Post Hurricane Isaac

Well we made it through the storm with little more then A LOT of rain and wind. My weekend garden plans were washed out though.  When I got home from work Friday we worked outside getting ready for the storm and trying to finish the run for the new girls. I weeded the garden and stored some "fly-able" items. Even though we have a 6' fence around the most of the yard things can still fly when the winds are kickin'.

We did however take lots of photos of crops, chickens and progress. In no particular order here is what we have.

Cabbage 1

Cabbage 2

Squash

New Tomatoes

The cabbage and squash are from the first planting - The cabbage both have larger then softball sized heads, the broccoli has not done much but gotten bigger.  The tomatoes are about three weeks old.

Herb Wall

I hung all my herb buckets on the fence.

New run 

Run side and front

Run

B is making a new run for the new girls so they can be outside next to Carrie and Miranda.

Carrie and Miranda

Here are some pictures of Jenny and Moe and Snow:

Jenny and Snow

Jenny and Moe

Jenny and Moe

Jenny (Silkie) Snow (front) and Moe

Also a picture of Jenny and Abby the day before Abby's passing 

Abby in the Front and Jenny behind her

And last but not least the last pictures of our wet weekend.  B made spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. I was in charge of getting fresh herbs for the sauce, so armed with scissors and my rain coat I made a mad dash for the herb wall. 

Basil, Parsley and Oregano

And the simmering sauce:

SAUCE!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe one day the sauce will be made with our own home grown tomatoes!  Oh a girl can dream.  Once the weather dries a bit I will be in that garden, not that a soaker system is needed currently.

The eggs are all doing as expected.  Today is day 4. Tomorrow night ~ CANDLING!!!!!!!  With my nifty spifty Ovascope.

Chicken Hatching - Part II

Today I sat my second set of eggs in my Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance EX incubator I also have the Brinsea Humidity Pump.

I ordered from My Pet Chicken on August 16, 2012.  My order included six (6)  Blue Silkies and six (6) Buff Orpingtons.  The folks at My Pet Chicken are ALWAYS so helpful and ready to help with any questions or concerns. The also always include an extra egg with each different egg breed order.  They send them Priority USPS in a box well packed with paper filler and the eggs are in egg cartons (what else would you put eggs in??) and individually wrapped in paper towels. So I sat a total of fourteen (14) eggs this morning. When I had my seeping creeping disaster last sitting I emailed them and they responded instantly. I cannot imagine ordering from anyone else.

Eggs arrived safe and sound

I opened the box and the cartons and let them sit for 12 hours as is recommend.  When it got dark last night I busted out my new Super Duper Brinsea Ovascope egg candler/viewer.  This little number is A~M~A~Z~I~N~G!!!!  You thought a dark room and a flash light were all you needed?  Pishaw.......... This thing gives you a magnified view, has a turning mechanism and hold onto your gadget hats.......An optional camera/computer hook up!!!!!  Yes folks you can hook it up and record what you see. Who may I ask NOT LOVE THAT??

Blue Silkies up front and Buff Orpingtons in the rear

Twenty One (21) days from today is September 13, 2012! I am so excited, I hope to be able to track and record more this time because I am not as nervous about the whole thing.

Lid on and temps and RH% rising

I believe that each time I do this I will learn a bit more and be more and more confident in my egg hatching abilities.

Humidity does drop really fast in just seconds/minutes.

B should be finishing the coop extension for the Jenny, Moe and Snow today, so they will be outside all weekend doing what chickens do.  BE CUTE!!!! He is building a Mack Daddy run addition so the three girls can be outside, and be near Carrie and Miranda so they get used to each other BEFORE we have to put them together.  He is also putting a fence and gate up to seclude the side yard to keep our doggies out, not so much for the chicken's safety but to keep the dog poops away from the darn door to the coop.  Yes, they seem to like to poop right there!

In an effort to have a larger coop that allows for easier cleaning and of course more chickens I ordered this beauty Horizon Coop Kit with Run. Since we are in South Florida the shipment of the coop relies on when a truck is coming this way. {insert thumbing twiddling here}. We are really hoping it arrives and we can assemble before the newest chicks are ready to leave the brooder.

On the garden front, I am planting my new seeds this weekend as this is the time for South Florida gardens.

I found this great Florida planting guide from Florida Backyard Vegetable Gardener.  Here is her website .

I ordered some seeds from her as she grows them specifically for Florida gardening. California Woner Bell Peppers, A&C Pickling/Slicing Cucumbers and Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans.  I also ordered some seeds from Burpee. Burpees Ambrosia Hybrid Cantaloupe, Snowbird Peas, Jack O' Lantern Pumpkins, Burpee Hybrid Summer Squash Zucchini, Burpee's Butterbush Winter Squash, Ruby Watermelon and Bonanza Hybrid Broccoli.

