HAPPY EASTER

HAPPY SPRING!

It is the first day of Spring and I want to wish everyone a Happy Spring!   I have been busy in the garden. So far I have planted several varieties of radish, beets, kale, tomatoes, Thai eggplant, bell pepper, jalapeno just to name a few. Many of my perennials are coming back. The yarrow has spread to be a beautiful huge clump. I also have snapdragons, several colors of violas and more flowering. I have native violets coming back and blooming as well and I love to make jelly with the flowers. We found a huge underground yellow jacket nest last year and decided to leave it alone as they are great pollinators. While they are abundant, they are not aggressive at all. I do have a epipen on hand just in case it is needed. I have also seen lots of honeybees which makes me very a happy. I have seen them working on the pear and plum tree and have high hopes for an abundance of fruit. I am planting my cucumbers and beans tomorrow and very hopeful for lots of cucumbers and beans since I have so many pollinators.
I hope every one's Spring is off to a good start and if you have not started a garden yet it is not to late.

Happy Spring

HOPING TEXAS GETS LOT'S OF RAIN AND THE PRICE OF HAY.

Due to the lack of rain in Texas in 2011 it is hard to find Hay here in Florida. So much of it is being shipped to Texas due to the drought they had last year. I finally found some Coastal Hay and it went from 4.75 per bale to 7.95 per bale.  I am not having a problem finding perennial peanut hay which I  purchase at 12.95 per bale because it is so good for my goats. Most people are not willing to pay that much for Perennial Peanut Hay so it is not that hard to find.   Are you having trouble finding hay and what prices are you paying?

Let's all do a Rain Dance for Texas :)

MAX IS ONE SMART COOKIE

Max my yellow lab has been sleeping inside during winter. He has his own comfy bed and blanket and loves the comfort of the house. Now that Spring has arrived I reminded him that he is my farm dog and I need him to stay outside and watch the farm animals. I made him a very comfy bed with comfy blanket at the back door for him to be comfortable but, where he can watch and listen as a farm dog. I have been opening the coops about an hour before daylight and while the ducks normally lay their eggs in the duck nest box I noticed lately that someone must be building a nest as I have not been getting as many eggs. While doing chores I kept telling Max I need him to find the nest and show me where it is.  Last night Max made a point of while I was cleaning water troughs to let me know that he wanted me to open the gate and let him in the pasture.  He was very persistent about it.  As Max made his way to the back of the goat area he kept looking back waiting for me to catch up with him. He went to a tree and kept looking down at the other side of the tree and then looking at me. I finally caught up with him and he was showing me the nest of duck eggs tucked behind a tree. Seven Duck eggs.   I gave him a treat and thanked him for finding the nest and showing me where it was.  Before going to bed I gave Max some extra attention and then made sure his bed was cozy for him.  Upon waking and getting myself a cup of coffee Max was standing at attention at the back door giving me the stare and then looking down. I went around to where I could see and Max had all the Duck eggs that were laid by my ducks this morning in a pile, unbroken laying at the top of the steps at the door for me.  Max is one smart cookie and he knows I am listening to him. Thank you Max for being such a wonderful farm dog and member of our family.

PRICE INCREASE FARM FEED SUPPLIES

I was going through my blog and found a post back in November of 2009 where I had commented how much feed had gone up at that time and posted the prices.  I was shocked to see just how much more they had gone up. Here is a comparison for you of what it was and what I am now paying here in N. Florida. I am shopping at the Huffman and Gilmore Feed where they have the best feed prices. If I see something go on sale at Tractor Supply I do pick it up. 

