A Few New Additions...

4:30 pm - 43 degrees outside - blue sky, windy...

Back in mid-November we adopted this cute little guy.

 

Ranger - 8 weeks old

Ranger - 10 weeks old

Everyone automatically thinks Ranger is a little black lab puppy and I have gotten tired of saying “Nope, he’s a McNab, Border Collie, Catahoula, and Kelpie hybrid. No, he’s not a mutt he was purposely bred that way.” So I have started saying “Nope, he’s a McBorder Catahoupie.” Most people haven’t heard of most of those breeds anyway, so... oh well, it’s easier to say.

Ranger - 15 weeks old

Ranger - 5 months old

Fast forward to mid-February and we picked up 6 cute little chicks. We specifically picked out chicks that will grow up to look different from each other; it will make it easier to tell who is who.

From top to bottom:

Milo – Mottled Java

Opal – Olive Egger

Bella – Black Sex Link

Bessie – Blue Wyandotte

Rosie – Rhode Island Red

Scarlet – Sicilian Buttercup

Ranger isn’t sure what to think of these tiny, noisy creatures.

The chicks are currently in the house. We have to wait until the snow melts so we can finish the chicken coop. But in the meantime, our cats are enjoying the coop. I wonder what they will think when it’s done and full of noisy chickens.

Coming soon... we have to wait until the passes are clear so we can take a road trip (about 3 and a half hours each way) so we can go pick up Reuben & Trixie, our breeding pair of American Chinchilla Rabbits! So excited!!!

Oh, and we still have to build a rabbit hutch for them too. Just waiting for the snow to melt!

So now we have 3 cats, 1 dog, and 6 chicks plus 2 rabbits on their way. Our little mountain homestead is slowly growing.

For more information on our animals click {here}.

Egg-cellent Layers...

41 degrees - 8:50 pm - on and off light showers with 50+ mph wind gusts...

Out of 10 laying hens, we are getting 7-10 eggs a day with an occasional double yolker thrown in.

{Side note: We are now down to only 10 chickens.  About two weeks ago we finally decided to get rid of Captain.  No he didn't end up as chicken nuggets - he really did go to someone who was wanting a rooster.  Two days after Captain left, one of the girls passed away - no really sure why.  So that leaves us with 10 happy laying hens.}

The Real Incredible Edible Egg...

46 degree - 12:28 pm - raining...

As we continue to learn and grow on our journey towards eating healthy REAL food, we continue to make changes that impact what we eat and what we purchase.  Once I know what goes into most conventionally grown food and products I can no longer make those food choices and have to go a different route.  One change that we have made is in the eggs that we eat.

eggs laid by our chickens

If you have never had the pleasure of eating an egg fresh from the farm, boy are you missing out!  I had no idea how bland and tasteless those (insert major brand name here) eggs were until we got our own chickens and started eating our own “farm fresh” eggs.  The yolks are brighter and creamier, and they are just bursting with flavor. 

Besides just tasting better, I could throw facts at you like... free range, farm fresh eggs may contain six to seven times higher Beta Carotene, two to four times higher Omega-3s, and three times higher Vitamin E than conventionally farmed eggs (aka store bought eggs).  I could even tell you that free range, farm fresh eggs have one-third to one-half less cholesterol and one-fourth less saturated fat than store bought eggs.  Would you listen?  What if I told you that by raising your own chickens and eggs (or buy from a local friend or farm) you could eliminate added hormones, anti-biotics, preservatives, other medications and pesticides?

Chances are most of you know this, but continue to buy regular store-bought eggs for your family.  Sometimes seeing is believing right?

the brown egg on the left was laid by one of our chickens
the white egg on the right was store bought

There is a pretty stark contrast in the colors of the yolks when you compare a farm fresh egg with a store bought egg.  If the difference to the naked eye is that significant...what do you think the difference is when you take a deeper look at the health benefits?  You decide.

One other warning about those conventionally farmed eggs (aka store bought eggs) – even if they are labeled “cage free” or “free range” I would still tread very carefully.  Most commercial grade chicken feed is made from GMO corn... and that translates directly into the eggs and meat you are consuming.  Also “cage free” does not mean organic.  This is just another case of marketing ploys meant to get your dollars.  Just some food for thought.  Below is a link to some facts about labeling on eggs – just click on the cow!

