Oregon | Build Me a Dream

Time to Redefine our Lives in Oregon

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How Did They Do It???

Just about 2 feet of snow!

Our neighbors horses…so gorgeous!!!

How did they do it?? As I try to navigate my world in the midst of a three day snow storm I am amazed at how unprepared I feel. Albeit, I lack in the true snow boot arena, I have mud jumpers that do the trick in keeping my feet dry (for the most part)…since my snow pants (I think I have snow pants) are still packed away somewhere within our shop, double layers of pants seem to keep me warm enough for about a half an hour, although soaked through…then there’s the waterproof jacket and gloves….I’ve got some stuff, but definitely not enough. Trudging through two feet of pant soaking, ice accumulating, leg freezing snow, the warmth of a nice warm fire was all I could think about….well, that and sledding down on of our hills obviously adding to my already frozen appendages. But I have to think….”How in the world did the pioneers….those who crossed the great divide, climbed the Cascade Mountain Range to land in the Willamette Valley of Oregon…how did they make it without the warmth and waterproofing necessary to sustain life this day and age. Would we be able to survive as our ancestors did? How did they survive?” I guess many did not (remember the Donner Party), but somehow, most did!

How did they do it??!!

My San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, sun 90% of the year upbringing and adulthood is a far cry from the winters of the Pacific Northwest. There is much I have to learn about preparing for weather that can turn on a dime…what’s that saying up here?…”If you don’t like the weather, wait 15 minutes…” On Thursday morning, this was so true!! Within 15 minutes of my walking out the door for work, we went from a few clouds, cold, brisk, refreshingly clean air, to major clouds, “It’s starting to snow”…”We’re in a blizzard (well almost)”…”It’s snowing for 3 days”… “We’ve got 2 feet of snow”…to the beginnings of freezing rain…and if it warms 15 more degrees (which is actually predicted) we may have flooding due to a fast melt of all the snow!!! Holy guacamole!!!!! I am not in Kansas…or in my case, California, anymore!! But I am so happy to be here!!

How are the adult and young flocks doing in all this cold……update coming soon!! In the meantime, here’s a friendly, Claudio, hello!!

Claudio wondering, “What the heck is all that cold, white, icy stuff!”

Category:

Buff Orpington, building a new home, Cold weather, Freezing Rain, Homesteading, Horses and dogs, moving to Oregon, Oregon, San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Snow

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Douglas Fruit Trees???

I stepped outside Sunday morning…there was a distinctive winter chill to the air, but it sounded like spring! As I looked over to the pond, the “foreigners” who have been absent for three months were paddling around in the water. Up the road, guinea hens were loudly boisterous, and the songs of the robin were like beautiful waves of melody. My neighbor’s horses were once again in their front pasture..it seems that spring may be attempting to bloom.

To speak of the seasons, you speak of events choreographed in nature. Spring is a time of renewing as trees bud and push out new growth; it is the season of gardens, gardens, and more gardens. Ironically, this season of young, delicate, sprouts is really too late for planting trees. Generally, a tree planted in the springtime will struggle. The good thing is that it will probably catch up the following year. As the ground warms, summer is a time of fullness as the canopy overhead shades with a lush, green umbrella. Planting trees in the fullness of this season can shock them badly, causing a loss of leaves, fruit, and stunted growth that could last 2-3 years. Fall then is a time of harvest, fruit is ripening and tired trees are getting ready to go dormant for awhile. Yet just beyond the harvest season, late fall, in the colder parts of the country, is the best time to plant trees.

Out here in the west…specifically the west coast, contrary to popular belief, winter is a time for planting. Seems odd, why plant while the ground is cold, and growth is almost nonexistent? Something magical happens under the ground while trees lay dormant above it. Roots, young and old roots stretch their “legs” and grow during the cold of winter. While a tree stands motionless, sometimes to the point of, “Is it alive or dead?”, the underground world is active and working hard to gain strength, gather nutrients, and find new ground from which to sustain itself.

On that note, this week has been a time of planting on the hill. In late November, numerous trees arrived. We planted the Giant Sequoias (post – Replanting the Forest), and have been protecting the yet-to-be-planted fruit trees. Over the past two months we (more specifically Tony…with a little help from our son, Will, and I) have added 347 trees to forest and pasture areas. Within that count are 300 Douglas Fir one gallon seedlings, and 37 varying 15 gallon fruit, and chestnut trees all wrapped in wire cages to keep the deer away. Timber and fruit…Douglas Fruit trees..haha…I can’t wait to see them grow!! A nice gift from nature…deer are not attracted to Douglas Fir seedlings…Whew!!…glad we didn’t need 300 tiny wire cages around those little beauties!!

A hillside of Douglas Fir seedlings.

Rocky, muddy soil…use a post hole digger to plant 300 fir trees!!

After the holes are dug, someone has to plant the trees!

An orchard full of 4 types of apple trees, and 2 types of pear.

Cherry trees line the driveway.

Contrary to what Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog said….the neighbor’s Peacock flock are converging on our hill once more, another indication that spring is on the horizon.

Really, this year, who knows? It’s predicted that we’re to dip down to the single digits again this week. We’re on the coast side of the Cascades so temps like that are not a winter common.

Category:

building a new home, Cold weather, Giant Sequoia Trees, Great Dane, Homesteading, Horses and dogs, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane, Vegetable Garden

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The Gentleman Rooster

Aesops Fables – THE ROOSTERS AND THE EAGLE
There were once two roosters who argued loudly. They wanted to prove who reigned over their flock and farm. Day and night the roosters crowed, proclaiming each one’s own strength and power. One day, crowing turned into fighting. One rooster saw that the other rooster was hurt. He stopped fighting as his kindness would not allow him to continue. The other rooster proclaimed his victory. Flapping his wings, he crowed louder than ever before. Running into the openness of the pasture, he jumped onto a log and announced his victory again, and again, drawing the attention of a soaring eagle. With quiet accuracy, the eagle snatched the rooster off the log and carried him away.
The moral: Victory comes in humility and kindness, while boastful pride can cause destruction.

Our rooster, Benedict, is a true gentleman rooster! He reigns over his flock with a firm hand, yet he is kind. He keeps the hens safe from the hawks that fly overhead (see previous post titled, “A Day in the Life…”), runs, I mean runs to a hen if she is calling out in distress, leads the flock to the chicken house when darkness approaches, and just a few days ago welcomed with open “wings” Chardonnay (our mama, broody hen) back to the flock. The more dominant hen, Don Pedro, tussled with Chardonnay as she first arrived…but Benedict jumped in between the two hens to stop the fighting.

As these events unfolded, the four oldest chicks had their first outing from the brooder. It happened to be a sunny day, and temps were in the 50’s so in full sun Lo Ri-dah, Jag, VW, and Pontiac stretched their legs! They were only out about 45 minutes before they lost their sun, but it was fun while it lasted!!

While I was out with the the four adventurers, Chardonnay jumped back in with those still in the brooder…and so did Benedict!! I was ready to jump in and save the babies in case Benny got aggressive, but this AWESOME rooster was a perfectly behaved “daddy” to his little brood. BTW, Benedict’s comb succumb to some frost bite this winter…the white patches are areas that were affected and are, hopefully, healing. The darker coloring on his feathers at the top of his neck is clinging dirt from the Vaseline, and NeoSporin I put on his comb.

The following movie stars Benedict, Chardonnay, Chevy, William Jr., Honda, and Austin Healey…

I’m hoping Benedict’s actions in the brooder is a good indication of the easy transition to come once the chicks are ready for the big leagues…joining the rest of the adult flock.

