Even though when you look at my front flower bed, heaped with dirty snow, ice, and some wood ashes and say “yuck,” if you really look closely, you’ll see little daffodils coming up. I saw the first ones this morning. Besides that, we’re getting a few migratory birds hitting our feeders. This morning, we had a few juncos, a purple finch, and I’m pretty sure I heard a red-winged blackbird. The sun is out brightly, and the air is spring-like.
This morning, we loaded up our Mastiff, Sarge, for his trip to the vet for neutering. After he and Hondo got into two fights, we decided Sarge needed less aggression. Hondo weighs less than half of what Sarge does so their fight is not evenly matched, even though Hondo kind of instigates it by walking stiff legged and holding his tail stiff behind him. He’s always been the boss, but now Sarge is getting older and won’t take it. The surgery may or may not stop the fighting, but the e-collar and training will all help too.
I’ve been planting tomatoes like mad, trying to do a flat a day. The first ones are up and look so tiny, compared to the thicker peppers, which now have three sets of leaves. Yep, they’re getting transplanted very soon! Today we picked up three bags of ProMix from The Watering Can so I’m all set. With nice weather, Will got the hydraulic pump fixed on the Ford tractor and we’ll be splitting lots of firewood for next year real soon. We have a whole lot of logs sitting in various locations, just waiting to be cut up and split. That’s such a good feeling!
Our hens are doing their job very well. Two days ago, I got seven eggs from my nine (old) hens. Not too bad, eh? I’ve ordered 25 new chicks so our friend, Sherri, could get the 10 she wanted (they’ll only ship 25 plus). We’ll also be hatching some of our eggs for both Sherri and us. I’d like to get the core flock up to about 25 birds again. That seems to work for us so we can give eggs to folks who need them and still have lots for us too. Sherri is going to brood the chicks as we would have trouble with keeping them warm. Plus, our cat, Buffy, would be a problem as she thinks everything that moves is prey. I’ll buy all the feed for both budding flocks, so it’ll be a win-win situation for both of us.
Come on spring! — Jackie
Your comment about Buffy made me smile as it reminded me of a long passed farm cat I knew who was of a similar attitude. We used to joke that we shouldn’t let her see wildlife documentaries on TV because if she saw how big cats take down their prey she’d be adding beef to her menu
Hi Jackie! Your peppers sure look nice. Quick question: when transplanting your peppers, do you leave them in the peat pellets and just drop them into bigger containers with more soil or do you cut the webbing off the peat pellet thingies? Sorry about all the technical terminology, but I decided to try the peat pellets this year in hopes of getting better germination and growth. Thanks for all the info and thinking warm thoughts!
Yes, I just leave the peppers in the peat pellets and add to a couple of inches of good potting mix (I use ProMix.), then bury the pellet and some of the too-long stem with it. Peppers, unlike tomatoes, do not grow roots from the stem but burying the stem helps keep the plants upright and stocky as they grow on. The important thing is to keep the pellets damp but not wet until you transplant as they do dry out fairly quickly in the sun or under lights.
My peony’s are coming up and the rhubarb is about 6 inches high now. I love spring with everything coming to life and the promise of a productive season. I have one old hen that is still laying. She has to be about 8 or 9 years old. I can’t believe she is still going as being alone in the winter I would think would do her in, but she’s tough. I would like to get some “spent hens’ from the Amish, but I am afraid they would kill my old girl, so I just get eggs from my daughter, and let the old girl live her best life. Hope Sarge develops a better attitude after his procedure. Sending prayers for a blessed week.
Thanks again Marilyn! A lot of times, those spent hens are pretty chicken. I’ve gotten them and had the few existing “old” hens beat the stuffing out of them to let them know who’s boss. It’s sad as often those hens have never seen the sun or walked on the ground. I got mine from a neighboring egg factory and there were five hens per small cage. So sad!
We hatch our own chicks every year and always have too many cockerels. Some of them become good guard roos. So last spring’s chicks are finally grown and producing eggs. We get a good dozen or two daily. We gladly share them, and some of the eggs come back to us in a new way. This year a good friend is canning her eggs. Not water glassing and not pickling either. She processes the eggs (in shell) and then cans them in jars. Essentially, they are preserved hard boiled eggs. She has given me a few jars, and I am excited to use them next winter when the girls are not producing so much. I will have many uses for them. Have you tried this Jackie?
Glad you didn’t get the ice storm that northern Michigan had a couple days ago. A friend winters in Alaska and goes down to her house in Michigan for the summer. People watching the house for her can’t even get near to check it there are so many trees down. Our ten three and four year old hens are averaging about six eggs a day with eight one day. I have a broody hen but I don’t have a good way to keep the chicks warm when they hatch being off grid too!