{For more fun facts about eggs click HERE and HERE}

The Coop Controversy…

35 degrees - 12:02 pm - cold and cloudy...

This is our second house that we have built.  Granted the first time, we walked into an office, picked out the floor plan, and had a builder do everything.  So this is the first time that we are doing it ourselves.

Building our own house… how exciting!  This is our chance to make our home exactly how we want it to be, from size to color to location.  This could be the greatest project of our lives, or the end of life as we know it.  Believe what people say; there is a lot of stress involved in building a house.  But other people have survived it, and so will we.

Throughout this whole process, Tony and I have pretty much been on the same page when it comes to decisions and choices having to do with the house.  So it has come as a surprise that there has been so much controversy over the chicken coop!  Where to put it… what style to build… why is it taking so long… have all caused some heated discussions.

The style of the coop is no longer a topic of discussion since it is already half built. 

Where to put it… hmmm…  I thought that topic was closed but when the kids and I got home last night from running errands in town all day, something looked different.  It took me a minute to realize the chicken coop was gone!  What???  The moon was so bright last night, that I didn’t even need a flashlight as I walked over to the big clearing near the propane tank area and what do you know… the coop was there.  I will admit that I do like it better over there and yes, I did tell Tony that.

Why is it taking so long…?  Well, that one right there… that one little question has been the hottest of all the heated discussions.  All twelve baby chicks arrived around Easter and have since had a very lengthy stay at the in-law’s house.  We cannot bring them home until the coop is completed, which yes, it is on my list for Santa this year.

So without going any further into The Coop Controversy… here are some pictures of the chicken coop and it’s current (and hopefully permanent) location.

looking out the back window at the chicken coops new location

chicken coop - under construction - in its new (and hopefully final) location

{Side Note:  Even though we have gotten into a few heated discussions over this darn chicken coop, at least we can still laugh about it.  ---  Tony and I took a walk out to the coop this morning so he could show me in the daylight what he had done.  I told him that even though I liked it better in its new location and how he made everything look really good, I was still going to do this post.  He just smiled and laughed at me.}

First Triple Yolk Chicken Egg…

35 degrees - 8:56 am - blue sky and burrrr, baby it's cold outside...

Remember my post ‘Weekend Update’ where one of our chickens laid a HUGE egg?  Well this morning Jack wanted to make some brownies.  The recipe calls for two eggs, so I figured I would use that HUGE egg, guessing it was a double yolk.  Wow!  To my surprise I just cracked open the first triple yolk egg that I’ve ever seen in my entire life!  (I hope it doesn't make my brownies turn out funny.)

Yes, that's right - all three of those yolks came out of that one huge chicken egg!

We are new to raising chickens so I didn’t even know chickens laid triple yolk eggs!  What a great surprise!

{Update - Oct. 27}
Our double/triple yolk layer is one of the Welsummer girls - Hazel, Mabel, Nutmeg or Penny.  Now we just have to figure out which one...?

Weekend Update…

48 degrees - 10:50 am - blue sky and sunshine...

What a wonderful weekend.  We had gorgeous weather and got a lot accomplished.

The kids and I headed to the beach property for an end of the year clean-up weekend.  We had to winterizing everything since we won't be back until next year.

Took a little break to go and enjoy a walk on the beach.

Tony spent the weekend at home kind of doing the same thing.  He also flagged out a path where he wants to dig a trench for the water lines that will go from the well to the holding tanks, which are near the propane tanks and generator house.

And the chickens… they set a new record with 8 eggs in one day.  I think one of the girls might have an identity crisis and thinks it’s a duck.  The eggs that come out of her are HUGE double yolkers!  Anyways, with the chickens laying basically a bakers dozen ever two days, I currently have over four dozen eggs in the fridge.  Yikes!  I need to either start doing some serious baking or pawn them off onto family and friends.

Check out the size of that egg!  It's HUGE!

Egg Update...

52 degrees - 8:52 am - partially cloudy...