Feed Price Comparisons for 50 pound bags

NOVEMBER  2009                                    FEBRUARY 2012

ALL STOCK $    5.50 ---------------------------------------9.55
RABBIT         $ 10.50----------------------------------------16.55
CR. CORN     $  9.75----------------------------------------13.40
LAYENA        $12.30----------------------------------------15.20
BLACK OIL SUNFLOWER SEEDS  12.99-----------------29.99
GOAT CHOW $13.25---------------------------------------16.90

With the price increase it was a wise decision for us to fence in more of our property for the farm animals to range. We still have several acres to fence in. It has really cut down on my feed bill for the animals to be able to browse more acreage.  Over the winter I planted several winter grasses which also helped out. I do have the benefit of living in the woods where there is plenty for the chickens and ducks to forage for.  After reviewing the price increase I can understand why so many people had to find new homes for their livestock. Even that has been a challenge causing people to release horses, etc... into the wild such as the desert or open areas where they can pull up and open up the trailer and release them. It has been happening in Texas as well as other areas. In Texas they are rounding up a minimum of one horse or mule a day that is found wondering. While I can empathize with how these people must be feeling in such a desperate moment these animals are used to humans providing them with water. Just don't know what else to say about this matter. What is your thought?

Here in N. Florida we have had rain for the past several days and the weatherman said not to expect sunshine for a couple more days. I really need sunshine. Tempted to find a tanning bed to jump in for 5 minutes just to boost my energy.

BARRED OWLS

Barred Owls are abundant here in my neck of the woods. While they are always active and wonderful to listen to in the evening they have been extremely active lately.  I believe they may be nesting. The one in the picture is one that I took a picture of two days ago.  I had an idea that something was watching because the chickens were hiding out.  I went about my business doing farm chores and then a Barred Owl called out from the back of the property.  It was then that the one in the picture called out and I looked up to see him directly above me.  He was about 25 feet from where I was working, just watching.  I ran in to grab the camera and it graced me with allowing to take a picture.  It was the very next evening while on the phone sitting by a window another one landed on a limb peering in at me.  I have plenty of food for them. Moles, voles, squirrels, chickens, rabbits, and my Khaki Campbell Ducks.  I have had several of my ducks come up missing in past years about this time of year. I had always thought it was an Owl.  I had read they love domestic ducks.  It has been in the evening when they came up missing.  While the ducks free range during the day they do get locked up at night.  Since I have moved here I have created spaces for all the critters to hide if needed.  While I have open areas I have created spaces where the farm critters can hide or run under to escape the swoop of a hawk or Owl.  While It may not always work out that the Owl or Hawk does not get one it gives them a chance to run and hide. You would be surprised how smart domestic ducks and chickens are and how they know when a predator has moved in. Make no mistake I have plenty of other food for the Owls provided by nature. They like moles, voles, crickets, lizards, squirrels to name a few. My squirrels are well fed and fat :)

If we have a dead tree that will NOT do any damage to the house we leave it standing for the wildlife.  I have two that the Owls seem to hang out on and I may eventually find an Owl nest in one of them or both.

2012

WOW, 2012 is here already.   2011 was a good year for us.  Considering what so many other's have gone through we were very fortunate.  I hope that 2012 brings good health and prosperity to everyone and the time to enjoy both.

We have made a few changes around the homestead.  My turkey hen was captured by a coyote a couple of weeks ago and we made the decision to find Mr. Tom and home with a hen.  Gladly we found him a home with a couple from Ocala that had a turkey hen that had just started laying eggs and needed a good tom to fertilize her eggs. Mr. Tom was not only a very gentle turkey that loved to talk and show off but an excellent breeder and I am sure he is very happy with his new hen.

It was good a year for the goats. They all remained healthy and happy.  We fenced in another acre of brush in the forest here for them to browse on. I also seeded with perennial rye, wheat and oat grass for all the critters to browse on. It is a winter grass which will go dormant towards the end of April. All the farm animals are enjoying it this winter. I decided to put all the male rabbits down  on the ground in the pasture this summer. I have several huge brush piles they like to hide in and have dug burrows in.  It seems I misjudged one of them and she had five little bunnies in one of the burrows in the brush pile.  I really need to find someone who is OK with processing rabbits and chickens as I really don't like doing it. I will do it but, just prefer not.  I did process some of the chickens but ended up finding a home for some of the hens.  I find it a waste to process a young hen when she can provide so much food with giving us daily eggs. I shared some of the hens with a neighbor who will enjoy the eggs.  I gotta run, the Sun is coming up and it is 21 degrees outside this morning. On mornings like this my goats get a bucket of warm tea molasses. I buy the big container of molasses for Deer at Tractor Supply. It is a gallon for under 8 dollars and my goats love the warm molasses tea on cold mornings.  I have all my seeds for my garden this year and going to get started on planning it out and gettting started soon. Have any of you got plans for your 2012 garden as of yet?

