~ 43 ~ Walk With Me Around The Homestead

in #walkwithme7 years ago

It Was A Miserable Day To Go Walking...

Which is fine because I had work to do around here :) So come with me today for a look around the Bowes place ...

IMG_1753.JPG

"The Queen" is pondering if she is going to go lay an egg or not. Even though our chickens have 6 nesting boxes to lay eggs in, they all pick the same spot every day, they'll pile together 2 or 3 at a time laying. And then the next come and take their turn. They're sooooo cute :)

IMG_1751.JPG

We have to plug in the chicken water feeder now, it keeps the water thawed, most nights are dipping below freezing.

IMG_1752.JPG

You can see the ground is just pure mud after all the rain we were getting. Around the chicken run/coop, muck boots are necessary.

IMG_1734.JPG

Kiedis and Stryder sure enjoyed the weather today when it wasn't raining. It was very warm out in comparison to some of the cold days we've been getting. That's what it's like in St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia in the winter, you're happy for the rainy days because when it rains, it means warmth.

IMG_1739.JPG

Shorts on November 19th is pretty good for Canada, I <3 Nova Scotia

And because the weather is going to be staying fairly warm...

I'm doing my final watering in the big greenhouse. I have a few perennials in there that are getting pretty dry.

IMG_1749.JPG

Strawberries. I also have little mini greenhouses on them, it's not so that they keep growing, it's for protection against my crazy chickens! I let the chickens in the greenhouses in the winter, they dust bath in there and can be out of the freezing rain on bad days. I didn't protect my perennials last year and the chickens managed to kill quite a few...oops...Live and Learn.

IMG_1746.JPG

You can see there is a lot of dead vegetation around. No I won't be cleaning it up, I leave it there for the chickens to work at during the winter, as they scratch it all away to reveal more dirt to have dust baths in LOL! Plus, I've heard it's better to leave your gardens in and let them rot, not to remove it until before planting. It apparently helps the soil, and certain bugs live in the stalks overwinter too.

IMG_1736.JPG

Another strawberry plant I protected today, you can see dust bathing holes very very close to the plant! Eeek I got there just in time. You can also see how dry the garden beds were, the next photo is after its soak.

IMG_1745.JPG

Have a good winter little strawberry plant, I promise I won't let the chickens kill you or your friends again this winter.

IMG_1747.JPG

Chives

Assassinated The Raspberry Infestation

IMG_1743.JPG

I had this huge raspberry plant going wild in the greenhouse, I thought it would be a nice volunteer...but it totally knew no bounds and took over the greenhouse last summer. Today...I got my revenge LOL. Dug the whole thing out where I could, and hacked the rest of it up. You really gotta watch who you let into your greenhouse...Lesson Learned.

IMG_1744.JPG

I used the raspberry canes to help protect another bed because I ran out of those little greenhouses LOL! I laid a thorny trap all over my thyme, rosemary and oregano, just try dust bathing in that chickens! Mua hahahhahaaa
total evil laughter...

IMG_1741.JPG

We'll be doing our final picking of carrots pretty soon, the forecast looks good still, so I can procrastinate on that for a while yet :)

IMG_1740.JPG

The Forecast

For anyone wondering what I mean by 'warm weather', you do have to remember I grew up in a place where you got snowed on in October and that shit didn't leave sometimes until April. I grew up in a place that has had -30 C weather already this year...

Screen Shot 2017-11-19 at 9.04.41 PM.png

In Celsius

Screen Shot 2017-11-19 at 9.04.58 PM.png

And a translation for my American friends :)

The Gals Are Now Heading To Bed

They start putting themselves to sleep about an hour before sundown. That's 4pm here right now...thanks 'daylight savings time'. Ya coont.

IMG_1755.JPG

Excuse the crappy photos, it was really dark in the coop and I wasn't stabilizing my camera very well.

IMG_1754.JPG

Inside For Dinner

@Hendrix22 made his famous chilli tonight, perfect for a dismal day...

IMG_1765.JPG

Yes that's sour cream in there, don't judge me lol!

Thank you for coming on another "WalkWithMe" I hope you enjoyed today's shots! I'd like to go on a walk where you live too, so if you get out there for one, take a few pics, and post about your walk using the tag "walkwithme". I'll check the tag regularly to upvote and give encouragement. Let's get fresh air and fitness together!

Check out the latest walks by fellow Steemians who got out there in the world, and took us with them!

See life through their eyes.

