Finally starting to figure it out

This morning, all of the eggs were in the nest box!  A paltry total of two, but still, they were both in the nest boxes.  So at least my few chickens who are laying have begun to figure out that the nest boxes are for laying.  Now I just need the rest of the flock to get on board, so that we can start getting some real egg collections.  I know that Taperman is very anxious for his first dozen, and at this rate, it takes us over a week to accumulate 12 (of course, we eat them before that can happen, so poor Taperman remains eggless).

I have a new chicken best friend.  The aracauna in the picture below has become very attached to me during the last week.  When I go into the coop to collect eggs, she is usually the sole chicken to run in and say hello to me.  She trots right up to me, and is happy to let me pick her up.  She's also fascinated by my boots, and loves to stare at them.  She'd really like me to let her peck my wedding rings, like Taperman used to let them, but I'm a little wary of stray beaks so my rings are off limits.  Although she looks like Alice, Alice's comb is bigger than hers, so this is definitely a newly bold chicken.  Perhaps she needs a name, too?  I'm open to suggestions.

My new buddy

Girls greeting me this morning - they definitely associate me with yummy food treats (today it was squash seeds and strings)

Pam has been establishing herself as the sole functioning barncat in residence during this past week.  Every day, I see her out either on the rock wall near the garden (a fantastic chipmunk spot), or nestled in the tall grass next to the barn.  Yesterday she stared Bullet down when he tried to check her out, but this morning she made the mistake of running, so the dogs chased her all the way to the barn.  I threw them inside, which was confusing to them, and Pam made it safely into the barn.  The below picture of her (taken before the chase, of course), is kind of like a where's waldo.  Pam blends in very well, but if you look carefully, you can see her.  She's really a very pretty cat.

We still haven't taken care of the rotting giant pumpkin, and it's getting very ugly out there.  Lily has decided to take matters into her own hands and she sneaks off to munch on it whenever I'm not looking.  (It's probably a good idea to permanently avoid kisses from Lily.)  So gross.  I'd say today is definitely the day, but it's pouring and Mike will be home late, so tomorrow is probably the earliest that we'll Mike will take care of it.

And now, look at how sweet and angelic she looks when she's sleeping.  Remember, this is the same dog who eats rotten pumpkins, compost, and chases barncats.  She also tore out most of the stuffing from her fox toy before this adorable spooning took place.

The meteoric rise, and collapse, of the giant pumpkin

So last weekend, with the help of Mike's dental school friends, we installed the big giant pumpkin on the front stoop, completing our fall decorations.  Sadly, this lovely fall scene only lasted a week.  When we went out on Saturday morning, the pumpkin looked like this:

 Which quickly devolved to this by the afternoon:

 And now looks like this:

It's a sad, smelly sight.  So far, neither of us has been brave enough to tackle the removal, although we realize that the situation is only going to get worse.  We did have a lovely stoop for a week, at least, and the smaller giant pumpkin is still in good shape so all is not lost. 

Even though we were very sad about the collapse of the giant pumpkin, we still managed to get through some good garden work on Sunday.  As I've mentioned before, our chard has been incredibly productive for the last three months.  I never thinned the seedlings, though, and so the bed is very unruly.  When Mike harvested a bunch of chard for visiting friends on Saturday, he told me that he thought that most of our good chard was gone.  I figured that this probably wasn't true, but could admit that the overgrown and bug eaten leaves were overshadowing the good chard, so on Sunday morning I thinned out the chard bed.

 

Overgrown chard bed

Newly invigorated thinned chard bed

Clearly, we still have quite a bit of good chard left, and the bed looks much better now that I've removed the leaves that had gone by.  While I worked on chard maintenance, Mike fixed up the gate to the garden.  Lily the wonder squirmer has perfected the art of slithering under the gate to feast on the compost, and I begged Mike to do something to prevent her from getting in so often.  On Friday and Saturday, she pulled out and ate a broccoli stem, coffee filter with grounds, half a gourd, a carrot, and what looked like a pepper.  Can you tell she's a lab?  So Mike decided to lower the gate and put wire behind it so that she couldn't squeeze between the bars.  It took him at least an hour, and he was very confident in his work.

