Rent-A-Chicks Return to the Farm!

The Rent-A-Chicks all returned home safe and sound to the farm...Yes - all 35 of them. Every single one!

Nice to have the pitter patter and chirps of little peeps again. We are excited to watch the colors of this flock develop since we have added some rare heritage varieties to the bunch. Chocolate eggers (Welsummer), Easter eggers (Americana), and two different types of Brown Eggers - the gorgeous Silverlaced Wyndottes and our standby favorite New Hampshire Reds.

Judging from the feedback and smiles, All of the rent-a--chick participants had a great time. The chicks were happy and healthy too. Most were already testing their wings at the end of the two weeks and were trying to graduate out of the playpen by the end of it! Two weeks seemed to be the ideal time before they became ready to explore their big coop.

Lots of great stories were heard of kids being entertained for hours at a time by the chicks and a few peeps even got to visit school class rooms for show and tell.

We determined there were only a few things we needed to tweek about the rent-a-chick program - we will be doubling the shavings in the take home kit and adding a block of wood to lift the water and food off the floor to prevent shavings from getting in. The book really seemed to help give instructions and the parents were quick to mention - little to no pasty-bum issues!

Over the next few weeks the chicks will be growing out of their cute fluff and into their awkward teenage stage. They look more like little hawks than chickens at the moment. The momma hens are looking quite healthy and plump this spring and are enjoying their lush green pastures and spend their days hunting for bugs in the grass.

Soon the chicks will be developing into full feathered ladies like the big hens on the farm.

It takes 5 months from hatching to egg production so we are about 4 months away now.

That is great because the egg demand has gone up so much we have back orders accumulating!

Those girls better get crackin'!

I leave you with a view of the sun setting on the farm stand on a warm June evening.The next blog post will be showing off all the flowers that are on the verge of blooming. It's been really pretty weather and with some much needed rain, nice to see everything greening up again on the farm. A big thanks to all the Rent-A-Chick families. The chicks are all doing great!

Chocolate and Lemon - The Fresh Smells of Spring!

So cold and wet out, been yucky out all weekend. Down in the 30's at night, windy and barely breaking into the 40's during the day. Blah! I'm up to my muck boots in mud and certainly not hospitable to being outside farming. Made the best of it by hunkering down in the potting shed to start up all the fresh cuttings gathered from the spring herbs leafing up around the farm. I can still smell their scent on my hands as I type! If I can get enough of these growing, they will make great fillers for the bouquets and add a fresh scent as well. Lemon Balm cuttings, placed into organic potting mix and set out in the hoophouse for a month or two until roots form. Yep it's really that easy. Only takes a few minutes to potting up the cuttings. A much welcome break from planting thousands of seeds. Needed to see some of that instant green! Yumm - Chocolate mint!

Here is a shot of an experimental plot we are starting this year - it will not have the perfectly made plastic mulch rows, like in the front of the farmstand. Instead - it will have alittle more of a natural look since we will use the chickens to strategically weed the plots. This is experimental because we will have to learn alot - like how big plants have to be so the chickens don't damage the plants and flowers we are growing. Should be interesting since we have to find plants that the girls won't want to nibble on as they eat the bugs and weeds around them. Chris already tilled it up before the rains started, and another truckload of manure was worked in. Below is a shot of what the idea is: On the right is a green carpet of fresh weeds starting to take over a flower bed. The whole area looked like that, but on the left, is what the girls did in less than 3 days time. Our farm mascots - I think they are up for the job!

Speaking of weather, here is a picture of the sweet peas planted last fall. The seeds made it through the cold and are sprouting through the mud and finally taking off. Sweet peas actually thrive in our wet, cool spring temps. Hope they hurry up and bloom - I am craving their soft flowers on my desk at work - it's fun to watch because no one can resist stopping to sniff a vase full of the pastel petals! - Sweet pea flowers are the most romantic and old-fashioned spring flower there is.

Speaking of blooms - spotted the first blossom of a Shasta Daisy. Hard to believe these babies were nothing more than micro-specks of seed last summer - whole lotta daisies on the horizon. They are lush, healthy and huge and ready to bloom! Countdown to the last frost date here, about 2-3 weeks away.

White Christmas Snow

Started snowing at about 6pm Christmas day and we woke up this morning to a winterwonderland. Chickens dont have much grass and weeds to peck on, so in addition to their scratch feed, they got a bunch of goodies from the Christmas dinner table. The girls were tearing up the scraps of baked sweet potatoes, bread, leftovers...
Me being cheesy out on the bridge.

Love on a chicken.

Honey Bee Hives...Been reading up on how to make our own lip balms - already named it...Back Bay Bee Balm (but of course -lol!) and cannot wait to do that this spring. Something fun for our future B&B guests to create right here on the farm and take home from their trip. Ordering all the supplies now. Especially Happy we have our own hives since I saw 1lb of beeswax for $18..at the craft store.

Looks like Narnia

Property is bordered by water on 3 sides that leads to Back Bay Wildlife refuge. So pretty and quiet in the snow.

The Garden that is completely covered.

Hydrangeas covered in snow.

Dumpling finished the final roofing board up on Christmas Day, just before it started snowing. Now on to the ordering of the roofing materials. Hope to be installed by the end of January.