BTW, if you noticed, Austin Healey is doing FABULOUS (said in a very flamboyant manner!!!) Her legs / feet had some bruising as Chardonnay kept the little brood on their feet much of the day. As her legs have gained strength this bruising has calmed. Now that Chardonnay has left the brood completely, everyone is calmer and I have noticed there are more periods of resting. This has been good for our littlest member of the flock!!

My little cutie-ba-tutie!

Oh and in case your wondering if, Penni, our Great Dane is watching out for the new bunch of babies…you decide!! Hahahaha

Are you our Mother?

I promise to watch over you… I may chase you, but I will protect you!

Category:

Brooders, Buff Orpington, Chicken House, Chickens, Dogs and Chickens, Great Dane, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane, Rhode Island Reds

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Premature Chick Hatch

When does life begin??…the age-old question. I believe that life begins at conception, for many reasons…and I believe the Bible tells us this. So what does that mean for chicken eggs? Given the right heat and humidity, a fertilized egg develops into a chick…but, put them in the fridge, they look and act like any other egg. Seems to me it is safe to believe that in a fertilized chicken egg, once it starts developing, life has begun. Little Austin Healey is the strongest example of this…EVER!!! She fought to stay alive in her shell during extreme single digit cold temperatures…Chardonnay was on and off the nest in the beginning because she kept getting confused which nest was hers. She warmed, she cooled, she warmed, she cooled, she was late in hatching, and when she finally did hatch……..

Update on little Austin Healey
Very soon after her hatching, it became apparent that there was something different…wrong with little Austin Healey. Trying as hard as she could, she was not even close to being able to stand….she crawled on her belly, and her legs splayed out to the sides. She was so determined, she never gave up…so neither would I. I promised Austin that I wouldn’t give up on her. As I watched her, it seemed that she had hatched prematurely even though she had been in nest for over 21 days…is that even possible…is it possible for a chick to start and completely hatch from an egg prematurely, on her own?? I am convinced that it is. Here’s Austin’s story since the hatch….

Austin’s legs had no tone, her feet looked almost as if the bones had not finished developing. They would curl into a “fist” whenever she tried to use them. She was so less developed than the chick, Honda, who had hatched just 29 hours before her. The pictures really show the extreme differences between these two.

Hatched just 29 hours apart…big difference!

Honda standing, Austin could not stand.

20 hours after hatch…Austin is having a tough time.

Obviously, Austin needed to be given a chance to develop and grow stronger, so she was separated from the young flock. Since there was such a big gap between these last two chicks and the others, I took Honda out of the brood (she was getting kicked around a bit) she and Austin became roommates. They had each other to cuddle for warmth, and I believe that Honda was a great example for Austin to follow as she struggled to stand.

Austin fought hard. She crawled on her belly, I removed the pine shavings from her little brooder and replaced it with a rubber matted rug for traction. I fed her sugar water until she could start eating chicken starter mush. Her legs continued to splay to the sides…I found this idea about tethering her legs together with vet wrap… http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/spraddle-leg-in-baby-chicks-what-is-it.html So, I tethered her legs…

Hoping to strengthen her legs and hips.

I so hope this works!

There is so much that I could say about our little Austin Healey. She is and was such a fighter. She tried and wanted to stand so badly. We worked together…every time I held her up to eat, I positioned her feet and body correctly so that she was upright, and uncurled. Everyday, Austin got just a little bit stronger. Honda moved back into the main brooder leaving Austin a little lonely…so we gave her a friend..

Not quite the same as having Honda around, but better than being alone.

Austin worked hard on her physical therapy, holding her body up, with my support, working the muscles in her legs. Then one day, her legs stayed forward, underneath her…the next day she was moving around in a squatting position…the next day she wobbly, wobbly stood mostly straight…the next day, she stood up and walked upright….the next day she gained strength and coordination…the next day, she met her mama, Chardonnay, for the first time. She spent the day, she spent the night…she survived both. She eats and drinks with the brood, she cuddles under the heat lamp with her family, and hides under her mama’s wings. She is a fighter…she is AWESOME….she is home!!

Way to go little Austin!!

Category:

Brooders, building a new home, Chicken Eggs, Chickens, Cold weather, Hatching Chicks, Homesteading, Incubator, moving to Oregon, Oregon, Premature Chick, Rhode Island Reds

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Three Plus Four = Ten??

I’ve never been that great in math….can you tell? My dilemma with the finite solution of 7 to the equation in the title, doesn’t lend to the possibility of the three waiting in the wings…so to speak. Technically, 3 + 4 does = 7…but I think it is more fun to ponder the possibility of 10….because right now, the possibility does exist!!

The last time I updated on our Christmas brood, we had three hatchlings….now there are SEVEN!!! They seem to be hatching a day apart from each other. One chick, #6 – or better known as William Jr. (long story there), had a difficult time hatching. I got a bit anxious and got involved a little too much with the process by breaking the shell, leaving unnatural break-lines, and weaknesses to the shell.

Cracked egg…I started to help the process.

I was getting over anxious, it had been a couple of hours, so I chipped away a little more of the shell

A couple of hours later, I felt the chick was struggling, I had broken the shell too much, and Chardonnay was pecking at the baby. I took it inside to finish hatching.

After a short time, Chardonnay sensed something wrong, and started pecking at the exposed chick, not the shell. At this point I removed the hatchling from the nest, and brought her inside the house. We did not yet have an incubator so I made a warm area underneath my bathroom sink utilizing a lamp, a cup of water for humidity (my husband’s idea), and a heating pad underneath the box wherein I placed the shell.

Warm area under the sink to help William Jr. finish hatching.

If this little one survived, GREAT, if not, at least we gave it a chance. Chardonnay was not going to be so nurturing. After a couple of hours, my daughter, Roni, checked on William Jr….he (hopefully a hen not a rooster) had hatched and looked pretty weak.

Within minutes, like maybe a half an hour, it was obvious that this chick was strong and completely normal!! I then took it out to Chardonnay…here is what happened next…..

That night, one more egg hatched under Chardonnay, leaving the count of four yet to hatch. Mama hen became so busy with her brood, that she started leaving the nest for longer periods of time. She would allow the eggs to cool down a lot, and with the temperatures as they have been, I was afraid that these eggs wouldn’t get a chance to hatch if they were, in fact, viable. We gathered the four and put them in the incubator. Yesterday, December 27th, the first of the four hatched at about 5 P.M. At about 8:30 P.M. I brought the chick to Chardonnay. She was sitting on her nest…all the chicks were under her. I set this little one down in front of her, she looked sideways at it..cooed, lifted her breast, and the little one scooted right under her!! Checking this morning…that 14 hour old chick is doing GREAT…swallowed some water as I dipped her beak into the water dish, and ran around with the brood pecking at food that Chardonnay kicks up for them. I’m a happy Chicken Mama!!

BTW, another egg in the incubator is currently chirping….within the next few hours, we should have # 8!!!

Category:

Brooders, Chicken Eggs, Chicken House, Chickens, Cold weather, Homesteading, Oregon, Rhode Island Reds

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BRRRRROODY HEN

I’m a nervous chicken mama. The temp has been dropping steadily for days. Our efforts to protect the flock has been a learning experience, especially since one of our hens has decided that this would be a great time to sit on a nest. Chardonnay is broody, and extremely dedicated to her potential chicks. December 14th will mark 21 days on the nest…and maybe our first hatching!

