The Phone Call
At the stroke of 8:00 a.m. this morning the phone rang.
I may have squealed when I saw that the display read “US Postal Service.”
The chicks had arrived at the post office! They are a day earlier than expected but that’s ok as we were ready for them except for the last minute details.
We picked them up at the post office. We could hear the cheeping before the box was brought up to us in the front. We used our self- control and resisted the urge to open the box immediately or even in the car on the way home.
Everyone made it! Well done Cackle Hatchery and USPS. We ordered all females and when they are about six months old, they will start laying eggs. Five of them will lay blue eggs. Three are Easter Eggers and they might lay blue or green or brown or pink eggs.
We dipped their beaks in the water so they knew where it was. Chicks are very thirsty after such a long trip so, while a couple went straight to the warm side of the brooder, several of them just stood around the water dish and guzzled.
Everyone seems happy in their bathtub brooder. I will leave them in the bathtub for a couple of days to recover from their travels before moving them to their permanent brooder.
Welcome little chicks!
… wait, there’s 9 of them, not eight!
Just a little progress
I’ve been quiet for a couple of weeks but don’t want it to seem I’ve dropped off the face of the earth.
I was ill a couple of weekends ago. Since then I’ve been exhausted and cranky. I think the crankiness is mostly related to working too long without time off though. There was even a day that I had been at work for two or so hours before discovering that I was supposed to have been off that day. Boy did that rev up the crankiness! Now, though, I have a week off from my job. Hopefully during that time, I will be able to unearth my tolerable self to take back to the office.
Despite this, a few things have been accomplished on the homefront, although at a rather slow pace.
I harvested the last of the radishes and the green peas that had been planted in the Greenstalk. I harvested the few radishes in my raised bed garden that the chickens didn’t destroy before I got smart enough to cover it with chicken wire. Tonight I pulled a bunch of carrots from the raised bed, too. Yum! The carrots failed in the Greenstalk so I was glad that I had planted them in a second space. The peas in the raised bed have lots of flowers and a few pods but it’s getting awfully late in the season and I don’t think I will get to harvest them before the summer heat overwhelms them.
We laid concrete pavers and put the Greenstalk planter, and it’s newly acquired wheeled base, on them. It is really helpful to have it more mobile.
We pulled the small coop out of the barn (the one that we had kept the sick roosters in) and cleaned it thinking our rooster, Road Runner, could be removed from the main coop for awhile to give the hens some relief. He has been too “vigorous” with them and the two legbar hens (Caboose and Pecky) have had their feathers stripped from their backs. The chicken saddles I bought were helping until they learned how to remove them. Eager had finally stopped being broody but then started again a month later – I think to keep away from him. In the end, the plan to remove the rooster did not come to fruition because that’s when a heat wave hit the area and it was just too hot to confine him like that.
We finished building the brooder box for the chicks that are supposed to arrive this week. So, other than picking up chick feed, we are prepared for them.
Best of all, my 13-year-old grandson (from Colorado) and my 10-year-old grandson (from Troutman) are here and they will spend my week off with me. The plan is to begin building the fence and paint the chicken coop. The weather man is calling for rain this week so we’ll see what actually gets done. They are looking forward to picking up the chicks with me on Thursday and will be able to enjoy them for a couple of days before returning to their homes.
I am really looking forward to this next week.
Weird Week
This was one of those weeks I am glad to have behind me. It wasn’t a “when you look at later, you’ll laugh” experience either. Nevertheless, I was able to find blessings in every day.
It started Monday morning when I discovered my debit card had been hacked. Again. I had just got a new card a few weeks ago from being hacked. So while I’m waiting for the next card, I’m using cash and minimizing spending.
Monday afternoon, a tornado hit near my home. Again. The road was closed because of downed trees and utility line damage so I had to go way around and approach from the back side to get home. Blessedly, I had electricity and internet once I made it home. Not knowing it was a blessing at the time, I stopped at the gas station since I was out that way. (You’ll see why that was fortuitous a little later.)
My property had a lot of tree debris but no damage (though the apple tree might disagree with me there as it was pinned to the ground by its protective cage because it broke its anchors).
