Chickens + 1

Despite some of the advice from readers of this blog, I procured a rooster today. I selected a breed known for docility and good personalities: Buff Cochin. Odie, as my rooster is named (he came with the name), is a good-natured fellow. Huge, beautiful, a little slow. If my hens are velociraptors, Odie is a brontosaurus (dating myself here, they never existed). Ok, he's a lot slow.

I picked him out because he was healthy, of course, but also because I held him for 20 minutes while chatting with his owner and he never fussed or attempted to flog my face or anything. He's a lap chicken. The owner's five year old son held him. I felt safe that this particular rooster wasn't about to spur me in the back.

Cochins don't make particularly good layers, so he's definitely not for breeding the next generation of sustainable farm chicks. His purpose is to protect the hens while they free range until my Wyandotte roosters (yet to even be born) come online in the fall. Of course, his docility might limit his usefulness as a "watch rooster", but oh well. He's a good starter rooster.

And no, he doesn't crow. In fact, he's not doing much of anything like a rooster. My pullets are literally throwing themselves at his feet, the hussies, and he's parked at the feeder. (In some ways, he reminds me of Brego). After all the build up, I'm a bit disappointed.

But the poor guy came from a home where he was undoubtedly the bottom of a long pecking order, the 15th or so rooster in the bunch. So he may not even realize he is the Big Cheese, the Top Dog, the One and Only. I hope he wises up and starts doing, you know, rooster type things. If not, I'm out $10 and I will just wait until my Wyandottes come in. At nearly 9 pounds, I am sure I can find a use for him if needed.

I also have recently taken on a chicken with some use: a 7 month old Crevecoeur pullet. She lays a medium white egg and is a heritage breed. I have a soft spot for the old breeds. I am glad I could provide a good home for her, but I am definitely not into the breed. She's flighty, nervous and distracting. With her crazy head feathers, she reminds me of a manic muppet. Hard to describe...

Anyway, so that brings me up to 12 chickens. I will try to get more pictures of them soon.

Greenhouse Saturday

Work progressed on the greenhouse today. We roughed out the front and back frames of the greenhouse. Work was slowed because both sets of immediate neighbors dropped by to pet chickens, talk horses, and admire tractors.

My new tractor is the, um, least big on the street, but I won't let that stop me from digging more holes in my yard as soon as the snow melts. :)

Rear frame. A single door is left of center. Ventilation fan is will be installed right of center.

Anyway, the next steps on the greenhouse are to frame in the doors and the ventilation boxes. Then I need to put two coats of latex paint on the frames. I am still awaiting shipment on the exhaust fan and thermostat.

Front frame being built on garage floor.

Front frame completed. Double doors on center. Two exhausts will be installed on either side of the doors.

We're expecting 6 more inches of snow tomorrow so I might not install the greenhouse on site for another couple of weeks. I can still start seeds inside though, so there's no rush.

Greenhouse Theories

I've been having some good conversations offline about my farming aspirations. I've also been reading about two/three books a week, trying to stuff my brain with knowledge. So I thought I would put some of those ideas "on paper" and send it out for "peer review".

When I decided to grow produce in New Hampshire, I knew I would need a greenhouse. You know, to start seeds in the spring, or something. I didn't know that a greenhouse can actually help you to grow year round.

Most of my greenhouse inspiration comes from Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest. The author lives in Maine and makes the bold claim that he eats fresh greens from his garden every day of the year. WOW!

I don't want to steal the thunder from his book. I really recommend everyone buy it, if for no other reason than the man believes in sustainable food and all the good things that I tout on this blog. But his ideas go something like this: We live at a certain latitude (43 degrees) and Southern France is at the same latitude (so same amount of daylight in winter) and they have outdoor gardens year round.

In America, gardening is culturally a summer activity, but it doesn't have to be. You can plant hot-loving plants in the summer and cold-loving plants in the winter. Kales, cabbages, tubers, spinach, and winter greens thrive in the cold. They can tolerate almost a complete freeze and bounce back.

Now of course, it's colder here than Southern France, daylight or not. So you have to protect the plants with a structure, be it greenhouse or cold frame. Notice I said "protect", not "warm". Using electricity or other fuels to warm a greenhouse defeats the purpose of sustainability. Coleman maintains that each layer of "protection", be it the skin of a greenhouse or the glass of a cold frame brings the soil down by 1.5 USDA zones. So if we're in zone 8, inside the greenhouse is zone 6B and if I put cold frames *inside* in the greenhouse, the soil would be zone 5. Zone 5!! Think of the greenhouse as a windbreaker and the inside cold frames as a sweater.

So the plan this year for my greenhouse is to first, build it. I got the 12' x 24x model. I will put pavers down in the first 4' so 4' x 12' will be benched work area. Then the back 4' x 12' will be a brooder for my new layers in April (there is a back door as well). The middle 16' (or 20' when the chickens are grown out) will be for planting in the ground. I will raise hot-loving crops like peppers in the summer, which may not do as well outdoors, and I will raise cold-loving crops in the winter.

Actually, the cold-loving crops grow from Sept to Nov, I will just harvest them all year. They go dormant, but stay fresh, so I don't need to worry about cold storage. They will sit in the ground, protected by two layers of film (greenhouse skin and cold frame "tarp"), until I choose to eat them.

That's the theory.

