Cock-a-doodle-who??

Last weekend, just as I was waking up I heard a very strange sound coming from the backyard.  It sounded like a rooster crowing.  But wait - we don't have a rooster!  I thought, no - must be the ravens cawing and I'm just not awake yet.  But then there it was again - a sort of cackling, crowing, cockadoodling.  What the heck? 

Hal was up and clearly heard it as well.  "Who is that," is asked, already having my suspicions. "It's one of the barred rocks," he said.

Aha!  I knew it!  Henny has been a very bossy dominatrix lately and her antics have included mounting the other hens. I wasn't exactly certain of what was going on and just thought this was "pecking-order" behavior.  Well it is and it isn't. 

This very unusual behavior has now been confirmed by My Pet Chicken -- check out this link that describes this unusual, but not really uncommon behavior:  http://bit.ly/bfXZwF.

So, next time you hear a rooster crowing in your house of hens - you'll know what's going on.  We certainly know who wears the pants in our hen house! 

Hatch Day Happenings

What a happy Hatch Day we celebrated last week!  As you can see in the photo - the girls really enjoyed their polenta cake with cottage cheese "frosting."   Like any group of two-year-olds, they were soon covered in it and standing in it to boot! 

And as any good mother hen would do, I made sure that they didn't eat it all at once -- good to save some for later.

Our guests had a equally good time, if 12 bottles of wine amongst 10 people is any indication. You'll notice I'm not posting any of those photos!  

I did receive a fabulous Hatch Day gift from my good friends Sandy and Jack - check out our newest addition to the flock.  She's a heavy metal chick and sure looks great in the garden!

Speaking of the garden, we had our first salad of the season this week - baby arugula, mesclun, radishes and chives.  I tossed a packet of arugula and mesclun in a raised bed just before we left for vacation in April -- I'm so glad I did!  The rest of the cool crops are coming along - the kale, beets, chard, spinach and pak choi are still tiny sprouts; and the potatoes in barrels are popping up too!  My tomato starts are so tiny that I am going to buy plants from the farmer's market.  I'll be starting those tomatoes in February next year!   

Here are a few photos of my raised beds and a couple of "before and after" images from the garage project last summer.  Let me know how your garden is doing!

The old shed and the new garage!  Hot tub gone - chicken coop in its place!

             

Former and current garden space.

Hatch Day Cometh!

Preparations are well underway for the annual Hatch Day celebration at the Second Street Chicken Ranch! 

Tomorrow we're celebrating "Happy 2nd Hatch Day" for our girls - Henny, Penny, Harriett, Flame and Helen, who will officially turn two on Saturday. 

It's a garden party, so I've been on my knees all week weeding the perennial garden - or shall I say reclaiming the perennial garden. It's amazing how fast clover and grass can invade a garden; and the only (non-chemical) way to eliminate it is to dig, pull, dig, pull dig, pull. Ugh. I'm 3/4 through (and wishing I had a smaller flower garden!) but it's looking super with a fresh layer of bark mulch.  The cone flowers have been reseeding like weeds so the butterflies should have a delightful venue later this summer. 

The celebration highlight will be the gourmet polenta cake topped with an "icing" of cottage cheese and cracked corn sprinkles!  Yes, that is for the girls -- guest will be enjoying chicken wings and champagne! 

We will have a moment of silence for our dearly departed Buttercup - A #1 Top Producer - who keeled over just two weeks after her 1st hatchday.  I'm fairly certain our little Buttercup laid herself to death; but her memory lives on of the beautiful, huge brown eggs she produced for us everyday of her very good, but short life.  

No doubt we will have some fun and interesting photos to share.  If it is anything like last year, it will be a clucking good time!  Stay tuned...

The Season Begins...

Last Saturday was opening day for the Kootenai County Farmer's Market (http://www.kootenaicountyfarmersmarket.com/) - a day of much joy for me and many around the county.  The weather was fair; that is to say, we made it around and back to the truck before the rain started!  

I picked up a few tomato plants - a Sungold Cherry, a Black Pearl Cherry and a Juliet - which have been great producers in years past; and a new variety (at least to me) an orange fruited Golden Jubilee.  As I was paying for my plants the vendor stated "ahh, someone else who is going to torture plants!"  I assured him they would be spending their evenings in the gararge for at least another week!  

Since I'm also starting tomatoes from seeds, I need to temper myself when it comes to purchasing plants this year.  But, as I look at my tiny little starts, I'm wondering if they will ever be ready to transplant!  This is the first year I've attempted to start tomatoes from seeds.  So far, so good, but I think next year I better start in early March!  

I did find a fabulous source of heirloom seeds this year -- Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (http://www.rareseeds.com/).  They have a wonderful seed catalog with tons of non-GMO seed choices.  If you like looking at seed catalogs, this is one for you.  I ordered several types of seed and their shipping is just $3 - no matter how many seed packets you order!  That's the best deal I've found on shipping for seeds (unlike the nearly $10 Burpee wants to charge!). 

The tomato and peppers are looking good and I just put in spinach and lettuce.  I'll keep you posted on how grows! 

Chicks of a Different Feather

Last month we spent two wonderfully warm and sunny weeks in Mexico along the Pacific coast about 60 miles north of Puerto Vallarta.  We love exploring Mexico off the beaten path - you really see and learn so much more.  One of the best places to experience "real" Mexico is at town market.  These are usually held once a week around the town square.  No matter how small the town, they ALL have town squares or zocolos!   We were delighted to learn that a small community nearby had a weekly market.  So off we went!  

Their markets are very much like our farmer's markets - a place to buy and sell produce, meats and livestock, eat yummy food and talk with neighbors.  The market at La Penita had a fair amount of crafts and "tourist" trinkets given it was in a beach town -- but there were still plenty of locals stocking up on everything from tube socks to tools.  

As we made our way down the long row of tarp covered stalls we came upon this sight -- something I haven't seen in probably 40 years!   Dyed Chicks!   

I was stunned!  Of course I wanted one - if for no other reason than to rescue the poor thing from the heat!  Some may remember that at one time, chicks of a different color were available in the US.  Woolworth's and Kresges Five and Dimes (okay, I've dated myself!), used to sell colored chicks around Easter. 

In addition to these, the vendor had crates of "natural chicks," bunnies, duckling and puppies! 

Later while walking back through the market I saw a woman holding a clear plastic bag with a blue chick in it - it's tiny head sticking out of the top.  I'm pretty sure that blue biddy didn't make it back to the casa!

Around the corner we found this restaurant - roughly translated to "Chicken Little's."  I wondered if the colored pollito's were on the menu!!