WE ARE INSANE.
Jesse and I clearly don't have enough going on, so we've decided to add another venture to our busy little farming lives. We started building this crazy contraption yesterday, as always, out of scraps of junk we managed to find. Any guesses as to who is joining the Rough Draft family tomorrow?
IN SHORT...
Here is an abbreviated version of this week on the farm....The chickens are happy and healthy. We're experimenting with some worm farms, using a few old windows, to supplement the protein needed for the chicken's diets. The bees are flourishing - I already had to add another hive body onto each! They are quite productive! There are lots of yellow squash getting bigger every day, plenty of green tomatoes, flowers on the green beans and zucchini. We planted corn, more melons, more cucumbers, pumpkins, and tons of beans - including some heirloom pole beans called "Reverend Taylor." Today, we finished setting up some bamboo trellising for them. These, plus the canopy of sheets shading our kale and chard, secure our garden as being completely insane-looking. "Anything you do that makes your neighbors think your crazy," our papa farmer, Eric, used to say, "probably just means you're doing something right!"- Hannah.
SIXTEEN LADIES.
It seemed like we built our chicken coop ages ago....and we have been waiting and waiting for the day we could fill it with our own little flock. Some hard-working folks have been busy clearing out all the leftover debris and junk from our yard this week...so we decided it was time to find some chickens!It was very last minute, but the ever-reliable Craigslist came to our rescue. And now - we have our girls! Sixteen. Barred rocks (the black and white speckled ones), Golden Comets (brown and white), and White Leghorns - or "Leggerns" as they seem to be called around these parts. They are pullets - which is basically like teenagers - so they aren't quite laying yet. But we are more than happy to bring them home while they are still developing, so that we can get them started on a good diet and out on some fresh grass before enjoying their eggs!We are so in love. Yesterday, I just sat with them for almost an hour...feeding them worms and naming them. We've have named the four Golden Comet's: Rose, Blanche, Dorothy, and Sophia (our Golden Girls). Plus, we got an extra chicken for free: She was a "dirty bird," basically a cross of two breeds and therefore useless to the farmer who registers his flocks. We love her the most, don't tell the others. She is the barred rock with a brown head you can see in the second-to-last photo. She is a TOTAL diva. Her name: Beyonce.We still have a lot more to name: suggestions?- Hannah.
BEE-GINNING.
First of all, I apologize for that title. Jesse made me do it.But it's true! The bees are here! I drove early Tuesday morning to Mount Sterling to pick up two nucs. Nucs are basically several frames of bees that have been removed from a thriving hive and then either given a new queen or make their own. We had a thrilling two hour drive back to the farm, as a handful escaped inside the car and were not too happy. It was a pretty bad day for the bees, altogether...dark and rainy...their least favorite kind of weather. I opened up the nuc boxes and set them on top of their new homes for a while before removing the frames and placing them inside.This very sunny morning, I checked inside the hives to make sure everything looked normal....and I found much happier bees! They were very busy and didn't pay much attention to me at all. It is such a joy to me! It seems like I have been waiting forever, since sitting on my floor months ago putting their hives together. And now I am sitting on the ground next to the hives, buzzing with life, and just watching. They are truly the most amazing little things. They are the reason I first became interested in food and in farming. I love them so much already.- Hannah.
