchered out some extra, (annoying) six month old roosters, and they were as tough as shoe leather. I think the free-ranging gave them a little too much body-building time.

In the photo below, you can see three white turkeys and a bronze at the far right. They are very curious and like to follow me around. I am glad I found a butcher, because I am not enjoying the "processing" part of raising chickens.

The two very dark chickens in the photo are barnevelder hens. They will lay very dark brown eggs, beginning sometime in late August.

This turkey hung around Ruth while she snapped photos.

Don't look closely at the chicken wire! I discovered that I am really bad at getting it straight. After I made that discovery, I started to not care too! So, the coop is secure, but certainly not a mona lisa. (This is a short-term coop anyway!) There, that makes me feel better.

To make the coop look even better, I only had four foot chicken wire, and overlapped it. Then I ran out of chicken wire altogether and didn't feel like buying more, so I cut a section of hardware cloth to fill in the last little opening. I connected them with nylon zip ties. Wow! I'm thinking "coop of the year!"

Poopy eggs

The nice man who gave me the blue slate turkey eggs pictured below reminded me that washing them would be bad for the developing embryos, so I didn't. Aren't they just lovely? That is a nice mixture of mud and poo. I hope THAT isn't bad for the developing embryos too!!

Hatch day is Wednesday, May 20!

To List or Not to List

Where does all the time gone?

I am not one who usually makes to-do lists. When I do make them, I often misplace them, or forget that I made them, and then find them a year later and wonder why I took the time to make that list. (Ruth is great at making lists and then actually getting everything accomplished. If you ask her, she'll make you a complete itinerary for two weeks in Paris, complete with walking tours!) However, with that being said, I must get on with making a to-do list for this spring and summer.

First, I need to explain why I feel the need to create a to-do list. Our daughter is getting married on our little farm on August 1st! That is a pretty good reason to get after things in an orderly manner. Secondly, I have some vegetable gardening goals. Third, I have over 100 chickens and turkeys who all need to be cared and planned for.

Hmmm, I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed!

This is where the wedding ceremony will take place. I am planting several hundred sunflowers as an additional backdrop. The Yucca is moving. Any takers?

Wedding to-do list: (not in order of priority, Ruth will do that in a minute)

1) painting: studio roof, corn crib roof, deck rails, trim three outbuildings, stairway in the house

2) plant 2000 sunflowers

3) plant black pepper plants, coleus and other various flowers for decorations and bouquets

4) plant 20 pounds of wildflower seeds

5) lay new linoleum floor in downstairs bathroom

6) talk to neighbors on both sides about parking

7) finalize plans for the specially brewed beer for the reception

8) finish patio between the shed and the studio

9) tidy all the buildings

10) power wash the house

11) refinish the deck

12) scrape and paint the front porch floor and rails

Vegetable Garden List:

1) remove existing grass from proposed veg patch

2) till the ground thoroughly

3) build 6 raised beds

4) fill beds with nice garden soil and compost

5) start seedlings indoors

6) plan and install watering system

7) build fence and three gates

8) remove perennial bed from the "Three Sisters" circle

9) plant seeds

10)construct cold frames

11) plant seedlings at appropriate times

12) etc.

Poultry List:

1) build another brooder

2) prepare the middle barn room as another coop (build 3 doors, three walls, install chicken wire, move two lights, etc.)
3) other things I can't think of right now

What am I doing with over 100 birds?

Original Flock: 25 Hens

1 Rooster (Khan)

Broody's Babies: 7 (hatched on January 13, gendering still incomplete at this time)

Science Project 22 (hatched on February 13, gendering still incomplete)

Red Broilers 30 (freezer date: early June)

White Broilers 15 (ten for nephew, 5 for donation to food bank)

New Pullets 7 (2 aracaunas, 5 welsummers)

Turkeys 7 (3 bronze giants, 4 white giants, Thanksgiving for various families)

Science Fair hatchlings. The white ones are Light Brahmas, Rhode Island Reds and a Black Sex Link, from Eagle Nest Poultry.

Three or four of the as-of-yet non-gendered roosters are destined for new homes, (people have asked me for a rooster or two). All other rooster will head to the Amish butcher sometime in June. So, by mid-June, I will be down to 7 turkeys, 1 rooster, and between 40 and fifty layers.

If you are still reading this, thank you, but I am sorry for the tediousness.

This list will be much more difficult to lose!

My niece holding and adoring Jinx, a red broiler. (no. I didn't tell her!)

Hybrid Seeds or Heirloom Seeds?

There is a huge debate out there in the gardening world that swirls around seeds and their origins. As you can imagine, there are large groups of supporters on both sides of this argument, and I doubt if there is a clear winner. This is by no means a complete definition of either side of the seed argument, and I'm sure there are tons of details that can be added. Please add some!!

Hybrid Seeds

Hybrid seeds got their start in the 1920's by a man named Henry Wallace, a professor at the University of Iowa, who founded a seed company called The Hi-Bred Corn Company. This company later became Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed Company, a subsidiary of DuPont Chemical Company. Wallace wanted to help out with the food supply and had the idea to create a corn that would grow prolifically and provide an abundance of food for America and the world. It is interesting to note that Wallace later became the Secretary of Agriculture under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Wallace became Vice President under Roosevelt from 1940-1944. Friends in high places? I digress...

Hybrid seeds are created by finding parent plants that have the desired traits for the hybrid seeds and then, they are matched to produce the seeds. Farmers were convinced to buy these seeds in order to produce higher yields, and they did. Before this new "technology" farmers would save enough seeds from their crops to replant their fields the next year. The new hybrids began a cycle forcing farmers to purchase new seeds each year, as they could no longer keep seeds due to the nature of the hybrids.

