Rhode Island Reds

Last week, we finally had to get rid of our Rhode Island Red chickens. It was a hard decision. We had hand raised them from day old chicks. Unfortunately, they were terrorizing our much more mellow Buff Orpingtons. After the third Buff chicken showed up with a large hole poked in its head we knew it was time.

Luckily, our friends in Richmond have a larger flock. Last Friday, Titania and Alannia made their final trip with us down to their farm. They will live out the rest of their lives in their flock. Even though they were chickens, we had become a little attached to them because they were our first. They seemed to settle in well as the day went on.

The Buff Orpingtons are much more calm and the general stress level of the coop seems to have diminished over the past few days. Even though it was hard giving up the reds it was the right decision for the overall welfare of the flock. 

Holidays

This past week was very busy in our household. Not only did we have the Thanksgiving holiday but two birthdays to celebrate. It turned out to be a very hectic but wonderful week. Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with our friends. We ate a delicious meal followed by a movie and board games. It was a fun day.

Friday, we headed down to Richmond for a few hours then in the evening both of my sisters came. We had so much fun over the weekend. Saturday, we went hiking around Eagle Lake on Morehead State's Campus with two new friends from our church. This time the trail was easier as we were properly geared for it with hiking boots, water and snacks. After that we did a little shopping at some of the local stores. We then returned to Lexington, freshened up (took a lot after our hike) and then headed to a local Mexican restaurant for supper. Their treat to help celebrate my birthday.

Sunday, they both took one of the girls after church to do something special with them. Chuck and I spent the afternoon hanging out. We went to a local craft fair and some other holiday places. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks to all who helped make it that way. 

Chicken Round-up

This afternoon, Mary came in quickly to tell me that all the chickens had escaped from inside the run. Makenzie and I quickly got coats and boots on to join her on the chase. Luckily, chickens like to stay fairly close to home and the flock. We do not know how long they had been out but they were enjoying the garden area. Mary grabbed some food, opened the run door and spread some food inside. The Rhode Island Reds took the bait and walked inside to eat the food; two chickens caught and four to go.

The Buff Orpingtons were not so easy. They seem to always be the ones who are escaping but are difficult to catch. I have found the best way to do this is to corner them one by one and then grab them. Before we started the chase, we thought we better find the hole that they escaped from in the first place. We looked everywhere and could not find it. Finally, one of the chickens we had cornered ducked underneath a little raised area of the run. We had found the hole and now three chickens were back where they belonged. Mary placed some edging stones underneath the hole to block it.

The last three proved much harder to catch. Mary, Makenzie and I worked together to corner them one by one. I would then grab them and put them back into the coop. After about 30 minutes we finally got them all back inside where they belonged. Once caught , they did not seem too unhappy about being back inside the run. Apparently, the grass must not have been that much greener on the other side.

Aah, the adventures of urban homesteading.

Rain

I have to admit, rain does not always come at convenient times for me and I complain about it. I then remind myself that without rain my life would be a much different world. Rain provides the water that all plants need. Without these plants, there would be no food, trees, green grass or pretty flowers. Rivers and streams that I like to canoe on or hike beside would dry up. Lakes and ponds would also be gone. Most of all my water that my body so desperately needs would eventually run out.

Once I started thinking of the benefits of rain and reminding myself of the importance of it, my attitude has changed on rainy days. Now, when I find myself complaining about the rain especially if it has changed some plans for me I make myself stop and thank God for all the necessary and pretty things that rain provides in my life. I then feel better about it. I now look forward to rainy days. It provides me with some down time or time to concentrate on some neglected task indoors. What is your attitude about rain? Does it need some adjusting like mine did?

Fall Leaves

I have to admit that I love fall leaves all over my yard. They provide such a beautiful carpet of color. I also enjoy hearing the crunching of feet walking through them. Sadly though the colors fade and it is time to rake them up for the year. That has been our project of the week here. We do not send any of our leaves to the landfill or even to the local lawn waste recycling place. They are much to valuable of a resource for that. Here are the ways we use all of the leaves. We have a large amount because we live on a lot with several mature trees. Here is a list of some of the ways we use our leaves.

1) Put in the compost pile to create compost for next year.
2) Put around cold sensitive plants to insulate their roots for the year.
3) Rake them into newly planned flower beds or garden space. It kills off all the grass and weeds. We then rototill them into the new area in the spring.
4) We put them on the garden and let the chickens scratch them into the garden. It has the added benefit of providing playtime for the chickens.
5) Once the big piles of leaves are gone, we mow over the rest of them to mulch them and help fertilize the grass for next year.

Leaves take up a large portion in landfills. See what creative ways you can use your leaves this year. 

Chicken Moving Day

I have spent the past few days getting the garden ready to put the chicken coop and run on it. I put down compost and then added leaves from the yard. Today was moving day. Chuck and I put the chickens on the garden. We will spend the winter moving them across the garden so they can scratch up all the bugs and weed seeds and eat them. In the meantime, they scratch in the compost and yard leaves. In the spring we will rototill everything under and start the growing season with a naturally fertilized garden that was all free. .

It is also fun to watch the chickens play in the leaves. They jump into the piles just like kids. They then pop up their heads. scratch a little and then jump in again. They can provide quite the entertainment. Who needs TV when you have chickens to watch?  