I hope everyone will forgive me for not blogging much this year.  I seemed to have blog block ;) and will work on blogging more this year.

Happy New Year Everyone!

ONE OF THE HARDEST PART'S OF BEING A SELF SUFFICIENT HOMESTEADER

One of the hardest things to do when trying to be a self sufficient homesteader and put healthy food on the table that has not been contaminated with chemicals is when it is time to butcher some of the livestock you have raised to do so. It is time to process the chickens. I have 28 happy healthy chickens to process. My first thought is I will give them away or sell them because I can afford to buy meat and don't have to do this.   Then I remind myself I have been raising happy healthy meat to supply nutrition to our bodies that has not been loaded up with hormones, antibiotics, etc.....  So, it is time to set up the butchering station and get busy processing birds that will supply our bodies with healthy protein, amino acids and other important nutrition.  I also have a turkey that I am going to process.  If I had some helpers that would be great. I do understand why many farms have farmhands living in small cottages on the farm to help out. It is hard work homesteading and getting all the farm work done even with a farmhand to help out.    I will let you all know how it goes. It will take me a couple of day's because I am going to first organize the freezer, get the butchering station ready and then start processing.

My goats at this very moment are hooten and hollering up at the front pasture. I went out to see what is going on and they are talking to the goats that belong to the gentlemen that lives up on the main road. Between my goats and the ones up the road it sounds like a goat riot outside.

GOAT ART

It is really hard to find things with goats on it. I want a stuffed goat so bad and look everywhere I go hoping to find one.  If you love goats check out the following blog at all the wonderful goat art and gifts.  She has two sites.

http://www.phils-4-windsartfarm.com/

http://www.phils4windsartfarm.com/

INTRODUCING BOLD RULER

Hello everyone, I would like to introduce Bold Ruler. He is going to be my herd sire.  I wanted one I could raise with the help of my Doe's. He is six weeks old and displays independence and is a  protector.  Bold Ruler is a Nigerian/Pygmy.

VENOMOUS COTTONMOUTH SNAKE OR HOGNOSE?

Guest post by Patty my sister.  You will notice Southern Yellow Jackets in the pictures. We recently discovered a huge underground nest. That will be another post.

Me and my sister, Barb heard Max her yellow lab barking,it was a aggressive come look what I found bark.  I ran to the bedroom window and looked out and saw this cottonmouth in a full strike stance,  I warned Barb as she was coming around the corner. We knew it was not a black indigo, which are protected here in Florida, It was very aggressive and his head went flat.  Cottonmouth's don't get copper looking color until they get older, so according to what we saw online, It was a young snake.  I don't like to kill wildlife  but, this snake was dangerous, we figured he was going after one of the many rabbit's that run free on the farm. Don't get around the sista with a machete, she is good, got him on the first shot.

Edited on November 27, 2011

Anonymous left a comment informing me this was a Hognose Snake. We were not sure so we decided to kill it being it was up against the house and we deemed it dangerous. Below is the comment Anon. left and my response. I really appreciate input to help us all learn.

Anonymous said...

I would just like to inform you that the snake pictured is not a cottonmouth.

It is a hognose snake. They tend to have multiple defense mechanisms, one of which is flattening the head and hissing.

If you don't believe me on this, just google hognose snake and look at the images. They come in a wide variety of colors, one of which is the black phase pictured.

As for diet, they prefer toads and possibly frogs, so not the most beneficial snake but not dangerous in any way.

If you were to come across a venomous snake, don't try to kill it with a machete, that is just setting yourself up to getting bit.



