Every Dog has his Day

Jan 19, 2023

That is what my mom would always say. Well, this day belongs to chickens. More specifically, their eggs. They are nearly as hard to find as my hundred pair of glasses I have strewn all over creation here on the farm. Once eggs are found, the price is so high, one would think there was a golden one in the dozen somewhere. Things come and go in this world, and I think it is super that the one animal the whole universe wants for lunch is having her big day!

We have owned chickens off and on for many years. We have had them continuously since moving here. They are an important part of our farm. We depend on them not only for eggs, but because they are free-range, they perform good work around the place. They eat tons of bugs. It is fun watching them follow the horses, gobbling up insects the horses stir up. They are great composters as well.

I leave fresh horse poop in the paddocks for several days. The chickens will dutifully scratch the piles up after a few days looking for just-hatched worms. Great! Worm controllers as well. Want to create a new flower or vegetable plot? Pen your hens in desired spot for new garden, leave them there several days, and voila! They have done the first part of scratching up the ground for a new bed, and have fertilized it as well. Good chickens.

*They help compost the manure and eat the hatched worms!*

As to be expected, we do loose some to predators during the day. Though dogs and horses help in that department. They help keep wildlife at bay. So far, in nearly eight years of having chickens here, we have not ever seen a snake around the barn. Thanks again to dogs, horses, and cats.

So hurray for the chicken. These current days seem to be hers, and I would say everyone likes to have ‘their day’, would you agree?

Thursday Thoughts #35

Jan 5, 2023

How Can You do That?

Oct 29, 2022

“How can you do that?” I am frequently asked this question when people hear our chickens are free-range.

“It does pose a risk,” I concede, “but the benefits outweigh the risks.”

How can that be? How can free-range chickens ever survive? There are several factors that work in their favor out here at our place. We have dogs that keep wildlife at bay. We also walk all over the farm, thus leaving our human scent as well. The horses play a big part too in keeping critters away. Though they can injure and even kill chickens as I wrote in a previous post, Faster than You Think—Ask the Chickens. It does not happen often. A healthy horse will defend his domain if feel threatened, or a ‘stranger’ shows up on their turf.

Free-range chickens are a benefit to everyone. They eat bugs which makes us all happy. I leave horse manure several days in the paddock to ‘cure’ a bit. Chickens peck through it eating the worms, thereby breaking the parasite cycle for the horses. Bonus! They also are my first composers. Manure has been beautifully broken down by their work.

Their hen house is in a stall in the barn. This also offers extra protection for them, and a plus for us as eggs are laid either in their house or feed buckets. Rarely is there need to have a daily egg hunt.

While this works here, it may not work at your place. Which does not really matter. I have seen beautiful hen houses and enclosures to keep them safe, all full of a bunch of happy hens!

So please do not feel bad if your chickens cannot be free-range. I am just answering the question of how it works for us.

No matter how chickens are kept, would you agree that they are fun and #chickensmakeuschuckle ?

Happy chicken farming!

*They eat worms in the manure that helps break parasite cycle for horses.*

*No matter where you keep your chickens, they are fun! #chickensmakeuschuckle*

In Focus #15—More Birds in the Hood

May 7, 2022

Birding is more fun with company. At least it is for me. I appreciate the extra eyes and smarts it takes to correctly identify fast moving birds around branches. A comic could easily be drawn of me with binoculars, camera, bird book and pencil hanging and flopping around my neck and filling my hands. Did I mention I also have our dog with me? It really is a comical sight, and usually an unsuccessful outing. Beautiful birds are passing through on their way to their summer homes elsewhere. It takes great skill (and another set of eyes for me) to identify them. That said, more times than not, my focus is on the easy birds that live in the fields, woods and ponds with us, and those returning home to us.

What fun to watch the male goldfinches change into their courting attire every spring for summer. They stay home year-round, but loose their brilliant yellow in winter. Also, happy, happy songs fill the air in the barn with the joyful return of our beloved Barn Swallows. Springtime is best time to see even more of our neighborhood birds because tree leaves are just bursting forth. Their small size offers big windows to see many of our beautiful local birds. It is my favorite time of year for birding. Our locals are not in as big a rush to get somewhere else, nor are they as ravenously hungry as those passing through. Making them easier to follow and identify.

A flock of beautiful Bohemian Waxwings were just chilling on a branch earlier this week. They have wonderful lessons to teach on sharing. I have seen them all lined up on a branch passing berries down the line to one another. There are so many sweet singing sparrows busy building their family homes for the year. The Red-winged Blackbirds are busy tending to home and family as well this time of year. While the Carolina Wrens could not sing a sweeter song.

I invite you to go outside, look and listen to this blessed, happy time of year the birds are telling us all about.

*We are delighted when our Barn Swallows return home for the summer.*

*We all know warm weather is coming when our Goldfinch sports his fancy summer clothes!*

*A flock of beautiful Bohemian Waxwings.*

*They share their food with one another.*

*An extra—the spectacular Dogwood is in full bloom!*

Beef comes from Where??