Lily, honey badger that she is, was undaunted.  About 15 minutes after we went inside for a break, I looked out to see Lily happily noshing away at the compost.  Apparently she took one look at the new gate and decided that it would be even easier to just push her nose through the side, which opens the gate just enough for her to squeeze through.  While we're happy that at least one of our dogs appears to be intelligent, we were not pleased that the redesign had not worked.  So now the gate is both latched shut with a caribeener and then tied tightly with rope.  So far, she hasn't figured out a way to get in, but it seems like it's only a matter of time.

After Mike and I were done with our respective garden jobs, we teamed up to plant a bed of garlic, to be harvested next summer.  Since I did such a sub-par job with the onions, I let Mike do the actual planting work, while I separated the cloves.  It feels good to have now three beds of the garden already set for next year (garlic, asparagus, and rhubarb), and soon I'm going to start planning out the rest of the garden for next summer.

Before our last frost, Mike had harvested a lot of peppers, and while he was brewing a batch of winter ale yesterday afternoon he multitasked by also blackening the peppers on the grill.  We had a mix of bell peppers and poblanos, and he blackened them all.  We're going to chop them up and freeze them for chilis this winter.

We've both been doing quite a bit of chicken socialization lately, so we stopped by the coop to say hello to the girls and have another conversation about where it is, and is not, appropriate to lay eggs.  I had a real connection with a few girls, and I like to think my words made a difference because this morning we had our first nest box egg!  So at least one of our chickens is smart enough to figure out that those straw filled comfy boxes are for laying.  We had two more eggs on the floor, but progress is progress.

How to move a giant pumpkin

Step One:  Invite a group of dentists over to your house.  I know, you're thinking, dentists?  Really?  But they're stronger than they look.  This still isn't saying much, but when your choices are runners or dentists, it's kind of a draw. 

Step Two:  Ply them with food and home brew.  If your dog eats seven of the nine hamburgers that you've prepared (ahem, Bullet), be sure that you have backup food options.  Hot dogs, chicken, and homemade squash, potato and lima bean soup work well.

Step Three:  Casually bring up the existence of the pumpkin, and compliment them on their big, strong muscles.

Step Four:  Make sure there's an engineer in the group!  Did I forget that?  Because she ended up being the key player, and ensured that the very, very strong dentists didn't have to actually lift the pumpkin very much.

Step Five:  Load the pumpkin into a wheelbarrow/wagon/anything with wheels and move it to where you think you might want it.  Notice that the back of your pumpkin has a giant crack, and accept that if the pumpkin lasts through Halloween, you'll be lucky.  Chalk it all up to a learning year for pumpkin growing, and try harder to find that book about growing giant pumpkins that you bought, looked through once, and then lost.

Step Six:  Pretend you were just kidding when you say that you aren't exactly sure where the pumpkin should go, and you'd like to see it a few ways.  Even dentists have their limits.

Step Seven:  Ask for an estimate of the pumpkin's weight, and when you are disappointed with the paltry number (say, 160 pounds), double it.  I grew a 300 POUND PUMPKIN!*

Step Eight:  Try to take a group picture with the pumpkin.  This will turn out to be the most difficult part of the entire process, especially if your husband keeps blocking the pumpkin when he jumps into the shot.  If you have a toddler on hand to sit on the pumpkin, that will really help show how enormous the pumpkin is, and will also be adorable.

Step 10:  Enjoy your fabulous fall decorations.

*A gross exaggeration.  But I don't have a scale that I can weigh the pumpkin on, so I'm sticking with it.