This is our first experience with a broody hen, and I know this is the worst time of year for her to be wanting to hatch these eggs, but….we’ll provide whatever support these little chick-a-dees may need for warmth, etc., and hope that Chardonnay will take over some of that responsibility. She has been off the nest a couple of times wherein I think she has gotten confused which box she had been laying on. The eggs had cooled off some, but did not get “cold.” Well maybe a couple of them did. Each time I put her back on the correct nest, she has cuddled down and brought any eggs outside of her body into and under herself. At last count, she had 14 eggs!!! I don’t know if she is bringing more eggs into her nest, or if others are laying theirs where she is lying. This is a true learning experience, and if we come out with one or two chicks, I will be ecstatic!!

This all started two weeks ago today. Six of the 7 hens laid eggs in the same nesting box…Chardonnay decided to sit, and there she stayed. The 7th hen laid her egg in a different box, so since it was still warm, I put that one under her….one egg for each hen giving us a better chance of a pure Buff Orpington chick. Our boxes are a bit small for a broody hen, so Tony took out part of the lower wall under the nesting boxes (they are about 4 ft. off the ground) and made a nest/brooder area that expands into the “people” area. I lost some of my storage space, but Chardonnay is more comfortable, and the chicks won’t fall off the landing area in front of the nesting boxes.

I was afraid that moving Chardonnay and her eggs would result in her abandoning her nest, but she is so devoted, she just wiggled herself back into place, pulled two eggs under her that were sitting out, and snuggled in. She has been much more comfortable since the move, and is growling a lot less when I come near. I bring her treats, and little bowls of cracked corn and chicken feed at night…I thinks this is helping. Due to the cold, I haven’t candled any of the eggs to see what we’ve actually got going under there. I’m sure we won’t have 14 eggs hatch. It’s going to be fun to see what we actually get…I’m hoping for at least one Claudio (our Buff girl) look alike!

New nesting box.

Ideally, the hope is that the brooders can stay with the flock (in their own area within the chicken house) with mama leading the way, keeping them warm. Logic would say that their integration will be more natural this way, but there are dangers of attack by other flock members that we have to be really thinking about. Our logic doesn’t always coincide with God’s design in nature, so we’ll try our best to nurture through the cold of winter whatever may hatch. I just hope they’ve stayed warm enough through this bitter cold. Either way, I won’t let Chardonnay sit for much longer than a few days past the 21st day. She needs to nourish herself and get back to chicken business beyond nesting.

A question for my knowledgeable poultry friends out there….Will eggs that have been sat upon for many day still hatch if Mama Hen gets confused and sits on eggs laid that morning while her nest grows cold? Chardonnay did that today. In very chilly weather, the eggs were cold to the touch when I found them without her. She readily snuggled back down with them when I put her back on the nest, but my fear is that damage has been done.

Category:

Brooders, building a new home, Chicken Eggs, Chicken House, Chickens, Cold weather, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon

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OMGosh…It’s Cold out There!

Well…I’ve had to cut my posts from one loooonnnnnnggggg post to two shorter. Keep an eye out for my next post….!

I think that almost the entire country has been in consistently dropping temperatures.

http://www.businessinsider.com/ice-friday-america-is-insanely-cold-right-now-2013-12

At 7:00 this morning, our outside temp was 3 degrees…3 DEGREES!! The welfare of my chickens has been a huge concern. I’m just short of inviting the flock into the house…..well….maybe not that far, but the garage stays in the back of my mind. Though their house is really wonderful, it is not insulated, and the roofing is metal sheeting. Without help, their inside water would surely freeze…actually it did. This freaked me out!! I felt like such a hugely awful chicken mama, but it threw me into action. I started with rigging up one 250 watt heat lamp, and a heated water bowl…since there is no power to the house, I hooked up power with long, yellow, construction power cords. A week and a half ago, this worked fine…this past week it fell way short. Implementing a cord splitter, heat lamp #2 was employed. The temp dropped again…we moved the heated, outside water dish inside. This seemed to work well for the teen temperatures…but last night we were going to be dropping into the single digits. So, in the dark, in temps of about 13 degrees…Tony and I were out at the chicken house lowering the heat lamps to more directly provide heat to the chicken roosting / nesting areas instead of the general house. With this, and a generous supply of cracked corn, everybody survived the night. Give me a break now….I’m used to animals living INSIDE the house…these girls and guy are my first out-of-the-house experience, and with these kind of temperatures….let’s just say it was a glorious 6:30 a.m. moment when I heard Benedict crowing!!

It’s cold out there!

Heat lamps add warmth.

Heated water bowl was a necessary addition.

Coaxing them in with cracked corn so I can shut the chicken door.

Claudio the hogging the heat.

At least they look warm and toasty.

The cabana has been a really great addition, and the flock has spent a lot of time out there. Tony picked up a couple of straw bundles, and spread some of it on the floor of the cabana. That was a hugely great idea as the chickens are not liking foraging around the snow very much. They actively kick around the straw and look for the chicken scratch we’ve thrown out in it, and little bugs that may be hiding.

A big pile of straw to play in.

The more extreme cold is supposed to last a few more days, I think we’ve got it covered….maybe…wait until the next post, big news on the farm!!

Rooster tracks in the snow.

Category:

building a new home, Chicken Cabana, Chicken House, Chickens, Cold weather, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon, Snow

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RePlanting the Forest

One of the realities of our homestead is the fact that we are living in a forest. There are some cleared areas of rolling pasture land, but the majority of our 34 acres consists of Douglas Firs, deciduous Oaks, and Maples. Around 2004 – 2005, the previous owners logged the front 12 acres of the property, the back 22 were logged back in the 1980’s sometime. Thankfully, they chose not to clear-cut which left young, mature trees and an ecosystem that would more easily maintain, and regenerate itself. It did create a mess that nature could naturally take care of, or we could help with. Eight years later, the forest is thriving. The Douglas Firs are popping up above the Oak trees, which in turn will create a natural reforestation of conifers. As you walk the property, there are baby firs everywhere. It has taken a lot of sweat equity in cleaning up piles of logs, limbs, and branches, and years for the land to heal. This fall, actually, this weekend, marks our first attempt at phase two for our forest management plan…tree planting.

We planted a grove of 10 baby, Giant Sequoia trees that we can see from our main windows, as well as, a line of them down along the fence line toward the pond. If you know of our ties to the SF Bay Area, and northern California, you may be able to understand our camaraderie with these beautiful trees. Apparently, these young trees are like candy to deer so protecting them is crucial to their survival.

Tucker and Penni enjoying the new trees

Tony and his helpers!

Cutting the fencing…16 ft. for each tree

One of our cute, little, protected Sequoia trees.

What a nice little grove of GIANTS!

Beyond this, in terms of conifers…we will be planting much smaller Douglas Firs around many different areas.

We’ve also designated an open area as an orchard with the hopes of having a little “Fruit Stand” set up in the front pasture….that’s a different story!! However, being mindful of this, the trees waiting to be planted this week are Honey Crisp, Braeburn, Fuji, and Melrose Apple trees; Bartlett, and Comice Pear trees; Bing, Lepin, and Stella Cherry trees; and Chestnut trees. From the time we bought the property, Tony’s dad, Joe, wanted to plant Chestnut trees on the property…he never got a chance to do that…our Chestnut grove will be in his honor. BTW…he also wanted to put a couple of beef cows out there…..UHHH OHHHH!!!

HI COW!!