We’re glad we didn’t get all that ice too!! Boy, are we. We only got a light coating, then snow. We used a propane sunflower heater, hung sideways above a medium sized fiber stock tank and that worked well. But I always worried about it, even though it was hung with a chain onto a stout eyebolt. That’s why I prefer a momma to do the brooding for me.
I cleaned out the bluebird houses a few days ago and they’re back. My peppers are growing nicely and the tomatoes are popping up and look so tiny. I started the brassicas today -cabbage, Brussel sprouts, and your Umpquah broccoli. I cut a little wood each day-I can only tolerate that for a couple of hours. The grass is greening up-nearly all of our 33 cows have calved. My 16 chickens are producing 8-10 eggs a day. It’s still cold here in Southern Wisconsin-it still threatens to snow. Is there a method to force celery to ho to seed in its first year? I rehabbed my old Troy built horse -transmission and tines. It will be time soon to use it and I will enjoy it working again. Any parts-tractor/car/machines are going up in price.
Yep, Will is starting to cut wood too. Right now, he’s blocking up a bunch of dead wood from last year. We have a LOT as the friendly beavers cut down a lot of big poplars and he’s selected some windfalls too. But, today, it’s snowing like crazy so we’re doing indoor stuff.
No, you can’t force celery to go to seed the first year as it’s a biennial. To get seed, I plant a couple of plants in five gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom and plant one plant per bucket. I overwinter in the house, like a houseplant, then carefully plant in the garden in June. Then it will send up a flower stalk and make seed.
We’ve got an old TroyBilt Horse tiller too. Good machine!
Wow are your peppers gorgeous! Hope Sage does better this summer after his surgery. Its hard to have two animals with jobs that don’t get along always, even though trained. it happens. my daffodils aren’t all bloomed, but the first ( in a very protected sunny location) have already bit the dust! could be the few 60 + days last week. 30 this morning. Hope everyone gets a descent spring planting season this year. so many were burned out, washed out like you were last year. specially with the crazy prices these days. i too am gettin daily eggs from 2-7 year olds ! the local farm store cant keep day old chicks in stock, everyone is buying chicks due to the egg shortages. I just pray they knowledgeable an not jump in without realizing chicks are cute. hens are nice. work is involved . even seeing $35 for ‘barnyard week old pullets” advertised.. been a bit leery ordering form eastern hatcheries as though I’m aware how careful they are… the long flight to the northwest many seem to be receiving ill even dead chicks this year. my rooster so far remains healthy so plan on incubating some latter this year. Stay healthy!
We’re shocked at the price of not only chicks but chickens too. Will saw a trio of hens and and a rooster that were of no special breed advertised for $75. HOLY COW! We’re getting some hatchery chicks to help our friend, Sherri, who only wanted 10 chicks, make up a shipment. I’ve never had trouble with mail-order chicks. We ordered 25 from Murray McMurray way back when we lived in Montana, way up the mountain. They came in May, when we still had a foot or two of snow on the ground. The hatchery threw in 25 free chicks (all roosters) to keep our ordered chicks warm. My husband brought them home on the snowmobile, seven miles up the mountain. You could hear them peeping a mile away. We didn’t lose a single one.
McMurray is a terrific hatchery! i used them always for my kids 4 H chicks. they always put in extra!
Some of the bulbs are poking their heads out in the front garden; the snow here is dirty too, but melting fast. Never fast enough for me though.
It’s April 1, so the Vermont Department of Wildlife wants us all to take down our bird feeders lest we attract bears. We’re supposed to have them up only from the first snow (usually November) until 4/1. We had a mess of bears wandering around our property last summer, including a mama and three cubs, and I’m not interested in seeing any this year.
Yep, bears love sunflower seed, especially. Then there’s that tasty hummingbird food! Our feeders are all in fenced yards and the dogs keep the bears away. After 20 years, we’ve never had a bear in the yard, although we do have them in the woods, obviously. I’ve picked blueberries in the same patch with them. Wouldn’t want to “bother” a sow with cubs though.
Hello Jackie.
It sure is nice to see signs of Spring isn’t it.
I see a lot of robins, Cardinals and other smaller birds
busy building their nests.
It’s quite rainy, windy and wet here.
I heard some places may get a lot of snow but not here to my
knowledge.
I hope getting Sarge neutered will help along with the collar and training.
It can take a few weeks for hormones to decrease but sure
hope it helps.
My two older dogs are gone now and they weren’t a problem
but I took in a little dog the day he was born and syringe fed
him. Unfortunately he had way too much aggression as he got
closer to two so had him neutered and has helped a lot with training.
