Trying To Develop Sustainably Via "Reusing"
While not always possible, we're trying to build out our remaining projects using recycled / repurposed items. Ed recently had a couple...
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Sustainability
The whole point of this exercise was that Maggie wanted to live off the grid. While Ed is not ready to give up things like electricity and hot water, there are things we are doing to integrate sustainability into our life.
Maggie
Oct 72 min read
From Dust to Dust; a Sad Day For Our Food Stores
Being relatively new to canning and storing food from our garden, we've now realized that we've been over canning each season (despite...
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Ed
Sep 223 min read
Honey Season 2024
We are in the midst of mite treatment for our three beehives, so it seems like a good time to summarize our 2024 honey season. To start,...
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Maggie
Sep 141 min read
Time To Store Chicken Coop Straw - Winter's Coming
Time to start thinking about winter. We use straw as bedding for our chicken coop and for the nesting boxes. During the spring and...
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Maggie
Sep 141 min read
Our First Blue/Green Eggs From New Pullets
Pretty sure there's just one of my new hens that's laying blue/green eggs - but it's fun to see!
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Maggie
Aug 311 min read
Gathering Eggs with a "Cute" Basket Makes Me Smile
I've gathered eggs using my shirt as a "pouch"; I've gathered eggs using the pockets in my sweaters and jackets (which can be dangerous...
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Ed
Jul 282 min read
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...
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Maggie
Jul 131 min read
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...
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Maggie
Jun 202 min read
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...
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Maggie
Jun 202 min read
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...
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Maggie
May 293 min read
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)....
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Maggie
May 282 min read
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...
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Ed
May 262 min read
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...
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Ed
Apr 272 min read
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...
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Maggie
Dec 17, 20231 min read
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...
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Maggie
Dec 17, 20232 min read
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...
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Maggie
Oct 12, 20232 min read
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...
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Ed
Aug 27, 20232 min read
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...
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Ed
Aug 27, 20233 min read
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...
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Maggie
Aug 21, 20231 min read
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...
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Maggie
Aug 21, 20232 min read
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...
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Maggie
Aug 12, 20232 min read
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...
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Ed
Jul 29, 20232 min read
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...
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Maggie
May 26, 20233 min read
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...
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Maggie
May 24, 20233 min read
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....
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Ed
May 21, 20231 min read
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...
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Maggie
May 14, 20232 min read
A Prescription for Work
I recently found a website entitled “Blind Pig and the Acorn”. While briefly perusing, I found the following words of wisdom that really...
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Maggie
May 5, 20231 min read
Our Baby Dinosaurs Are Growing
Well - the12 baby chicks that we received a little over 2 weeks ago are all still with us. Fingers crossed that our good luck...
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Maggie
Apr 20, 20231 min read
Our First Ever Baby Chicks Arrived Home Today
I got a call at about 10am saying that our brand new baby chicks (12 in all; egg layers) arrived today. We ordered these chicks back in...
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Maggie
Apr 10, 20231 min read
Homemade Pretzel "Rolls"
On Sunday, Ed made homemade pretzel "rolls" for the first time ever. We've both been making our own versions of bread (I tend to favor...
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