Decreasing Food Waste

Here are some ways that we decrease food waste at our home.

1) I only fix amounts of food that I know we will eat at one setting unless it is something that I know someone will eat as leftovers.
2) I only buy fresh fruit, veggies, milk and other products that spoil quickly in small quantities or amounts I know we will use before they expire or spoil.
3) Cheeses that will be used for cooking is frozen until I use them.
4) Leftovers are remade or added into other things. I will make meals based on remaking leftovers.
5) Fruits or vegetables that are getting wilted but not moldy will be added to other things. Veggies into quiche, spaghetti, casserole, etc. Fruits into crisps or quick breads.
6) Scraps and leftover foods go to either rabbits, chickens or compost. There is very little we have to throw away that they do not eat.
7) When we go to restaurants, we bring home the leftovers (which we will eat later) as well as potato skins, etc which are then fed to the chickens. I also will bring home such scraps from church functions.

We have a long way to go but have really started to make some headway in decreasing our food waste.

Food Waste

One thing that I have been working on here at home is decreasing our food waste. This does not only include food thrown away that is not eaten or composted but overeating food our body does not need. I was reminded the importance of this by some statistics that I read in WorldArk Magazine put out by Heifer International. Here are some of the statistics they shared about food wasted here and in other developed countries.

1) In the United States, an estimated 40% of food gets thrown away.
2) The United States per capita food waste has increased 50% since 1974.
3) Worldwide, roughly a third of all food produced is never eaten.
4) All together, industrialized countries toss 222 million tons of food each year. That's enough to feed 925 million people.

Food waste is a sad reality. I will try to share some strategies we use to decrease our food waste here. We are doing better but have a long way to go.  

Eagle Lake

Eagle Lake-Morehead State University

Yesterday, we spent the day in Morehead, KY looking at Morehead State University that our oldest daughter is interested in attending next year. The highlight of the day was our walk around Eagle Lake which is located on the campus. The trail had been described to me as an easy 1 mile walk around the lake. That was the first part of the trail. The rest of the 2 plus mile trail was up and down with a few mad scrambles up some of the hills. We could not find how to cross back over the lake to the dam. We later found stones that went across which were under water. We ended up just sliding down a ravine filled with leaves. It has been a long time since we have done such a challenging hike. We had so much fun. The best part of the trail is we only ran into 2 other people during the whole hike and it was very quiet and peaceful there.     

Supper

My daughters help with cooking all the time but one night a week my oldest daughter is responsible for planning and cooking a complete supper. Last night was her night. She made pork chops with mushroom gravy, brown rice and butternut squash. For dessert, I had put together a cherry crisp from the last of our cherries. Her meal tasted wonderful.

Later that night, I came home to something smelling like it was burning. I found that she had left one of the burners on the whole entire time. Unfortunately, it was the one that the cherry crisp had been sat on to cool when it came out of the oven. That was what was burning. Luckily, it did not break the dish but the crisp was burnt all the way through. We had the cherry bread I had made for breakfast for dessert instead. I did have to remind her though that leaving burners on was why they put people in nursing homes. She just smiled. She will have fun getting the crisp cleaned out of the dish today. Live and learn.

Fresh Cherry Bread

This bread was a hit for our family. I used frozen cherries in place of the fresh ones. It worked well although I made sure to drain them well first.

CHERRY BREAD

2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. shortening
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 c. orange juice
1 tbsp. grated orange peel
2 tbsp. warm water or cherry juice
1 c. halved tart cherries

Sift together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in shortening. Stir in egg, orange juice, peel, and water. Fold in cherries. Pour into greased 8 x 4 x 3 inch loaf pans. Bake an hour at 350 degrees. Cool before slicing.

I used half whole wheat pastry and half all purpose flour. I also omitted the orange peel. This made a delicious and moist bread. 

Cherries

Saturday, Mary and I spent the afternoon canning cherries. We love cherry anything and finally found a source for them. My Mom found someone up by her that sells the fresh pitted ones that have been frozen. She got a box for me and sent them down with my sisters two weeks ago. We finally had the time to do them up on Saturday. I had never canned cherries before so I went in search of recipes.

The first thing I knew I wanted to make was pie filling. I did not want a whole lot but enough that I could make a crust, dump it in, bake and serve it to guests or take it down for a church potluck. Next, I wanted to make cherry jam. My Grandma used to make it and I had not had any since I was a child. I found the perfect recipe and have been enjoying it on toast this week. I have not been disappointed. It tastes just as good as I remember it from my childhood if not better. I then made Summer Solstice Jam which consists of blueberries and cherries. Last, I made spirited cherries, just a few to see if we will like them. I then had some leftover so made cherry crisp for dessert which was a big hit with my family. Lastly, I am going to make cherry bread with the rest of the leftovers.

I will share some of the recipes of the above things over the next couple of blogs.

Count Your Blessings Month

This is the third year that I have participated in this activity. On facebook, family meals or other time period during the month of November, name one different thing you are thankful for each day. This has been a great activity for me. I get so caught up in my day to day activities that I forget to stop and count the many blessings that I do have. You will be amazed how many things that you have to be thankful for during this month. Go ahead and give it a try. You will be thankful that you did.