Change of Heart

I tell you I had no idea I would be so wishy washy when I got these chickens. I guess it is my nature to over protect and hem and haw over things. I am feeling my way. Thank God for Kris from Simplify. She is there for me everyday with my questions.  I wasn't going to let the girls "free range" cause of our big dog's excitability when she sees them but after e-mailing Kris I just thought what the heck. Our yard is small and manageable for watching them. I put the dog in her kennel and let them out. It was a delight. They circled the yard twice. I think I will start introducing the dog on her leash to them. Gauge her interest that way with my husband holding her. She has never hurt any of our other animals and we have a six pound chi, but chickens flap and do other silly things that may be fun to chase. Scary. I will let you know how it goes.

Always together. They do not like to be separated. Once flower muffin found herself on the other side of the fire pit and the squawking that ensued. Poor baby. She ran right back to her sisters.

Chicken butts!!!

Sunflower seeds are a real favorite. We ate some, they ate some.

Everyone out in the yard playing. Thank goodness for the sun today. I think sometimes with each new type of animal I get there is a time period of adjustment. My mom did not like animals and the bother and I only ever had one cat growing up. Not my kids. We have two dogs, two cats and now four chickens. Organized chaos all the time around here.

Now I am thinking of getting a new coop to have the chickens in the yard and not around the corner. I hate not seeing them but I will sit on it for a few days and see if I change my mind. My darling hubby says, "Whatever makes you happy." Oh music to a woman's ears. He deserves cookies for that. Or he is sick of chicken talk. One may wonder.

Ode to the Girls

I love all things chicken and right now I am 'obsessed" as my hubby says. He's right. I dug this old ceramic chicken out of the pot it had been stuck in for years. Washed her up and now she has a place of honor on the patio.

I told hubby it was my homage to the girls. The feathered girls not our daughters.

Make Your Own Compost Holder

How to make an easy DIY compost holder using metal hardware cloth. When compost is done just lift the holder and spread where you need your rich homemade compost.

 I always have a loose little compost pile in the far corner of our yard but decided to make a proper one to compost my chicken waste. In fact I probably will make more. I used half inch hardware cloth I ordered from Amazon.  You could use any heavy duty wire fencing you might have in your garage lying around.

How To Make A Compost Bin

1. Just laid it out to about the size I wanted and used my wire cutters to cut. I also use some good wire hubby had in the garage to attach the sides.
2. Fold over the ends so they overlap about two inches. Use your wire in three inch pieces to attach the sides.
3. I found it easiest to make a hook with my pieces of wire to fish it though the hardware cloth. Why they call it cloth I don't know as this stuff is tough and sharp. When I pulled them through I used the wire cutters to hold the wire and twist securely. Place these about every six inches down the roll.

There it is tucked behind a tree in the corner. I would love to make a big one out of a trash can to really cook the compost quickly. This method will be a little slower but I know the stuff that comes out of it is nutrient rich because whenever I would turn the pile the roots from the plants in the planter would be coming up into the pile reaching for all that good stuff.

Update: I later went to a large plastic pre-made composter but have been unhappy with it. Not only is it ugly, it has cracked and I have tossed it in the recycle bin and gone back to this original compost maker.
View all of our gardening posts for more great urban gardening tips.

Growing And Cooking Up Your Own Greens

Growing nutritious greens is so easy. You should eat your greens and they are so easy to grow and bring in fresh and cook up quickly.

Just a little updated pic of the garden. It is coming in well.  With our heat some things are bolting.

This is the first year I have grown bok choy. I am trying to feed us fresh greens once or twice a week. They are so full of good things. This bok choy was easy to grow. I will always have it in the garden from now on. Year round rotation is the plan. For now I just cut off what I want and they grow new leaves.

This is the blue kale. I cut leaves every week and it just keeps growing more.

This is the second batch of lettuce I planted. We are already eating the first batch in our salads.

Here is my way of cooking the greens. Chop up and pour olive oil over it. Add some sea salt and pepper and a splash of water. Cover and cook until tender stirring every few minutes. Greens can be tough so add the water and let them steam with the lid and they will be wonderfully tender. I love that they are organic and picked right before we sit down to eat.

Mom's Best Potato Salad Recipe

This is my most requested dish at family and friend's barbecues. I am always asked to bring mom's best potato salad recipe. I am always asked to bring the potato salad because this classic potato salad recipe never fails.  My kids will only eat my potato salad. 

