Backyard Homestead Progress

It feels wonderful to be able to accomplish some projects today that we've been wanting to get done for a while.

Today we moved both of the chicken coops to other spots in the yard. The big girls' red "pretty coop" was moved to it's permanent spot for the rest of the year. After finally getting it level (there isn't a level spot in the backyard) it was cleaned out.

The only way to really clean it out is to take out the floor tray and climb inside.

The little girls' temporary "ugly coop" was moved to where the pretty coop had been so that we could use the same fenced run. Chris put up a new larger run for the pretty coop so the big girls would have lots of room to actually run. And run they did! They love the new set up.

Liquid Gold

Sometimes it's worth the extra effort and time it takes to make something nourishing from scratch.

Chris had roasted a chicken a few days ago and I asked him not to throw away the carcass when he was done carving it. I had noticed that the crisper drawer had claimed yet another bunch of celery and we had carrots that were not at all for fresh snacking (imagine sawdust with a vague hint of carrot flavor). 

All I needed was an onion and I had the base recipe for chicken broth. I cut the veggies into large pieces, added them to the chicken in a large pot and filled it almost to the rim with cold water. Some fresh ground pepper was added for a little spice but I wanted to keep it pretty basic so it could be used for everything.

I turned the burner on high and waited for all the cold ingredients to come to a boil. Once it reached a boil I turned it down to low/medium to cook at a low simmer with the lid tilted enough to let out steam.

Every so often for the first hour, it needed to have the foam that would form skimmed off of the surface. Then it was time to wait. And wait. Checking now and then to add more water if needed.

Five hours later the house smelled amazing and the stock had a rich amber color. 

The bones had become soft enough to break and I broke most of them in half to help release the marrow. I let it gently simmer for another hour just to make sure all of the gelatinous goodness inside would make it into the liquid gold.

After straining out the vegetables and bones I was finally rewarded with just a little over 3 1/2 quarts of wholesome homemade chicken stock.

The reward!

I'm excited to try it out! Now to make some soup...

Precious Potatoes

With it raining all day today I couldn't work in the backyard but really wanted to work on gardening. So I cut up the seed potatoes I had chitting (sprouting) in front of the big kitchen window. The plan is to plant them in a few weeks when the weather clears up.

I made sure to leave at least one "eye" on each piece cut to ensure it has enough to grow. 

More than an hour later, I had more than tripled the number of potatoes we'll be growing.

We're hoping for a bumper crop of tasty taters to store and can that we can eat all winter.

For The Love Of Peppers

I love cayenne pepper! I put a little in just about everything from my scrambled eggs to my hot chocolate. Don't knock it till you've tried it. A little sprinkle of cayenne makes hot cocoa taste great...especially if there's a shot of whiskey in it. Again. Don't judge. 😄 

So when one of the local farm supply stores has a sale on seeds you buy the packet, even if you thought you already had enough things to plant this year and didn't need any more seeds. Because really, how can you ever have too many garden seeds?

I ended up planting more than half of the packet today. That's 46 seeds planted!

If they all sprout...well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. The worst that can happen is I end up with a bushel full of peppers. At least it's something I like and will use. Unlike zucchini. 

Trying To Beat The Rain

While the first day of spring the day before yesterday had been beautiful, the weather forecast for the rest of the week is rain...lots of rain. Not the sort of weather you want when trying to turn a backyard into a garden.

Yesterday was a mad dash to accomplish some things before the monsoon arrived in the afternoon. The hourly forecast said the rain would start showing up around 4pm, and it did. Thankfully it was only scattered showers until around 6pm, which bought some time.

I raked the part of the yard where the giant pile of bamboo had been. A good portion of the leaves had come off the branches while the bamboo was parked there forever longer than I had intended. The leaves were confined to a new pile beside the compost pile to be added to the potato bed as mulch in a few weeks.

As I was trying to get a tarp to fit over a large pile of sod I had removed from the large new garden space I heard a commotion in the tall holly tree behind me. At the same time, my next door neighbor working in his backyard laughed.

It took me a second to pick out the silhouette of a small hawk perched on the fence beside the tree. My neighbor had seen it plunge straight into the tree at high speed, frightening the large flock of sparrows out of it before it landed on the fence on the other side.

She looked so majestic sitting there...and then she saw the chicken coops. She darted the twenty feet to the cable line that runs directly over both little coops. Both the big and little chicks' runs were totally enclosed with wire but I still felt a bit of panic.

She bobbed on the wire as she looked down on them. I was standing there bemoaning the fact that I didn't have a camera with me and my phone was charging inside. The hawk darted back to the fence behind the thick holly tree and I decided to make a run for the camera in the living room.

When I returned I couldn't see the hawk but my neighbor had kept an eye on it. He pointed her out on the wire over the other next door neighbor's yard. I was able to snap a few pictures before she took flight and disappeared a few streets away. 

Female Northern Harrier surveying our chickens

First Day Of Spring!

Well, it finally happened. Spring is finally here!

As if on cue, tiny spinach and pea seedlings greeted me as I examined the raised bed I had planted two weeks ago. Their delicate bright green shoots were enough to make me beam with delight.

Tiny spinach seedling.

First pea to sprout.

The weather was perfect for working in the backyard and I heard lawnmowers running all over the neighborhood. I was able to fill one of the small raised beds along the garage with soil and fill it with heirloom seeds.

I may have been a bit too crazy enthusiastic due to the spring equinox. Peas, carrots, parsnips, kale, spinach, corn salad and lettuce all made their way into the 1'x5.5' bed.

So many seeds!

I can't wait to see how they do.