Just wanted to give a quick update on our chicken eggs.  The chickens are producing anywhere between 3 to 5 eggs a day and they are quickly gaining in size.  I love the brown/chocolate color and had to throw in a white egg for color/size comparison.

{Update:  Sep. 20 - 7:35pm}
Do you notice that nice large tan egg in the top left of the bowl?  Well I just cracked it open when I was making some Blonde Brownies and it had a double yolk inside!  Not sure which chicken it came from but boy am I excited!

Egg-cellent News...

69 degrees - 10:26 pm - warm, clear night...

This past week our chickens start laying eggs.  They have laid a total of 11 eggs so far and range between the size of a ping pong ball to a golf ball.  The kids are so egg-cited and I have to admit that I am too! 

Our first collection of farm fresh chicken eggs!

Meet Captain...

83 degrees - 2:05 pm - sunny and hot...

As it turns out all twelve of our chickens were not pullets.  We have a rooster in the coop.  Captain is one of the four Plymouth Rocks. He's a handsome guy and can stay as long as he minds his manners.  Although we had no intention of getting a rooster, his loud crow adds pleasant farmyard sounds in the mornings (actually he crows all day long).  Let's hope he stays nice so he wont have to be turned into chicken nuggets.

Busy, Busy, Busy Weekend...

73 degrees - 9:07 pm - clear night sky, stars are just starting to come out...

Where did the weekend go?  We have been so busy that the past several days went by in a blur of activity.  The past several days have also been very HOT, finally made it into the 90s!

We have been working on several different projects over the past few days.  Let’s start with firewood…  We originally wanted to have our entire year’s supply of firewood cut, split and stacked by Memorial Weekend.  Well, Mother Nature had a different idea so instead of being done with firewood for the year we are still working on it.  We have about 1/3 of the rounds split and stacked which equals out to be about 5 cords… well make that about 4 ½ that are actually stacked.  You see after you split the firewood, you have to stack it.  This allows the wind and sun to dry it out and then it becomes “seasoned” firewood, which of course burns soooo much better than “green” or wet firewood.  Anyways, while it is drying out, the stacks tend to dry out quicker on one side and sometimes have a tendency to topple over, which is what happened to two stacks of firewood which I will have to restack.  We also brought down another load of rounds to split and stack this week.

two stacks of firewood that toppled over

Moving right along now on to the backyard…  The large mound of top soil in the backyard is finally spread out!  Next the sticks and rocks need to be removed, then the dirt smoothed out, and finally cross out fingers that it’s not too late for a little bit of grass seed.  With that large mound of dirt gone, the backyard looks really big.

Last but certainly not least, the temporary chicken coop…  We had this really nice area picked out for the chicken coop and were trying to decide on coop plans when we found out that we may not be able to put it where we were planning.  A timber company who wants to log a near-by tract of land is looking at putting an access road running down our property line which would run through our coop site.  So we have found a new location for our permanent coop but there is still excavation work that needs to be done before we can build.  In the meantime the chickens are around 20-21 weeks old now and should start laying eggs anytime now so we had to build them a temporary coop until the permanent coop is completed.  {Are you still with me?  I hope I haven’t lost you yet…}  The temporary coop is almost completed, we still need to finish the nesting boxes; cut out the egg door on the outside; attach the chicken door and the main door; attach the run; and paint!  Cannot wait for the chickens to get up here!

temporary chicken coop

Well there you have it… a little glimpse of our weekend that went by in a blur of activity.

Chicken Names…

58 degrees outside - 6:33 pm - cloudy...

Around Easter time we got twelve baby chicks, four Plymouth Rocks, four Welsummers and four Cuckoo Marans.  We choose sexed chicks, which are sorted so you get exactly as many pullets or cockerels as you want (with a 90% guarantee).  We wanted all girls but we think one of the Plymouth Rocks is a boy who we have named Captain. 

The chicks are now about eleven weeks old and are no longer fluffy balls of cuteness but rather large gangly juvenile chickens now.  They are still in the temporary coop until their permanent coop is completed.

