Sunday Funday Farmstead Update
I just came up with this idea of a weekly update on the happenings at Farmstead Smith! Maybe it's a cool thing? Maybe not. But Sundays are always real slow on Steemit and it always makes me have a hard time posting something. So, Sunday seems like a good day to do a sort of weekly culmination of happenings!
Gucks
Today we moved the ducks from one paddock to the other! Now they're in a larger area for more grassy bits to eat while the other area gets to sit for a while and rejuvenate. We are thinking of throwing some Barley seed out in the area and watering it to see if it will grow any! I should do that tonight. Oh, and I need a better sprinkler.
We also bought them a larger kiddie pool! It's deeper (therefore more difficult for us to dump... HOWEVER) so the geese will be so much happier to actually be able to do a little swimming. They seemed pretty darn excited for their new space today. They immediately started munching down on everything in their path! Haha.
That's they're new space. And below is their old space. They did a great job mowing for me! Okay, they did a somewhat spotty job mowing. But hey, I don't have to mow there! Haha.
Chickens
On Friday night we moved the new Little Man Rooster into the coop with all the chickens. There were some tiffs, but so far, nothing major. Poor Crossbeak got a little beat up but seems fine.Egg News
I got three eggs today. Well, sort of. One egg was another shell-less/rubber egg and it was laid on the poop deck (gross). One egg I found out around the coop in a random spot. I think it's a new layer, and she got too hot in the nesting box, or distracted, and left the coop and it just plopped out of her randomly. Haha. And then a regular egg.
A Cuckoo Marans started laying this week along with a second Easter Egger (I think). The blue/green egg above is from My Bestie Chicken, she's and Easter Egger! The Cuckoo Marans' eggs are not super dark, but darker than I thought they were going to be since they are hatchery birds. I am very happy with them!
14 Eggs this week!
- 7 Wyandotte
- 5 Easter Egger
- 2 Cuckoo Marans
Quail
Last Sunday we got the Quail Pen finished and set up. They've been in for a week now, and seem to still be doing well. Today I set the sprinkler next to their space so they could get a little bit cooler. They seemed to like that. I did find one of the males in the little mixing bowl houses today! That made me happy.
Egg News
3 Eggs this week.
Plants/Garden
Earlier this week I bought three trees that I still need to plant. Oh boy. Figuring out where to plant a tree is SO HARD. It feels SO FINAL. They're not really anything spectacular. Kind of late in the year for anything great to be on the rack, but I got a Corkscrew/Curly Willow, a Magnolia, and a Golden Chain Tree. They were on sale for $10 each. I really need to find a spot for them. Because I forgot to get the guys to plant them this weekend, I may have to do it myself this week. Boo. Anyway, these trees are mostly decorative, but, the willow can be made into a fantastic rooting hormone! So at least that's useful! Ha
I know I said previously that the ground squirrels ate all my plants. Well, they did not eat a few cucumber plants or my tomato plants. They are still kicking. The cucumbers are producing flowers, no fruit that I've seen yet. The tomato plants, well, I honestly thought they were going to die. But they are now turning back to green and producing flowers. The cherry tomato plant is popping out some little 'maters.
Check out my most recent Steemit Posts.
- Super Simple Tacos [Recipe]
- Your Chickens NEED Grit! [DIY Dispenser]
- Your Hens NEED Oyster Shells!
- Quail Pen Complete!
- #FollowFriday
- A Chicken Best Friend
Blog Series
- Nature on the Farmstead - These posts will be educational and informative about the nature that happens on my farmstead. Look forward to posts about wild animals, birds, wildflowers and plants, insects, and more!
Photos by me using my iPhone 6s, unless stated otherwise!
Badges by @daddykirbs and @allforthegood!
I love this kind of post. Gives me a proper chance to live vicariously. I hope the quail eggs hatch once you incubate them.
May I ask why you post a photo at the end of your posts with the date? I'm very new and curious :)
So, when I started I saw a lot of people doing this, and something said to do it when I started too. But check this out: https://steemit.com/faq.html#Am_I_required_to_verify_my_identity - basically it's verifying who I am. :) it's not required, but I think people like it. Haha that and then I have to make sure I'm not looking like a raggamuffin everyday!
Great idea for the weekly update - interesting to watch progress on homesteads from other parts of the world.
Thanks! Maybe a new tag is in order?? Hmmm
I like this idea of a weekly update. More eggs...I am so happy for you! :) Magnolia trees are my favorite so think of me when you plant it. LOL! I will be so happy to hear when you hatch your first quail. :)
I hope I can keep up with it, the weekly updates! It's a pretty easy post to write, which is so needed on Sundays!
They are?! That's awesome! This one even had a flower that smelled great!
I'm looking forward to the quail chicks!
Eeeeeeep, me too!!
I was just thinking about how to better use time and what to post when. Weekly updates are a great idea and a good meaty read on a Sunday (Monday). All these funny chicken breed name are too cute! What's with the rubber egg, no shell thing?
Awesome! Hopefully there's always something for me to post then! Haha sometimes it's boring around here.
I have a post in the works about the no shell/rubber eggs! :) stay tuned!
Amazing, I love these temples.
@farmstead
That's some nice scenery in the background of the first 3 pictures.
You've got the green egg, now you just need the ham. :-)
You know what? I read somethingt hat said you could feed the chickens somethingt hat would make the yolk green and everything?? I of course cannot remember now... It was a type of plant! Haha
The scenery, Central Oregon is beautiful!
Definitely a must do!
I love reading your posts and a weekly update could put me on track for being more productive!
I remember one time when we had about 3 dozen chickens and they were ALL producing daily! My son would go to the next town over (they had an outdoor farmer's auction and flea market) every Monday and he'd sell ever extra dozen of eggs we had. *he got to keep half the profits so he hustled his butt for the best price
WOw that's awesome! I'm not sure with regulations here if I can go and sell my eggs at the farmers market or not. :/ stupid laws. But I hope to do some selling of them for sure!
If you can't sell them, find a way to trade them for something! That's usually an easy way out, as they can't regulate it. Or can they?
Haha. Maybe. It's hard, I've got no real acquaintances out here... I guess that comes with time. Haha.
I don't know if i may or may not ...but did you have a rough day under the sun....
Yesterday was a real hot day it was miserable and my air conditioner could not keep up with the heat enough to keep it cool in the house! Ugh!
I feel your misery .... we have total black out like 8 hours straight in one day each day....
Haha are you talking about nighttime??
Yes we deserve to be laughed at........haha
No it's shift's you don't know when you're turn is......night , day why do you think i don't show up on steemit that often. .....black outs. Loss of electricity
Ooooh, I had no idea! Hahah. I'm sorry. Wow. That's crazy. If money weren't an issue, could you invest in solar power to assist with that?
No we have a diesel generator , we bought it before the currency devalued.. haha ....i don't know if i can say we are used to it .
Sorry I have to go now...... well pick it up later.
Great idea! With so many projects it's really nice to see all of them summed up on a weekly basis. It puts things into context. Plus, you can link all your articles you've written during the week, as you are doing with the bestie chicken and the quail pen.
How do the geese like their pool? Do they use it a lot?
Thanks!
I've seen them in it a couple times. But it's been so hot, I think they're even preferring the shade! Haha.