Longest Night of the Year Celebration

Last night was the longest night of the year.  This means that the nights will gradually get shorter and the days longer until we in Alabama experience our first spring like days in late February.  Yep, I know it sucks for you Northern folks in February still but our winter is a micro winter and thankfully short and sweet.  Yesterday it was hovering around 60 degrees and I was able to finally get the bonfire (a.k.a. yard trash) ignited and we roasted hotdogs over the hot coals and made s'mores with our flaming marshmallows!  Very nice night indeed.

It was made even better by having the day off even though I ran around like crazy trying to do all my piled up errands at once.  I did finally get my grow light so my bonsai (present from Mike) gets sufficient daily light.  A plus is that my Meyer lemon will also get to use the light and I should have some fruit this year.

My collard greens are chomped to the root by the deer.  With the warm balmy days though they may continue to grow and if I can keep the deer away, I'll have some more greens to enjoy through winter.

I stood outside tending to the bonfire when my neighbor, Don Browning, and his great grandson, Jack, stopped by for a chat.  Don loves bringing his greats over to see the chickens.  They are still talking about the fresh eggs I gave the little girl great last year.  I promised Jack I would grow him some popcorn this year.  He is a first grader and thought popcorn had to come from China and that it couldn't grow in a garden.  Nothing I enjoy more than having kids get to know what a farm can do for them.

Booger.

I ordered a broody hen containment system from Hayneedle for 79.98 <.http://www.hayneedle.com/Ware Premium Backyard Hutc>.  It looks just like our hen house - cedar tee-pee style.  And I ordered six fertile Easter eggs for our broody hen to hatch.

Fertile easter eggers from My Pet Chicken

Unfortunately, the containment system is on back order but I received the fertile eggs.  What to do?

Improvise.  Necessity is the mother of inventions.  I needed to get the broody hen out of the nest the other hens use for egg-laying duties and into her own area.  I used what I had on hand, an old wire dog crate, poultry wire under the bottom, newspapers over that and a basket turned on its side and then some pine bedding and a tarp to keep the hot Bama sun off them mid-day.  Ta-Da!

The new incubation and containment system

Now what would the broody hen and her sisters think of it?  

H'mmm, I don't remember leaving these eggs here.

Maybe.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

A Grand Experiment

Is already hot today - the high is expected to be 97 degrees F - heat index well over 100.  Chickens do not do well in heat.  Heat stresses chickens much more than freezing temperatures.  So lots of tender loving care for my little flock of ladies.  Today also begins a grand experiment.  It is time to cull my flock but before I do that I want a little broody hen, Pick, to incubate some fertile eggs for me. I have a new experiment to set up.  I have ordered six fertile Easter eggs (type of chicken that lays pastel colored eggs known for their very low cholesterol).  I have one very broody speckled sussex hen.  Under the hen goes the eggs and in 21 days we'll see what we have.  When eggs are incubated this way, ratio of hatch is 50:50.  Ratio of hens to roosters is 50:50.  So I expect 3 eggs to hatch and either 2 roosters and 1 hen or 2 hens and 1 rooster.  Hoping for 2 hens and 1 rooster.

From field to table

Our garden's leaf lettuce is holding up to the 100 degree temps in Northern Alabama.  We had freshly picked lettuce salad for lunch as well as day lily fritters, home grown and canned pickled eggs and salmon croquettes.  Amazing what you can find to eat if you just look.  Were the day lily fritters any good?  They look a bit like a soft shell crab when cooked and they fry up very fast.  See for yourself in the pictures below if they were any good - nothing was thrown away!  Yum!

From field

To batter and flour

Frying up fast

Brown in under a minute

Lunch for Saturday 6/4/2011

No left overs

The pickled eggs up close

Welcome to the Northern Alabama Homestead!

Pickled eggs made with 12 of the smallest hen's eggs, hardboiled, shelled and then packed into a wide mouth mason jar with pickling spices and 5% acidic vinegar.  Goes into the refrigerator for 2 weeks.  Then we will use in place of dill pickles for eating out of hand, on sandwiches, and in salads.

 A white orphington hen lays the largest eggs on our homestead.  These eggs are very thin shelled and prone to breakage before collection in the morning.  Wish she laid a slightly smaller egg; I worry about her getting egg bound when I'm away from the homestead.  Her name is Prissy.

Peck, Pick and Penny

Prissy

 The smallest eggs are laid by speckled white sussex.  Their names are Peck, Pick and Penny.  They each lay a unique but consistent size.

The hens live within a electric fence enclosure with a top bar hive full of Italian honeybees.  The fence and their chicken coop is moved every few months but rotate around the hive.  The hive remains in place.  Bees and chickens are compatible.  The chickens eat the mites that are parasites to the bees.

   Our garden is producing a fine batch of leaf lettuce suited to the hot/cool spikes in our spring time.  I will sow a row of black seeded simpson next weekend that will stand up to our hot June and July days.

My hot weather crops, peppers, basil and tomatoes are planted.  The garden is mulched and ready to grow.

 Squash in a container surrounded by rosemary and lavendar.

 I found some $1 containers of azaleas on deep discount at Wal Mart - obviously intended for Mother's Day. I purchased all they had and then planted them along our property line.  Should be gorgeous next year with their flowers.

 

My nemesis alive and well in the North Alabama heat

North Alabama has seen severe weather this year.  Evidence of the last storm remains over our house.