The Big One

On a snowy day last week, I checked for gifts from the coop as usual. Sometimes I find one egg, sometimes I find two, sometimes I find nothing, but an empty nest with two white golf balls.



That day, two beautiful newly laid eggs sat sweetly side by side. One was smaller than the other (We know that usually Squash lays a 'smaller' egg than Butternut). Together in my hands, they felt warm...and hefty. I thanked them, and came inside.



I placed the eggs into their usual containers, next to some of our own eggs, and a few left over from a local farm. And then it struck me. These eggs were a bit special.



Though we always think of Squash's eggs as being small, apparently they are the 'normal' size compared to the other chickens' (Squash's is the brown speckled one).



And then, there is... Butternut's! I think this image says it all.



It is so big that the carton can not close. It is so big that we were all amused by it, and wondering what (if anything) we should do with this BIG one. Our biggest egg yet!

P.S. Our chickens get scraps from the kitchen, as well as leftovers... from grapes to rice to meatloaf...Perhaps that explains it?!

Holiday Chicken Cheer

Chickens are easily entertained. They also eat everything, including, yes, chicken. The more we get know them, we are finding out that they do have their favorites. One of the foods they seem to enjoy the most is sunflower seeds.



These are roasted, and salted sunflower seeds. That might make a difference, and might be good for their diet in general (they need some salt like we do). They will run up to us now, if they think we have any of these little seeds to sow, directly onto the ground, especially for them.



Claire had a brilliant idea recently. She carefully stuck the seeds all over an apple, and hung it up for the chickens in their coop. It was a fun way to feed them, and an entertainment to boot. The apple would move away from their pecking, but somehow they managed to get them all out, in a rather short amount of time.  Who said chickens weren't smart?

All good things must come to an end, of course. And this treat did just that for them.



It's a good thing that there is warm earth for them to dig, and 'bathe' in. Two dirty little chooks, all filled up with sunflower seeds. Happiness could not be simpler than that.

December 10

We are deep into December now. Yet it was just a day or two ago did we feel like winter has actually arrived here in central Ohio. There were flurries falling, and frozen chicken water. The roofs are now painted white in the morning with frost. The buzzing of the central heating system has become more of a constant background music, along with holiday tunes from the children's hums.



Winter is here.



Together with an additional egg that we found in the coop today, on the opposite side of where the other layer (Squash) had been using as a nesting area.



Perhaps these chickens are territorial? No matter, we were elated to have found the newly laid (bigger) egg. Butternut, the new layer, got a few extra deserved hugs and smooches throughout the day.



What we also found in the branches by our house was a wary red-tailed hawk. A predator who loves small pseudo-flightless birds. Beautiful they are, yes. But a little too close to the coop for our liking. He (or she) must have a nest nearby for this was not our first sighting of this creature.



Ah yes. Life is full of excitements. Eggs, hawks, and even this frozen stick of ice. December 10th has been a good day.

Pickled Peppers

We have one serrano pepper plant, that has given us countless fruits (hundreds by now), and it is still going strong.



What to do with all these peppers? After making salsa, and including them in some dishes (they are really rather spicy raw!), given some to neighbors, we decided to preserve and pickle them. The thought of pickled peppers led us all to start reciting the nursery rhyme: Peter Piper picked and peck of pickled peppers... The verse and whatever was supposed to come after that, did help us get excited about pickling, and the peppers. It made us want to taste our own pickled peppers, eventually!



Michael Ruhlman has an easy pickled pepper recipe that we followed (minus one or two ingredients that we didn't have at hand).



It took all of 10 minutes to go through the process from start to finish... Almost not exciting enough to blog about.



Perhaps the end result will be worth a revisit to these pickled peppers. At the moment they are happily sitting in the refrigerator all snuggled and cold. Now we need to think about what to do with all the fruits still left, and growing, on that one serrano pepper plant! Any ideas?

Chick and Garden Update: Sept 13

Where did time go? When I looked up at the beautiful full Harvest moon rising to the East of Columbus, I was reminded that summer is departing us soon (now that we live in a real four-season place). And wasn't it just yesterday that I was so worried about the baby tomato plants not making it out in the real world?



The garden is doing okay, for the most part. We have had enough tomatoes to store away for winter, and many peppers to spice up things and share with neighbors. We have also had plenty of basil for pesto (for now and later), and one healthy Italian parsley plant seems to be just right for our family.



Then there are carrots. The poor carrots. I am not the only impatient customer around here... I have two other parters in crime. We like to 'check' or sometimes we call in 'thinning'. Next thing I know, half of the (immature) carrots are pulled up and eaten before one can say Mississippi!



The chickens are doing well... clucking away, and loving to explore the territory. They peck on anything they could lay their beaks on...including Cinnamon the bunny. No eggs yet... That, for sure, is testing our patience (and there is not much we can do about it, thankfully!).

Backyard Farm Update July 16

The garden is in full force now. There are enough chores to do that before we knew it, it was time for a late breakfast.



The kids asked if they could have a 'big breakfast', in their case it usually means eggs, home fries, toasts, and sometimes bacon and pancakes make it in as well. After agreeing to go inside and make the feast, I suddenly remembered that I had used up all of our potatoes for the last 'big breakfast' that we had.



So what did we do? We dug for our potatoes! Last time we checked, they were still small...but why, they had grown! They are beautiful real-looking potatoes now (we had ordered the seeds for them since late winter). We harvested enough for the meal, washed, cut into cubes, and before we knew it, we were enjoying them as part of our Saturday's big breakfast. Homegrown. Organic. Well-earned.

The chooks, on a different note, are doing very well. They get to roam around the garden now, when we are back there to make sure they are safe from the neighborhood hawks that we have spotted flying about. They are enjoying our left-overs, beef being their favorite (surprisingly!)!

More reports to come, stay tuned!

Chick and Garden Update: July 7

I am cheating. This is not exactly the most current garden update. We just got back from being away for a few days...and honestly, this garden is about twice the size that you see here!



The ladies, too, they are quite a bit more mature looking, and much more used to their coop! We are patiently waiting for them to lay their first eggs...knowing full well that it won't be until the fall...the fall!



Stay tuned for a real update...after some weeding and watering and animal-loving after a bit of time away.

The chicks and the bunny

If you have not visited our other blog which is devoted to our little urban garden, you can go there to get an up-to-date report. For instance, you will get a glimpse of the chicks' first day on the grass, and the introduction to the curious bunny.