Anonymous, thank you so much for your input. We were not really sure what it was but it's stunt of acting like a cobra did cost it it's life. Well and that we thought it was a cottonmouth moccasin and was not going to risk it biting anyone. While I did kill it with a machete, it was being held still with a flat head shovel. Normally we do not kill harmless snakes but, thinking this one was dangerous we made the decision to kill it.  I saw one at least two times bigger than the one in the picture dead up on the hwy from being run over. Looked exactly like this one. I do have two snakes book to help me identify them but not all snakes look like the pictures.  Again, thank you for your input, I do feel better knowing it was a hognose instead of a cottonmouth.

COYOTE PACK OUT BACK

    

Fall is upon us and with the temperatures in the low 60's at night and the high in the 80's I have the windows open.  Chi, my poodle  was being fidgety about 4 a.m..  I was awake so I went ahead and took him out for a minute. Upon going back to bed I decided to stay awake for a bit and enjoy the sounds of the night in the forest. The whippoorwill's, crickets and other insect noises.  Within minutes I heard the most horrific noise. I jumped up and ran to the back door grabbing my gun thinking my turkey's were being attacked. I could not identify the noise till I got outside.  It was a pack of coyotes talking to one another. At first I thought to myself there must be twenty of them by the amount of noise. It was probably more like a dozen. I started shouting at them trying to get them to move on. They circled around my property moving on down the road. I listen for a bit and they were still chattering in that high pitch and I could tell they had turned and were moving back. At that moment I heard one of them howl right at the back of the property and that is when I decided to fire off a shot. Aiming towards the ground ahead of me so I would know exactly where the bullet landed I fired off one round. At that moment all the little babies of the forest that were within hearing distance starting crying out. I waited for a few moments listening closely and then I heard them again. They had moved on a bit as I could barely here them. It is scary to think of the coyotes traveling in packs like that. They could do some serious damage to farm animals. I have seen them up close and some of them are as big as my yellow lab Max. A couple of days ago on my way to town I saw one cross over the highway and then four more following. They have become a real problem here in N. Florida. I have seen flyer's posted at the Farmer's Coop and Feed stores put up by those who have been issued a permit by the State to track and hunt the coyote's. The only natural predator of the coyote around here is the Florida Panther and we just do not have enough left to keep these non- native creatures in balance.  Being that we have a wildlife trail here on the property I will be paying close attention to make sure they do not move in on my farm animals.  It worries me that the coyotes traveling in packs like that  would target one of my goats.  I have been attaching chicken wire to the field fence to keep critters from going thru the fence and need to finish getting it on the back of the property.  Just below is a link to a youtube video I found that was posted of Coyotes making the same noise I heard.  I do think it is why Chi was fidgety. When he heard them he started barking and upon hearing the you tube video he started barking again. After hearing this video I can't help but think that they were fixing to move in on either a Turkey or possibly one of my goats.
SOUND OF COYOTES HOWLING BEFORE ATTACK

UPDATE ON THE HOMESTEAD

Hello Everyone, All is well here on our little Homestead.  I have already got my Fall garden in and the collards, broccoli, lettuces and beets have all sprouted. I am going to plant some winter peas, carrots and more today. I have posted a video of my Mama Turkey taking a dust bath in the old burn pile in the wood ash.  I had pulled all her turkey eggs to hatch in the bator and she refused to stop going broody till I allowed her to raise a chick so I gave her a chicken egg to hatch and she finally came out of the coop when it hatched. She is raising one little chick and doing a wonderful job. I had pulled her eggs because many books stated that Mama Turkeys do not make good Mama's. I am here to tell you in the case of my Turkey Hen that is false. When watching the video you will see her chick. At times she completely covers the chick and the chick does not mind.

I harvested pears again this year from an abandoned piece of property. My pear tree is only three years old and I am looking forward to the day it produces lots of pears.   I canned some, froze some and my farm animals love pears. The rabbits and goats get  a pear everyday. The Turkeys and chickens love them as well.

I have harvested enough pears to fill these Tractor Supply bags x 12. I also made sure I left some for the wildlife that I am sure visit this abandoned fruit tree. The tree still has probably 150 pears still at the very top of the tree that I cannot reach and giving the tree a good shake they just won't let go as of yet.