I’m glad your chickens are doing well to lay.
I only have four now and have plans to get more chicks soon from
the farm store.
I’m going to get a little brooder heat light that is adjustable and have them
downstairs until old enough to start introducing to others.
Mine are laying but getting older so want to cover all bases if they
stop laying at some point.
I do some cat rescue so have to make sure the chicks are safe and sound as they grow.
I’m so glad Sherri is brooding all the chicks so they’ll be safe.
I’ve got some of the tomatoes I ordered from you and the pepper seeds in starter soil.
Plus have one sweet potato plant started.
The grow lights put off quite a bit of heat in the outdoor building plus being on heat
mats is helping them get a start.
I’ll be starting more seeds soon and going to get more soil from the farm store when I get
chicken supplies so will be good to go.
My woods a waiting for me to work on getting it cut but haven’t got there just yet. Glad you’ll be working on getting wood ready for next year’s cold weather.
You and Will have the very best day
Be sure you very securely hang that heat lamp. I once was brooding chicks in a big cardboard box in our upstairs unfinished room when I noticed them peeping very loudly. I thought they were out of water and went up. Nope! The lamp had blown down into their brooder. The only thing that saved the house was the laundry I’d hung on lines up there. I yanked some sheets off and beat the fire out. Unfortunately, the chicks did not make it. A very sad lesson learned the hard way.
Enjoy spring!
I always describe it as mud season – you smell it even if it not so muddy.
That dang Y chromosome – sad to say you have to take the good with the bad. While we didn’t think the dump (cat) we took in would be aggressive (his social skills did need some toning down), we did not want him to start spraying in the house. A number of intact farm cats (and the occasional dump) are ever present in our yard during the “looking for love” time of the year.
Good Friday is late this year so we’ll till and plant before then. Better half who usually is less motivated to stock up than I has suggested we stock up on non-perishables.
I cannot stress having an emergency fund – the more the better. Male dump we took in has a not common health issue which will not be inexpensive to treat. He’s young and the best cat we’ve ever had so on step on one of treatment. While I’m happy we have the financial means to do so, it is sad it would not be possible for others. Upside he’s being treated at a highly ranked vet school so vets-2-be will get the experience.
Our robins have been around for a few weeks – still too early based on pre-climate change.
All the ground wood from the massive oak has been rounded up and the collateral damage (read be careful when cutting) taken care of. We committed to working the election so no firewood/yard work for five days will happen.
Take a good look at staples (edible/non-perishables) and stock up as your budget allows. And for those who have retirement accounts, don’t knee jerk panic and sell. You don’t lose money unless you sell for less than gross purchase price and the fees to sell. IMHO, the 2% want the average Joe/Jane out of the market.
Buffy wants to earn her keep but as you say, if it moves it is prey.
Don’t forget to vote – local races are important too.
I hope that collateral damage didn’t involve chainsaw cuts! Been there/done that. I agree about stockpiling a little cash. We keep a stash; not a lot but at least some. As one who was a veterinary technician for 22 plus years, and married to a veterinarian, I’m shocked at the change in veterinary medicine today. We were “open” 24/7 for emergencies. There were no emergency veterinary clinics. We even did a cesarean on a cat whose owners couldn’t afford it, through no fault of their own, not charging them a cent. We amputated the hind leg of a Holstein cow in a sleet storm, in the barnyard and charged $250. (She did very well as a 3 legged milker.) I don’t want to know how much that would cost today. Of course that was in the olden days (1978, I think.) Everything has increased… I feel so sorry for folks who love their animals and simply can’t afford decent veterinary care. And it makes me mad when people say, “If they can’t afford to take care of their animals, they shouldn’t have them.” Animals provide love and stability for many people who don’t have that in their lives otherwise.
There is a hard line between decent vet care and very unexpected vet care. I suspect best cat’s surgery to be $5K. Yeah, A LOT but he is a family member AND vet students will learn. He’s already better after the not inexpensive ER visit. Upside is we did not do a local ER visit only to find out a specialist was needed. ER vet likely would not have had a person to call and schedule like our regular vet did.
AMEN! ‘cant afford them” without THEM many wouldnt be able to cope these days.
I too worked as a vet assistant back in the early 80’s. what they charged was according to the owners attitude at times, usual fees were very reasonable. they taught me so much. i really appreciate todays vets. the way the public treats them is horrendous. the public today ‘expect’ everything at once no matter what the case maybe. guess this is the general attitude everywhere today. glad there are still wonderful understanding individuals out there i meet here in your blog. Thanks Jackie for sharing.