Category:

building a new home, Giant Sequoia Trees, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane, San Francisco Bay Area

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Freezing Chicken Fix

By Friday the temp fell to 19 degrees…brrrrr

I think it is safe to say that the late, fall weather has arrived! I still find it fascinating when I leave for work and puddles are frozen…then when I return, those puddles are still frozen. Two days later, still frozen…obviously these puddles are shaded throughout most of the day, but I’m still amazed. In the Bay Area, it is a rare event when it gets cold enough to freeze a puddle, and even more rare for it to stay frozen the length of a day. I don’t think the beauty that the cold brings will ever get old for me. Since we now live at a higher elevation in the foothills surrounding our town, our temps can be 5 – 10 degrees different than what the phone weather apps, like the one above, display. Sometimes I will call down to my Mom who lives in town when it is snowing…we may be getting a bunch, while in town it is more of a slushy rain.

This puddle stayed frozen for 3 days.

Mostly or partially frozen for 3 days.

With the onset of the colder weather, my thoughts ran to the chickens. I know they wear their own down filled “jacket”, but I worried that their house wasn’t going to be warm enough through the night. We still had some issues with drafts, which, I have learned through my blogger friends of whom I hang on their experienced wisdom, is bad, bad, bad for chickens. That first cold/rainy/windy night about 3 weeks ago, I kept waking up thinking about my freezing birds. I apologized to them as they stepped out onto the wet ground of the morning, fluffing their feathers and cackling at me (do chickens swear, cause I’m sure they were…) Needless to say, when I got home from work, I hopped into action. I can’t have a bunch of angry hens and a rooster on my hands…not since they’re producing these….yes, that’s one day’s collection.

Seven chickens, seven eggs…life is good!

Everyday, we’re collecting 6 or 7 beautiful eggs…from 7 hens. It has definitely helped with my dog food bill. 🙂

I just really love our chickens, I don’t want to think that they are cold or can’t get out of the rain. #1 – I decided that they needed a cabana that would give them cover as they stepped out of their house. I took the paneled wire fencing from around the garden, and with the help of my son, set up a three sided frame, attaching it to the chicken house for stability.

They already like it!

Looks like a good space.

At this point, then, I was alone with the rest of the design and build of the cabana. We always seem to have a supply of plastic tarps, so I threw some of these over and attached them to the wood framing with a heavy duty staple hammer. This was the first level of protection against the winds that come over the mountains behind us and funnel through on their way into the valley.

First level of protection, insulating against the wind.

I then found a ground tarp that we used underneath our tent for camping. I hesitated on the thought of punching holes with the staples through this tarp, but I figured our flock was more important than a piece of plastic. This tarp was large enough to provide protection from the rain. It was a great fit, then I realized that I had to pitch the roof-line or rain would just accumulate on top and cause all sorts of problems. On my hunt for a solution, I found items like a stand alone wire shelving unit, boards, and boxes that as I lifted, shoved, and somehow moved around, creating a pitch…we had a pitched roof. I stretched the tarp tightly, and tacked it down to the wooden frame. I was stoked! It really came together! As I stood back to take pictures to send to hubby who was away on business, I realized that as I created the roof pitch, the tarp had shifted…leaving the wind/weather side of the cabana shorter than the other side. UUUUGGGGHHHHH!..it was that Charlie Brown moment….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ-t4DhAfrs

It ain’t purty, but it works!

I wasn’t about to go through and remove all the staples, so I used Shoe Goo on the seams of the white tarp, and it seems to work just fine. It’s quite cozy, and the chickens really seem to like it. With the addition of a heated water bowl to keep the water from freezing, I think they’re doing pretty well! I’m glad I liked to build forts as a kid…and with my kids when they were younger…I think that helped!

Cozy and dry

Cozy and dry…that’s their heated water bowl.

#2 – I needed to fix the drafts and provide some sort of “insulation” since their house had none. As you can see in the previous pictures, I tacked on some large, flattened, cardboard boxes to add a line of insulation on the outside areas corresponding to their indoor roosting branches. Then hunting around the shop, I found some cans of foam insulation….PERFECT!! Being afraid that the birds might be attracted to the yellow, hardened foam, I insulated from the outside. It’s not that pretty, but it completely cuts that draft from those areas I applied it. Basically, I just followed the gap lines between the boards, trying to keep a straight line..haha.

Can you see what’s roosting behind the windows?

By the time I finished, it was getting quite dark, but I couldn’t let them go one more night in the cold. The result is that the flock is happy, I’m happy, my dogs are happy because of all the eggs they get to eat…all is well, and I’m not waking up thinking about freezing chickens.

I feel good that our chickens have a dry place to go from the rain.

Category:

A Roof, Autumn, Chicken Cabana, Chicken Eggs, Chicken House, Chickens, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon, San Francisco Bay Area

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A Day in the Life…..

….Of a Chicken!

It was a beautiful fall day. The sun was shining, giving warmth to the cool, damp, November morning. I had been away, not for more than a few hours. The welcome I received was as if a long, lost friend had returned from an extended absence.

There we were, my chickens and I, enjoying the warmth of the sun, basking in the knowledge that we were together again. Then it dawned on me, this flock of welcoming poultry were hoping that I had a bag of lettuce in my purse. But then, well, look what happened next…

Our reunion was interrupted as I went into the house. Within moments, I felt that I was being watched. I wondered from where the ever-present aura of watchfulness had sprung. Looking around, the culprit was exposed.

“Look guys, she’s in there!”

My fascination with the flock was diminished as the reality of three dogs standing around with their legs crossed, looking up at me with pleading eyes led me back outside. Truth be told, the canine drive for eliminating outside was truly a blessing to our feathered friends.

The following events happened in an instant in time, yet slowly played out in great detail in front of my eyes. As the four of us opened the garage and walked out to the world awaiting us, Penni my Great Dane, ran to the right. Glancing that direction, a dark veil draped over the bliss of the morning. There swooping down toward the tiny patch of grass in front of our porch on which our chickens had just been gathered, was a very large, brown bird. Stealthy and silent, the hawk was quickly approaching. As if in a choreographed dance, Benedict our rooster, caught sight of the danger and started stomping and clucking loudly, sending out the alarm. The hens responded quickly and headed for the cover of the porch. As the hawk reached, what I would consider the striking vicinity, it must have noticed the approaching freight train named, Penni. Without hesitation, the hawk effortlessly turned to the left, and with completely silent movements disappeared into the horizon. Penni ran toward the direction it flew, but it was so quickly gone.

Quickly counting heads I found all present and accounted for. Benedict was doing his own counting…

The flock stayed hunkered down for several minutes under the chairs on the porch.

Hiding out from the big, bad monsters.

They came out and resumed their foraging, however, remained a little more on edge. Happily everyone survived, but the hawk now knows our address…she will be back. And she was back…today. I think she got a bit closer this time because I found a lot of feathers…a lot of Buff Orpington feathers which means either from Benedict (rooster), or Claudio (hen.)

My poor little chicken.

All the other hens are Rhode Island Reds. Seeing the hawk once again, I found the flock split into two different hiding places. They managed to get enough courage to come back together, and my kids and I wrangled them into the chicken house…we then closed the door for the rest of the night. It was time to just stay indoors and calm down. Once again, all were accounted for.

So the big question is now….free range, or corralled under cover. One, obviously, has a larger danger factor than the other…but it also holds more freedom, better tasting eggs, and the ability to welcome me home. They seem happier since being able to free range, but maybe a bit less relaxed. What would you choose?

