Babies Day out

Today is an *update* post and we start with some "babies", first my second batch of Chickens:

They got a "taste" of the outside a few days ago and again yesterday. They seemed to enjoy their "outing" a great deal, I am hoping when we put them out with the bigger ones everyone will be Ok. It seems the ones in this batch that are not the Jerseys might be meat birds as the grey/white ones are growing very fast, faster that my first batch of chickens grew. I have also figured out the non-Jerseys aside from maybe 1-2 they are all male. Another reason to butcher the non-Jerseys in this grouping this fall, I have also found out that yes we have 1 Jersey male. So now if he makes it till I butcher the other males this fall I should be Ok with my "breeding program". Since I did not get Leghorns but Reds I'm going to do the crossing with the reds and see what I get. I know the Jerseys are already a dual purpose bird, but I am hoping to increase their egg production with the addition of the other breed.

OK next baby moment:

This little one caught her first bug and ate it today (cicada), mom was looking on very pleased as well. Course she kept having to run a bit as her brothers kept trying to steal it from her.

My kids had a fun morning today, we discovered a job that they like as well. We sent them out with some jars and had them go "bug hunting" for Cicadas for the chickens. This is what they got after 30 minutes:

This is a quart jar, and we tossed these into the chicken yard and sat and watched the birds have a nice feast on bugs. They enjoyed it greatly, though it was very funny watching them come up to figure out what it was we tossed into their yard. Then of course once one of them started eating the rest did. This whole jar's worth was gone in under 5 minutes.

Before my next section in here I'd like to send my condolences along to the people of Joplin, Mo they are close to us and they were hit with a tornado that did a great amount of damage. The same storm system headed my way next, but thankfully we were spared a twister. Unfortunately the people of Joplin were not spared, I do hope those who passed on did so swiftly and with out great suffering.

OK, enough depressing talk! How about some garden news!

If you look close you will see one of my many bean sprouts! This was taken a couple of days ago and now I can say that all of the types of beans that I have planted have at least one little seedling coming up.

My bushel gourds have sprouted, my lemon cukes, summer squashes, and possibly a pumpkin are coming up. We can't wait to have one of the "summer stir fry's" we had last year once the squashes and long beans are producing. I'm really excited about the bushel gourds as I have never grown them before and I'd really like to try "making" the bushels after they are done growing.

This "forest" are my potato plants, they are huge! Seems goat manure and straw agree with them a great deal, pity I'm out of straw as I really need to cover them. I am hoping to get a good crop from them, I also need to go out and mesure them again. i have a suspicion that the straw has "watered down" finally. So I just need to fill in, which unless I miss my guess is going to take a bit of time to do.

I have transplanted the rest of my tomatoes as well remember the "box" we picked up for free? Well I have put the tomatoes in it.

I started the "box" off with the chicken manure from the brooder that's been outside in the weather. WE covered the bottom about 2 inches thick.

Then I filled the "box" with peat moss till I had about 6(?) inches of room at the top, which then I went out to the house site and scraped some top soil up from where a dead tree composted. That went in and I stirred it in with a garden fork.

The final bit was transplanting the tomatoes and then covering them with some extra straw we had scattered about. A couple of the plants are kinda scrawny, so I am hoping that the "move" will help them grow stronger.

We spent part of yesterday framing a window that we still need to put into the building, we had 2 windows; but... in the storms last night one broke either due to wind or due to hail. I am not sure but the wind is looking pretty good as the window was not laying down last night but it is now. If we are lucky this rain will stop so we can hang it, and so i can do some more plant bed digging; as right now the ground is waaaaay too wet to dig in. I still need to re-plant my smaller melons/cukes, and I need a bed for my peppers which are still being very slow to grow. However now that I know they are a slow plant it doesn't bother me as much.

Sorry for my book challenge being a flop..but I guess more things got in the way of me finishing it like I wanted it too, I am hoping to finish that book still and I am going to try to finish working through the rest of the books that I need to while doing everything else. I might even get time today to read as we have another rainy day, we will see.

Everyone stay safe,

Be Well and Blessed Be...