In Spring when the elderberries are blooming I made note of a big bush in the woods to go back to at the end of Summer.  I did go back this past week and harvested some of the wonderful elderberries and made 8 half pints of Elderberry Jam. Again, I did leave some for the local wildlife to nourish themselves with.

Two days ago while wondering around the forest I found a place where wild passionflower is growing that is spread on about 5 acres and it has produced fruit. Lots of fruit.  The fruit is not quite ready yet and as soon as it is I will be harvesting some of the fruit known as Maypops to make some jelly. I need to get a wine making kit and start making my own wine. I will also harvest some of the plants to dry and make tea with. When I go back I will take pictures for you all.

At the moment I have the following herbs drying, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Stevia, Chocolate Mint and more blackberry leaves.

Sorry I have not posted much on my blog but, I have been so busy. I have decided to buy a timer that I can use to start setting time for all the projects I am working on and need to work on. Going to set the timer twice a week for 15 or 30 minutes to work on my blog. I am reading three different books at the time and trying to keep up with my magazines, Hobby Farming, Grit, Mother Earth News, just to name a few and going to start using the timer to get some of my reading done as well. I am working on becoming better organized with time to get done all I want to work on.

Before I go I wanted to mention I am also sprouting seeds to put on salads and in my tortilla snacks. I have been trying to eat more raw/live foods. Sprouting is fun and I enjoy the flavors of all I have tried so far. While I try to buy organic I have also tried sprouting many of the dried beans you can purchase at your local grocery store and all of them have sprouted. I have been successful with the Chick Peas, Black Beans, Brown Lentils to name a few. My favorite is the Mung Beans. I am starting a spicy mix of sprouts today. Also some Sunflowers seed sprouts and Broccoli sprouts for my salads. The pictures are of the Mung Beans and Brown Lentils. I have been harvesting out of the ones you see in the pictures for over a week and they just keep growing. I also share some with my rabbits and chicks. Max, my dog even ate some brown lentil sprouts on his dinner.

DEAR LUCY OVER @ LUCY THE GOAT BLOGSPOT

I have been having trouble leaving messages at many blogs. For some reason after several attempts I cannot get my message to post. I want to leave a message for Lucy the Goat over at http://lucythegoat.blogspot.com/    Here is the message I wanted to leave for Lucy


Dear Lucy,  I am sorry to hear that you have CAE.   My Sweetpea has CAE.  I rescued her from a wildlife center that had taken her in. She was three months old. I fell in love with her she brings my heart so much JOY.   About seven months later I sent one of her goat friends, Peekaboo off to be bred.  Sweetpea stressed so badly it caused the CAE to rear it's ugliness.  Her brain swelled and down she went.  I took her to the Vet and the CAE test came back positive.  My Vet suggested I put her down.  He wanted me to prepare myself and bring her in the next day and he said he would take care of it.  After crying for a whole day I could not do it.  I kept Sweetpea in intensive care in the stall for a week giving her pain relief shots, vitamin shots, etc and two Lactiad Ringers a day.  On the 5th day my husband gave her a handful of corn knowing how she loves it like candy and shortly after she stood up and has been fine ever since.  It has been almost a year.
It is most important for me to make sure they do not stress for any reason.  My goat girls live a stress free happy life, browsing for food, getting treats, all the perennial peanut hay they can eat, coastal hay also and lots of goat kisses and hugs from me.  I do not breed my goat girls.  I know many do as they want the milk and need to sell the kids for some income.  I am lucky enough to not worry about needing a return from my goat friends who fill my heart with goat love and joy. If I want another goat I simply purchase a little doe.  I hope your owner does not burn the barn down. Lucy, I wish you good health and sending lots of goat hugs and kisses.

SPARKLEBERRY, FARKLEBERRY, HUCKLEBERRY, NATIVE BLUEBERRY

I have been harvesting Sparkleberries in the early morning and evening trying to avoid the heat. Just in the last week they have become ready for harvesting.  While they are just a little bitter for eating right out of the hand they are excellent for baking. My husband loves the Sparkleberry muffins.  I also make a Sparkleberry Jam that is yummy. 

