The Country Homemaker Hop #58

“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. ”
― C.S. Lewis

What have YOU been working on this week around your homestead???  

Please join us Wednesdays to share your pictures, recipes, household wisdom, garden and farm, barn and butcher, homemaking tips, crafts, homemaking ideas and stories with the country homemaking community. It's a new year full of exciting new opportunities. Life is what we make it. Let's dig in and discover just what's been going on- on the Country Homestead this week? 

Have a great week.

Heidi

The Country Homemaker Hop- Week 16

The Country Homemaker Hop

“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. ”
― C.S. Lewis

We have been busy around here.  Our baby chicks are growing like weeds and today they're three weeks old.   It seem like they double in size every day or two. 

 I have 15 babies for me and two babies for my BFF Michelle.    This little girl is a black austrolorp.   This week I have found a few deals at yard sales that I am excited about.  

  This is a vintage American cactus cookie jar that I got for $2.  Yippee!  I love it.

 I found this lovely old pinecone decorated dish for 25 cents at another sale

 and this was the best deal this week.  My hubby got me this Champion juicer for just $5.  It's twice as big and powerful as my old one.  

 I got this cute little sealed jar for a dollar at yet another sale

 I finally joined a food co-op, Azure Standard.  They deliver to a local drop point so there's no shipping fee.  I wish I had known about co-ops sooner.  The prices are so good and the quality is the best.  Organic, non-GMO, whole grains in bulk.  My head is still whirling.  

I am working on another batch of homemade apple cider vinegar.  Kathy's recipe works like a charm for me, every time.  

 I am starting a few trays of summer veggie seeds each week now, indoors.  I set them out in the greenhouse once they have their first set of true leaves.

Michelle spotted some giant strawberry plants at Old Towne Nursery.  I ran in and found the last few plants.  Thank you Michelle!  I LOVE strawberries.  I still have to cover their mounded bed in 4mil black plastic before I plant them into it, sometimes this week.  

I am working on a BIG project inspired by Farmgirl Deb of Deborah Jean's Dandelion House.  I am re-purposing an old television cabinet.  I hope to turn it into a larder/pantry as she did with hers in the post Up-Cycled Farm Pantry Reveal.  I'll share soon.

What have YOU been busy doing around your homestead this week???

The Country Homemaker Hop- Week 15

Sorry I am so late today, I just got back from a visit to the doctor.  I have an ear infection, sinus infection, and throat infection.  All brought on by allergies.  Yuck!  I told that doctor I cannot afford to be sick, I have plants to feed, chicks to water, and bees to nurture.  She assured me that I'm not dying, just experiencing severe allergies like so many others living in my area...

Please link up and share your homesteading posts below and have a great and healthy week!!!

The Country Homemaker Hop- Week 14

“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. ”
― C.S. Lewis

Are YOU a Country Homemaker?  

Do you make nutritious meals from scratch, labor in a vegetable garden, or raise livestock?  Do you do these things because of the love you share with your family and a desire to provide the best for your loved ones?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, than like me, you must be a country homemaker and WE WANT YOU!


Please join us Wednesdays and share your pictures, recipes, household wisdom, homemaking tips, barnyard stories, gardening, crafting and DIY ideas with our country homemaking community.   Dig in and discover just what's been going on- on the Country Homestead this week? 

This week, I have been making steady progress on seedling transplants.  My baby chicks are growing F-A-S-T, but I got a good scare a few days ago... 

The little Buff Orpington in the center of this picture got sick and constipated.  You can probably tell by looking at her bowels, they were swollen. She could not pass anything.  She grew listless, would not eat or drink for several hours and I thought she was a gonner.  I read in a forum on mybackyardchickens.com about this issue and tried massaging her gently in hopes she'd expel what was becoming a hard lump , I rubbed a little organic olive oil on her bum, and began giving her water with homemade apples cider vinegar in it via dropper overnight and separated her because the others started pecking her mercilessly.  They had all been on electrolytes, so I was concerned.  I had figured she would have gotten loose stools, not constipation.   


When I finally collapsed it was almost dawn.  I assumed she'd be gone when I woke, but to my surprise, she had recovered, was alert, eating, drinking and making lots of poo, She had jumped out of the box I had sequestered her into and was sitting among the others, who were no longer hurting her.   Her stools appear negative for coccidiosis as do the rest of them so I think we dodged a bullet, and she had probably gotten too hot or cold at some point.  It's been two full days since,  and she's still eating and drinking well, everybody appears healthy and they are all getting a tbsp. of my homemade apple cider vinegar per quart of water in their waterers.  Apparently, organic apple cider vinegar with the mother in it is supposed to balance the pH of their intestines and help prevent constipation or diarrhea.  


Incidentally, I learned how to make my own homemade apple cider vinegar by reading this post HERE on Kathy's blog Moving On To The Past last August.  I am so grateful to Kathy.  I use my homemade apple cider vinegar for many things around the house...

My Italian honeybees have been doing well so far.  I have been noticing pretty magenta colored pollen filling their tiny pollen sacks on most of their return flights this week.  The picture above is my second hive, water sealer on, awaiting my trip for another nucleus of bees.  That day should come in about 3 more weeks.  

 Tomorrow, I plan to unpot some radishes, purple carrots, pak choy, cabbage, beets, onions, and broccoli that I started together in 1 gallon pots.  

I won't transplant these veggies into 4" pots, they're going right into raised beds.
They've hardened off for more than a week in the greenhouse.  


That's what's going on around here.  What's going on at your homestead???

The Country Homemaker Hop- Week 13

Welcome Friends!

