Spring 2010 Update

            Spring was a long time coming here in Georgia. The cold weather stuck around for a lot longer than it usually does.  It is hard to know whether to be pleased by that or upset by it.  The rain was also an issue. While the lake has risen considerably and we are hoping for some great fishing this year, the muddy chicken pens were not so welcome.

            Chickens definitely became my focus last year. I have learned so much, but it seems there is always more to learn.  I have several different breeds now and know that it is important to keep them as close to the standard as possible, therefore each breeder must be picked carefully with the standard in mind at all times.  There are also several new color projects that I have started. Breeding for new colors is very rewarding but takes several generations of careful selection in order to get the chickens to get the look that you want. These projects will, of course, be continuing this year.

            Another project of a different kind, sits waiting for me in the yard. It is a big thick cooler which I hope to convert into an incubator. I have been using two small styrofoam  incubators and I would like a larger more reliable one, so have decided to build one. I am hoping to have an article on that then.

            There are also the meat birds; Cornish X to be exact.  I started with just six because I didn’t want more than I felt I could process myself. This number increased to twelve when I went to the feed store and found six chicks being picked bloody by the others. I was given these chicks for free and, since being put in their own little pen, they have healed and are growing well. In mid May, I will have my processing day for the first six and, a couple weeks later, the other six will join them in the freezer. There will also be more quail to process though I really need to hatch more of them this year if they are going to become a normal part of our diet.

            I started a new forum for all my chicken friends:  http://thebreed.yuku.com .  It is a wonderful place to get information on chicken husbandry as well as swapping for eggs and other homemade goods. I have learned a lot of the people who have joined and hope our membership continues to grow.

            I also managed to get my garden started this year. I have managed not to over plant it this year and I think the few things that I have planted are doing quite well, despite the cool nights that we are still encountering. Manure for the gardens came from the chicken pens; tilled in by the rototiller I bought last year. I still need to find something to use for mulch between the rows, and I am thinking maybe pinestraw will do. 

            More blueberry bushes have also been planted this year, since they were on sale for a dollar.  Each year I seem to find some fruit tree or bush on sale, and pick through them to find the good ones, and take them home. Some make it and some don’t.  This year the blueberry bushes were planted right in the garden mainly because my ducks are allowed to free range for a couple hours every day and they eat any green leaf they can reach (The garden has a fence around it).

            I think it is important to remember that your garden does not have to be your only source of vegetables. During the spring there are lots of good sales on fruits and vegetables, and I constantly keep on the look-out for these.  Last weekend I bought several packages of fresh broccoli for very little money. These were cut up, blanched and frozen. This weekend I got three packages of tomatoes. Some of these we used in salad and on sandwiches but the rest I canned and though it was only three pints, we are quite happy to have those instead of the canned tomatoes off the store shelf.

            Later this year there will be plums to can and nuts to collect, perhaps we’ll even get the figs before the birds do.  Spare roosters will have to be butchered, cooked and canned; the garden harvested and an unending list of chores in addition to that “regular” job.

Rebecca Whitford