This tornado was about a block closer than last year’s. Sadly, the house down the road which had only recently got the roof replaced (from being ripped off in last year’s tornado), got it’s roof ripped off. Again. If there’s a tornado next year and it’s another block closer, I’m taking it as a sign that it’s time to move!
Tuesday, Oscar’s car loan check was ready so I took him to the bank and went in to work later. Oscar was able to buy his own car and get his own insurance! One more item checked off for Adulting 201.
Later that day is when the gas stations in the region started shutting down because they had no gas. The main pipeline that brings gasoline into the region was no longer functioning because its network was hacked. 80% of North Carolina’s gas stations were closed before things started turning around.
With both of us driving a 60-mile round trip daily commute, a fuel stoppage is a serious concern. I was blessed yet again when my boss allowed me to work the same hours that Oscar works (we work different hours and in different parts of the same company) so we could conserve gasoline by carpooling. That, and the fact that we started the crisis with two full tanks of gas, got us through the gas crisis without much difficulty.
This weekend we got the junk/storage room turned back into a guest bedroom in preparation for the Denver grandson and the Troutman grandson who will visit the week the chicks are delivered.
We also got the framing done on the brooder box – a project we’ve been avoiding way too long. Since I am a make-it-up-as-you-go project manager, we stopped short of completing it when I decided I don’t want a lift-off top, I want a door on the side of the box. That will require a trip to Home Depot later this week for one more 2×3 board. I’ll get two just to be safe.
The week ended on a high note when we visited (aka cuddled and cooed over) the 4 newly born goat kids at Wilding Acres Farm. Here are two of them:
I do not want goats, I do not want goats, I do not want goats!
Awww, aren’t they sooooo cute?
No, Really, I do not want goats.
Hmm, maybe next year.
Chicks and Strawberries
My chicks are arriving in a month and, considering how everything we do takes longer than expected, I’ve started making final preparations.
This week, the brooder heater arrived. I purchased a Brinsea 600 brooder heater after checking out several options. I like that it is safer to use than the heat lamp I used last year and that the height adjusts as the chicks get bigger.
I was introduced to this particular heater by Michael at Wilding Acres last summer. One day I went to see their newest batch of chicks a few days after they had hatched only to discover they were already outside. “After three days, I couldn’t stand the stink,” he said. With the Brinsea heater and, being summer in North Carolina, his chicks did just fine outside. With that in mind I decided I was not going to have a repeat of last year of having smelly chickens in the bathtub for six weeks. Remembering that they were in there for so long because a certain teenager was dragging his feet, I’m uneasy about the looming deadline.
The plan is to keep the chicks in the bathtub for a couple of days to recover from the trip through the postal service and to be sure everyone is healthy and will survive. Then I will move them to the brooder box that will be housed in the chicken run.
I’m hoping that by being able to see the chicks for several weeks while they’re growing and feathering out, the existing flock will be more accomodating when I integrate them.
Now we need to build the brooder box (we’ve purchased the supplies) and finish the chicken run (a project that is now seriously behind schedule) before that plan can be implemented. Remembering that last year’s delay in getting last year’s chicks outside was because of a certain teenager dragging his feet, I am feeling a bit uneasy about finishing in time.
On Saturday we picked up a flat of strawberries (8 quarts) from a local strawberry farm – Kildee Farm.
We tried a hack I saw on Facebook a couple of years ago and used a metal straw to core and top them. It worked! It was a real time saver, too.
We processed the 8 quarts into:
3 trays of sliced berries in the freezer,
a load in the dehydrator,
a batch of freezer jam,
a couple quarts were shared with another family, and, of course, we made a nice bowlful just for eating.
The chickens got the guts and the greens so nothing went to waste.
Greenstalk is On Sale!
I was excited to get an email today saying that the Greenstalk Vertical Planter is on sale again! I have been really impressed with my Greenstalk planter and have talked about it to anyone who will listen.
They are great for people who have a big desire to garden but have limited mobility, limited space for gardening, or just want to grow up rather than out. The bunnies and the chickens have stayed out of it as well as the slugs and snails … so far anyway. I am able to control the soil quality in the Greenstalk planter so much better than in my in-ground or even my raised bed gardens. Both my veggies and my flowers are doing great. Best of all, I have had No weeds to pull! The only drawback I can see is the set-up expense — as with any container garden, when you start out you must buy both the planter and the soil. That’s a one-time expense though and with this great sale price, the savings will cover the cost of the soil to fill it.
