FRESH, FRESH, FRESH

In Ohio you always know when planting season and warmer weather is on the way.  The asparagus and rhubarb starts popping up and the herbs revitalize.  And low and behold this past week it finally happened.  Nicky and I leave several of our herbs in the ground over winter because they have no problem coming back in the spring.  Sage, onion chives, garlic chives, horseradish and thyme.  I did manage to keep the Italian parsley and spearmint alive in pots inside the house this winter. 

As far as the garden goes it is getting closer and closer to putting everything in the ground.  We already have the peas (which are about 2-3 inches tall), lettuce and arugula in the ground and coming up.  Very soon the beets and onions will go in.  After that tomatoes, squash, zucchini, corn, peppers, cantaloupe, green beans, sugar snap peas and anything else I happen to find at a nursery that I want to try. 

I can't wait for all this stuff to come up and start producing!!

UPDATE: The electric fence is working wonderful for the chickens.  I did order 8 more step in foot post for support.  If you have flat ground they would not be necessary.  Occasionally we have a bantam chicken or two escape through a small opening at the beginning of the fence next to the coop but overall they seem to not mind the confinement.  The first couple of days my egg production did decrease but with in a week we were back to normal.

Last but not least..... PEOPLE get out there and plant something!! It does not have to be anything huge.  Pick one thing you like having fresh and plant one next to the house or even in a pot.  If you do plant something leave me a comment below about what you are planting this year. 

Trial and Error...or shall I say SHOCK!

Many of you already knew we were preparing to install an electric fence around the coop.  The main reason is to keep the chickens from destroying the garden.  The second reason was to deter predators around the coop so the chickens can come in and out a bit more freely.  After rain, work, more rain, two trips to the hardware store, and four calls to Kencove we finally managed to completely install the electric poultry netting that we got from Kencove.com.  I am giving them a shout out because every time I have called and had questions they were extremely helpful.  

In the end I ordered:

• 165' of electric poultry netting
• Kencove 1 joule Dual Purpose energizer
• Quick Ground Rod
• Insulated Cable (to run from fence to building)
• 4 Extra Net Post - for additional support
• 3 packs of anchor stakes
• 1 Jumper lead clip to connect underground wire to fence
• 1 Ground rod clamp to connect wire to ground rod
• Voltage tester

This fence went up so easy for it to be our first time.  AND if we knew more about electrical work it probably would not have taken more than an hour to complete the assembly from start to finish!! We wanted to bury the cable from the coop to the building that was housing the energizer which added a little more work.  You can just hook up a battery to the energizer as well but we preferred an outlet.

After all was said and done we were quite happy!! We opened the coop and let the chickens out into their new fenced territory to see what happened.  At first they were just happy to get out of the coop and get some treats. Then they decided to flutter around and get all worked up and one Hen did manage to fly out.  Once they all calmed back down it was exploration time.  They would creep close to the fence and peck around and then get curious about the fence and peck at it... only to realize OUCH that was not cool!! 

In this video the white Hen touches the fence with her comb and runs in to opposite direction and shakes it off!!

Long story short it is working. I think over the next few days they will realize the amount of respect they should have for the fence.  My one and only concern is when they get spooked they do attempt to fly to safety/cover. Hopefully they will learn to go back into the coop instead.  I guess it is a waiting game at this point. 

Spring has SPRUNG!!

Wow, what a beautiful day here in Ohio.  Makes me want to lay outside in the sun.  Not only am I enjoying this nice sunny weather but so are the Chickens.  They are not going to pass up a chance to get a nice DUST bath in for the day.  Yes, I said dust bath. It may sound a bit ironic but chickens take dust baths to stay clean and mite/lice free.  Basically they attempt to bury themselves as much as possible by flapping their wings and scratching their feet in the dirt.  Then once they are done with the dusting they stand up and shake and flap till all the dust comes off.  After you watch the video you are probably thinking... there is no way that white chicken will be white after rolling in all that dirt???  However I promise you if I was to take a picture of that same chicken later today you would have no clue she doused herself in dirt earlier today!!

Tomorrow's project... Electrified poultry netting for the chickens because yes it is gardening season and last year they had their way with it. NOT this year!!! I did not even get one cantaloupe last year because of my feathered friends.  So much to my disappointment I have to rope'em in for a bit.  That being said I am giving them more than enough space to roam about outside to eat their bugs and grass.

Have a GREAT day and if it is nice in your part of the WORLD (yes I have readers from around the world) GET OUTSIDE!!!!

Happy SPRING!!!

SO much....so little time!

So much to talk about this week I almost don't know where to start.  Maybe I will just lay it all out there.
First, I got new nesting boxes (for the ladies) for my B-day and although they are not actually in the coop they are put together and look fantastic!!! Thanks Mom!

6 Hole Front Roll-Out Nest box

Second, Nicky and I sent a GIGANTIC mixer (5 gallon bowl) to get painted and after 9 months we finally got it back. He is like a kid in a candy store when he can play with big kitchen equipment!

Why would we paint a mixer you ask??? That was the marital deal... must be painted and cleaned before coming into the house.  This thing is huge. It used to be used at an Elementary School in town and Nicky had to have it.  He can now make more pasta, bread and pizza dough easier/faster so it was worth it.

Making Pasta

So needless to say we (Nicky) have been busy. We made a ton of different pasta and stored it in the freezer and we also have some amazing bread. 

And for any of you bread and butter lovers out there I have quite the treat for you!! Amish Roll Butter.  That's right a big huge chunk of DELISH fat/lard/cream whatever you want to call it. It is great on homemade bread. It comes in one huge log. We prefer to slice the roll and then put the extra in the freezer. We can then just remove one piece at a time. 

As you can tell between chickens/Coop, work, helping Chef Nicky, and everything in between it was a fun filled week.  

Last but not least I am sure you're all on the edge of your seats wondering how the cleanse is going... we are currently in week two and as you can see from our dinner we have adopted the philosophy that it is all about balance!!!!

You know what I mean.  Eat homemade pizza then FLUSH it out with cabbage!!!