Mid April Happenings on the farm!

So remember the three turkeys that were sitting?  Well the first group has hatched.  This is the momma hen that was in the blackberries in the front yard and out of 14 eggs, she hatched out 11.  They follow her around the yard everywhere.  They are very cute!

This would be momma hen sitting on all her chicks to keep them warm.  They wander a little bit and then rest and wander and rest all day long.

The other two hens are still sitting, so hopefully in the next week we should have more.  They were sitting on the same nest together with 26 eggs in it.  Not sure how they are going to decide whose chick is whose, but we shall see.

These are the covers Robert made for the raised beds so mom and I could plant the tomatoes!  They have  breathable covers on them that let sunlight and water through but keep it warmer underneath.  Fabulous job as always Rob!

This would be the view under the tunnel.  Tomato plants galore with lettuce on the left side.  The lettuce was started from the cut bottoms of organic leaf lettuce purchased at the grocery store, put in water overnight and then planted!!!

This would be the asparagus bed the second year of being here.  Lots of new asparagus to be picked.

These are the garlic bulbs planted last fall.  In the front is the early garlic and behind that is the late season garlic.

This is the celery, again purchased organic celery at the store, cut off the bottom, soaked in water overnight and then planted.  They are starting to grow!  yay!  There are also leeks and onions from last year in the bed!

These are the chicks we hatched out from the incubator on February 22.  They are in the chicken tractor and doing very well.

These are the chicks we hatched out on April 6.  They are not fully feathered, but love to be outside pecking at the grass and then huddle under the light to stay warm.

I purchased a manual meat grinder and we ground up chicken (from two roosters we butchered) and turkey (from the first Mr. Tom that was in the freezer and the two hens we just butchered also).  It worked fabulous!  Was very easy to use and not too much work.  I just ordered the food processor attachments to do everything an electric food processor would do, cut, slice, julienne, make bread crumbs, et cetera.  It should be here the end of this week!!!

Kara went with her friend Noelle to the Huskies softball game Saturday afternoon.  She had a great time and said the Husky mascot was fun!

So Liam's team had its second tournament this last weekend in Wenatchee.  Sun yay, but still cold, as I was bundled up, but did get nice color on my face.  Anyway, Liam pitched in the first game.   These are short videos of him pitching.

Anyway, all is great on Shelley Hill Farm.  We are now getting about 12-14 eggs a day from the 21 hens we have, though there might actually be more as the new Buff Orpingtons and Light Brahmas get creative with their laying places, so we may not have found them all.  We did sell the R1 and R2, Rachel's kids.  Monica had her kids, triplets, however unfortunately, none of them survived.  Not sure what went wrong.  The first and third born never took a breath and the second survived for a day.  So darn.  Monica, Rachel and Phoebe are fine, however.  Still not sure if Phoebe is pregnant or not, as she was bred later than the other two.

Anyway, have a good one!

Happy April Fool's!!!

Happy April!  Things have been wet, windy, and very rarely sunny up here the past month.  Feel like the ground is just soooooo soggy and wet.  Very, very ready for the rain to back off for a little bit.

Below is the first time I have ever used a pressure cooker.  Tried a pork roast and it turned out fabulous if I do say so myself!  lol

This would be the recipe I used.

And here is the finished product with homemade herb bread!  yummers!

So I am still knitting and finished a pair of fingerless gloves last weekend.  They turned out wonderful.  Nice yarn, merino wool and silk.

So we had a surprise 70th birthday party for mom, who is modeling her hat, neck scarflet and the finger gloves from above that I made.  She had a great time!  Was surprised when her friends showed up so I guess I pulled it off!  It was a wonderful day sunny and nice!

The same day was the BBQ for Rob's birthday and here is the family picture from that day of Rob, his sisters and mom.

So I started some sourdough and am going to try making bread using this from now on.  Along with pancakes and such.  Put it in a half gallon jar and it's now in the back fridge waiting to be used.

The three midget white hens have laid their eggs and are sitting now.  The eggs should start to hatch in the next two weeks, I think.  Not sure the exact day they started to sit, and they take about 4 to 5 days longer than chicken eggs to hatch.

Below, two of the hens decided to sit together on 24 eggs.  Rob and I are wondering how they will split them up when they hatch.  I guess we will see.

And below the other hen is sitting on 14 eggs in the blackberries in the front right of the yard.  Total, that would be a lot of turkeys if they all hatch, but we will see.

Kara made the SHS Varsity softball team and plays third base.  She is having a great year and lots of fun with her teammates.  This is here below in her ready position as the pitcher pitched the ball.

And finally for today, I made aebleskivers this morning on my new cast iron pan.  They were awesome!!!  Didn't stick or anything and talk about yummy!  

Had mine with raspberry/blackberry jam.

And here is the recipe I used below.  I did add one teaspoon vanilla which was a great touch.  Perhaps adding cinnamon or cardamom would be nice also.

Have a super duper day!!!