Freeloader #1

Every farm has got them: freeloaders. Well I have more than one. I have four dogs who do nothing. And two horses, but at least the horses pay for their meals by carting my ass around. And of course the chickens provide food. I can't remember the last time one of my dogs, aka freeloaders, laid an egg.

There is one dog who reins supreme. My Pharaoh Hound. She is the most spoiled, the most entitled, the least thrifty of the four dogs. She's a princess. Period. She belongs on the human bed. It's hers, not yours. And if you make the incorrect decision to attempt to sleep in it when she, Her Royal Highness, is resting, she will give you the most withering stare you have ever seen.

She really is too good for the rest of us. She emotes condescension. And yet, she's my favorite.

Most people don't know about Pharaoh Hounds, so here's some fun facts: They are sight hounds bred to hunt rabbits. They are the national dog of Malta (of all places). They are considered rare in the US (only 150 are registered with the AKC every year). They are known for having their nose and eyes match their coat color. And they blush.

When my dog is warm, happy, and relaxed, her entire face will flush bright red. Her ears, eyes, nose and lips will stand out. It's pretty striking.

My dog's lifetime achievements include a 60 second down-stay after months of clicker training. She's a smart dog, but easily distracted, and everything is on her terms. It's all about her.

I love the dog, but she has some issues. The breed is known for skin allergies and she's got them. They were terrible in Texas and noticeably improved here. She also has the most sensitive stomach and by nature of her lack of coat, the least tolerant of cold. Of my four dogs, two are purebreds and two are "mutts". The two mutts are the healthiest by far. The two purebreds are nothing but problems. They all live in the same environment, all eat the same food (except now the Pharaoh Hound gets her meals cooked), all have the same vaccination and heart worm schedule.

My Pharaoh Hound keeps me humble.

Happy Tractor Friday!!

Happy Tractor Friday, everyone. My exciting new tractor arrived on my little farm today. I immediately set to work on the snow.

Here I am exclaiming how awesome my tractor is.

Our first full bucket of snow.

Next I went to work consolidating our manure pile. I had to "plow" a road around to the back of the barn. Fun, but I accidently dug a few craters in the lawn. Oops. Then I got to the pile and started moving it from one spot to another, better spot, about 10 feet away. Very important work. That was a lot of fun until I found a really big rock that absolutely, positively had to pulled out of the ground immediately. Luckily, I had my tractor.

Zeroing in on the nasty rock that must be removed. Now.

The terrible rock in question. Notice how strong and awesome my tractor's bucket loader is. And spacious!

So far, after 1.5 hours of use, I am most pleased with my Big Strong Tractor. The worst part about it is that there's no more work for me to do with it. *sigh*

P.S. Calling my new tractor "small" is like saying Brego looks good in his "pink" blanket.

A Long Year

It's been a long year since I left Texas. Wow, a whole year already. I don't miss it a bit.

Ok, maybe I miss two friends a bit, but I talk to one on the phone every couple of days. And I miss good Mexican food, the kind that will clog your arteries without the slightest remorse.

But other than that, I am in love with my new world. Of course, as I look out the window on this dark February night, I see it's snowing. Again.

Oh, good farm news. The rest of my seeds will come next week. The rest until I order more, of course, because I now know twice as much as I did when I ordered the first batch (which is to say, I still don't know very much).

And tomorrow is TRACTOR FRIDAY!

Greenhouse Monday

Today was supposed to be Tractor Monday. Unfortunately, the tractor still needs to have the loader put on by the dealer so it won't be ready until the end of the week. I am so ridiculously excited about the tractor.

But I am also pretty excited about the greenhouse so instead of practicing my mad skillz on the manure pile today with my new 'tor, I worked on greenhouse assembly.

I ordered the greenhouse from a little place in New Hampshire (local is good) and went and picked up the kit on Saturday. I had to take a minor detour into Vermont to visit my favorite brewery (local AND environmentally conscious) but that's only part of what made the day so great. We also stopped at a Cabot Creamery (local and delicious) outlet and bought a pound of Vermont cheese. But wait! There's even more!

(Just a small aside: I drove through Woodstock, Vermont, and was completely blown away by its beauty. When I win the lottery, I am so moving to Woodstock, Vermont. It is quite possibly the most perfect little town in the whole country. *sigh* I love Vermont.)

Finally, back in New Hampshire, we arrived to pick up the greenhouse and I was very impressed with the display model. I went with an econo model and I was worried that the materials would be shoddy. Oh no, the greenhouses are top notch. What makes them so affordable is that I provide the labor! The kit comes with the ribs and film and detailed plans and then I provide the foundation, the framing for the end walls, and the labor to cut and assemble the pieces.

So today was Greenhouse Monday, aka Cutting day. It took me four hours of work, in sunny mid-thirties weather, to measure and cut about 150 individual pieces of wood to the specified dimensions. I used a table saw for ripping, a miter saw for nice 90 degree cuts to length, and a jig saw for the curved bits.

An hour's work, with pieces marked for easy assembly later.

On a sunny day, a driveway works better than a shop.

Frame assembly begins on Wednesday with paint following soon after. I need the tractor to clear the snow from the final site as well as light grading, so that will likely wait until next weekend.

I cannot recommend this greenhouse manufacturer more. The owners were super helpful and accommodating. The plans are easy to follow. If you have the tools already and a modicum of ability not to cut your fingers off, you can't beat the price for the quality of the finished product.