The Morning Haul

All Ready!

The coop is all ready.

And our girls have arrived! I had hoped to get some pictures of them this afternoon after they settled in, but we've been having some wicked storms roll in. We will let them in the coop for about a week so that they establish it as their new home. They're comfortable enough to have laid 2 eggs this afternoon!

Check back for more pics!

Busy!

Happy Memorial Day! I know I've been a little quiet lately. Things are getting insane lately! Garden is going in, chickens are coming this week, a swing set is being constructed, windows are being cleaned, and we have some out of town company this week. I'll update with some pictures of the garden this week - hopefully tomorrow as long as the weather holds!

How's your garden coming along?

Meet Butter

The construction chick! We had Butter and Amelia out for some playtime tonight with the kids and I was able to snap this picture of Butter hanging out on one of Kole's machines.

CSA Wednesday

Each week gets better and better, let me tell you! Fish Hawk Acres offers such a wonderful CSA. This week was lots of greens, granola, fresh shiitake mushrooms, French breakfast radishes, spring onions, and potatoes. When the eating is good, it's good!

Almost Ready!

I got a message over the weekend from my friend who is giving us her hens that the neighbor's dogs are trying to get her chickens. Obviously, the sooner we get them out, the better! We have a few things to finish up before they can come stay - namely, finish installing the windows, build roosts, complete the nest boxes, and put the litter on the floor. I think we will use sand.

Speaking of the windows, my dad made us some windows out of security glass from when he used to work on prisons. It's some serious glass, 9/16" thick. Dan has them placed, but they need the final install.

Chip and Dale had to join me for their feline inspections. I'm surprised Dale made the trip down! He's 28 pounds of big orange cat and he doesn't like to venture too far. It looks like they approve, though!

Thanks Craigslist!

We've been on the lookout for a dehydrator for a few months now. One of Kole's favorite snacks is dried mango, but it is so hard to find without a bunch of added sugar. And when you do find it, it can be pricey. We thought if we found a dehydrator, we could buy a bulk pack of mangoes and voilà, Kole's favorite snack!

I noticed an ad on Craigslist for a "like new" dehydrator, but kept forgetting to call. The other day, when I was out, I finally called. The man who owned had used it twice for jerkey and hadn't used it in a number of years. I brought it home, cleaned it up, and plugged it in. It works! And the best part? It was only $10. Score one for being thrifty.

Now we are thinking of all kinds of things to dehydrate. When blueberries are in season and we go to the pick your own farms, we are going to stock up and dehydrate. Apples in the fall. Yum!

What about you?  Do you have something that you love to dehydrate?