I love the idea of stepping outside my door, greeting the flock of chickens (perhaps by name), and coming back in with an armful of fresh eggs.  It’s admittedly a romantic, possibly naïve vision, especially without the flecks of manure obscuring it.  In any case, I’m drawn to the idea of it, and soon it will be a reality.

The site that we picked out for the chicken coop has been prepped and now we are ready to build the permanent coop… well, as soon as we figure out what coop style/design we want to go with.  In the meantime we have had fun naming the chickens.

I made up this little sign with all the chickens names for the coop.

Self-Sufficiency…

50 degrees outside - 9:52 am - cloudy...

I have used the term self-sufficiency many times, but what does it exactly mean? 

Self-sufficiency by definition is a state in which someone or something can self-sustain oneself without using outside resources.  If you take that statement literally, it is impossible to obtain.  Each and every living creature on this planet is dependant upon outside resources in order to survive.  For instance, all animals need food to live.  Most animals (excluding people and the animals that we feed) hunt and gather food as they did thousands if not millions of years ago.  The majority of people on the other hand, rely on others to produce food.  We are no longer hunters and the gatherers, but rather consumers.  This interdependency for the most part works.  Most people buy their food instead of foraging for food themselves.  Of course, buying food means that we must have money.  And in order to have money, most of us need a job.  Thus starts the vicious circle that has gotten most of us removed from the basics of being self-sufficient.

Besides food, we need other things too – water, shelter and warmth.  Again, most people today rely on outside resources to provide these things.  People get their water from a faucet, live in a mortgaged home or apartment and rely on heat from an electric or gas utility company.  So what does being self-sufficient mean in today’s society?



raspberry jam,
one of the many items I can

We can be self-sufficient by using our own physical and mental skills to produce food, shelter and warmth in order to sustain one’s own existence.  It means not relying on others for things that you can do yourself.  It is a way of life that reduces our dependency on external resources in order to live.  Self-sufficiency for most homesteaders or people living off-grid means rekindling the skills once commonly used by past generations:  growing, raising and preserving food, making and repairing tools, cutting and drying firewood, mending and/or making clothes and even building a house or a barn.

 

raising our own chickens

This is by no means an easy feat.  It requires a ton of self-discipline and a determination not found in most people.  Especially in today’s society where over the years we have grown accustom to depending upon others to provide for our basic needs.  As technology makes life “easier”, we move further and further away from the basics and lose the skills that once sustained us.



building our own home

What is gained by self-sufficiency?  You gain a greater sense of freedom and greater control of one’s life.  You will also eat healthier knowing what went into growing and raising your own food.  You will reduce your dependency on money and reduce your need to work a stressful, 60 hour per week (or more!) job.  Instead of paying a repairman to fix something, you take pride in fixing it yourself.

How self-sufficient one becomes is entirely a personal decision.  There are plenty of things to consider and weigh.  It is up to each of us to determine how self-sufficient to become. 

Chicken Coop Progress…

49 degrees outside - 5:50 pm - cloudy...

We have finally picked out the location for our chicken coop.  It’s just a short walk from the front of the house; near the driveway where there is a large, gorgeous Huckleberry bush growing out of a stump.  The coop will be on the other side of the Huckleberry bush so you wont see if from the driveway.  We will also be planting more Huckleberry and Blueberry bushes around two sides of the coop. 

Now that the site has been picked out, the coop layout, excavation and construction can begin!  We really have to hurry and get that coop done because those chickens are getting huge!

location picked out for our chicken coop - still needs a lot of excavation work

stump with Huckleberry bush growing out of it

Making My Own Chicken Coop Sign…

46 degrees outside - 7:12 pm - rain has finally stopped, the sun and blue sky are peaking through the white fluffy clouds...

Every chicken coop needs a sign, so I am going to make one.  I have a design in mind and have already found some weathered and warped boards that resemble old barn wood.

I painted one board white and the other board black.  Then I created my design/layout that I was wanting in MS Publisher and printed it out.  Next I cut everything out and traced it onto the painted boards.  Then all I had to do was paint in between the lines.  The whole project only took me a couple of hours and I am very happy with how they turned out!  The only thing I have left to do now is put a final coat of polyurethane on.