When we were clearing out a place for us here in the woods I researched all the trees and plants to make sure I was not taking down any native plants in extinction and to know if any produced food. I was very happy to find that our property is covered in Sparkleberry bushes with some of them being small trees. They are a member of the Blueberry family and feed birds and many other wildlife. My chickens love them also. We have deer that travel a path everyday day snacking on the Sparkleberry trees. My goats love them. I even fed  some to the rabbits as a treat and they get excited when I give them a handful. Our three acres is covered in these bushes. Many people cut down this food source when they move here not knowing what the plant is. The native Indians made pipes out of the smaller trunks. Here are a couple of links if you wish to learn more about this plant.

http://hernando.fnpschapters.org/plants/sparkleberry.htm

http://www.floridata.com/ref/v/vacc_arb.cfm

http://volusia.org/arboretum/Shrubs/sparkleberry.htm

GOAT COMMERCIALS POSTED BY GOAT BERRIES

Click on the link to see the goat commercials posted by Goat Berries

http://goatberries.com/2011/07/goat-commercials-galore-from-arbys-to-aflac/

AN UPDATE ON THE HOMESTEAD

Hello everyone,  I am really enjoying my summer this year. Now that we have a pool getting outside to do chores is not so bad when you know you can cool off in the pool. Having a pool is actually motivating me to get outside. In the past this time of year here in Florida I avoided being outside unless it was early morning or later in the evening. Both my husband and I have been getting outside projects done even in the afternoon then taking a dip in the pool.  I originally got the pool because I wanted Tim to be able to go for a swim after working in the heat all week. Also because, my Doctor told me with my back and arthritis the only exercise I was able to do was in a pool.  I feel so much better since having the pool now that I can exercise everyday and a little sunshine has helped out with my Vitamin D as well.  My wish for everyone is that they can have a pool if they want one.

My female Khaki Campbell Duck Hope is sitting on a nest.  I will watch her closely because in the past the ducks do not make the best parents.  They have a tendency to wonder off from the babies and not keeping a close eye on them.

My Lucky duck that was born in the garbage can is doing well. I decided on the name Lucky because I have learned that creatures have tendency to live up to their names and while I like the name Oscar I did not want a grouchy duck :)

My veggie garden is still producing. It is in need of some clean up work and I am going to start some new seeds for the fall garden. Here in Florida we get several seasonal gardens. I have planted lots of perennial flowers this year. I love the Tickseed varieties. While I have several, my fav is the 'Route 66'. It has flowered all summer and will flower through fall. The chickens love to peck at the tickseed plants so I have them planted out by the road and up the driveway into our homestead. I have pictures but till my Internet is working properly loading pictures can be an all day project. I will get a picture of the 'Route 66' loaded even if it takes all day.   I purchased 8 one gallon perennial peanut hay plants yesterday. Going to get a plot of it started for the farm animals. My goats love perennial peanut hay. I also give it to the rabbits. It is a hay that can be given to all animals and has the most vitamins and minerals. It produces a lovely yellow flower this time of year as well. I will go for a drive and get some pictures of the fields in flower. It is a beautiful site.

Tim put new roofs on the goat shelters. We had to raise the roof on the one because Tulip is getting so tall and she was having fun standing on her hind legs and pushing through the roof with her horns and then making sure I saw what she had done and taking pride in her work.....giggling..... She is such a stinker. She is finally broke of the bottle.  She still got one bottle a day till she was just a bit over 5 months. Like human kids goat kids are each different and she just was not ready till then. I tried at 4 months but she was not having it. The last several weeks she was given water with vitamins and probiotics added. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful week filled with lots of summer fun.