Jul 21, 2019

What a silly question you may be thinking. However, it may not be so silly after all. Years ago, while at a homeschooling convention in Richmond, VA, my friend and I noticed an excited bunch of folks gathering outside the mall in the courtyard. We asked the food service fella what it was all about. He said there was a milk cow out there for folks to see! Really? All that excitement over a milk cow? How odd we thought. Everyone knows what a milk cow looks like, right? Actually, no.

A lot of years have gone by since that day. It seems a milk cow is not the only thing folks think comes from Costco, the local grocery store, or farmer’s markets. So here is another insight into our lack of food source knowledge:

Beef does not come from food markets either. Neither does chicken, pork, lamb, duck, or fish. Or anything for that matter.

This seems like a no-brainer to the majority of us. But please do not ask a youngster if chocolate milk comes from a cow!

This is not to say we all should have our own milk cows or grow our own beef. However, we would do well to remember that all these grocery store items and meats are grown with care (mostly) by many farmers. However, growing a few vegetables regardless of home location is rewarding, not to mention delicious.

All this comes to my mind today because our Herefords went to the slaughter house two days to be processed. It is one of the hardest times on the farm for me. Death is hard but it is a part of life.

Why not visit your local farms? Many farms are open to visitors. It is fascinating to experience a working dairy, or cattle farm. Have your child help gather eggs with the local egg lady. A summer spent working on one of the farms would have a lasting impression on anyone. Donning a pair of muck boots and getting down and dirty on the farm gives everyone an appreciation for the farmer that works to bring us all this good food.

Our children need to know where our food comes from. It helps us understand the hardships of growing food and feeding this big country of ours. Perhaps, just perhaps, we would cease being so wasteful and careless with our sustenance.

You are welcome to stop by our little farm and meet these critters that live here. Hold a chicken, pick a bean from the garden, toss some hay out to the animals, take a tractor ride, sit on some sweet smelling hay. You and your kids will be glad you did!

This is where eggs come from.
One of the herefords we raise for beef.

Virginia Garden Tours—Winchester, VA

Apr 28, 2019

One of our favorite times of the year for my daughter and me is the Virginia Garden Tours every April. Gorgeous homes all over Virginia are open for these tours. Waiting to see which ones will be on tour are an exciting part of the Spring season for us. Though it would be great fun to visit all the homes around Virginia, we visit our town, Winchester, VA.

Area garden clubs choose homes, and should the owners agree, a fabulous showcase is put on for we guests. These tours are never disappointing. The homes are historic, beautifully appointed, and have amazing history attached to them. The flowers the ladies put all around each room are absolutely stunning. The garden club ladies give the tours of the homes. Owners are found sometimes out in their gardens. A chat with them adds all the more to the tours.

Photographs are not allowed inside the homes, only the grounds and gardens. You are invited to take a stroll with us around these lovely homes of our town.

These are privately owned homes, not opened to the public. As one of my friends said about one of the them on this particular tour, “I have been waiting thirty years to see the inside of this home!” It was well worth the wait. She told me of one of the homeowners who began last year in preparing her gardens for this tour!

Seeing the gardens and homes give fun, fresh ideas for decorating our own spaces. Visiting these historic places adds to our appreciation of our town and folks that live and work here, past and present.

*The elegant dogwood (our State tree) adds extra beauty to this stately Winchester home.*

Run Between the Raindrops!

Aug 11, 2018

We Virginians that live here in the northern Shenandoah Valley should all be a little lighter in body weight this summer. The spring rains have yet to end in our part of the world. Looks like rain again today as well.

Looks like rain again today.

Our summer has been spent running between the raindrops, mowing and weeding the gardens between storms. And storms they have been! Torrential rains, thunder, magnificent lighting all across the skies. Flash floods, roads washed out, downed trees, broken fences from fallen limbs, and piles of cut grass have kept us occupied all summer. One would think a few pounds would surely be lost in the busyness of this yard work!

A few of we hardy gardeners have thrown in the towel on our gardens. Tomatoes are plentiful—just green, green. The crabgrass seems to be the main item happily taking over every space not even previously known to us, where does it come from? Though the field corn has faired well. There may be some fall planting, though no commitments as yet. Given the choice though, this wet weather seems better than drought. Sure wish we could give some to California.

We have had rain all summer.

We Shenandoah Valley folk take what we get as far as weather goes. Try to see the best in it, and smile at the start of another fine day, rain or not. There is always something worthy of our attention and good to do everyday.

There have been few summers that have stayed this wet with grass so lush and beautiful into August. Well, this too shall pass, as the old adage says. So, in the meantime, keep your mower blades sharp, fuel tanks full and good humor running full blast. Oh, and do not forget a good, tall glass of lemonade!

The field corn has faired well.

The old-timers say, “Make hay while the sun shines!” Well, guess what? The sun is shining right now. Time for this PFO to get out there with the weed eater!