June Blooms

Nothing like a cool dip on a hot day!

Summer has begun and the homestead is more lively than ever!

With 38 chickens, 2 rabbits, 2 dogs, and a 1 year old, we have more than a handful – so we’ve learned to juggle! The garden is looking to be much more productive than last year as we refine our skills and become more familiar with our unique climate and seasons. We now have many daily chores which go much faster with the help of a toddler.

No Vacancy at the Egg-cono Lodge!

The chicken coop design has proven itself useful, both with old chickens and young chicks. Miss Penny, an older bird we inherited from a neighbor, had the place to herself for a few weeks while we waited for our chicks to arrive. Once the chicks we here, it only took them about a week and a half before they were big enough to jump out of the kiddie pool we were keeping them in. That meant Miss Penny had to move to the chicken tunnel in the pasture - which is no Egg-cono Lodge, but still isn’t half bad. I think she likes the unlimited bugs and grass at her new place.

Broiler chicks in their temporary home.

Miss Penny in the pasture.

In another week or two we’ll move the 27 broiler chickens, no longer chicks, out to the pasture. Hopefully by then the 7 egg laying chickens will be big enough to live with Penny and she can move back into the Lodge with her new girlfriends. Having the broilers in the pasture will hopefully cut down a bit on the amount of feed we have to provide them, since they’ll have all sorts of bugs and leaves to snack on. It really is amazing how much those little birds can eat!

This summer is shaping up to be quite pleasant. The extreme heat we experienced two summers ago must have been an anomaly. While we have had some very hot, sunny days, they usually aren’t more than two or three in a row before a day of rain to cool things back down. Even at the end of June we are seeing night time temperatures in the mid 50ºs.

It is these cooler nights which somewhat limit what we can grow in our garden. Some warmer temperature fruiting crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers like to have a certain number of days where the temperature doesn’t get below 60º, so we are going to wait until we have a greenhouse next season before trying out any of those crops. There is always something to look forward to!

The humble beginnings of Wild North Farms!

Wild currants almost ripe!

That’s about all for this month – thanks for reading, everyone!