Sam The Clock

"Sam The Clock" named by our son.   He was boss of the chickens but certainly not the ducks.  

Sam was the Rooster and he was a Barred Rock.  He was the keeper of the flock and the wakeup call in the morning…. and the afternoon…. and sometimes even in the middle of the night.  He was boss of the chickens, indeed, but certainly not the ducks.
As he grew he became a bit aggressive.  We loved taking the kids into the run to pet the birds and chase them around.  Once Sam started getting aggressive we stopped bringing the kids into the run.  He liked to jump at us and try to get our legs with his claws.  When he decided to attack my leg and give me a nasty cut it was decided that he would have to become dinner.  He was a decent weight so one night Aaron, for the first time, harvested a bird.  I'm a bit of a softy so I wasn't present until the bird looked more like food.  I helped with some of the plucking and cleaning and we ended up with Sam on our table.  Surprisingly, the kids were very ok with this process.  Megan was a bit young and may not have fully understood but Owen certainly did and was not bothered by it at all.

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Bird of Prey

We had an issue with a bird of prey in the summer of 2012.  We are not sure what kind of bird but we believe it was a hawk.  One day on my way home from getting our son from school I noticed all the birds were inside the coop.  Upon further investigation I then noticed one of our female rouen ducks on the ground and had been killed by something.  I quickly looked around and saw a very large bird high up in a tree near the creek.  I assume this was the culprit.  I sent the kids inside and I disposed of the duck.  The rouen ducks were my absolute favourite and I was so sad to see one go this way.  I began to make more frequent appearances outside and also got a fake Owl to set in a tree in the yard and I moved it around regularly.  I saw the bird in the same tree a few times but it never took another bird, thankfully.

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Fly By Summer

As much work as a garden can be, it is well worth the reward! We got a late start this year due to the move but we have managed to get a decent yield so far considering! 

   

              

   

We recently harvested some radishes and plan to make a radish relish. We have harvested a bunch of zucchini so far and had a surplus which we pickled and canned.  We also had a bunch of garlic scopes from our CSA and pickled them as well. 

I haven't done much critter maintenance other than sprinkling some diatomaceous earth, an herb mixture (mint, thyme and sage) along with my garlic pepper spray around the plants and beds. So far damage has been minimal.

We have had a few storms with pretty gusty wind and our trellises have held up to the challenge. Although, my yellow brandywine tomatoes have been struggling this year for some unknown reason.  As for the other varieties, they are doing well and producing many tomatoes which are almost ready for eating; can't wait!    

Tomato Trellis

Cucumber Trellis

The CSA we purchase from at our local farmers market has been wonderful.  We go every Saturday morning and pick up our share and shop at some of the other local venders.  My only complaint is that there has been many repeats and many boxes contain much of the same things in them.  I would love it if there were a bit more variety which I know is available since there is a large share which often contains produce which we have yet to receive in our small share.  Aside form that, I have been quite pleased with the quality and amount given with regards to the cost.

It is just about time now for some second planting to happen!  There is a few spaces around the garden that are just waiting for something to be planted.  In the next week or so I hope to get some beets in the ground and possibly some mustard greens.  

Chickens and Ducks - early stages outdoors.

After a few days outdoors we brought our 4 older birds coop and run and placed it beside the younger birds to get the acquainted.  They were about a month apart in age if my memory serves me correctly.  After a week or 2 we then moved them all into the large area of the coop and into the main run area together.  There were no issues between any of the birds.  The rooster asserted his dominance with the hens but otherwise things ran smoothly.  

Early days before installing the large run.

Large Run installed with electric fence.

Helping Dad make the ladder.

The ducks, for the most part hung out together but there were always a few hens that would tag along.  The ducks often protected the hens from the rooster.  The ducks were far larger than the rooster so he was intimidated by them.

birds of a feather flock together.

Chasing the Birds!!

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Moving Outdoors.

