Third Sourdough with SF starter.

Tastes great.

Recipe

The Garden - July 31

When I took these photo, I didn't realize the flash was on, so they look a little weird.




The corn has really taken off and is starting to get it's tassels. We should have some sweet corn pretty soon.



The pumpkin growing amongst the corn is a Rouge Vif d' Etampes.



Italian plums are starting to ripen. This is the first year that I really have a crop. They don't get as purple as I thought they would when ripe. They are almost too sweet when soft. I've been picking and eating them when they are pretty hard. It only takes two bites to eat one and the pit comes out clean.



Chrissie hanging out under the tangerine tree.



Sid made two new bee blocks this spring, that's five blocks in total now and they are almost completely full. The population in our garden has grown a lot over the past 4 years. Now I hope we can find someone who wants to rent the house and garden, so those bees have something to eat.

June 2011
Snapping turtle mother at my parent's home.


She traveled from the ponds near my parent's home and laid her eggs under a bush in their yard. Looks like there are going to be a lot of snapping turtles in the area in a few months. Make sure you wear shoes in the yard!

"Females travel over land to find sandy soil in which to lay their eggs, often some distance from the water. After digging a hole, the female typically deposits 25 to 80 eggs each year, guiding them into the nest with her hind feet and covering them with sand for incubation and protection. Incubation time is temperature-dependent, ranging from 9 to 18 weeks. In cooler climates, hatchlings overwinter in the nest." - wikipedia.org

New Chicken videos


This video is pretty long, but the chickens are extra cute.



Preening under the lilac tree.



More of the same, but different




Eating scratch.


Chrissie making some noise.



Chrissie checking out Lu.

More eggs...

Blondie's first egg was this Thursday, Feb. 10th. It had some little dark specks on the larger end. We only got 2 eggs from her, so far. 2/10 & 2/11. She is already taking a break. I think I know who the slacker is.


Chrissie's first egg was today, Sunday, Feb. 12. It's lighter in color from Blondie's eggs, kind of pinkish. You can really see the color difference below.


Here is a sampling of eggs. Besides colors, you can really see a difference in shapes and sizes. If you look at the detail of this photo, you can see some weights that we wrote on them in grams. Biggest so far is 46 grams from Siouxsie. She as laid everyday so far, eight! Such a good girl.

Week 24 - We have an egg! - February, 5th 2011 - 7:30am PT


The tiny blue egg is from Siouxsie. The brown one is just a dummy egg, so they understood where to lay their eggs, but it is also a good comparison of the size. Because she is new at this whole egg laying thing, it will take awhile for her eggs to get bigger. It's a pretty grayish, blue.



This photo isn't very good, but I wanted to weight it. 1 3/8 ounces. We were expecting Blondie to be the first one to lay, because she is so much bigger than the other two. Siouxsie is actually the bottom of the pecking order and the smallest. YAY!

Heidi's Birthday Present from The Bleuler's


Sid's parents sent me this great painting that Hugo painted in 2009. I love his work. When we visited during the summer, this was one of my favorites.

Our gallery is getting big thanks to them. Well maybe not big, but it's three more than we had a year ago. Sid also has a couple of Hugo's abstract paintings. I'll post those at another time.

Thanks Karla and Hugo!

New Videos for the New Year

There are 3 videos here, but I uploaded more to YouTube. Out Of Order Acres YouTube


Chrissie really likes Lu. He doesn't really know what to do when she chases him. I still need to get a really good video of her chasing him.



Eating yogurt with their regular feed. They love it.



Checking out the cat door. I'm waiting for one of them to figure out how to get in the house.

Updated Videos and Still waiting for the first egg...









Sid and I were outside with the camera and the lens caught the light and the chickens went crazy. By the time Sid went in to get the video camera they were not as interested any more.

This is a make-shift chicken tractor that i put together with some concrete reinforcing wire. (usually used as tomato cages) some shade cloth and whatever i had around to block the ends. There are plenty of weed sprouts to eat and garden bed to fertilize.

First time in the new coop. It was Thorty's dog house, now it's a coop for the girls.




the coop tour

Chicks in the new coop








Group dust bath

Close ups - Week 10


Siouxsie is starting to get the fluffy cheeks that Ameraucanas (Easter Eggers) get. She is a bit smaller than the other two and I think she might be the bottom of the pecking order. I found Blondie sitting on top of her twice now and Chrissie pecks at her.


Chrissie is really pretty with the Wyandotte's laced feathers. Can't wait to see her all grown up.


Blondie is at the top of the pecking order. She was the same size as Siouxsie for a long time and then grew really fast. Now she is bigger than Chrissie. I'll weigh them later this weekend.

Chicks at 9 Weeks



The chicks should start laying eggs around 20-24 weeks.

Carbon checking out the chicken tractor

Chicks week 6








Chicks eating tomatoes

Chicks get some grass sprouts



I started growing some of the pasture seed, in a container for the chicks. They destroyed most of it. I'm going to re-do the lawns with this new chicken Omega-3 pasture seed, so they have plenty to graze on.

New small chicken tractor



Built a small tractor so the chicks could enjoy the outdoors without me babysitting.

Chicks Week 4



The chicks hear something and stop peeping. Of course, Chrissie is busy taking a dust bath and doesn't even notice.





Bondie finds a leaf.

Chicks Week 3 Videos



Chrissie taking a dust bath.



Chicks come when I call them.