Category:

Buff Orpington, building a new home, Chickens, Dogs and Chickens, Great Dane, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Penni the Great Dane, Rhode Island Reds

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Images of Fall Mushrooms

After a relatively dry October (with the exception to the first few days of the month,) November 2nd brought the rain to the Willamette Valley of Oregon. I say “relatively dry” October, well, because I guess it was, to the locals (of which I can not call myself yet as I am a short-timer here still.) Although I’m not sure if it hit the record books, the weather reports all talked about how dry the month was. This is not to say, however, that it wasn’t wet…at least to this Bay Area transplant. The morning dew of the fall seemed to be enough at our elevation to keep the ground moist. The dogs’ muddy paws while digging in whatever critter hole that got their attention can attest to that. Ever see a Great Dane dig a hole? It’s a thing of beauty…quite the ankle breaker! Our little Rat Terrie/Poodle mix gets in there and adds fineness to the freshly dug casm, while our old guy, German Wirehaired Pointer who’s back legs can’t support his front legs digging anymore, directs the entire excavation project…it’s really quite comical to watch. Everyone gets red, clay, mud stuck to their paws and nails…my light colored carpet is now more of a rust color.

To get back on track…November 2nd brought the rains. Basically, if it hasn’t been raining, its been drizzling. If it hasn’t been drizzling, the fog has moved over everything and engulfed our place in a cloud. In other words, it has been constantly wet, with periodic spurts of sunshine. It has been chilly, but it hasn’t necessarily been cold. Due to the nature of the weather, we have been indoors more lately than the past few months. One and a half year old Great Danes don’t really appreciate this…so, it is outside we go. We like to take hikes this time of year since the brush has started to die back. As we walked through the canopy of Douglas Firs, Maple, and indigenous Oak trees something became very apparent. The initial rains of October, then the mildness of the weather the rest of that month, followed by the constant moisture of November and the cloud cover keeping the temperatures chilly, but not cold resulted in a veritable cornucopia of visual stimuli. Mushrooms!! A varietal abundance of mushrooms. As we went along, Penny followed the scent tracks of whatever went before us, and I took pics with my phone. I realized how much I don’t know about wild fungi, so I treat all of it like it’s poisonous. I’m not touching any of it, but it sure is pretty!

Maybe these are what the ants used for lamps in It’s a Bug’s Life.

Big, gross, slimy, and ugly! Possibly a King Boulet??

More of the big, gross, slimy, and ugly King Boulet group.

Like a beautiful flower.

Oddly round.

Beautiful rotting log ensemble.

I thought this was some sort of wild animal poop…turned out to be a mushroom. Black Elfin Saddle? YUCK!

Like a delicate flower. Japanese Parasol?

Bell-Cap Panuelos?

Candy Caps??

A delicate cluster. Fairy Rings??

Beautiful yet….I don’t know if it’s poisonous.

Uhhhmmmm…..enough said!

And this weird thing…what the heck is this………..

Not even sure if this is a mushroom…it’s some kind of gelatinous blob! Gross.

It is really hard to try to identify these different types of mushrooms online. Good lesson as unless I am 100% sure what they are, I’m not going to touch them. Thankfully, my dogs don’t seem to want to either. They are pretty though. Since it is fall, I added a few pictures from our walk that aren’t mushroom related. I thought they were nice, although they don’t compare to actually being out there, exploring, and coming across these things that show it is indeed fall in Oregon.

That’s my foot on the right….one BIGGGG leaf.

The fog creeping down the hills behind us, eventually covering us in a cloud.

Penni and I found a friend.

Such a cuite!

Hello little California Newt.

A beautiful canopy.

This one lone Maple Tree, surrounded by young Douglas Firs, dropped all of these leaves.

The pond is freshly full again.

I hope you are enjoying the fall, it is a gorgeous time of year.

Category:

Autumn, California Newt, Fall Decorations, Great Dane, Hiking in Oregon, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Mushrooms, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane, San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley

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My Neighbor has Goats

My neighbor has goats. Enough said…..until you add in the peacocks, guinea fowl, geese, numerous barn cats, horse, etc., etc., etc.!! I think the 6 acre farm of which these animals reside is large enough to contain them, but goats, cats, and feathered fowl have a way of breaching the boundaries.

Our friend

Quite the nice silhouette

This late spring brought new kids to the goat family. As the kids grew, and horns became noticeable and imposing, my job with these cute little critters began. The squares of our wire fence line are big enough for a goat to stick their head through to taste the delicacies of the other side of the fence…our side. This is totally fine with me for a few different reasons, not the least of which is the control of poison oak, and black berry vines along the fence line…a real plus. The difficulty comes in as the goats and their horns grow, they find that putting their head through the fence is easy…backing out is another story. Those horns hook the wire, and the poor little goat gets stuck. There is a certain sound a goat makes when they are stuck. I am quite attuned to that sound now.

When I first hear the call for help nowadays, I hope that its liberator is quickly on their way…in the form of my neighbors. When the whaling goes on for a couple of hours, I have pretty much learned that help won’t be coming anytime soon for the little guy…or gal. Feigning the thoughts of trekking through poison oak, I can’t leave a goat stuck when it is calling for help. The goats know me by now…they don’t even flinch when I approach. I maneuver their head, lining up their horns…a little lift here, a little turn there and wallah…they are free. At first it takes them a moment to realize their freedom, then, like a lightning bolt, they bound away…only a few hops, then they stop…look at me, and bounce off. It makes the threat of contracting poison oak all worth it!

The goats horns have grown too big now to maneuver out, so recently, I have had to cut the fence to get them free. There are also bigger now, and when I push, they push back…at that point, they are immoveable. I have grown quite fond of my neighbor’s goats, and hope that a smaller mesh fencing to go right alongside the larger squared fencing is in my neighbor’s plans…somehow, I don’t think so….and on it goes!!

Let’s call him Einstein!

Yup…your stuck!

The now empty square!

Mama goat saying, “Thank you.”

Einstein back with the family!

Category:

building a new home, Goats, Homesteading, Oregon, Peacocks

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Update on the Deer Kill

I thought I would update you on the recent deer kill (see previous post.)

Tony, my son, Will, and I gathered up whatever scattered, leftover pieces of deer we could find along the route to the site where parts of the kill had been covered by whatever killed it. As we approached the pile, it looked quite depleted. Tony laughed and teased me about the pile…there was really nothing there, and he hadn’t seen the original pile site. Even though the wildlife had a week to eat from it, I expected to find some bones, hooves, or something. Thankfully, Will, was there to back me up…Tony was having a good time laughing that he had just dug a hole with the backhoe and there was nothing to bury except the head that Penni and carried up the hill, the spine that we found along the way, and some tufts of fur mixed in with the leaves. To “save face,” I insisted that the leaves and fur were to be buried, as well.

I knew that the saga of this little deer was not over. Experience had already taught me that as time went on, we would be seeing deer parts showing up with one very happy Great Dane named, Penni. There’s not much you can do about that. The next day, however, changed this scenario. Penni had gone down the hill and was barking at something. One thing about Penni is that her bark means something, she is a quiet girl unless there is something to talk about…and there must have been something to really talk about. I jumped in the RTV and rushed down the hill…there she was, standing in front of something, jumping (she likes to pounce on things…it’s really cute) and barking. She backed-off as I approached. Lo and behold, it was the mysteriously, disappeared carcass. It was mostly just the hide…two legs (bones and hooves), however, were also attached!

This was awesome because whatever was left, if found, would be small and not too gross…the big parts were all found. I guess we’ll never really know what killed that deer, but I think, like some had suggested,it was probably a cougar. Everything that could be eaten was….nature can be really cool…and a bit frightening!

