It's Monday which means our chicks are
yet another week old, 6 to be exact! Here's what's been going on
since our last post.
Thanksgiving
After missing an entire year of
holidays at home, it was really nice to jump back into the
traditions. We spent Thanksgiving Day in Little Rock with the England
family and friends, enjoying a large bird and other delicious foods.
We made the Friday morning trek to Camden and spent the weekend with
the Knight family, enjoying more large bird and other delicious
foods. I think most of all we were thankful for being home and
spending time with family, and for large birds and other delicious
foods.
This holiday also inspired us to
consider growing—you guessed it—large birds! Be on the look out
next November for your very own, farm fresh, free range, turkey! All
proceeds will benefit the Camp Mitchell Farming Project.
Winter
The early visit from Father Winter
encouraged us to stay inside and do paper work. We finished a grant
application for a hoop house and are currently working on two other
opportunities 1) that will enable us to support volunteers and 2)
that will support us on a individual/personnel basis. We avoided
B-cabin fever by escaping to take pictures and bake bread.
Chickens
 |
| A Hamburg on my head.. |
As I mentioned, our birds are 6 weeks
old today. They have consumed over 65lbs (the weight of a small child, circa first grade?) of feed so far and a few of
them are getting personal. Which is what I call their desire to be
close to me/in my way when I clean their brooder. One Little Miss
likes to fly/jump on me and explore the specks on my shirt and hat.
Also, since more of their feathers and combs have developed, I was
able to identify one of the “hamburgs” as a Sicilian Buttercup. I
believe she is the only one of her kind and the other seven are in
fact Hamburgs.
Work Weekend
We had our first official work group
this past weekend. The Knight and Lapicz family worked with us on
Saturday. It was pretty miserable and cold but we were able to put up
all our fence posts, finish sifting potting soil for the greenhouse,
weed and thin all our garden beds, and clear limbs on the north
side/farm side. On Sunday, we made lots of progress with Coop
Mitchell: the floor is complete, laying boxes are installed, windows
are cut and covered, and the roost is finished. All that lacks for
the coop is a screen door on the front and a paint job! Doug and Kathryn turned our compost pile. Our friend
Kevin also joined us and did an awesome job fixing up our hoops for
row cover. Our beds are no longer dependent on the bottle...
Work Weekend, to come!
We will have another work group this
coming weekend to clean up the north side/farm side land. A dumpster
will be on site, as well as a thermos of hot chocolate. We still have
room for a few more people, if you are interested in joining. We will
begin work by 9am Saturday morning and work through the day. If you
are willing and able, you can stay the night and continue work with
us on Sunday. Lodging and meals provided! Just comment here or email
me, jennyknight924@gmail.com
if you'd like!
If we don't post until then,
