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Gardening with Chickens
Last week, we harvested our garlic. We succession-plant bush beans, which was one of this weekend's tasks. The variety we plant mature in...
Ed
Jul 28, 20242 min read
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The Last of the New Chickens (this year)
On Wednesday of this week, I traveled an hour plus to get our last three pullets of the season: a Russian Orloff (front), a Blue Maran...
Maggie
Jul 13, 20241 min read
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9 Week Old Pullets Successfully Introduced to Existing Flock - Whew!
The second time was the charm. The first attempt at trying to integrate new pullets to our existing flock was terrible (all kinds of...
Maggie
Jun 20, 20242 min read
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What Happens When Getting Interested In Medicinal Herbs
I'm in the process of learning about all of the medicinal benefits of herbs and other greens. I've bought reference books that outline...
Maggie
Jun 20, 20242 min read
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Correcting Course with New Pullet Introduction to Existing Flock
Boy - did I make a series of mistakes in judgement! Thank goodness I was able to course correct and all is well (at least for now)....
Maggie
May 29, 20243 min read
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What?! More Chickens?
Ed and I've been talking about getting a couple of pullets again this spring so that we'll have eggs over the winter. (Only first year...
Maggie
May 28, 20242 min read
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Garden 2024 is in!
It took nearly 3 months, but the 2024 version of our garden is finally completed. The extra time this year was spent installing a fence...
Ed
May 26, 20242 min read
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Restocking Bees
Unfortunately, all three of our hives failed to make it through the winter. I pulled all three apart last weekend to look for clues and...
Ed
Apr 27, 20242 min read
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Chicken Pot Pie - Using Canned Garden Beans and Carrots
We've said this before, but Ed and I are always trying to do our menu planning around the foods we've grown and preserved. The past...
Maggie
Dec 17, 20231 min read
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Meeting Neighbors Thru a Cookie Exchange
I went to a neighborhood "barn sale" this past summer and met a neighbor for the first time. She and her husband were new to the area...
Maggie
Dec 17, 20232 min read
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How We Pet Outdoor Barn Cats in the Cold Rain
It's a relatively cold, rainy, and overall blustery day here in Wisconsin. Ed took off work mid-week this week in order for us to catch...
Maggie
Oct 12, 20232 min read
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Final Honey Step for 2023
After allowing our 5 gallons of honey to settle for a week, it was time to bottle. We bought a mix of 1-pound and 2-pound bottles and set...
Ed
Aug 27, 20232 min read
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Honey Day
In the end, we produced honey, but it was a challenge. We had previously checked the hives and determined that we would be able to take...
Ed
Aug 27, 20233 min read
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Seed Saving Tomato Seeds - First Time
I'm trying to keep myself organized as I try saving tomato seeds. We planted a variety of tomatoes this year and they are all either...
Maggie
Aug 21, 20231 min read
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Notes From the Honey Harvesting Side Kick
If it had been just me, the side kick, there wouldn't have been any honey harvested this year. Ed did most of the strategizing and...
Maggie
Aug 21, 20232 min read
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Our First Ever Pullet Eggs - Woo Hoo!
At least one of our eleven pullets (raised from 1 day old chicks) has been spending time in one of our nine nesting boxes. With a couple...
Maggie
Aug 12, 20232 min read
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Preparing for Honey
As we approach August, we are starting to count the days until we try and extract honey from our hives. I opened each of our three hives...
Ed
Jul 29, 20232 min read
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2 New Black Kitty's - Smudge & Maple
My new area friend and her significant other have barn cats who in turn had kittens about 8 weeks ago. Last night, she was kind enough to...
Maggie
May 26, 20233 min read
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5 Week Old Chicks Moved to Forever Home
It had to be done. Our 11 baby chicks, now officially 5 weeks old as of today, were getting way too big for the brooder in our basement....
Maggie
May 24, 20233 min read
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Coop Completed
The chicks are entering week five of six, and are getting quite large. They are rapidly outgrowing their cage in the basement. Maggie has...
Ed
May 21, 20231 min read
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