Beginning the fall cleanup

Since it was so gorgeous out last weekend, Mike was inspired to begin the fall garden cleanup, and I was inspired to pick lima beans.  While Mike pulled out the cucumber, green bean, zucchini, summer squash, snap pea, and cabbage plants, I harvested the lima beans.  One of us is clearly a more industrious farmer than the other - I'm lucky I have a productive teammate.

Below is the lima bean/asparagus bed pre-harvest.  As I started picking lima beans, I realized that the majority of the pods were at the base of the plants, and that the lima beans were really crowding the poor asparagus.  I also realized that the odds that I was going to go back for a second lima bean harvest this late in the season were not good, so I decided to pull out the lima bean plants and harvest the pods that way.  It was much easier to harvest the lima beans, and I think it made the asparagus happy.  As I was yanking, I promised the asparagus that I wouldn't plant anything else in their bed next year, and I apologized for doubting their growth potential.  We got a pretty good yield of lima beans, and I think the asparagus is much happier now that it has breathing room.



Asparagus and lima beans pre-harvest

Asparagus after the lima bean harvest

Lima bean harvest

Shelled lima beans!

We had a spaghetti squash from our neighborhood squash lady that we needed to use, so we came up with a fantastic dinner.  We roasted the spaghetti squash, and cooked up some angel hair pasta and lima beans.  Then we made a white sauce and tossed everything together, finishing the dish with some crumbled soy bacon.  It was creamy and delicious, and we were very proud of ourselves for coming up with the recipe.

My parents were over, and so I took the opportunity to unload as much produce as I could on them.  Our tomatoes are still going strong, as are the eggplants, chard, leeks and bell peppers.

Tomatoes

Gourds, chard and tomatoes

Hansel eggplants

Mom's haul of bell peppers, eggplant, chard, summer squash, and lima beans

The red peppers look great - I guess when you ignore your pepper plants, that really allows them to fully ripen into their colored glory.  Our orange and yellow pepper plants were duds, but the greens, purples, and reds have produced very well.  The hansel eggplant has been by far the most productive eggplant variety.  I must have sent my mom home with about ten small eggplants, which are the perfect size for roasting.

We've harvested almost all of the squash, and now it's out curing in the barn.  Because our squash yield was so much lower than what I'd hoped for, and because I think I'm addicted to squash, we've supplemented our crop heavily with squash from the squash lady down the street.  She grew a huge range of varieties, so in addition to my own squash I have quite a few of her more rare types to try out, including a marina di chioggia, which is supposed to be great in ravioli and gnocchi, and two Australian blue squashes.  Yum!

My candy roasters and rouge vif d'etampes squash

Giant pumpkin!

We haven't picked the giant pumpkin yet, and I think we'll be leaving it on the vine for at least another week given the mild weather forecast.  My guess is that it's around 95 pounds, Mike thinks it's closer to 150.  I'm not sure how we'll weigh it (or move it) yet, but I will somehow have a final giant pumpkin update in a few weeks.  It's starting to turn a deeper orange - I'm not sure if that means that it's not going to get bigger or what.  We went to the Cumberland Fair last weekend and ogled the truly giant pumpkins, and I was inspired to be a more diligent giant pumpkin grower next year.  Some of the pumpkins were over 1,000 pounds, and two had really nice shapes.  Of course, if we did have a 1,000 pound pumpkin, then Mike would argue that we needed a tractor, so maybe I don't want to go down that road yet.

Still no eggs, but Mike has started giving motivational speeches to the girls.  Some of you have told me your guesses for the first egg day, but I have to confess that if you didn't post a comment, I don't remember what your day was (that includes my own guess).  So, if you want in on the egg laying contest, leave a comment here with your guess on the first day, or send me an email and I'll put a comment in for you.  The guesses that we have so far are:

Mamie:  September 15
Mike:  September 28

Clearly, Mike and Mamie have lost, so the field is wide open.  I'm calling October 15, although I'm also hoping that I'm wrong because I'd like them to lay sooner than that.