Category:

Cougar, Coyote, Deer, Deer hunting season, Great Dane, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane

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?????? About a Deer Kill

FYI……THERE IS A GROSS-OUT FACTOR TO THIS POST…. SOME PICTURES ARE NOT TOO PLEASANT AS THEY DEPICT A DEER THAT HAS MET HIS DEMISE BY ANOTHER ANIMAL, OR HUMAN. THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON THIS, BUT I WOULD REALLY LOVE YOUR INPUT IF YOU CAN TELL BY WHAT I DESCRIBE, WHAT MIGHT HAVE KILLED THIS LITTLE DEER. THANK YOU!!

It was Saturday morning, October 13, 2013, my three dogs and I were walking the fence line of our property looking for areas in need of repair. All was well that morning…there was a spot on which a giant limb from a very mature Douglas Fir had broken off leaving the wire fencing smashed down. Important find as it would make easy access for a dog chasing a squirrel or a deer to just keep on running, and find themselves on our neighbor’s property (of which I do not feel would be very welcomed.)

Tucker feeling better!!

Karli – Our fourteen year old sweetie.

Penni our Great Dane!

So, to get back to our walk….everything was going fine. We found the one flaw in the fence line..good find…then making our way to the plateau before the downhill slope to the creek, the dogs stopped, (except for Karli, our 14 yr. old rat terrier/poodle mix who has lost most of her sensibility and is not as sharp as she used to be.) Penni, our Great Dane, started barking, lurching forward, but not moving forward. I immediately went on the alert, hoping this band of merry hikers had not cornered a skunk, or worse yet a cougar. As I cautiously approached, yelling for Karli to stop moving forward (Tucker our old German WireHair Pointer guy had already lay down in the grass as his rear legs don’t like to just stand still) I could see the object of their roadblock.

It was a deer, a very well cleaned, fresh kill. By this I mean what was left on the bones (which wasn’t much) was still very pink and red….the bones, and joint areas were still very pearly in color. The stomach had been removed and pushed away from the body, and a large portion of the deer had been buried under leaves and dry grasses. Since we were walking, I quickly got the dogs under control and we left the area. No way did I want to be standing around a fresh kill with the possibility of a cougar or coyotes lurking in the area. Later in the afternoon, I went back down with the RTV (a quick get-away), a knife (for protection…this is where I know I need to take my gun handling to the next level…I didn’t feel comfortable handling the gun myself, since my husband was away), and my adult son, Will, came down with me to help….the dogs stayed home!! I wanted to check out this kill more closely.

Okay, so here is what is disturbing, or more correctly, something I’m a bit concerned about, something that just doesn’t make sense…to me…remember, I’m new to this game. Being from the city, I’ve seen wild animals hit by cars, fallen from trees, or maybe attacked by the neighborhood cat, but I’ve never seen the remains of a fresh human or predator hunted animal. At least two of the legs were dismembered and were part of the bury pile….what else was under there I am not sure, but I could see two legs/hooves sticking out. Lying on top of the bury pile (not buried) were the entire head, neck, spine and one leg still attached, although I don’t know how the one leg was staying attached as the hip area did not look like it was intact. Okay, here’s the weird part….the ribs were basically gone, except for a couple…there was absolutely no meat left on these exposed bones. The deer’s head was laying back, and the skin looked like it had been pealed back, rather than torn or chewed. Using a stick I moved the head for a better view, and the skull looked empty…the brain was gone. I had a co-worker tell me months ago that predators go for the brain…I guess it is very tasty to them. Again, the stomach had been removed and set aside (it was broken open); the intestines seemed intact and removed. It all just seemed so clean…was this an animal kill?? ***WARNING….THIS IS WHERE THE PICTURES GET GRAPHIC****

The deer’s stomach separated from the body.

This is how we found it…partially buried.

Close-up of exposed carcass.

Close up of neck, head area. See how skin is peeled back.

Another view of head / neck area.

So my questions are these… would a human hunter butcher a deer at the kill site? It is hunting season…I don’t want to think that someone hunted that animal on our property…but, I did hear very loud gunfire the night before around 12 or 1 in the morning…two shots. It was not that alarming because once in awhile a farmer will shoot at night to scare a coyote or something away from their farm. It is possible that it was shot on one side of the fence line and then the second shot killed it on our side. It is the coward’s way to hunt if that is what took place…they would have probably used the “Deer in the headlights” scenario with a very bright light shined in the deer’s face so it becomes almost paralyzed for the moment, long enough to get the shot….cowardly, and illegal!! Does it sound more like a predatory kill…and if so…what type…cougar or coyote? BTW, the deer seemed on the smaller side.

So today, we are going to dig a big hole and bury the remaining carcass. We have given the wildlife a week to get a good feed, now I need to get rid of it because Penni is more than enthralled with dragging leftovers up the hill and chomping on them….YUCK!!! She’s had her mouth washed out with soap a few times this week, as well as, the rest of her. I think her defining moment was bringing the skull up to the house and dropping it near the front door yesterday….ENOUGH IS ENOUGH…BLEH!!!! Here is a little clip from her deer adventures last year with a deer the sheriff shot on our property because it had been clipped by a car and was suffering in the cold….enjoy…she sure did!!!

She eventually did drop it!!!

Category:

Cougar, Coyote, Deer, Deer hunting season, Great Dane, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane

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End of Growing Season 2013

With the onset of overnight temperatures dropping into the 30’s, and four straight days of rain, our garden stated, “Can you hear her…the “fat lady has sung.” Leaves have curled and turned funny shades of green-black, ripening tomatoes have been damaged, and the only growth surviving the cold are the gourds.

This is what an early frost does to a garden.

Our large gourds still hanging in there.

I’ve had a lot of fun with this year’s garden, and found it curious that some items which produced well last year, were not happy campers this year…and vice versa. I changed up the location, and made modifications…some drastic, to the soil. The two year comparison has shown me that our red, rocky soil has some really great properties that a bagged mixed gardening soil doesn’t provide. The mental notes that I have taken over the past two years will serve my garden well next year…along with a trailer full of horse manure from the boarding arena down the hill…hahaha!

So in a nutshell, here is a synopsis of how our Garden of 2013 developed. Our tomatoes loved having their roots planted in a container filled with gardening soil, whereas, the onions rebelled, producing a very tall plant without a developed onion. Those planted in the red soil did fairly well…but not as well as last year (their sun exposure was limited by the outrageously huge potato plants.) How did the potatoes do you might ask…well…if you remember, I mixed the red soil with the ashes from a wood burned debris pile….they did GREAT!! In fact, some of the potatoes were HUGE and a couple..kind of gnarled!! Next year I will continue to build the soil up around the stem of the potato plant to get a more controlled growth, and a higher volume yield, rather than weight.

An example of our potato harvest.

The corn did well, although I didn’t take the time to thin out the stalks…they were too crowded, but what they did produce was delicious!! The corn seems to like our red soil just fine, but would probably LOVE it with a little added manure.

Our corn yield for the year, minus 2 ears which we previously harvested.