Mom's Best Potato Salad Recipe

This will be for an average bowl. You can add or reduce as needed.

8 medium potatoes
8 hard boiled eggs sliced
1 cup chopped celery
1 small can of sliced black olives
2 heaping T. of dill relish
bit of grated onion ( I only like a small amount)
3/4 c. mayo
3/4 c. sour cream
T. yellow mustard
Dill pickle juice (a generous splash)
Season with season salt, a little salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until just tender. Peel and dice place in a large bowl.
While potatoes are still warm put the mustard and pickle juice in and mix well.
Add all the other ingredients and mix well. If you like it  more creamy add more of the mayo and sour cream or add less if you like it dryer.

Refrigerate and enjoy. One of the kids always offers to taste test for me. They love it so I make a large bowl just for us so they can enjoy for a couple of days. See all of our recipes in one place on our recipe page.

Freshen and Clean Drains the Natural Way

Every once in a while I will notice my kitchen drain needs a freshening up. I like to freshen and clean drains the naturally.

I used to use bleach but my daughter is very sensitive to it permeating the house so I discovered a more natural approach years ago.

Vinegar and Baking Soda Drain Cleaner...

1. Take some baking soda and white vinegar.
2. Generously sprinkle the baking soda around and in the drain. About a 1/4 cup.
3. Then pour about a cup of vinegar over the baking soda and watch it fizz. You will hear it fizzing all down the drain. Let sit for about fifteen minutes. 
4. Wash it all down with a pot of boiling water.

Baking soda and vinegar cleaning is fine for sewer and better than bleach for septic systems. Helps keep the drain nice and clear too and remove the smell from drains.

Moving In

I gathered up some of my chicken stuff from around the yard to dress up my girls new home.

They have been enjoying some time in the run each sunny day. It is 40 inches wide and almost twenty feet long. We will move in their little hen house this weekend. They still can't sleep out here without some heat so they are sleeping in my garage right now.

Scratching and pecking, pecking and scratching.

My girl with Henrietta. She is a very squirmy chick and prefers not to be held but she managed to be held for this photo.

We all have poop shoes now. Those you wear when you walk in the coop and never come in the house with.

I felt like a farmer at the feed store buying a bale of hay and shavings for the coop. I really must get out of the city. I am in Heaven in the feed store. Love the smell and the people in there and all the cool things. I need more space and more animals and a REALLY big veggie garden. I just don't care much about the other things in life anymore. I am at a place where I just know what I want to do. This has been a lot of work but it has been such a labor of love. I have really enjoyed every minute of these chicks. My dad was born on a farm. Maybe I get it from him. I just want to spend days in grubby jeans and clothes making things around me pretty and fruitful and lovely. I hate dressing up and loathe when we have to. I want to live where dressing up is a new pair of jeans and a t-shirt without holes. No kidding. I will however continue to color my hair. I have that ugly color of grey that is more yellow. My mom had silver hair. It was stunning and she was beautiful with it. I have my dad's hair. So I have rambled on.

Lola seems to like the chicks but I think it is the Kefir I give them. She wants to lick the plate when they are done. I hope she will be friends with them. She has been gentle so far. Happy chicks!!

See the final enclosure and frugal coop here.

Hawaiian Fried Rice

We love fried rice in this house. Often I will use leftover pork roast for pork fried rice but recently I tried to shake it up a bit and create something a little different. Now this is a funny recipe with no exact measurements but add as you like per your taste.

Hawaiian Fried Rice
Take leftover steamed rice or rice you make early in the day. Fried rice is best if you use cold white rice. Refrigerate the rice before you make this dish.

Ingredients:
Cold white rice
shrimp
pineapple chunks
unsalted cashews
green onions
finely chopped carrots (or bell peppers would be nice)
soy sauce
stir fry sauce
red pepper flakes

Take a large non stick pan or saute pan and add a little oil and get the pan hot. I always saute the carrots a little first to soften. Add the rice and some soy sauce to taste. Get good and hot and add all the other ingredients and let cook on high heat turning only occasionally. If you want a lot of shrimp add loads like we did or just a taste of red pepper flakes. I just use up what I have and throw in amounts to taste. Fried rice is a great dish that can be changed in so many ways.
We served with some grilled teriyaki chicken.

