14. April 2009 by ilene.

All last year, Noah asked for an incubator. He got one for Chanukah! I’m not sure why that is funny, but it is. For three weeks we watched eggs in the incubator, wondering whether baby chicks were growing.

Waiting….

Auracana breed are known for their uniquely colored eggs–blue, green or pink. We love the blue-green eggs we get from our Auracana hens. We have an Auracana rooster now, so our hens’ eggs are fertilized and include this heritage. All our different varieties will create Auracana crosses, which are called Americana’s, or sometimes Rainbow Layers. Each cross-breed hen will lay eggs in one of the following colors–light or dark brown, white, or maybe the unusual and exciting light green, blue or pink.

On the 21st day, sure enough, the eggs began to crack. We were amazed! A pipp hole to begin, and then a line of holes around, until crack! Out pops a soggy limp chick. In no time, it is up wobbling around. When it is dry and fluffy, it goes out of the incubator into a cage with a warming light, ground grain, and water.

 16 chicks by the end of the weekend.

See the one with a bare neck? Yep, its called a Naked Neck. Ugly as can be, but a hardy breed.

True love, eh? This one is Jonah’s favorite. He named it Max and says we are not selling this one…

I believe the chick on the right is the Auracana pure-breed. It came from the blue egg, so both its mother and father are Auracana’s. We hatched two of them.  One is going to Philadelphia with us, a gift for Noah’s friends, Hannah and Nora, who already have three chickens in a backyard coop. The other will be for Noah’s first customer, Phil’s coworker Larry.  I think there are still some chicks for sale, but you would have to ask Noah.

Observation.

Check out the nifty chick waterer–add marbles to a jar top so the babes don’t drown in their water.

Posted in On the Farm | 3 Comments »

14. April 2009 by ilene.

I thin the plants in the greenhouse trays. Here is my Greenhouse Thinnings Salad, a greenhouse by-product gourmet treat. When we are out in the garden, the kids know to come running in the greenhouse for “snacks”. I give them little handfuls of treats from the greenhouse–delicate micro-greens including cabbage, chard, spinach, beets, kale, tiny onions. I have also taken to planting a couple flats of lettuce and chard, designated as “greenhouse snack trays”.

Posted in Greenhouse | 1 Comment »

9. April 2009 by ilene.

Garlic shoots please me in April. They are the first green crop in the garden. Since they are planted in autumn, they please like daffodil bulbs, like a spring surprise gift.

Posted in Veggies | 1 Comment »

1. April 2009 by ilene.

Phil took a Bee Keeping Class this winter, taught by Steve Collins at LilyPons. The class met at our farm to pick up their bees and learn how to settle the bees in their new home. We had a potluck lunch together while people “painted” a dot on the queen so they can easily detect her. Pretty neat stuff. Here are the whole classes bees in Steve’s van. Look closely to find the stragglers, who missed the box when they were being dumped into boxes. They travelled to the farm, clinging to the boxes mostly, wanted to get in with the rest of the bees.

This is Steve with a little box special for the queen. Classmates look on.

David observes the bees.

Phil is ready to install the bees.

Phil did a good job installing the bees and giving them a good start. Wish our bees luck!

Hope they will BEE HAPPY on our farm…

Posted in Events, On the Farm | 2 Comments »