As the farming season winds down

First, I have now forgiven bad dogs Bullet and Lily.  We found all of the missing chickens hiding under the coop, and Mike has put up electric netting around the sides of the coop.  Bullet and Lily have both been zapped, and are now steering clear of the coop.  I did have to scoop a barred rock out of the giant pumpkin plant earlier today as she had flown out of the yard, so we still have to deal with the issue of chicken stupidity.  Maybe adding some type of roof to the yard?  I'm not sure.  Bad dogs, predators, and stupid chickens are not a good combination.

Repentant bad dogs

Anyway, before the chicken incident I was set to provide an update on how the farm is doing now that we're nearing the end of the season.  We went to a wedding last weekend out of town, and my parents had dog sitting duty.  Before handing the dogs over, I did a big garden harvest to pawn off as many veggies as possible on my mother.  The chard is still going strong - I am definitely going to continue to grow chard over spinach in the future - the fact that it is still so abundant and hasn't bolted is a huge plus.  Next year I may grow less, but still, chard was a good choice.

Our tomatoes are still producing heavily, too.  It's been fun this year to grow the heirloom mix, but I think next year I'll be a bit more picky about the types of tomatoes that I plant.  I'd like more sauce-type tomatoes, and maybe fewer confusing novelty tomatoes (I just never know when to pick the green striped heirlooms that don't ever change color).

Our eggplants have been a nice surprise.  Most of my gardening books talk about how difficult it is to grow eggplant in northern climates, but my eggplants have been pretty productive and low-maintenance.  I haven't had a tremendous harvest of eggplants, but more than I can use myself.  Growing so many different types was fun, and I love the mix of purples, whites and greens in my eggplants.  For this picking, I had a white eggplant and a dark purple eggplant, both of which went to my mom.

I haven't talked much about leeks since my post admitting my errors in planting them, but I'm happy to say that they've grown up well.  The white parts are still a bit short, so next year I'll have to plant them deeper.  I have to say that I don't really notice much of a flavor difference between leeks and onions, but I think the leeks are pretty so I think I'll grow them again next year.  They were also easier to grow than the onions, which are supposed to be incredibly easy, yet mine mostly just died.

We're getting a nice crop of fall carrots, and the last group that I picked was just gorgeous.  The deep purple carrots are beautiful, and I'm very impressed that most of my carrots ended up growing so straight given the number of clumps of sod in my beds.  These were hardworking carrots, for sure.  The stubby carrots in the bottom photo are supposed to look like that, they're an heirloom variety.  I have to admit that my carrots don't really seem to taste any better than regular carrots, but at least they're prettier.

Chard

Harvest for mom

Lovely carrots

My mom used the veggies to make a hearty soup, so I was glad that they were enjoyed.  I am still completely overwhelmed by the bounty that the garden has yielded, and so I haven't been using the vegetables nearly as much as I'd hoped that I would. 

The giant pumpkin continues to get bigger and bigger, although it hasn't turned color to a deeper orange yet.  I hope this means that it's going to continue to grow, but for all I know, it's just going to be a pale pumpkin.  I really ought to have included something in the below picture for scale - so you can get a better idea of the size, the giant pumpkin is about as long as Lily - so, big.  I'm not sure how we're going to move and weigh it yet, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. 

We've had our first light frost, and several of the plants in the garden, most notably the cucumbers, have folded.  Mike and I harvested most of the remaining squash a few days ago just in case, and we now have the squashes curing in the barn.  The Rouge Vif D'Etampes pumpkins are really lovely.  The last two that we picked aren't as deeply red as the first, but they are nearly perfectly shaped, and I'm quite proud.  My two dinky spaghetti squashes never got much bigger, but we had a good harvest of sweet dumplings, and two very big candy roaster squashes.  My white pumpkin is still on the vine, as I'm hoping it will get a bit bigger and whiter in the next week.  We've left the giant pumpkin on the vine too, to see if it will grow more, and we watch the forecast each night.  I'm not sure when the first real hard frost will come, but based on the chill in the air, it feels like it will be soon.

