testing... testing... is this thing on?

Testing… testing… is this thing on?

Oh hey! Yes, welcome! It has been a while.. Back in action on the blog! 

Let’s get right into it.

Found a GIANT egg in the coop this morning. 

like look at this beauty! what champ the ol spring chicken was who brought that through

and wouldn’t you know it..

‘twas a double yolker!! they are said to be good cluck

;)

A lot has happened since the last blog post! A lot has changed! For starters, we harvested half our laying hens in the fall with my dad & brother. It was a wild process

I slaughtered quite a few of them myself, which was life-changing & kinda hard to describe with words

it’s sacred

Taking an animal’s life is sacred and to be deeply respected.

moment of silence for the fallen fowl

Jakoby has been living off chicken broth this winter. He makes great soups! We always have said that the foundation of any soup is in the broth. If you have a strong broth foundation, you can get creative with the soup & know it has a good chance of being soup-erb! Oh god, getting into the dad jokes already eh herewego

Between the harvest, some fox snatches and a couple natural causes, we are now down to 12 laying hens and Mr. Halo. It’s a solid crew. One or two of each chicken breed.. still enjoying the multicoloured eggs.

Guys, fo real - if you have been debating getting chickens.. GET THEM

They are such a joy to have in your life, they give you an abundance of fresh eggs, and they are low maintenance pets in the right system. It’s not really in the same category as having a dog, per say. Really, “pet” isn’t the word I’d use to describe the backyard chicken.. they’re backyard chickens hehe. Cuties. Quiet cuties. Peaceful little angels scratching around & eating Spring worms. Peaceful until they hop up on your seedling trays and start plucking brassicas!!

Animals teach me to let go. To just..

let..

go.

Ugh, they are true gurus i tellya. Living 

Seedlings are coming along nicely. We are definitely taking our time this season hehe, not pushing it with frost dates. Seeding solid amounts of each crop. Diversifying our plates.

Jakoby has been making vermicast teas for the plant babies to drink up. We are doing a mixture of soil blocks and cell trays this season. We started a bunch of stuff in egg cartons too, which was so fun! It felt like true homesteading sowings!

I’ve been mulching a lot of the gardens around the house. Laying cardboard on weedy/grassy/unmaintained areas, then layering a solid foot of wood chips on top. My front garden flower bed was rather weedy last season. Once I saw dem perennial, rhizome weeds poking through this year, I was like nah imma mulch dis.

Perennial weeds, especially the rhizome ones (where “pulling” them actually makes it worse), are nature’s way of saying ‘let it rest’. 

Let it rest, and the rest will come - to quote my grandma Mimi

I have big wildflower meadow dreams y’all. Scattering seeds into the abyss, year after year, and watching in amazement. Oh yes, what a dream that is. My weedy front garden bed is going for more of a mulch + perennials + trees look this season.

Ou speaking of trees, Jakoby and I planted an adorable white pine just outside the greenhouse! What a cutie!! Absolute love and respect for white pines omg, such a gift to walk through a stand of white pines.

* ya ya Jess we get it, you like white pines

I’m just saying, white pines are so huggable!!

All the perennial and overwintered crops look great. Chives, stinging nettle, yarrow, garlic, leeks, chamomile, mint - everyone is doing well!

Oh my gosh I almost forgot to mention - the swallows are back!! They returned this week and they have been checking out the swallow box!! Eeeeee magical avian allies!

Spring is the return of light, the return of life. Everything is very active right now, vibes are high. Fresh air, dirty fingernails and rainboots - all is well.

Thank you for being here and reading this!

P.S. sweet miss Kai says hello! She is currently snoozing on her chair, dreaming sweet doggy dreams

Love you guys! Thanks for reading - talk soon!