life moves on

i am back

not going to worry about caps, punct., etc., instead focus on posting some pics and maybe a brief explanation of what is going on in pics of the farm as i go on here. things are going well and hope all is well with whoever is reading. i did have back surgery last july 14, th and still have problems getting around. the pros say it woul;d take a full year before i get a real sense of whether i am doing better or worse. sometimes i think it is better. but other times i have top reflect back to what normal should be and i am no way close to normal. but i keep moving on as life moves on. so on we go with the show.

this is the chicken hutch i built or i am in the process of building . all i have to do is build a chicken access door and finish hanging chicken wire , today's job. the idea is to get my free range chickens of which i now have 10 to lay in the hutch as opposed to all over the place. racy my new German shepherd is eating a lot of the eggs , and i need to limit her cholesterol intake and expand mine, she gets so many she poops a yellow stream , but does have a shiny coat if that is any consolation. i started this project in the winter and soon had frozen fingers i was beating on with a hammer trying to pound these tiny staples with my big fingers. i was frustrated so i gave up till i had a better attitude and could hold staples with pair of pliers, avoiding the sore fingers. i believe all the chickens are producing well and that would be 16 eggs /day. actually the chickens have been the best producer here on the farm . the cost of keeping them is minimum as compared to what they produce. the bees and berry vines are also good producers and trees have been good to me. although i still do hay , some greenhouse stuff. most of that stuff has low resale value and high labor. something i cant afford to pay. initially i started this blog years ago with the purpose of chronologically documenting my journey through small farming. i guess we will just have to see if i can back into writing enough to continue on. i have the time, i am rested. no excuse not to.

interior of chicken hutch.

exterior of chicken hutch , although i put an all weather roof on it, not sure if i want to locate inside the garage or outside. contemplated placing by house and hanging a feeder with laying mash and meal worms in it as the chickens love the meal worms.

mothers day baskets i made for mom yesterday

i re-hived the bees as i lost both hives to swarm or freezing. one lasted 2 years , and the other lasted 3 years. maybe i needed to re-queen, or whatever, and in looking back , i was bad in maintenance because i should have been working hives. and at same time i was headed for back surgery and recovery and could do nothing but hope for the best from the hives. i did mange to get honey off the second year and it was great. i have entered into an agreement witrh another beekeeper to help maintain hives and manage properly for half the honey. they have the extracting equipment and i have the hives and bees and perfect location to expand a natural honey operation here. hope it works out.

this is a basswood leaf cluster from one of my bass wood trees i grew from bare root sapling . the reason it is included here is because it is a premium carving tree when mature with expensive carving wood. also it looks like a nice yard tree with spreading branches and shade and what appears to be blooms appearing on the end of the branches this year as it matures. a couple of more days and i will have a better idea.

dogwoods blooming behind a maple in the woods.

the activity at the hive entrance is slow but steady after 2 days of introducing new hives. will pull out bee carrier later today and have a better idea of what is going on in each individual hive.