For more of a testimonial from a big-time gardener who has used the Greenstalk for awhile, watch this video by Jess at Roots & Refuge Farm:
My Greenstalk Vertical Planter Review after 3 YEARS of use!
And, if you’re wondering, no, I am not an affiliate of Greenstalk. I get nothing for convincing someone to buy it. I just like the product and want to share this great deal. So, check it out at greenstalkgarden.com.
Yes, I Can!
I have a hate-hate relationship with the phrase “I CAN’T”.
It doesn’t matter if it’s someone telling me I can’t have or do something, or me telling myself “I Can’t,” or someone else saying “I Can’t” about something they want. That phrase absolutely irks me and all of my annoyance buttons are thoroughly pushed.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are legitimate can’ts. For example, a paraplegic truly can’t walk. I’m not talking about that kind of can’t. I’m talking about the intellectual and emotional can’ts we allow to control our lives.
Can’t means “not able.” Since other people are able to do those very same things, I have found that, most of the time, when someone says, “I Can’t,” it really means they don’t want something bad enough to pursue it, or, it’s not worth the effort/sacrifice, or, if they can’t do something perfectly they aren’t willing to try, or, their fear is overwhelming their faith. Those are honest reasons for not doing something. “I Can’t” is not.
In truth, there are relatively few times we can legitimately say “I can’t.” I have found that when I dig deeper and find out what is really causing the “I Can’t” feeling, I discover the real reason is likely that I am either unwilling to do what it takes to accomplish it (sacrifice/effort) or I’m flat out afraid to try (fear).
That said, there are many things in my life that I could have done but didn’t do because I would have had to give up my ethics or morals. Other things, I could have done but didn’t do because they would have been detrimental to my children. I do not regret the things I gave up for these reasons. I grew and was blessed for not sacrificing the wrong things.
There are many ways to overcome the “I can’ts” once you know what is really holding you back. In some cases, if I break a big goal down into smaller tasks, I can eventually get it done (think college – it took 20 years but I did it). In other instances, I often just need to gather more information before I have enough confidence to try (Google and You Tube have answers to everything – some of them actually useful). Sometimes I might need to find another way to get something done (think in-ground garden when your knees won’t take the bending and kneeling – time to switch to container and vertical gardening). Sometimes having a work buddy makes accomplishing a goal or task possible (for my farm-y stuff, my grandson is filling that post for now).
While I’m not perfect at it, when I have been able to eliminate “I Can’t” from my vocabulary, look at a problem/topic more honestly, and replace “I Can’t” with “How Can I?” I have found that I am able to do a lot more than I could have imagined.
A video by one of the YouTubers I watch, addresses this sentiment as it applied to his first year of farming. Watch what Jason says here:
What We Learned Our 1st Year on the Farm (I CAN) – YouTube
An exciting addendum to that “Can Do” attitude he spoke about back in 2017: through his efforts to continue to learn and grow, and overcoming doubts, fears, and nay-sayers, Jason has developed Cog Hill Farm, and other related activities, so that he was able quit his “regular” job at the end of April 2021 and is now farming/homesteading full-time.
That’s what I CAN can do for anyone.
Using Code Words for Family Safety
Recently, my daughter received a call from a man claiming to have snatched her daughter. It was one of those scam calls, complete with a crying child, that we’ve been warned about on social media and in the news.
Hearing about her experience reminded me of how important it is to have family code words and to periodically discuss your code words and when to use them.
Set Up Code Words With Your Family Members
Code Words need to be pre-determined words that are easy for your children and you to remember but would be difficult for someone else to guess – hmm, just like a computer password. In the rutabaga example below, family members could remember it because it was something everyone disliked.
Other things to keep in mind when setting up code words:
1) Do not use names that are commonly attached to your family, like a pet’s name.
2) Don’t be too general with your choice: rather than “giraffe” use “green giraffe.”
3) If the word is ever given to someone outside your family, you need to set up a new code word.
Ways Code Words Can Be Used
In my family, if I wasn’t present, or if I was unexpectedly unable to get to them, the instructions to my children were: before you open the door to a knock or get into a car with someone, even if it was a family friend, that person needed to say the Code Word. I even tested them one time by sending a friend to our door — who then thoroughly chastised them when they opened the door without asking “What’s the code word?” (Yes, there was a family retraining session that evening!)