I was working in my laboratory staining and sealing another beehive when the thought occurred to me "Hmmm.  I wonder what I'll get to read about this week on the Country Homemaker Hop???" Suddenly, my entire body shook when I realized, Eek! I have to post it and get it up to get linkies...

I am reading everything I can get my hands on and all the blog advice I can find about chicken coops.  My hubby has agreed to build me one once I settle on a plan.  This week, I decided to share a few more pictures of the interesting chicken coop that I encountered on my road trip last week at Bravo Farms.  I really like it.   Tell me what you think...

Bravo Farms Cheese Factory Chicken Coop

I know the walls are cluttered by neat old signs, but if you look beyond all that graffiti art, this coop has an interesting personality and it seems quite functional.  Look how high the nesting boxes are off the ground.  That seems like it would be helpful for cleaning those boxes out.  

 The entire front facade is decked out with easy access nesting boxes.  Notice the wire across the top of the boxes to keep chickens inside...

 Sure, it won't keep predators out, but it will allow for easy egg retrieval and will keep the ladies inside.  

  I really like the side door too.   I am tall so I would really like a door I can fit through without bumping my head.  I would want to be able to get inside and keep things tidy often.  A human sized door would be nice.  I like the size of the coop too.  Inside it's open and the hens and a rooster have free range, but I'd use up a bit of this space for storage for feed and goodies too.  That way, I would not be standing out in the snow and rain to feed or collect eggs during the worst winter weather.

 I really like that there are several roosts, and at varying heights.  The hens seem to like it too.  The head honcho owns that sight closest to my camera lens and the exit door.

 I like this fancy waterer.  I haven't had chickens in a decade or more, but I remember dreading the constant cleaning of the food and water containers.  This system looks hygienic and being off the ground, it requires less space.

I also like how this coop features lots of small openings for air circulation and several windows to increase sunlight exposure for the hens.  I have read that in winter you can lessen the slowdown of egg production by adding sunshine to augment the shorter days.  Windows should help... so long as they're well insulated.

 Hello ladies!

 See how helpful those wires are...

 Easy egg collection!

Well, that is the end of our tour.  If you have any tips to share about chickens or chicken coops, please do share.  I need all the advice I can get.  Thank you for reading and I wish you a wonderful and productive week ahead.  Please link up and SHARE your progress this week...

I am sharing this post on the Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop HERE!

The Country Homemaker Hop- Week 12

Hello Sunshine!

This week has been busy, productive and exciting.  

The greenhouse move was just in time to beat a fantastic snow drop.  We got the backyard's terraced hillside tilled and amended, ready for seeds, seedlings, and one of my upcoming beehives...

I took this picture today.  The snow is still with us... and that's unusual two days after a snow here.   I am sure it will be gone before the weekend, but I like it to linger.  It makes everything so bright.

Check out my new heavy duty shelves.  I was so proud of myself that I got them put together all by myself, but when I rolled them out to the greenhouse door, they were 6" too tall so I had to wait for poor dear Jerry to get home and help me tilt these HEAVY things under the eaves and doorway to get them inside.  Lol.  

We had several days warning about that BIG wet storm so we had plenty of time to prepare and make use of the water.  I layed in fertilizer for the fruit trees, grapes, almonds, and berries and some Dr. Earth for the new terraced beds in back.  We are more than doubling our garden space this year, and that new space will incorporate lots of herbs and bee friendly plants.  I am getting excited about all the possibilities.  

When the storm hit, we were stuck inside.  After about 24 hours, I get some sort of "nesting" disorder and start stripping out and cleaning everything.  The hubby does too.  He usually heads off to his barn/laboratory, but it was just way too cold out there this weekend.  So we worked together and got some long needed "thinning out" done. 

Our home hasn't been this clean and clutter free in a long time.  I attacked the living room, upstairs closets, cabinets, bathrooms, and tile grout, while my hubby Jerry steam cleaned the entire second floor of our home and dusted.

I don't think the floors have ever been brighter either.  He used that experimental batch of homemade laundry detergent that I mixed up a few weeks ago.  The one that includes both a bar of Fels-Naptha and a bar of Zote' per batch.   I call it recipe #2...  since I am still experimenting...


Recipe #2
2 c. borax
2 c. super washing soda
1/4 c. baking soda
1 bar zote'
1 bar fels-naptha  


It's pretty potent stuff.  It took out tough automotive stains like grease and transmission fluid  from his jeans last week.   

  Those Victory Garden seedlings are growing so fast I am amazed.  

Adding the vermiculite must really be the key because that's the only thing I changed in the recipe this year and I had germination of several varieties including tomatoes in 2 -3 days WITHOUT heating mats.  

Seriously.  I was a little concerned that they'd all get too leggy before long, but I have 4" pots arriving Friday that they will all be separated into until transplant into the garden.  

I put them all outside in the greenhouse today for the sunshine, but I will pull the seedlings back inside before temps inside get below 69 degrees.  

According to the Victory Gardener, the tiny tender stems should not be hardened off until after they have developed their first set of true leaves.  I have none yet.  Here's a few containers full... 

 beets

 cucumbers

 radish

 cosmic purple carrots...

 vidalia onions

 San Marzano tomato

 

This is my best little greenhouse helper.  Without this little wire free digital temp gauge, I'd be lost on frosty nights...   What have YOU been up to this week???

I am linking this post to these fun hops this week-

Kelly Morris' brand new Homesteader Blog Carnival HERE

Tiffany's Garden Life hop at No Ordinary Homestead

and Jill, Kendra, and Amy for The Homestead BARN Hop!