The Old Folks Home

[ChickenCanoe]

It was sooo cold and windy here yesterday (the day my apprentice came over). All we could do was take soil samples in the raised beds and put up a chicken fence around 2 of the beds.

 

[Highcotton]

I am so inpatient! I have onions in the raised bed growing already, and spring crops will go in next week. I could not wait any longer then that. You could start your plants inside to supress the gardening anxiety insanity!

It was 32 here last night. That should be the last freezing night this season. This weekend is planting time at my house. The strawberries are blooming and we are ready to eat them.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

~~Always look on the bright side of life. This harsh, never ending winter has an upside and it is delayed fruit flowering to the point that it will all be safe if we don't get another hard freeze.




I stole this from another thread but I laughed so hard this morning, I had to share.

 

[Highcotton]

I seem to have several penedesencas go broody every year. Once I had 7 out of 8 pullets all go broody in a community nest right after they started laying. What a disaster.

I'm surprised I don't have any yet this year. A couple weeks ago there was one acting snotty on the nest at dusk so I thought I had one but went back after dark and she was on the roost.

It's up to 32 right now and climbing. I'm so excited. Long range forecast shows no more hard freezes this spring.
I'm getting all the auto water set up today.

Tra-la-la, no more carrying water. Can you hear the melody?

I have a broody Mallard. Since I don't have a Drake yet and she is the first broody I have decided to let her set chicken eggs. Now explaining that to my 8 year old granddaughter who is my chicken partner was another story. She said is she pregnant? I said no she will set on some eggs and hatch them. The little ones come from the eggs. She said like we eat and I said yes. She said is she going to have some baby ducks? I said no she will hatch some baby chickens. She said how? I said that we will put some hen eggs under her and she will set on them and keep them warm until they hatch. She said why don't we put some duck eggs under her? I said the duck eggs won't hatch. She said why? I said because we don't have any boy ducks. She said will the chicken eggs hatch. I said yes we have roosters. She said do the roosters hatch them? I said no they make the eggs so they will hatch. She said OHH? I think I left a puzzled little girl. But she is excited about her duck having baby chicks.

 

[Highcotton]

~~Always look on the bright side of life. This harsh, never ending winter has an upside and it is delayed fruit flowering to the point that it will all be safe if we don't get another hard freeze.


Our problem is that the peaches are about through blooming and it was officially 32 here last night, my thermometer said 27. So we are hoping that it did not do too much damage to the peach crop.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hagar. I got a good chuckle out of that.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have a chart I hope I can post for the damage done by frost at certain stages of flowering.

This isn't the chart but it may work for you. I'm still looking.

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/pub__5191779.pdf

I really think you're safe.

 

[CanuckBock]

It's up to 32 right now and climbing. I'm so excited. Long range forecast shows no more hard freezes this spring.
I'm getting all the auto water set up today.

Tra-la-la, no more carrying water. Can you hear the melody?

Yes, a sing a long...TRA LA LA {make me stop, eh?} LA LA LA <<<SQUAWK!!!!>>>
​

I applaud your magnificent WATER weather...

No hoses out and about here (might be a safety concern---might hang self with one??)...back to the five gallon bucket brigade on the calf sleds with the one of many trusty toteable mallets for busting out the ice in the buckets. Up and forgot where I put my fav mallet and remembered I was using it to hammer out frozen in birch splits so trudged over there and retrieve it. Got to admire the snow topped walls of wood but not doing no more of those if I gotta tunnel in to find the piles...there just has to be rooles of protocols!

Oh well...not May yet...

​

This was May 2008, foot and a half of snow...think I have said this before here--we get snow every month of the year (YES, two inches of the white wonder stuff - August 2001--July and June, only ever a dump of an inch that never really lasts for long, eh !). I love snow, tad tired of it, but nonetheless...NO WHINERS! How we suppose to patch the igloo's roof if you donna have any snow every month of the year to use, eh?

So when it snows, what to do...CELEBRATE and make comfort foods!

Making lasagne today. No "made" or "finished it" photos, in the process of cooking it now. Hope I remember to take an AFTER photo before we chow on down...but no promises there...gobble gobble gulp!

Higgins Lasagne ​

In a large fry pan put:

Fry pan mixture
Hamburger - coupla pounds, brown up & drain if fatty, otherwise add the following and cook till meat is browned and onions are clearish:

one pound Stew Beef in small chunks (optional)
1 - 2 cups sliced mushrooms or canned sliced mushrooms (put drained juice in crock pot mixture)
1 tsp poultry seasoning
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
one large or two small onions sliced & diced
one celery center sliced & diced
one red (or green if you likes those) pepper cored, sliced & diced




Put the following in crock pot and put on high setting with lid on.

Crockpot mixture
one 28 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
two cans tomato soup
two carrots peeled & grated
one fresh tomato diced up (optional)
one can beer (if you wanna, I don't usually do this now but adds a nice flavour)




Drain any fat from the meat mixture and add the fry pan mixture to the crock pot mixture. Put lid back on and let her c00k.