The girls haven't laid their first egg yet and cobwebs are gathering in the nest boxes.  They are now thoroughly accustomed to me bringing them treats, and they all storm the gate of the fence when I walk up to the yard.  If I show up empty handed, I have a lot of angry chickens to confront.  Below, they attack an overripe tomato.  In the last week, they've expanded their pallets to include mashed potatoes and hummus, both of which are quite funny to watch them eat. 

We've also identified the mystery squash growing out of the compost. It's actually an extremely productive gourd plant!  Our neighbor grew gourds in our back yard last year, so some of the old gourds must have ended up on the compost pile.  They're very pretty, and the plant has produced a ton of them, so we'll have some nice seasonal decorations.  Even though I was hoping that the plant would be another winter squash, I'll happily take bonus gourds.

Gourd 9-16-2011

First squash harvest

We woke up this morning to a gorgeous early fall day.  The air is crisp, but it's still fine to be outside without a jacket.  We took Bullet and Lily to their favorite nearby trails, and then got down to farming.  Last week when we were at a farmer's market, and several of the vendors had winter squash.  Until then, I don't think I had quite realized how late we are into the farming season.  We walked through the squash field today, and sure enough, we had quite a few squash ready for harvest!  Before we started picking, I took several photos of the different squash.  Most aren't ready yet, but in a few weeks, we should have a nice crop.

Candy Roaster Squash 9-10-2011 (Remember my confusion recently about the possible white pumpkin?  That was a candy roaster.  Mystery solved)

Immature Rouge Vif D'Etampes 9-10-2011

Actual white pumpkin 9-10-2011

Mature Rouge Vif D'Etampes 9-10-2011

Spaghetti squash 9-10-2011

Sweet dumpling 9-10-2011

Bullet 9-10-2011

Lily 9-10-2011, eating a pine branch.  It appeared to be quite pitchy.

Most of the sweet dumpling squash looked mature, and one of the sweet dumpling plants was looking a little sad, so we decided to harvest quite a few of them.  Bullet and Lily supervised, and narrowly avoided trampling the squash plants.  Farming with dogs is an adventure.

We also picked the mature Rouge V'if D'Etampes pumpkin, which is just gorgeous.  The squashes are now laid out on a table in the barn to cure.  Staci and Pam were very suspicious of the entire process.  (We think Ricky Bobby has abandoned the farm).

Mike with the harvested Rouge Vif D'Etampes 9-10-2011

Pam 9-10-2011

Staci 9-10-2011

Our first squash harvest!  9-10-2011

In surveying the squash field, I've learned that squash plants, or at least my squash plants, aren't terribly prolific.  Most of the plants have only one or two fruits, which is a little disapointing for me.  We'll still have quite a bit of squash, but I was hoping for more than two spaghetti squashes.  There is a great squash farm a few miles down the road, though, so I think I'll be making a few trips over there this fall to get some of the kinds that I didn't grow enough of, or didn't grow at all.

No egg news to report yet, but the girls are looking more mature every day.  Below is Alice, the bravest and funniest of the group.  She's also by far the most developed, with a gorgeous comb, and I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being the first layer.  This week, we discovered that the girls absolutely love avocadoes.  I had a few that were overripe, and when I tossed them into the yard, we had a chicken feeding frenzy.  They eat the flesh and peels, and look a bit ridiculous with green covering their beaks.  I have to say that one of my favorite things about the chickens is that they make me feel much better about wasting food.  Now, instead of throwing away food that we didn't get around to eating, we can toss it to the girls and make them very happy chickens. 

Alice 9-10-2011

Giant pumpkin 9-10-2011

Our biggest giant pumpkin has been growing quite a bit over the last two weeks.  Mike supported it with styrofoam a few days ago to protect it from rot.  I hope that helps - we lost two of the smaller giant pumpkins earlier this week to rot.  The chickens were thrilled about that, but I'd like to keep at least one giant pumpkin!