Progress Continues at the Cockeyed Homestead

The rabbit hoop barn is complete. Finally! You can see it finished project on an upcoming video.

Now. it's on to the chicken enclosure.We have lost four hens so far. It greatly reduces our egg production. The decision to not free range our chickens any more was because of the loss. We will also be butchering four roosters this week. Having this many extra roosters means our hens are taking a

beating. When the back hoe pulled out the Spanish Bayonet, we found a clutch of almost three dozen eggs under it. One of the old New Hampshire Reds went broody a few months ago. I heard her under there but didn't have access to it. She later abandoned the nest. We could smell the results as the shovel end came down on the eggs. They were ripe.We still had a New Hampshire Red rooster when she went broody too. It's a shame she abandoned the nest, they are highly productive in eggs. Very friendly birds too, unlike our current chickens.

The handyman came about the ramp and deck to the storage unit. I still haven't heard when he can start this job. The plumber came and we got his estimate, but no work has started yet. We still haven't had any luck in locating an electrician. I've only called four so far.

The cockeyed garden has produced fairly well this year. I've canned three cases of green beans, frozen about two dozen, double servings of zucchini, eggplant, and breaded okra for frying. I'm still canning black eye peas and tomatoes. I've got about two cases of each so far. I've canned a case of peaches to supplement our frozen bags.This week, I found deer apples for $6 a case so I bought two. Not for deer, silly but for us. They aren't huge or pretty, but they are firm enough for apple pie filling and apple butter. The skins and cores go into the barrel for making apple cider vinegar, and then into the compost pile. Everything plays double or triple duty around here. Not a stellar produce year, but better than last year.

I've also put up some pints of cherry pie filling. I blame my need for cherry pie at Thanksgiving on my grandparents. My grandfather planted 14 cherry trees on their property. One for each child born. Two things we could count on every year in Nebraska...cherries and corn. Make that three. Rhubarb. My grandmother loved the stuff and to this day, I can't stand it.

The garden looks like a mess of weeds, but it's planned that way. Among the vegetable plants grow violets, herbs, plantain, lettuce, garlic, grasses the rabbits love, clover, potatoes, and a host of wild greens. All this green will be tilled in late fall. Yet another layer of cardboard, straw, rabbit and chicken manure, and a layer of compost will be added to the whole area to await spring planting. The worms will do their thing over winter leaving us a rich environment for growing. Each year the garden soil grows better and better.

I'm noticeably absent from the YouTube front. I'm doing a cooking video every two weeks rather than every week like I did last year. I'm too busy behind the scenes canning and freezing. I'm also cultivating relationships with other organic farmers in the area. What we don't grow they do and vice versa. We just don't have enough land to produce all of what we need. We are forming communities within communities and bartering to boot. I'm visiting farmers' markets, online forums, and such. I've even joined a homesteading blogging network. The exchange of information is so important. If I can build this blog to the status of my other one, I'll be in hog heaven.

That's it for this week...

Y'all have a blessed day!