Our watermelon and cantaloupe were planted in containers filled with gardening soil. I won’t do that again as it didn’t seem to matter fruit-wise, container or directly into the red soil. The fruit was small, and a little sweeter than last year, but we were able to keep it on the vine longer since deer were not a threat due to better fencing. The fruit was harder to manage since the vine was up off the ground affecting a lot of the early fruit. Our last watermelon to harvest was a very emotional little fruit…hahaha

The Yin and Yang of this year’s produce…hahaha

I was happy with my bell pepper plants, as this was the first year I was EVER able to grow peppers. It sounds really odd as peppers are supposed to be easy to grow…right?? I have not been successful at all until this year!! They liked container living, and with a little more sun (they were hindered by the shade of the huge tomato plants) they would have been awesome…..well I thought they were pretty awesome anyway!!

Tiny pumpkins, pinto beans, tomatoes, and a yellow bell pepper!!

We grew a rainbow!!!!!

The pumpkins did great, the gourds went nuts, and the eggplant produced very nicely. I have to say though, the most fun thing in the garden were our pinto beans (gourds came in a very close second.) If you’ve never grown pinto beans…try it. It’s just plain fun to watch them grow, dry on the vine, then shuck the dried beans from the pods. My daughter and I had so much fun with these beans. In the end, we only came out with about 1 cup of dried beans…but watch out next year!!!

Pinto Beans were incredibly fun to grow.

The celery did really nicely just planted in the red soil. I have to admit, I grow this mainly for my Great Dane, Penni…she loves celery, and it is like the biggest treat ever when I pull one up for her.
The cucumbers, crook-neck squash, and surprisingly, zucchini (which has to be the easiest vegetable to grow) did terribly this year. There were all planted close to one another in a container…no more container growing for this group. I only got 4 pickling cucumbers (one of which was a mutant orange color…)

My mutant, orange, pickling cucumber!! Strange!

and about the same number of zucchini.
In all, I think it was a really productive growing year. I was able to make some really delicious meals with the produce, and canned some things (details on future post.) I learned ALOT about my soil, commercial soil, the need for manure, location – location – location, and that overwatering for many of these plants is NOT a good thing. This concept is really good news for us because we water from the same water source (our well) that we supply the household with…so any use savings there is a huge plus!!

One other benefit………homegrown seasonal decorative items, courtesy of our very own farm!! Oh…and the chickens love our leftovers!!!

Free and home grown!!

That red of the pumpkins are their true color!! Beautiful!

Category:

Eggplant, Fall Decorations, Growing potatoes, Harvesting, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane, pumpkins, Vegetable Garden

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Discovering My Small Town

There have been some interesting times of adjustment throughout the last two years of living in our small town, but last night cemented my longing to be here…to be part of this farming / logging community. It all came in the form of the opening high school football game. This was our first game….this was our first experience of how an entire community…town…rallies around, and is united by their sports teams. As I looked around at the crowd and witnessed the long-standing friendships, the commitment to this high school football team, the Cheer Team, the families, the younger kids running around behind the back of the end-zone waiting for their chance to someday be on that field…in that uniform, the mere fact that 90% of everyone at the game was wearing a shirt showing their pride in this team; I realized something my experience thus far had lacked. There was richness here, in this small community in a different way than what I have known.

In the Bay Area, the illusion of financial richness for everyone is all around you, but the feeling of community within the city we lived suffered a great deal. There was division around financial status, the neighborhood you lived in, and whether they want to admit it or not…race. The difference came for us by being part of our Christian church family, and the small population within the Little League / Bobby Sox Softball organizations. This is where we found community among the diversity that the Bay Area holds.

Public high school football games, and other youth sporting events were something that happened in the community, but in most cases, didn’t draw the community’s attention. Participation was generally based on individuals having a variant that was directly related to that particular sport. In fact, anytime one of our district’s high schools petitioned to let students (Heaven forbid) park their cars on the streets surrounding the high school, install lights, or improve the fields, they were met with multiple city counsel meetings, and threats of lawsuits to hash out the opposition that the schools own direct neighborhood harbored. Not all, but many of these members of the community even though they had bought their homes next to the high schools, or community sports fields…felt inconvenienced and threatened at the thought that campus life even existed. “What…you mean there is going to be traffic, and people parking on the street outside of my home because there is some sort of school event going on? Come on, City Counsel…tell them that they can’t do this!!” Unfortunately, these circumstances were where you found most of the community’s involvement when it came to the local sports teams. In contrast, the community richness that I witnessed last night in my small town was amazing, and was greatly missing in the place I am from. After 22 years of living in the same city of California, I cannot say if there was anything that truly united that community.

So I have to ask myself…am I becoming small town, or in my heart have I always been?? Are the chickens, the wildlife, the frogs in the pond, the quaint downtown, the lack of well known restaurants, the 40 minute drive to the nearest Target Store, and the time I arrived late to an appointment because I got behind a 20 mph hay baler driving down the two-lane-no-passing road starting to replace the fast-paced, convenience of the city? My love for our property has been present from the first time I laid eyes on it. My love for our small town was imprinted on my heart and mind last night. I may be running on emotions right now, but I have to look and know that the game, the town’s rallying around the team, the complete silence during the band’s playing of the National Anthem…there is so much that my little slice of Oregon offers beyond what I have seen with my eyes. Perfect, no….incredibly ‘Bedford Falls” like…yes (well, and no – but that’s another story..hahaha!)

The noise was actually deafening!

Category:

building a new home, Great Dane, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane, San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley

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The Gift of the Vine – Oregon’s Wild Jewels

Who’s picking those berries??

Ever wonder where that purple mustache came from on your German Wirehaired Pointer’s mouth? Every wonder why your Great Dane runs an 1/8th of a mile down your driveway and stands staring at the bush growing by the pond? Ever wonder why you buy this product in the store when home-grown is soooo much better?? Wonder what I’m talking about???

WILD BLACKBERRIES!!!!!!

The start of our Wild Blackberry season!!

While the neighboring honey bees were hard at work pollenating our wild blackberry bushes, my angst about very little bees in my garden grew. However, this year’s crop of blackberries is tremendous, even with the lack of water we’ve had this summer. No doubt their roots are tapping into the year round pond in our front pasture, and although the fruit is smaller, it is abundantly positioned on the vines and packed with berry yumminess!! We have so many yet to ripen….

Waiting on the precious jewels of Oregon.

Wild Blackberries still to ripen

This is why my dogs stare at the bush growing by the pond, and come back with purple moustaches…

The last couple of years, I’ve learned a few things about picking these gorgeous, yummy, jewels of Oregon. It is best to go berry picking in the evening as the sun is setting, or in the morning just as the sun is starting to rise. If you don’t, you’re going to be contending with honey bees, bumble bees, and wasps…none of which I want buzzing around my hands, arms, or face. Be prepared to pick more than you need, because half of what you pick won’t make it to the bucket…your mouth (or your dog’s) may exhibit a purple hew after picking. Wear long sleeves, as those thorns really do not want to give up the treasures within their vines. I’ve yet to find gloves that can really work for picking berries. Any suggestions?? Finally, make sure you remember what you were wearing when it comes time to do your laundry…you’ll want to pretreat those blackberry spots left on your clothes…or you can always tie dye if you forget. 🙂

Glad I was wearing long sleeves!

Who’s picking those berries??

Penni helping to pick…Tucker is back there too!

Not bad for 15 minutes worth of pain, scratches, and fun. This is true family bonding time… 🙂

The 15 minute bounty!!

Category:

Blackberries, building a new home, Great Dane, Harvesting, Homesteading, honey bees, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane, Wild Blackberries

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The Skies Have It

I’ve always been taken by the sky. If you think about it, there are no comparisons to any other type of canvas one can paint on. Within varying shades, the background remains virtually the same. The medium, however, varies not by content, but by texture, shading, brightness, and color. When the sky merges with, and becomes part of the skyline, the impact is even greater.

