New Chics and New Pics

New Chicken

I’ve snapped a lot of pictures today, as it’s been one of those days where a world of difference unfolds.  A few days ago, I decided to trade my old rooster in for one of the roosters I had hatched from eggs earlier in the year. When I put the new rooster in with my egg laying females, they let him have it, and I found him hiding in the corner day after day. I decided to put him in a different cage, and since my egg layers are getting pretty salty, I got a few new chicks for my new rooster.

Smaller Chicken

I now have five egg laying chickens (and five dozen eggs in the fridge), a new rooster, and two new female chickens that will start laying in the fall. I choose these oddball colored chickens, as I’m out to start my own off-shoot of chicken evolution. Maybe someday there will be a ITFarmer breed of chickens running around….

Sandy and Davie's Cow

Sandy asked me to come to her farm to take some pictures of her East-German Shepherds. As she was rounding up the pups, I wondered off to take pictures of the other inhabitants of the farm. Above is one of their cows, the look on it’s face makes me wonder if it knows about that Big Mac I had on Thursday….

Male Goat

After scoping the cows, I stumbled upon this happy goat. He seemed to be having a great day. His ears are fairly long, and his horns are bent back out of focus.

Puppy Outtakes

When the puppies were ready, I began to learn a thing or two about photographing animals: They never stand still long enough ! These puppies were very cute, but I’m used to taking pictures of cucumber plants that don’t move. I took many pictures, and learned a lot about timing.

Success ! - East German Shepherd

After many photos, we got a good number of cute and detailed pictures. I’m not much of a dog person, but this picture just screams “take me home”.

Veggies On A Stick

We all went to Mom’s farm afterwards, and began preparing lunch. Peppers were picked from the garden, onions were sliced, and of course we had to throw in a Brandywine tomato. These veggies on a stick were first microwaved for five minutes, then browned a bit in the toaster oven. Combined with a salad, we all left the table stuffed, after eating a meal paid for with no money, simply the time we invested to grow it.

To end the day, we picked lots of corn, zucchini, and melons, and Davie offered to man the stand to see how the customer response would be. Here’s hoping it’s a big success, as it’s the first venture after the market mix up.

Weekend Roundup 5/16/10

Small Wild Strawberries

There are only two weeks left till I can leave my comfortable office chair, and head out into my own, even more comfortable little world, or should I say garden.  I’ve been busy planting lettuce and I hope to plant some spinach should the weather co-operate, but these a not my main concern. On May 30th, if the weather is suitable, I’ll start planting nearly 1,000 plants, mostly Tomatoes, Peppers and Cucumbers. These are the crops that I have the most experiance growing, and they are my favorites as well.

For now though, It ‘s time to plant cooler weather crops. I would post pictures of the progress, however there wouldn’t be much to see. The method I am trying this year is to lay down newspaper, and cover the edges with rocks and dirt. I then poke holes in six inch increments, and place my seeds. The first two rows were planted two weeks ago, and the seeds are just now starting to grow true leaves. So in place of garden pictures, I decided to post a picture of the wild strawberries that surrond my house. They have been here for years, and they never disappoint with tiny strawberries the size of pencil erasers.

Buddie's Watermelons

Also, This weekend, my little buddy decided to bring his watermelon plants over to the greenhouse for some soaking in the sun. He had started them in his house, and placed them by a window. You can see how they shot up looking for light, but I think they will be o.k. now that there in the greenhouse. I love the extra effort he went throught with his Sponge Bob cups, which really show some character.

Temporary Chicken Coop

 I finished up two extra chicken coops with some help from Nate and Karesse. The first one is connected to my Laying Hens home, and it allows the birds to scratch into the dirt, something they love to do. The other coop is a temporary enclosure, while I save up to build a larger chicken pen. Chickens don’t seem to be at home unless they are able to play in the dirt. The pen closest to the camera, contains chickens that I’ve raised from incubated eggs. It’s pretty amazing to watch their accelerated growth.

Rose-hips

It was also time to clean out one of Sandies Cow’s pens, so while taking a break I snapped some pictures. This odd plant in the foreground is called a Rose-Hip. They bear flowers, but more importantly, they bear a small red fruit in the fall. This fruit is very high in Vitamin C, and even helped Great Britian during World War 2, when German subs where sinking vital shipments of Citrus. I’ve transplanted some of these to my yard, and I’m hoping they take, but if not, I have seeds saved from last year. They take up to 3 months to germinate !

Finally, almost as if I planned it, a Goat climbed up onto an old parts mower, and with the camera in hand, I snapped a picture:

Goats Like to Climb....

A Visit to Sandy’s Farm

Some of Sandy's Goats

Sandy and I have been talking about hatching out some of the eggs that she has from her chicken flock, and I went to her farm to pick up the incubator, and dozens of fertilized eggs. When I got there, the kids started showing me all sorts of animals that I had not yet seen. I thought it would be cool to post some of the pictures that I took. Above, three goats relax on a large rock. Judging by the grins on there faces, they are having a great day, just like me.

Male goat with Horns

The Male goat had pretty big horns, I’d guess they are about 8 inches long. When I was hunched down taking this picture one of the other goats was about to climb up on my back… but Sandy scared him off before he left any hoof prints on my jacket.

Baby Goat

Here is the friendliest goat I have ever seen, and reminded me of a little puppy. What a cool little pet. The kids were trying to talk me into getting one, but I have no where to keep it.

Goats Like to Climb

He is a tree that Davie cut down for the goats to climb on.

Bunnies

I also got some pictures of Sandy’s bunnies. Aren’t they cute ? They weren’t outside long, just enough time to snap a few pictures.

My New Rooster

Just before leaving to go home, Sandy asked if I wanted a Rooster to keep my chickens company. I thought it was a great idea. Now, my eggs should be fertilized, and I can hatch out little chickens. As soon as he was in the coop, he was alarming the whole farm to his presence, with the traditional Coc-a-doodle-doo.  Guess I don’t have to worry about setting the alarm clock any more……