BIRTHDAY, DEATH & GRIEVING

I have a Birthday approaching and while I appreciate that I have good health, good friends, and loving family it is hard to celebrate without feeling guilty. I find myself feeling guilty about feeling good about my age and turning another year older. It is because my Birthday is so close to my Son's date of death. Even though it has been several years every Summer I find myself reliving that Summer, day by day, week by week of the Summer his death took place. I can remember in detail that Summer's celebrations. The sounds, songs, etc... of that day and week play over and over in my head.  If I hear a familiar sounds or songs it starts all over again. Everytime I see a butterfly or dragonfly I think of Mike. Mike used to hang out in my garden with me admiring the hummingbirds, butterflies, and dragonflies. He once held out his hand extending his finger and a Monarch Butterfly landed on his finger. I remember crying when it happened. I cried with joy that he was so beautiful and gentle in his soul that the butterfly recognized it and acknowledged it. Mike was the type of young man that always wanted to help those in need and go out of his way to make others feel good about themselves. Mike was very close to his sister and a week before his death he came to me telling me he did not know why but, something was making him feel uncomfortable inside and that he wanted to make sure his sister and I was taken care of. Mike was a computer geek making two thousand dollars before he turned sixteen on his computer to buy his own car. He had enrolled in a college to further his endeavors in computer science and told me he was going to makes lots of money to make sure his family was taken care of and wanted for nothing. I miss him so much and think of him everyday. I know I will be with him again one day and will do my best to not feel guilty about turning another year older without him. I Love you Michael!!! 

OH MY!!! BABY DUCK HATCHES AT BOTTOM OF TRASH

Hello Everyone, My Internet still is not working properly but, I just had to post about what happened yesterday.  I have had five hens go broody and the last one had her eggs start hatching over a week ago. Because she prefers to build a nest in  Tim's shop after a week of her chicks hatching we set her up in a kennel. That was last Friday.  We took the box she had built her nest in which had some old eggs in it including an old duck egg that was originally set in the box just to encourage hens to lay eggs in the box as they like to lay eggs in the shop anywhere they find an open spot. So I tucked a box in a corner to encourage them to use the box with the duck egg.  Yesterday Tim and I had gone outside to sit a spell and chat on our swing and within minutes I heard what sounded like a baby chick.  Max got up and was looking around the trash that had all been bag up and ready to take to the local trash drop off. In that moment I look around and thought to myself,  Hmmmmm,  all the Mama Hen's are out back with the baby chicks and the light bulb went on. I jumped up and started digging to the bottom of the trash to the box I disposed of with the old eggs. After removing the trash on top getting to the bottom was a baby duckling just hatched. It had been at the bottom of the trash since last Friday and it has been so hot outside that it allowed it to hatch. The baby duckling is doing fine.  I am taking name suggestions.

UPDATE ON GARDEN, GOATS AND A RAT SNAKE

My garden this year has done well. I planted just as many flowers to invite pollinators into the garden and it is working well. I am harvesting tomato's, several varieties of peppers, bush beans, pole beans, jalapeno, and cucumbers. The butternut squash & spaghetti squash are coming along. Herbs in the garden are rosemary, lavender, hyssop, mints, stevia, lemon verbena, mullein, Clary sage, standard cooking sage, chives, oregano and basil. Flowering in the garden are gladiolus, 5 different types of salvia's, tickseed, zinnia's, rose's, lantana, bog sage, echinacea, coreopsis, hydrangea viola's, petunia's and summer snapdragons to name a few. My pear, apple and Chickasaw plum tree's are on the third year and are finally taking off. Lots of Chickasaw plum's this year.  I found a wild sand plum tree last week and made plum jelly with the plum's I collected.

The goats are all doing well. Tulip is being weaned and she is not happy about it. Her cries at her normal feeding time are heartbreaking. I do go out and take her for walks, give her hugs, and she has gotten bottles of water to make sure she stays hydrated in this heat. I have five hens that have gone broody. Whew I am going to have lots of baby chicks running around.

Tim and I did get a Dutchwest wood burning stove and hope to have it installed by winter. It will help subsidize our heating and of course if we ever loose power we will be warm in winter.

My friend gave me a 6 week old Toy Poodle as a gift and I have fallen madly in love with him.  I have always had large dogs usually 70 pounds or better and it has been so much fun having a tiny dog to keep by my side.

This past week I went to collect eggs and a 4 foot 1 inch rat snake was in the nesting box. It almost caused me to hurt myself.