Homestead Pantry

We had a chance to try out some Freedom Rangers meat chickens.  So this afternoon off we dashed as soon as it cooled a bit, to avoid heat stress since the day was bright and sun shiney.  

 Arriving at the seller's place, we drove right up to the little chicken house to load the chickens.  They are quite large already and will need only two or three weeks to finish them before harvesting.  I have just the grassy plot for them!  They are pretty red mottled, most of them look a lot like a red barred rock.  Most of them are also already big enough to harvest as Cornish 'hens'.

 I was so pleased with them that I also stopped by Lowe's and picked up a couple of Chippewa blue berry bushes in case we needed pollinator varieties for our others.  I couldn't remember what varieties we had already planted, and I know we lost one bush already so I need to check on that variety tomorrow in the daylight. 

 Another item on the schedule for tomorrow is a run for organic raw sugar to make bee feed.  There's a nearby feral colony that is just a true gift!  We moved one colony out of it already this year, and there is another colony worth bearding up on the outside again.  I now have another location far enough away from this house so that they will not try to return like so many did with the last removal.  We will remove a generous number of honey bees to the new location and check on them several times over the next few weeks before moving them to their permanent location in an orchard or garden somewhere.

Also on the schedule for tomorrow is building some raised beds to keep our gardens growing later this fall.  I'm seeing a lot of predictions of a long, cold winter and I've been looking forward to trying out some new structures a la Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest.  Last spring our tunnel cover blew away, and then the wind stopped, and allowed a frost to kill my early tomatoes.  I'm planning to ramp that structure up a few notches this year! 

Until next time...