Our little chicks and our not so little ducklings were getting a bit cramped in the garage brooder.  The ducklings are oh so very messy with the water and needed more space.  We had a few different ideas as to how to resolve our problem.  Our first thought was to bring the ducklings outside into the small coop with the other 4 chickens.  I loaded the chicks into the crate while keeping the ducklings in the brooder pool.  The 2 minutes that the birds were separated were the loudest moments in chick-duckling history!!!  The birds were so distressed while separated.  I knew they got along but little did I know that they were BFF's!  Once hearing the birds while separated I quickly reunited them and got to thinking of a new plan. I decided that they would be best to all move into the large coop.  Of course they do not need the run of the entire coop and we have yet to order (hopefully tonight) our electric fencing for our run.  Regardless, I did with what we had and made one small purchase.  I got some chicken wire fencing and we used that to create a run and I used some old cardboard boxes to section off a portion of the coop.

Temporary cardboard walls.

          Little Duckling enjoying a cool place.    

Duck, Duck... chicken??

We have already altered the setup to maximize the shade throughout the day.  We also removed the dog crate and put in the pool with water for the ducklings-which they LOVE!!!  I then threw some bird netting over the run simply because the birds are so young and the chicks would be an easy meal for any bird of prey.  So far so good in their new home.  The grass is pretty covered with poop but that was to be expected.  We ordered our electric fencing, 150ft, and it should arrive later this month for us to install.  The older birds will then be introduced to the rest of the flock and they will all have full run of the place.  

Speaking of our older birds, they are doing well.  They are still in our old coop in the back yard and getting bigger by the day.  I bring out snacks regularly for them (apple cores, left over bread, greens, cheese, etc) and they all let me give them some belly scratches... even Mr. Roo Man!

Our pair of Barred Rocks.

The 2 month old flock.... and Winston (our dog) who wants them so badly!

Mr. Roo Man!

Garden Works.

The gardens are a slow work in progress for us here at the new house.  We have now put in 2 flat beds for our squash, zucchini, watermelon and cantaloupe.  

The existing 2 raised beds have both been weeded and planting has been done in both, although neither bed is full.  We are trying out the square foot gardening method for the raised beds.  We are also trying to follow some companion planting.   I put up a small trellis for the eggplants and we have the large trellis for the tomatoes (trellis netting yet to be installed for tomatoes).  So far our carrots are up and I have thinned them out to 16 per square foot.  Our onions (4/spft) are also starting to come up but not ready to be thinned out yet.  I also have some more lettuce shooting up (4/sqft) and the 2 large plants are ready for us to begin the continual harvest.
 

Our raised beds are old and the wood edging in riddled with ants and we will likely have to reinforce the beds or simply build a new outer edge and allow the current wood to rot.  Because of all the ants I decided to whip up some ant be gone!  Our companion book says to mix up some water with garlic and white pepper; ants hate garlic and white pepper kills them.  I didn't measure out the ratios but simply added 3 crushed garlic cloves to 3 cups water and sprinkled in some white pepper.  I left it to brew on the counter for a few days and then strained it into a spray bottle and began spraying!  It has definitely helped with the ants.  It has not eliminated them but has definitely helped us control their population.  This garlic pepper brew is also good to spray right on your plants (not flowers-bees won't come to pollinate) to keep flies, butterflies and moths away.  I spray it every few days and after rainfall on the plants and around the beds.  

I have also used Diatomaceous Earth around the beds and on the leafy plants.  this kills the bugs by dehydration... but this will also kill helpful bugs so avoid flowers and use with caution.  I only use it where I see significant leaf damage.  I certainly don't want to kill the spiders and bees that are in and around the gardens.      

We have put all but one of our berry bushes in the ground and Aaron even built me a strawberry planter from an idea I found from this pin on pinterest using some pallet wood.  We have bird netting for the berries but have yet to install it.

After planting our raspberry bushes we also discovered this on the side of our backyard fence:

I guess we could have simply taken some clippings from this old bush and transplanted them!

On top of the work around our house we are still members of the CSA Farm.  I have been doing some work out there as well; not as much as I would like but I am trying.  I have weeded one of our beds and did some plating.  I direct sowed some royal burgundy beans-which have sprouted nicely, swiss chard, onions, nasturtiums and plated some squash and zucchini started at home.  I need to get out and weed our second bed which is full of massive thistles!  UGH!!!  What a pain that will be but it is our fault for not getting on top of it sooner.

 It has been so very much work but in the end we will receive a great payoff.  Soon enough we will be eating fresh, home grown, pesticide free fruits and vegetables.  Sounds like a bargain to me!