One of the problems I identified almost immediately was keeping the garden beds watered enough. This time around I have revamped my system.  This weekend I will (Hurricane weather providing) be re-painting the boxes, I know that really has no bearing on the actual growing but if a garden looks good that has to be part of the battle.  I am taking weather allowable screws and putting them on the insides of the boxes at one foot (1') increments and tying green garden strings across to make actual "square foot" garden spaces. Last time around I had stuff in willy nilly and was unable to plant as much as I wanted.  I also learned that ALL climbing cages or systems NEED to be in place PRIOR to planting seeds, otherwise you have stuff growing all over the place and once you try and put up a cage after the plant is established the plant usually suffers.  And no one wants that!

I am also putting in my new Drip Watering System.  I ordered two (2) I have three (3) double beds.  So in actuality I have six (6) 4X4 squares. So it is three (3) boxes with two (2) separate 4X4 each. If I was reading that I would be all blah blah blah on each number!!! Anyway my point is, I may be ordering more sets of Drip Systems.  I have two empty 4X4's right now that I will put drip systems in this weekend and then plant seeds.  Another defense against extreme dryness is mulch.  So, paint boxes, screw and string square foot sections, put in drip systems, test said drip systems, remove said drip systems, plant seeds, mulch, re-install drip systems and then do my happy garden dance.

I have read that water on the leaves is no good, dripping the water slowly at the base is the best way to prevent leave rot. Desiree says this about watering and some other great tips for Florida gardeners.

So come back and check in on the chicken progress!!!!

Hey lady where have you been?????

I really do not know!

Last week we decided to put the silkies outside during the day, near the Amerucanas, so that we could start the get together! Tragedy struck within hours, in my attempt to provide shade and protection, I created what turned out to be a HUGE problem.  The rains came, the water pooled, the sides of the temporary play pen lifted and the girls went free ranging.  In theory it was awesome, great, a treat for them.  In practical life, B left the dogs out before checking on the silkies and they fled for their lives.  Our dogs are not mean at all but thought "play toys" and went running, one of the girls froze and was trampled.  The other ran behind the shed and was rescued by B and our electrician.  He really had no idea chicken wrangling was going to be in his day!
I was at work, B was so sad for how I would react, but we talked it through and he convinced me to NOT give up on the chickens.  I immediately called our local feed store and asked if they had any babies because I knew one silkie was not going to make it long on her own and she is to small to put in with Carrie and Miranda.  They had chicks but not ready for two days.  Time.crept.by.

B said we will be out front when they open and we will get two new chicks for Jenny. They had Amerucanas just like Carrie and Miranda! We picked out two, one I am sure is NOT an Amerucana as she is pure yellow.  Moe and Snow are the new girls.  Moe because she looks like she has a mohawk and snow because she is all yellow (snow white) I know yellow - white it doesn't quite work but hey Moe and Snow rhyme.

I was nervous putting these two little babies in with Jenny but had no other choice.  They all would thrive or not.  Everyone froze and I decided to walk away.  A few minutes later I went to check on them and OMGOSH ~ Jenny had her wings open as wide as she could get them and she is wiggling down on top of Moe and Snow.  Just like a mommy hen would do.  I was crying tears of joy when I saw that, I knew it was going to be OK! And every time I check on them or feed them Jenny is on top of one or the other. She is such a good mommy.  And here I thought for sure she was a he!

Chicks, Crops and grand baby

Wow, where did the Summer go?  Here in South Florida it has been hot, hot, hot! We can hardly stay outside all day working unless the work involves the pool.  The chickens are doing great with the heat.  When it is super hot I put a frozen water bottle in their water so they have a nice treat.  I even hung some frozen water bottles so they had chicken a/c.

Jennifer in the foreground
Abby behind

Jennifer and Abby (Silkies) have been spending days outside in their playpen with lots of shade and water.  They love the grass and pecking around to see what they can find.

The garden has not been to successful, the heat of the summer is not a good time to plant most things.  This being my first year, I knew it was trial and error.  We had some cherry tomatoes, but quickly found out they split and got soft fast, even in a day. On Saturday I pulled out the tomatoes.  I also pulled out the sugar peas, they burned up so fast, I think I picked 5 good peas.  Hardly enough for a meal, well a chicken meal yes. 

Beets August 4, 2012

I did pull the beets Saturday, I do not eat them so I am waiting for B to let me know how they are.

Abby in her brooder with their practice roost

This summer has been a joy with my new grandson! We spend a lot of time together.  He likes looking at the chicks and loves the dogs!

Kayden in his bouncer

Kayden and his best buddy Brody!