Growing up and living most of my adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area, we had a merging sky – skyline referred to as the Bay Area’s natural air conditioner. This would occur as the coastal fog would come inland enough to hang, literally, on top of the bay area coastal mountains, creating the appearance of huge waves. This meant the jet stream was coming inland from the ocean, bringing with it that cool air and fog that creates those iconic pictures of the Golden Gate. It’s spectacular!

The Golden Gate Bridge in fog.

Arial view of SF Bay Area coastal fog by photographer Simon Christen

Unfortunately, in the absence of the fog, the skyline turns more of a brownish color rather than blue. Call it particles, or pollution…it totally detracts from the beauty of the canvas, however, creates some very wonderful sunrises and sunsets.

The skies of Oregon have been a welcomed surprise by the creative hand of the Master Artist. He paints a moveable, ever-changing display of undeniable beauty. In contrast to the Bay Area where so much of the majestic artistry compounds on the skyline, in Oregon, the sky gets most of His attention. It’s amazing, every time you walk outside, the canvas has been repainted.

These past two weeks or so, the sky has had some outrageously beautiful stories to tell, with the last couple of days expressing vivid beauty from pain. We’ve had the threat of thunder storms creating “ahhmaaazing” sunsets, culminating, yesterday, in Severe Thunder Storm Alerts on the radio and T.V.. all day warning of quarter sized hail, winds to 60 mph, 1/2″ to 1″ of rain, and ground to sky lightning. Imagine the attention those warnings got from someone, Me, who is used to seeing fog on the hills as a significant weather occurrence. (If you want to talk earthquakes, that’s another story.) Here are some photos of our incredible Oregon sky taken the past 2 – 3 weeks…and then a little video of a lightning storm (not mine, nor even from an Oregon storm…just a beautiful video.)

What a gorgeous sky!!

Awesome, yet, intimidating!

Twenty minutes of incredible beauty!

Category:

Bay Area Fog, building a new home, Great Dane, Homesteading, moving to Oregon, Oregon, Penni the Great Dane, San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley

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Animal Antics

Nature, domestic and wild, is really a great form of entertainment. During the last couple of weeks, we have witnessed a myriad of heartwarming animal antics that brought with them tears, laughter, and contemplation. For true effect, I’m writing about them in time order….

The five “Fine Wines” were moved to the chicken house (actually this was more like 4 weeks ago) and merged with the four “Shakespearean Untouchables” with great excitement!! They loved their new house! Benedict, our young-but-oldest rooster, set down the law very quickly. He chased the smaller hens around a lot, and was especially attentive to, Merlot, our younger rooster. There was some mild pecking going on from the older group, but no blood was ever drawn, nor feathers plucked. The most heartwarming thing that occurred every night through their transition was that no matter the disdain from the older brood toward the younger, at night when seeking safety inside the house, everyone was accepted to roost. There was some cackling going on as they all found their spot, but the chasing and pecking was at a minimum. The inherent understanding of the dangers that could befall each other if left outside was incredible to witness. I am continually amazed and entertained by my feathered friends.

The Roosting Broods

Two young red-tailed hawks have left their nest and are looking for a feeding ground. The chickens have learned to listen to the birds in the trees, and run inside when they strike the alarm. Benedict’s eyes have learned to watch the skies for dangers and darkness. He leads the brood in and out of their house as safety permits, and has determined the level of darkness that he will allow them to stay outside…after that, he rounds up any hens that are outside, into the house…it is so cool to watch. Here is the call that brings the brood indoors….

http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/166694/play

Our Great Dane, Penni loves, loves, LOVES our neighbor’s dog, Daisy. Daisy is a true farm dog, of the Great Pyrenees variety, that protects their livestock. Daisy and Penni have a through-the-fence friendship. They actively run back and forth, stick their heads through the fence squares to say, “Hi,” and just lay down and spend time with each other. One day, Penni seemed confused by Daisy. Daisy was just laying there, Penni was trying to engage her, but it was a no-go. Penni looked back at me several times, so I thought I should check things out. As I approached Daisy, I saw something very strange…then it dawned on me…Daisy had a snout and mouth full of porcupine quills. PORCUPINE QUILLS??!!! I didn’t even know we had porcupines in our neck of the woods, but it makes perfect sense…we’re in the woods!! Long story short, Daisy’s human took her to the vet…wherein she was not only de-quilled…she gave birth to 6 puppies!!

This unfortunate guy made his way into the chicken’s yard area….

I didn’t see it, but he didn’t last very long. I found the brood close to it…the snake was already dead.

It seems that it is that time of year again….the Peacocks have arrived!!

This picture was taken last spring…they made a visit to the chicken yard this past week.

Beyond all of this…Tucker has gotten into burr bushes 5 times in the last 3 days,

Our poor Tucker doggy and those darn burrs.

the family of quail living under a wild blackberry bush have been exercising their bevy of tiny wonders, deer mommies are cautiously bringing out their spotted fawns from under cover, and the neighbor’s goats have been kidding and telling the world about it.

The highlight of all these animal antics, however, has to be the running of 1500 ducks down the main creek winding through town…..Enjoy!!

Category:

Brooders, Buff Orpington, Chicken House, Chickens, Deer, Dogs and Chickens, Great Dane, Homesteading, Oregon, pumpkins, Rhode Island Reds

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Where Are the Bees??

It took three posts to do it, but I will be caught up-to-date with my garden’s growth chart at the end of this writing..hahahaha.

Water, water, everywhere water….and not a drop to spare. In a cruel twist of irony, this usually rain soaked portion of the Pacific Northwest becomes very, very dry in the two – three heated growing months. A common saying around here is, “Summer starts on July 5th.” From what I have seen, it also marks the end of any kind of rain (this year was about two weeks earlier) until fall. We’re on a well, and with the help of a water storage tank, it produces more than our daily needs. Water use and conservation here or in the Bay Area has always had to be in our thoughts, and habits…drought conditions are not uncommon in California. In par with that, watering the garden has to be adequate, but not over-abundant. To combat this, and maximize the watering, I try to build little mounds and tributaries around where I want the water to flow and stop. Nobody wants a stream running away from their plants. Sometimes I’ll give a shot of water…let it seep into the soil…then repeat several times for one plant just to maximize the concentration of water into one spot. It takes patience.

I’ve been noticing a real lack of honey bees visiting the flowers in waiting. My plants are really huge at this point, they have flowers, but barely a bee. I do have some beautiful gems that have started, and a few larger than that, but it is getting to the point that I might consider “artificial inpollination” (play on words here) to bring more for the harvest….Tony said all I would need is a cotton swab…I don’t know, it seems a little imposing hahaha. I hope they start showing up!!!

Whatever our difficulties, the earth is giving back!! Our plants are beautiful….take a look!! These pictures are the latest taken on July 20th…one month later from yesterday’s post.

Potatoes, Corn and Pumpkins in the background

Potatoes, Celery, and Corn… I did not expect the potatoes to get soooo big.

Tomatoes, with Peppers in front

One pot full of Watermelon, and Cantaloupe

Gourds in the foreground…Pinto Beans in the background.

Pumpkins!! I’ve never seen pumpkins start out yellow instead of green…

The strangest pumpkin I’ve ever seen

Taking my morning trek down to the front gate with Penni, I discovered where the current honey bee hangout has developed….they are all over our wild blackberry bushes!!! Blackberry jam is right around the corner…YAY!!!