january & febuary

bees: so sad...we lost 2 of our hives. but, i kinda expected it...they were smaller and weaker than the other 2. so, we will be buying 2 bee packages and starting again in the spring!

chickens: i have baby chicks! last week my order of 26 baby chicks came in from mcmurray hatchery...4 died within a day and i sold 6 to a neighbor...so we are down to 16. i tried some new breeds...partridge rock, buff orpington, speckled sussex, silver spangled hamburg, and silver laced & gold laced wyandottes.

garden 2012: if you are looking to buy non-gmo, heirloom seeds...you must check out "baker heirloom seed company" ...they have a beautiful free catalog, and so many varieties of seeds! i am so excited for spring...i cant wait to start growing!

kids: i am excited to say that my little boo is about 75% potty trained! it will be so nice, not to have any diapers to change!

thinking of spring...

this winter has been pretty mild compared to last year...we have had days in the 50's & 60's, and (i hate to say it, because i may be jinxing us) no snow! the boys are feeling very cheated this year...no snow days, no sledding, no snow! i, on the other hand, am grateful!...this year we have saved alot on our home-heating costs, compared to last year. the warmer days really make you look ahead to spring! my spring 2012 plans...

the garden: we made 2 more raised beds over the winter, and plan on making more! i have been making lists of all the veggies i want to grow this year... cutting out the ones that didnt do well last year, and picking some new ones to try...like blue corn :)

chickens: i have baby chicks coming!!! we had some new breeds that we wanted to try, so i placed an order with McMurray Hatchery...my little chickies are schedualed to arrive feb. 15th! we have gold and silver laced wyandottes, partridge rocks, buff orpingtons, speckled sussex and silver spangled hamburgs all ordered! i have a large rabbit hutch, that we are moving into the basement and going to use as their brooder. we are also lookng into expanding the chicken coop/ run area to give our girls more space...i am also on the lookout for and old kids outdoor playhouse...i saw a photo online where someone converted one to a little hen house!

bees: with the warmer temps our honeybees actually came out insearch of forage...i was happy to see that all 4 hives are still alive! i am really looking forward to a good honey harvest this year...hopefully the girls get an early start!

wordless wednesday!

good little hen...

this is "omlet" and im very sure she is the little hen doing the laying! she is so cute... she is squwalking up a storm and running between nesting boxes. here i found her in a barrel i use to muck out the coop...she is making her own nest! me & the kids cracked open one of the little eggs she made and it had a perfect, tiny yolk inside...i love it!

our first egg!

one of our hens finally laid an egg...and it's green! looks like one of our auracana girls wins the prize! yesterday morning i went out to do my usual feeding & clean up, when i saw this tiny little green egg on the ground. at first i thought it was a robin's egg. it is small, the size of a quail egg, but that is normal and in a few weeks she will be laying normal sized eggs. so excited to see months of work start to pay off :)

bee troubles and garden 2011 update...

on sunday i was stung for the 5th time, and this one was the worst yet! she got me on my thigh, through my jeans! i had my gloves on, so i couldnt get the stinger out fast enough...my poor leg got every drop of bee venom she had in her...ouch! by monday morning i had a softball-sized lump...but today its a little better, so i think ill live :)...but, i am very worried because i think 2 of the hives are queen-less! no brood, no eggs, no larvae...not good! thankfully i found an apiary with lots of queens in our area, http://beehavin.com/ , we are going to pick them up ASAP!

today i harvested the first cucumbers of the year...hopefully they are the first of many, because i really want to make homemade pickles! summer squash & beans are still going strong and i can not wait for the tomatoes and corn.

in chicken news...we are still anxiously awaiting the first egg. come on ladies...any day now!!  

hive inspections and the start of summer!

yesterday we had bee~utiful weather, so we suited up, and went to check in on our girls! we started with hive #2...this was the hive we started with a 3 lb package. things are going good so far, but these bees have alot of building to do! the queen is laying eggs...we saw lots of capped brood and alot honey stored. but, this hive has me worried because they only have about 4 framed built out with comb...i have been checking in on them a couple times a day, there has been lots of activity, and i am still refilling the feeder every couple days...so i thought there was going to be much more growth...hive #3 was a split from hive #1, being beginners we had never "split" a hive before so we were really worried that we didnt do it right, and would loose our bees. BUT, this hive is going gangbusters! they had 6 out of the 8 frames covered with comb and bees, so we added a medium super on top. these bees are sucking down the sugar water i have been feeding them...i filled it yesterday afternoon, and this morning it is half empty!...hive #1 also has me kinda concerned...they seems to be having an ant problem. i read online that if the hive is healthy, they can keep invaders, such as ants, at bay. but it looks like alot of ants to me!...did you know that bees need plenty of water to drink? we used a chick waterer as our new bee waterer! we filled the base with small stones, so the bees have a landing spot!

yesterday, i harvested the first batch of peas! within a week or so we should have more peas, beans, lettuce, and strawberries... we built another raised bed, and i planted my herbs...chives, basil, parsley, cilantro and rosemary! in the big garden, we planted 5 rows of corn, 3 rows of pumpkins and 4 rows of onions! the corn was a local "early" growing variety, and has already sprouted!

our laying hens are about 16 weeks old now! so in another 5 weeks of so we should start getting eggs! finally, all our work/ expense will pay off!

my little boo, enjoying the weather!

birthday, bees, peas & chickens..the month of may!