Before “I’ve snatched your child” there was the little trick, “You’re mother’s been in an accident. I’ll drive you to the hospital to see her.” My kids were instructed to contact an uncle or aunt for help or guidance before going off with someone saying something like this, even someone claiming to be the police.
I always told my kids to call me if they were ever with other people who were doing things in which they didn’t want to participate. All they had to say was “Come get me.” There would be no questions, no backlash. However, an article I read made the point that sometimes kids just don’t know how to extract themselves from an uncomfortable situation or can’t figure out how to get out without losing face (which could result in some very serious hazing and bullying). So, they may stay in a bad situation rather than appear weak in front of their friends. In this kind of situation, a code word could be used in a phone conversation when calling home to check in.
Here’s a sample conversation I came across in which the code word for “Come get me/I need out” was “rutabaga”: “Hi, Mom. I’m just checking in like you asked. What’s going on at home? Oh, yuk, you know I hate that rutabaga salad. Noooo, Mom, I don’t want to leave yet. Fiiiine, I’ll be ready.” {Insert eye roll here}.
Your child’s friends think it’s all Your fault he/she is leaving but that’s ok. Your son/daughter has just managed to get out of a possibly dangerous situation without repercussions from the kids he or she was with. Of course, nowdays, kids with cell phones can send the code word in a text.
I learned another way to use a code word from an article I read several years ago by Marjory Wildcraft. She indicated that she and her daughter travel together a lot and, since they are often in unfamiliar places and settings, she teaches her daughter how to stay safe, practice situational awareness, and pay attention to your instincts. Additionally, they have a code word to use when one of them feels something is not quite right and wants to alert the other that they need to get out of the situation. She related a time she had to use their code word:
“One time, instead of taking a taxi, we got a ride from an acquaintance who I realized had drunk a little bit too much. My daughter was quite enamored with his silliness and wanted to take him up on the offer to eat dinner together. Boy was I glad we had set up that code word ahead of time. I casually used the word in conversation and my daughter instantly knew I sensed something she didn’t. She totally got in line with me on turning down any more offers and we politely said good bye when he dropped us off at the hotel.”
Establishing Family Code Words is not done out of fear. Code Words are one more way to guard your family’s safety and to prepare for some of the unexpected things that come up in life.
Add a comment below if you can think of Other Ways To Use Family Code Words
First Harvest
This has been another not-very-productive weekend. I had dental surgery on Friday and was just not up to doing much of anything.
I did, however, wander through the garden to check how much frost damage we had from the below freezing temperatures we had – after the average last frost date. The boysenberries and all the spring vegetables (peas, broccoli, kale, lettuce, radishes, carrots) were just fine. The potatoes had quite a bit of damage but are still showing a lot of green so I just cut off the leaves that had been killed. The basil, too, had quite a lot of damage, but, again, more green than dead so I think they will recover, too.
While checking everything out, I found a worm on one of the apple trees 😠. So, the trees got sprayed with Neem oil. While I was at it, I sprayed everything else, too.
Garden excitement #1: my new boysenberries arrived from Burpee. These are not bare root cuttings like the first ones, they are plants. So, I’ve spent the past couple of days hardening them off during the day. I think the weather will have recovered it’s good sense by Tuesday so I will wait until then to plant them.
Garden excitement #2: I got my first harvest from the Greenstalk planter! Look at my Easter Egg radishes:
Oh, my, that white one was suck-your-breath-in hot
Something funny: last week when I gave the lettuce a haircut and treated the chickens to the trimmings. Boy, did they love that – there were greens flying everywhere! Today, when I pulled the radishes, I discovered it was the radish leaves I was cutting off, not the lettuce. Smh.
Something not funny: when I came around the corner of the house today and discovered the chickens partying in the raised bed garden. Again, there were greens flying everywhere. They were promptly evicted! Smh.
We still have some big projects to complete: finish the run, revise the coop, install the fencing, build a brooder box, turn what has become the junk room back into a bedroom for when my other grandsons come to visit, and on and on. Apparently, not having a project list is not in my nature.
Two Chickens Homestead 
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