Now if I only had a chicken coop to hang them on…  We are waiting for the ground to dry out a bit before we start building.  Can’t wait!!! 

The Chicks Are All Here…

35 degrees outside - 10:52 pm - rain/snow mix...

Today we picked up the rest of our chicks.  I should not be allowed to go to the feed store by myself anymore.  We were originally only going to have 8 chickens.  Since we already have 4 Barred Rocks I just couldn’t help myself and had to get 8 new baby chicks, so we would have 4 of each breed.  We now have a dozen chicks, four Plymouth Rocks, four Welsummers and four Cuckoo Marans.  We are still keeping our fingers crossed that they all turn out to be girls. 

The Barred Plymouth Rock or “Barred Rocks”, as they are called, are one of the most popular chickens for backyards or small farms.  They are supposed to be very friendly, great layers of large brown eggs and able to withstand cold weather quite nicely, which is exactly what we were looking for.

The Welsummer (Welsumer) are considered “chocolate eggers”, meaning their eggs can range from medium to a deep chocolate brown and their eggs are also speckled!  The chocoholic in me loves that cool fact!  They are probably best known for being the Kellogg’s Cereal Rooster.  They are supposed to be friendly, good layers, and do well in all climates.

The Cuckoo Maran, similar in appearance to a Barred Rock, is also considered a “chocolate egger”. Their personality seems to vary greatly and there seems to be mixed reports on their climate hardiness, but we are going to try them out anyway.

Now to build the chicken coop that we have already nicknamed ‘The Cuckoo’s Nest’.

Caitlyn holding a Welsummer chick

the large black chicks are Cuckoo Marans; small black chicks are Plymouth
Rocks; and golden red chicks with the stripe down the back are Welsummers

Easter Weekend...

39 degrees oustide - 12:21 pm - raining...

Easter Weekend…what a whirlwind.  It was spent jumping from one house to another as we visited with family and friends, ate good food and watched as the kids laughed and ran around while they hunted for tons of brightly colored Easter Eggs.

The highlight of the weekend, which our kids cannot stop talking about, came in a brown cardboard box.  The chicken coop hasn’t been built yet but the chicks are here!  Aunt Gail got our kids baby chicks for Easter and they are tiny fluffy balls of cuteness.  We now have four baby Plymouth Rock Chickens and will be picking up the rest of the baby chicks (a few more different breeds) later this week when they come in.  In the meantime, Tony and I will be keeping our fingers crossed that all the baby chicks turnout to be hens!

Gardening Off-Grid With Kids – Getting Started…

32 degrees outside - 11:29 am - cold and windy with high clouds...

We are about halfway through winter and spring is in our sight.  We have picked out the location for our off-grid garden and now have to level the ground, fence it in and build raised garden beds.  Just walking around with a tape measure, we think we can squeeze in a 60 x 60 fenced in garden with attached tool shed that will also house the chicken coop and run.  In order to start planting late winter / early spring fruits and veggies, we need to have all this done by the end of March.  I hope that is a realistic goal.

Our two children, who are 2 and 5, love having their own space, whether it is at their own desk area in the house, or the tent they’ve created with chairs and blankets in the dining room.  The same is true for the garden.  So we will be setting a side a raised garden bed just for them, which will be marked with a stepping-stone that has their names and handprints on it. 

Their garden will be kid-based.  This means that our daughter gets to help plot out the raised garden bed and generate ideas for what will be planted in it.  She has already gone thru the seed catalogs numerous times, writing down what she would like to plant.  Seed catalogs are like a good book that you just can’t put down.  We all love flipping through the shiny pages, filled with glorious colors that dazzle with this year’s must have blooms.  In addition to picking out what will be planted, they will help with the planting and maintenance of their garden.  They also get to pick out their own gardening tools.  Nothing motivates the little gardeners more than having their own shovels, gardening gloves, watering pails and wagons.

The best things we may ever cultivate on our property will be two little gardeners.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary…

36 degrees outside - 4:48 pm - overcast, everything is still covered in snow which is slowly melting away...

How does your garden grow?  We have been giving a lot of thought to this question lately.  Well, not about Mary’s garden but our own.

