Sunday Walkabout 6-29

If time flies when you’re having fun…then, we must be having the time of our lives.

Oh, wait…I think we are.

It’s time to start thinking about some of those fall crops. (yeah, I know…we just started harvesting for summer!)

So, after I picked the last of the broccoli, the Boss took the bushhog to the spent broccoli patch, mowing everything down in anticipation of the fall potato planting, which I am guessing will take place next week.

bushhogging the broccoli

All the chopped up plants will add some organic matter to the soil as they break down.  (which is good)  As the plants break down in the heat of summer, it also smells a little like kimchi or sauerkraut around here (which is not so good). But, at least it looks a little tidier.

the gardens look so pretty in the early morning light

Tuesday was scheduled to be broiler processing day, which went off with little difficulty.  

But, when we were finished, I was sitting at my desk and heard a very loud CHEEP...CHEEEP….CHEEEEEP! 

"it's a jungle out here!"

lost broiler

 Apparently, one of the pool chickies had “gone over the wall” and was wandering around in the greenhouse trying to get back to his pool-mates. (the greenhouse is attached to the house on the office side) No worries…he was captured and returned to the pool.  Then it happened again…and again. Uh-oh! We had outgrown my wonderful solution a little more quickly than I thought we would.

my great idea had a few flaws
crawling around UNDER the table wasn't much fun

an old flower pot made a good "chick catcher"

That caused a chain reaction that meant we spent far too much time with CHICKENS this week.  The bigger broilers moved outside.  Ordinarily, this means that the little broilers move into the brooder…but, we are having some issues with the hens…and the pullets needed to be re-homed as well. You can read about the pullets and hens (and the Boss' horsetrailer chickenhouse here. After much discussion, many trips hauling chickens and a lot of brooder cleaning, we got all the chickens situated. 

cleaning one of the brooders

fans are placed in the brooders to dry them after hosing down
the Boss is "checking" this one
(and trying to cool down on a hot day)

4 week broiler moving to pasture pen

re-homing the pullets 

the pullets will soon acclimate to the flock

I take that back.  When I went out to check the hoophouse irrigation and close the gates for the night, about ten hens had taken matters into their own wings and were truly free-ranging (where they didn’t belong) 

the last two escapees

The Boss and Gus were called in to help with the round up. Surely, now the chickens are all situated!

Tomorrow, we hope to start resolving the issues with the hens. They have me so frustrated that I’m suggesting one giant chicken potpie. Since that’s probably not the best solution, count on a post about the old biddies somewhere in the near future.

somebody's been eating the profits

lambs on grass
what a pretty sight!

The week also included working the lambs, LOTS of harvesting and planting about 200 brassica plants for fall.  (we have more, many more to get in the ground in the upcoming weeks)

the squash is abundant
and beautiful

FINALLY!
We have cucumbers!

Tess and I narrowly escaped getting thoroughly drenched in Thursday’s afternoon’s torrential rainstorm.   You know how loud it is in a barn with a metal roof in a thunderstorm?  It’s LOUD!  I figured we’d just wait it out in the barn.  Tess, however, couldn’t stand all that noise in her enormous ears (read about Tess here) and made a mad dash to the relative safety of the front porch.  Torrential and loud, maybe…but, the rain was great for all the transplants. (and you never complain about rain!)

she managed to get to the porch
WITHOUT getting wet

The week was topped off by our best Market day of the 2014 season.  The entire Market did well…it was crazy busy…and we had good music.  All in all a very good day!

leaving for Market at 5am
and we have lights
Yay, Gus didn't eat the trailer wire this week!

a full market stand

It’s been a good, productive week…but, I'll admit it...I’m just a little bit beat.  Today, we’ll spend some time resting and re-charging (and doing the laundry…and, oh dear...look at all those ripe green beans!) and then get back at it again tomorrow. 

Tess seems to think the hoophouse is a nice hammock
(looks like another project...making the hoophouse cat-proof!)

Hope you had a good week and a very

Happy Sunday!

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back and visit us again real soon.

baling hay across the way