Well... It has been a long time since I have posted any updates to this blog. The summer has been very busy and has somehow gotten away from me. I have been taking online classes again which ate up far more of my time than I expected it to. I hurt my back twice, making it difficult to do the chores, I have been working on a novel that I've been meaning to write for the past three years. I've continued to work my part-time-work-from-home jobs. Let's see...Where do I start?
Our garden was pitiful this year...We just didn't get enough sunshine and warmth. The squirrels have been running around with all of my cherry tomatoes in their mouths and have actually broken some of the plants in half.
The chickens are doing well and have gotten really big. I lost one of my Marans roosters to an impacted crop. He was a sweetheart and didn't crow very much. Luckily, we have three more roos at my friends farm as spares. We probably won't be bringing a spare here until spring, when we will begin to sell the hatching eggs. Our hens should be laying eggs in the next few weeks, I think.
The quail have been doing their part to pay for their own feed by laying eggs. Selling their eggs for eating has actually been providing enough income to support the chickens' addiction to scratch grains. Yep...it is just like crack to them! We still haven't eaten any of our quail...It's kind of hard when several of them have names. The neighborhood stray cats are still quite interested in putting them on the menu and spent a great deal of time watching through their cages. I am so glad that the cages seem to be kitty-proof.
While the beginning of the summer was rainy and cool, the month of August was fairly dry. My two water barrels are very low as I've had to rely on their contents to water the gardens. Although I had been wishing for an abundance of bees to assist with plant pollination, the reality was that we had way too many yellow jackets. They were everyplace that we turned. Finally a very kind skunk (we think) dug up their nest and many of them went away. Now that's what I call natural pest control!
I will update the egg and money counter a bit later.
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5 comments:
Nice to see you again! I hope your back is healing well. We also had insane numbers of yellow jackets this year, and a paucity of honeybees. I'm thinking of getting a hive and starting lazy-man's beekeeping.good luck with your chicks!
Thank you, Aimee! It's nice to be back. I am trying to catch up on my blog reading, too... I will be visiting yours today to see what kind of a summer you've had.
Yes, glad you are back, sorry about the other back! So interested about selling quail eggs, our family love these little gems and they make great adult treats at social gatherings. Who and how did you sell them?
Hi, Sonia!I started out with an ad on Craigslist and that was okay for awhile, but the quail were producing like gangbusters. I finally visited a local Asian store and asked if they would be interested in carrying my eggs. They were interested and it has been great. I am not planning to provide additional lighting for my birds in the winter so they will stop laying as the days grow shorter. They have already started to slow down. Once we actually move to a farm, I'd love to increase the flock and service a few more stores.
well there are not many reasons to thank a skunk, but i think that skunk needs a big thank you. i too had tons of yellow jackets this year and no skunk to get rid of them!
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