Cook up -
Lasagne noodles - about 9 or so pending on the pan you wanna make the lasagne in...you want noodles to make up three noodle layers.

Cook as per package but add tsp oil to water so noodles don't stick. Drain, rinse in cold water and put in fridge to wait for sauce to finish cooking.


Cottage cheese - 750 grams
Grated Mozarella cheese - 4 to 5 cups or so...LOTS!

When sauce is done, (I am starting it in crock at 10 a.m., expect to get on this about, oh 5 p.m....), take a long pan and put some grated Mozzy cheese and some sauce down (one scoop will do yah), do a layer of lasagne noodles, then sauce (not too thick, you got more layers to put in the pan), noodles, then cottage cheese layer, then noodle layer, then sauce and a whole buncha grated Moz cheese for the top. Num...cheese, need our calcium!

Bake the lasagne in the oven at low heat (about 350 F or so) for an hour (long enough to do night chores) or until top is browned up, bubbly delish. Don't get way laid outside too long or you'll burn din dins...blah...hurry up and get back inside now.


Pending how hungry your crew is, you may add a nice green salad and a loaf of garlic toast (for dipping, first night lasagne is more drippy but sets up by the next day, IF you made enough for two days).

This sauce may be used as spaghetti, so if you make a HUGE batch and are tired the first day, just boil up some spaghetti pasta for the first meal, then do the lasagne process the next day OR you can freeze the sauce if you have no Moz &/or cottage cheese on hand and just have it as simple spaghetti. I have even done up several batches of lasagne in pans and frozen them as is, where is. Defrost for a real meal, real easy peasy!



Planting an outside garden up here where I live? Bedding out plants can only go out the first or second week in June. Tomatoes unless in the greenhouse, are a waste of efforts. Frosts hit without any warning at any time. We are two weeks behind the nearest town, too near the Rocky Mountains I suppose! But I did not move here to garden, I moved here to have livestock, birds, and play dog dogs. That I do jest fine. I did have gardens on the Coast...magnolias, daffodils, tea roses, even a large arbutus tree....basil, outside tall tall jungles of tomatoes, corn was easier to keep from the frosts...but I traded and I still figure we did good by my accounts of how happy we are now.

​

This is the green house Rick built me in 2007. We re-roofed it when baseball hail hit and punched holes in the tenplast.

Veggy garden, better have it harvested by end of September...sometimes a late fall to October but you risk the pota's being frozen in the ground = mushers. We also have plants in the man porch. Rick has a token tomato plant and lots of colourful plants for the sitting areas in the porch.

Pupper planter was a
Mother's Day present from my son last year.​

​

I still remember green tomatoes and green pumpkins to harvest and bring inside on the Coast...so not like we don't know how to manage a short season for other reasons past the cold. On the Coast we had to wait for the rains to subside and deal with all the wet water issues (drainage to stop putrid mucky mud from forming) that make planting impossible too. I like the sunshine here...lots more sun time here; not overcast and dreary for 90 days straight.

Now back to winter white mode I go...the warm weather of a coupla weeks we had in January and March...that was just to taunt us. "Neener neener nee hee hee haw!"

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[Noncentzter]

RE: Broodies...I have three right now. Two are on two eggs each which should hatch this weekend. I haven't given any eggs yet to the third broody. Two of the three are Chanteclers and they go broody quite often but they are low in the pecking order and haven't hatched any chicks yet...

 

[chickensnewtome]

We all do starts indoors up here. It's the only way to get crops with more than 90 day grow times. This year I'm cheating and buying my starts.

We tend to buy all of our tomato, and pepper starts. I just don't have the attention to spend on starting my own.

It was 32 here last night. That should be the last freezing night this season. This weekend is planting time at my house. The strawberries are blooming and we are ready to eat them.

My plum and peach trees are blooming and we are planting this weekend also. Strawberry plants will be in next week.

I have a broody Mallard. Since I don't have a Drake yet and she is the first broody I have decided to let her set chicken eggs. Now explaining that to my 8 year old granddaughter who is my chicken partner was another story. She said is she pregnant? I said no she will set on some eggs and hatch them. The little ones come from the eggs. She said like we eat and I said yes. She said is she going to have some baby ducks? I said no she will hatch some baby chickens. She said how? I said that we will put some hen eggs under her and she will set on them and keep them warm until they hatch. She said why don't we put some duck eggs under her? I said the duck eggs won't hatch. She said why? I said because we don't have any boy ducks. She said will the chicken eggs hatch. I said yes we have roosters. She said do the roosters hatch them? I said no they make the eggs so they will hatch. She said OHH? I think I left a puzzled little girl. But she is excited about her duck having baby chicks.

THAT IS TOO FUNNY! POOR GIRL!

RE: Broodies...I have three right now. Two are on two eggs each which should hatch this weekend. I haven't given any eggs yet to the third broody. Two of the three are Chanteclers and they go broody quite often but they are low in the pecking order and haven't hatched any chicks yet...

Way to go for them! so pecking order matters to?