With everything under a blanket of snow, the holiday season underway and spring ahead of us, I thought it was a good time to start putting plans together for our vegetable garden that will be built and planted come spring.  Yes, I know, garden dreaming and it’s not even Christmas yet.

Living on a mountain we are above the smog layer which also lets more UV light in.  We can have some really hot summer days and some really cold winter days.  Plants that did well in town may or may not do well up here on the mountain.  I think the first year will be more trial and error to see what does well in the vegetable garden.  Did I mention that we are also planning on attaching the chicken coop so the girls can run around in the fenced in garden during the day eating bugs.  Getting a little off track here, the chicken coop will be another post for another day.

On the mountain, the sky is truly the limit and we are faced with loads of decisions and choices – heirloom seeds versus hybrids, early, mid or late season varieties (or all three), what veggies should we plant, how much should we grow of each veggie, will it grow well in our climate, do we have room for it, how should we configure the raised beds and when will we ever find the time to install a drip irrigation system?

With all this talk of climate change, peak oil, long food miles, tainted produce and food recalls, factory farming, GMO’s, not to mention the words “global economic downturn”, we’ve decided that becoming more self-reliant isn’t simply a lifestyle choice – it’s a necessity.

                                              

We are looking to make the “right” decisions and “optimize our prospects for success”.  So far we have the location of the vegetable garden picked out.  It will be completely fenced in to keep the deer and other critters out and keep the chickens in.  We will be making raised plant beds with graveled pathways in between and attaching the chicken coop/tool shed in the Northeast corner of the garden. 

This of course is still all in the dreaming stage which will hopefully become reality come spring time.  Off to order seed catalogs (as suggested by my husbands green thumbed grandma - Thanks!) and write down a veggie wish list.

After a little bit of clearing brush, some moving of dirt and leveling,
this will be the future site of the vegetable garden and chicken coop.

{ Update - Dec. 8 }

Here is our ‘Veggie Wish List’:

Blueberries, Carrots, Corn, Cucumbers, Garlic, Green Onions, Lettuce (several varieties), Parsley, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Raspberries, Red Onions, Rhubarb, Strawberries, Squash, Sweet Basil, Tomatoes, Walla Walla Sweet Onions, and Zucchini.

Got That Off-Grid Loving Feeling…

8:28 pm - 48 degress outside - breezy...

People ask us why we have chosen to live off-grid?  Why not live off-grid?

Though sometimes a challenge, the many benefits of living off-grid make it all worthwhile.  How can one describe the feeling of running your home off of clean energy sources like natural gas and propane, or renewable energy sources like hydro, solar and wind?  Who could explain the effect being out of the city and suburbs has on your sense of well-being?  How many of us would enjoy more fresh produce grown organically on our own property?

For us, it is about living closer to the land; being responsible for the culture, values and environment we leave behind to our two young children; and knowing that life was meant to be enjoyed.  Yes, there is the energy savings (yeah, no utility bills!) from using renewable energy sources, wind and hydro generators that we will be building ourselves.  There is the garden that we will be planting, tending to and harvesting as a family.  Must not forget the chicken coop that our young daughter is obsessed with getting (not until next spring though) because she wants to supply her mommy with fresh eggs.  And of course, the adventure and uniqueness of living in an off-grid home. 

People think that when you live off-grid you have to make some serious lifestyle changes.  Yes and no.  We have had a few lifestyle changes, which were surprisingly easy to make.  A few extra minutes have been added to the commute time to work; we are a little more conscious about turning lights off when they are not needed, which everyone should be doing anyways; we are a little more conservative with water use, and yes, we do plan on having a dishwasher when the house is completed!  Currently, until the full power system is up and running, the largest lifestyle changes we have made is no television, and going into town to do laundry.  Everyone has dealt surprisingly well with no TV, instead we now have a movie night were we pop the popcorn and watch a movie on the computer.  Going into town to do laundry is a bit of an inconvenience, hopfully in another month or two we wont have to do that anymore. Never thought we would be so excited to do laundry but cannot wait for that first load of laundry in our own home!

That’s what living off-grid has been like for us at least and we are loving it!