6 years ago today, at 7:08am, i was blessed with a second healthy baby boy! a little sweetie with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes...my doctor said he was one of the most handsome boys he had ever seen. he was born with his hand up over his head "waving hello"... yesterday, i asked him if he could stay 6 years old forever and always be "my boy"....he told me that he couldn't stay 6 forever, but he would always be my baby :) happy birthday "DD"! mommy loves you so much & you make my world brighter everyday!

in bee related news...our package of bees (for our second hive) has been delayed for over 3 weeks now, because of the terrible weather in the south! we finally got word that our girls will be here next weekend! yayy, i cant wait! yesterday, we attempted another hive inspection on hive #1...i say "attempted" because we had a smoker malfunction...and by malfunction i mean it would not stay lit and SMOKE...we have tried different flamables in the smoker and for some reason we can not get it to smolder for longer than a few minutes?!? anyone have any smoker tricks?...so, i pulled the cover off, and without the smoker they were pretty irritated and stung me through my jeans on my leg. so we decided to let them BEE and come back another day with a working smoker.

"johnny" our ri red rooster!

our chicks are 9 weeks old, all healthy and loving being outdoors. i love watching them...they have such personalities :) AND we have peas, beans, raddish, butter~leaf lettuce, and strawberries all coming up in our new raised beds! other exciting news...next week there is a livestock auction that i am looking forward to! i almost have my husband convinced to let me get 2 goats...maybe "feta" and "cheddar" will come home with us next weekend!

peas!

my recycled feed-bag totes!

my husband bought me a sewing machine last christmas and i finally have it up and running! i have a few feed bags that i have been saving because i wanted to try to make a recycled tote. i haven't used a sewing machine since home-ec in junior high! so my stiches aren't perfect, but i can live with it! these feed bags are made of very strong plastic and are perfect for groceries...plus i love the animal pictures!

- cut the top & bottom of the feed sack off, clean the outside and inside of sack with water or lysol wipe
- turn inside-out
- decide where you want the center of your tote to be...trim extra off
- sew 1 inch hem around top of tote
- i made a squared bottom, but you could close the bottom however you wanted
- attach handles

sad day...

i read a quote on another blog that said, "when you keep livestock, expect to have dead-stock"...well, yesterday was a sad day around here...one of our 7 week old chicks died unexpectedly :( it had no signs of illness or injury...it just died! my poor 8 year old son was the one to find her (everytime he comes home he runs to the coop to see them). this was kinda the first time we had to have the "life & death" discussion with him, he is quite a sensitive boy...so it was hard. he gets really attached to all the animal. it broke my heart when he told me that he wished he could of saved her. i told him that sometimes these things just happen...and we should be happy about the other healthy chicks we still have. poor kid...it's alot to think about for a child. especially for one so sensitive and loving.

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first day in the big wide world!!

my lap chicken...

this little auracana chick is the friendliest girl! she loves to be held!

the finished coop....

 yayyy we did it!

 the nesting box...

husband building the run.

i cant help myself...

this morning i picked up 4 delaware chicks and 2 golden sex link chicks!

gearing up for spring...

 the men-folk working on my chicken coop...

 still needs the nesting box attached, doors & ramp attached, and to be painted...

 salem says "mmmm tastes like chicken"...

 my flock, 1 week old...

 my little auracana chick, can't wait for her blue and green eggs...

one of my little barred rocks!

my chicks are here!!!

we got barred rock, rhode island red, black star, and auracana! im so excited, they are the cutest things ever!

chicks are coming!

i am very excited! my day old chicks will be arriving on march 21st...we are getting 3 barred rock, 2 rhode island red, and 5 golden comet! i have the brooder all set up...feeder, waterer, heat lamp! i am so looking forward to picking up my little egg layers :)

our backyard flock!

with a family of five, we consume about 2 dozen eggs a week... we started looking into keeping a backyard flock of hens! not only will the fresh eggs be great, but i also think the kids are going to really benefit from the responsibility of careing for them! plus, they can be great pets!

this is a picture of the coop we are going to build...building our hen house with some simple diy plans, is a much cheaper option than buying one. one ready made can run up to $2000 and higher! since we live in new england, where we have some really cold winter weather...we are looking to raise a hearty cold-weather layer, like the barred rock or the rhode island red!