Not only were farmers buying hybrid seeds, but the nation's gardeners began doing likewise. These varieties were selected for their productivity, their ability to withstand mechanical picking and cross-country shipping, and their tolerance to drought, frost, or pesticides. One of the traits of hybrid seeds is they are "high response" seeds. They require a lot of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and a great deal of water to achieve their high yields. This is how the chemical companies got involved in the farmyard. If you'll recall, Wallace's seed company is now owned by DuPont Chemical. Another well-known chemical giant, Monsanto, the world's largest hybrid seed company, also is the creator and producer of Roundup, and is the leader in bovine growth hormones.

Heirloom Seeds

People who have a great interest in Heirloom seeds and their plants are attracted to them for many reasons. Some are interested in growing the same plants that were grown for hundreds of years. Some are attracted by the idea of being connected with their forefathers. While others believe that the Heirloom plants are simply natural and lend themselves to organic gardening much better than hybrids. Most of us believe they just taste better!!

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Heirloom seeds are also known as "open pollinated" seeds. Unlike hybrids, which are pollinated mechanically and under tightly controlled conditions, heirloom plants produce seeds that mimic the parent plants. Gardeners save seeds from their best plants and store them for the next planting season. Heirloom plants tend to have much more flavor than hybrids, but often have irregular shapes, or don't transport as well. Producers of hybrids have discovered that it is far easier to breed plants for size and shape. Flavor is a mysterious thing! Another aspect of heirloom seeds is that they are dynamic. This means that the plants are able to adapt to their local environment, whereas hybrids are pretty much static.

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I was recently reading a magazine called Heirloom Farm and came across an article about William Woys Weaver, author and seed collector. Weaver, an avid gardener, discovered a collection of seeds in baby food jars in his recently deceased grandfather's freezer. He learned that his grandfather collected seeds from his gardens and replanted them into next year's garden. Weaver donated some of these to the collection at Monticello, as well as several collection sites in Europe. Weaver has written a book called Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, and it is on my list of must-get books.

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I am planning to grow mostly heirlooms this year and will change over completely next year. I have a gazillion sunflowers to plant, and they are all hybrids. I am going to try to plant some of their seeds and will let you know what develops!!

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Farm Update:

Garden Site

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This is a photo of the inner circle of the driveway, where I am planting the veg patch. It will be fenced to keep out critters, and I plan on building a series of raised beds. The soil is gravelly and sandy, and the raised beds will allow me to create nice soil on a much smaller and more controlled scale.

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Chickens on a Sunny Day!

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The Buff Cochin, (Bev), is leading the charge to find some good stuff to scratch around in.

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The Great Escape

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Steve McQueen would have been proud to see the chickens sprinting past the unsuspecting Bishop, (the barn cat). I kinda have the feeling that not much gets past her, including a group of loud and boisterous chickens heading to a dust bath!

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I hope you are having a nice day!

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It is somtimes easy to focus on negative things.

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Ruth and I are focusing on positive thoughts.

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(The photos in this post were taken by Ruth.)

10 Days Old

I have never had a hen hatch out chicks before, so this is a lot of fun for me. Broody (who is only 10 months old) is doing such a great job of keeping these little puff balls alive and well during these terribly cold, winter nights. They are in the barn, in a 5' x 5' box with two heat lamps on 24/7. Often when I go out to visit, the chicks are running around looking for little treats that I drop in when they are not looking. The thermometer on the floor of the brooder box reads 50 degrees F, and there they are, skittering around as if it was in the 90's F!

I believe Khan (Cuckoo Maran) is the proud papa of all of them.

I placed the eggs of two cuckoo maran hens, three cochins, (buff and/or partridge), two ameracaunas, and one large white egg. I believe the white egg was from the black minorca hen.
So, in effect, I know I will have 2 maran purebreds, and I can already see the feathered feet of three cochin/maran mixes. One of the ameracaunas didn't hatch, and I believe the yellow chick is an ameracauna/maran and then one of the chicks is probably a minorca/maran. I wonder if they will turn out looking like mutts?

These two enjoyed posing.

Click on the images to see more details.

Can you see the feathers on the feet of the larger chick? Click on the picture to see better.

I am hoping I get a lot of hens from this batch.

The white one is far ahead of his/her siblings with feather development.

I think it may be an ameracauna. I have a white ameracauna hen in my flock.

I think I can see feathers on this one's legs too.

The Great Escape!

She can run, but she cannot hide.

She pooed on the floor too.

I leave you with this photo.

Sometimes you can see three chicks up on this perch.

Thank you for visiting.

seven!

No words can describe this...

Happy Birthday!

This morning, at 6:30, I went to the barn for the usual routine of turning on the lights, doling out some scratch and then going in to chat with Broody. Someone else, besides Broody was talking up a storm! I could hear a little peeper coming from underneath Broody's mass of poofiness.

I picked Broody up to meet the birthday chick and this is what I saw. This little chick was lying there, head and neck sticking out, looking around.


After work, Ruth and I went straight to the barn and I picked up Broody to see what we would see. This looks like a little Cuckoo Maran, with a little brown on the wings.


I think you would agree with me that this is a pretty cute little chick. I think I already have a name for "her." I'm thinking Gladys. I'll explain more of that in a second.

These three eggs are pipping (red arrows). The chicks have a little egg tooth on their beak which is designed to crack the shell and allow the chick to breathe better. After the pipping begins the chick could be out in an hour or in a day.

Broody looking at her fine work. And probably wondering what the heck is that fuzzy thing doing in with my eggs!

Happy Birthday Gladys. I hope you're a pullet.