Walk With Me In Denver # 13 By @phoenixwren

#BeautifulSunday # WalkWithMe Indian Garden at Gardens By the Bay By @ace108

Away from keyboard #12. Sunny day in the middle of November By @reinikaerrant

Farmshare Appreciation Gathering By @jerryt

IMG_1760.JPG

Sort:  

I think I see eggs.
Cool. I see plants cover. Is it because of the frigid weather ?
Keep on steemit and homesteading.

We are about to begin getting snowy weather yes. The plant covers are to keep the chickens from scratching the roots up though.

The weather is dreadful here today as well.
There is nothing better on a shitty day than a big plate of chilli!
I could eat that now and it's 08:00am here 😂
Yummy.

Oooh sorry to hear about the weather, I guess that's gonna be our conversations for the next 4 months....dreadful dreadful dreadful...and lots of hot food!!

Was nice out walking with you. I've about wrapped up the outside things and have begun my hibernation for the winter. One more trip to the outside for supplies and then simply time to move to the indoor activities while we wait...wait.....wait....for spring. Thank you @lyndsaybowes for the walk.

Waiting for the spring, yes I hear ya. I'm looking forward to a good ol hibernation, to take a break from all the fussing over the gardens.

Are you still getting many eggs? We're down to one or two a day now from our 12 hens.

I learnt an interesting fact recently - it takes 14 hours of cumulative daylight for a hen to produce an egg. I guess that means when day length is down to 7 hours it will take two days for an egg to form.

I wonder if this is true or internet myth...

We have a light on in the winter to give them 15 - 16 hours of light. Around here, the winter sun is only up for 7 3/4 hours which is not even close to being enough. Without the extra light, they will stop laying eggs and wait for spring! Chickens are photosensitive. The industrial system takes advantage of this and puts the chickens through two days (light and dark) within a 24 hour period. They do this so that they can raise a broiler from chick to dinner plate in 31 days. Absolutely gross and disgusting.

Thank you for this extra information. I may well try a light. That would certainly be better than buying eggs again.

Some people do keep a light on in the coop all the time to keep egg production going through the winter. We don't do that, we let nature take its course. We are still getting a lot of eggs, and I hear that's because most of our layers are pullets (just started laying).

I have wondered about having them inside with lights. But I have read that it interferes with hormones so not so sure about that.

Ours are all coming up to retirement I think soon - 4, 5, 6 years old. Hoping to breed some chicks next year to replenish the flock.

Oooh wow, older gals for sure, yes that must be why we are still getting so many eggs. I have heard from other farmers too that chickens only have a certain amount of eggs in them to lay in their lives, so if you do pump them all out in the first few years (using artificial lights), they will die young, or just not lay at all after year 3.

I have old hens that lay the odd egg even after 6 years old. But I think you are right, they have a finite amount of eggs, just like human bodies do. They reach menopause too!

Awww, bless your old menopausing Hennies! xoxoox

hahahahaha

Fantastic post Lyndsay!
I never really thought about it before but free range chickens would love to eat small tender shoots. Great idea to cover your strawberry plants from the hens. ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by Rebecca! I see you all had your first snowfall <3 <3 <3 Stay warm M'Lady!!

thank you for sharing your walk I think Im going to try doing one hope you will look at mine when i do,

I sure will, I check the tag quite frequently, and I'd love to see your walk!

Lol @ shorts and a hoodie.. we dress like that in Colorado too... although it looks like it gets much colder there.. no thanks..

@Hendrix22 that chili looks bomb..

No judgement about the sour cream... but where's the wood?

Hhahaaa!! Busted for no wood!!! Oooh the failure is washing over me....

You'll just have to do double next time..

I like those mini green houses. I never seen them sold at our hardware stores.

They are really handy, I've had them for years now. My husband saw them in the dollar store!

Looks like a pretty good day to me, I can't wait to start our new place so we can have chickens again, Thank you Lyndsay for the shout out.

You're very welcome, I hope you post some more of your adventures soon!

Thanks for sharing your day, some great tips with plants and chickens.
What cool weather, the chill must be hot the boys are all in tshirts.
It's funny as it's so hot over here right now and seeing your dinner table pic then going back up and seeing them all rugged up out side do you guys get four seasons in one day like we do in New Zealand?

We always keep the inside of the home nice and toasty warm :) 4 seasons in one day, sure, some of the year, but I assure you in these months they are very cold 4 seasons a day lol, there's rain, snow, sleet and some sun :)

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.16
TRX 0.17
JST 0.029
BTC 69505.86
ETH 2493.71
USDT 1.00
SBD 2.54