Linking to:
Show and Tell Friday
Fun Stuff Fridays
What's It Wednesday

Into the House

I have been spending so much time outside that I forced myself to stay in and get things straightened in the house. Not easy, but I managed to stay indoors for a few hours. I really simplified Easter with the Easter Shelf in my kitchen and the dining room table getting the only holiday decor. This little guy sits in the wood tray for our table.
Oh, and this guy hiding in the dry sink. All the older pastel Easter stuff went to the Goodwill.

Picked up this wire basket on the clearance shelf at Country General Store. Not sure what to put in it.

I just put these things in but not a fan so do you have any suggestions?

Real plants would not work. The corner is too dark. This seems to be the black and yellow corner.

The door went on the coop last night. The girls can spend some time in there today. I am off to the feed store to get supplies. Must not look at the new chicks. I am waiting out the two suspect ones in hopes at least one will turn out the be a hen.

Breakdown of a Budget Chicken Coop

Here is where we ended. All that is left is the door and to carry in the hen house. Q thinks it is perfect for her. It is just under five feet so I will have to bend over in there but that is fine. We wanted to keep it below the wall.

Okay so far we spent $207 on supplies at Home Depot. We did not have a staple gun so we bought one and that is included. It was $30. We found out the wood we chose for the door was almost $50. Charged per foot and not what we thought so that will be returned and the door will be completed with the scrap wood. We are short some L brackets so minus those the cost will be reduced almost $50. The little hen house is a recycled cabinet and will be completed with all scrap supplies.

Look my potatoes sprouted. I really think they don't enough sun in this deep pot but I will carry it through and see what I get.

Had to throw in something pretty.

I am also trying an idea I got from Maureen at It's All Connected for growing celery from the bottoms of your store bought bunches. Just slice off the bottom about and inch up and put in a bit of water or like I did right into the ground. You can see it growing right there in the middle. Celery is on the list of the dirty dozen foods for pesticides so I would love to grow some of my own.

Our government is so hooked on alternatives to fossil fuels, well how about some alternatives to pesticides in our food. How about some subsidies to organic farming and more affordable availability to the consumer. Just some thoughts out loud.

Spring Blooms

Are you like me? This time of year you just look out the window and smile. So much green and oh the vivid colors just make you smile.

Everything brand new. The first blooms of the year taking all the nutrients stored up exploding in the first flowers and leaves of the season.

I look right onto this little planter from my kitchen sink window. My tree is now full of leaves of the brightest green.

This fall buy some dutch iris bulbs and you will be rewarded with more and more blooms every year. I divide every summer now and they thank you with an even better clump of flowers.

I admit this time of year I seem to do the minimum inside. I just want to spend all my days outside in the garden. I have family coming for Easter so I guess I need to stay in and get cleaning but it is so hard to do.
We usually have an Easter brunch on the patio if the weather is nice.

Linking to:
A Stroll Thru Life
Coastal Charm
Cozy Home Scenes
Tootsie Time

Coop Taking Shape and Conflicted

Here is the frame going up this morning and now here is the chicken wire going on. My husband must love me as he has been at it for hours and hours. Only day off and this is what he is stuck doing. Thanks babe!
Obviously this is the run and we will move the hen house in later. It is an old piece of furniture we modified.

The chicks have been evicted from the bathroom. This is their new set up It has chicken wire over the top and they are right out my patio door so we can see them. They are so happy in there compared to the box in the bath tub. At night it will be moved to the garage with a heat lamp and for times we cannot keep a watch over them.

Here is my dilemma. I have been obsessing over these two supposed barred rocks and posted pics on a great site and the consensus is they are roosters. BOTH! Noooooo! I knew I might end up with one but they are identical so I am worried. Some say they look like black sex link roos. Funny name I know but it is real. So do I run out and get two more chicks and hope I end up with at least three hens? I am a crazy woman I know. I believe my husband is rolling his eyes right now. This whole journey should be interesting. Our big dog acts like she wants to get the chicks and probably eat them but she has been exposed to them only twice. Our little dog is around them all the time and just hangs out by them. So this should be interesting. Oh well one of life's adventures. I have been reading on introducing our dog to the chickens but I don't think I will have them out when she is loose in the back. She has a side yard she stays in during the day and is kennel trained and can go in there when I want to let the chickens out in the back. We will have to be vigilant. I am up for it. This has been a great project so far and though a lot of work, I am loving it and
Q is gaining a great deal from the experience. Will let you know what our supplies cost next time. Two hours in Home Depot. Good times!!!