Backyard Chickens Update #3

Be prepared for the cuteness........

Fluffy little baby chicks.....

This is a picture of my baby chicks that was taken yesterday.  The first one hatched on the 11th and each day there have been a few hatching.

I'm going out to see all the babies and hold them on Sunday so by the end of the weekend or early next week you will get to see a new update.  :)

I'm warning you now....this is just the beginning of all the cute chicken pictures that are surely to come.  haha

Farm Stand 4/15/16

I went to my favorite farm stand today to pick up a few things.  The stand just opened a few days ago so I was excited to be able to stop in today.  The farmers that own the stand is the ones I got my CSA share with.  That starts in May.

The layout is a little different that last year.  I like it.  It's nice and open.  Feels much bigger.

There was a bunch of flowers, herbs, and some veggies.  Here's some zucchini plants that made me smile because the seed shell/casings are still attached.  

Here's a lot of different starter tomato plants.

Some flowers....I got these marigolds.

Here's everything I got......

2 big broccoli heads

large carrot

large cucumber

green beans

marigolds

2 different lavender plants

basil plant

My total was $14.85 after my 10% discount was applied for me being a CSA member.

2016 Garden Update #6

My garden update for the week.....

Here's my greenhouse.  It's packed full but still not packed enough.  haha

Here's some sunflowers.  The back on the left is my squash balls.  I have 4 sprouts in there.

My mother ordered some hens and chicks and dropped them off the other day.  She kept a few and planted them.  I planted a couple of them.  They are pretty cute.

Hens and Chicks up close...

Here's some of the succulents I planted.

I made a trip to the dollar tree during lunch one day.  I picked up a small glass fish bowl, some pebbles and 4 glass containers in pretty bright colors.  I loved these as soon as I saw them.  I think they would make a cute gift of a plant.  We will see.  :)

I also bought a few more hanging plants with coco liners.

I planted a succulent in a pot with some pebbles.  I have an idea for this and I'm also going to re-pot this in one of my glass containers.  More on this later once I'm finished.

Here's the small glass fish bowl.  I added some rocks on the bottom for drainage.

I then added some fresh soil.

I picked a succulent and planted into the dirt.

I then added some rocks.  I have this succulent sitting in my kitchen window.  I might take it to work to sit on my desk by the window.

I learned something really interesting this week.  My husband asked me if chia seeds were the same as chia pets.  I went to the internet and searched and found this.

Q. Is it the same seed as in those chia pets? A. Yes, those are chia seeds! They sprout into microgreens, which you can add to salads or sandwiches, or just eat plain. They are similar to alfalfa sprouts in taste and texture.

How cool is that?  I had no idea.  I took some seeds from my bag and planted them.

The flowers on chia seed plants are beautiful.  

My sunflower garden is doing really well.  One morning, I had some doves trying to eat them though so I've made a fencing area with a net to try to keep them away.  It's been working so far.

When I caught the doves trying to get to my sunflowers I saw a bluebird flying around.  I figured I would check the bluebird house that afternoon to see if there were any eggs.  Sure enough when I carefully opened the bird house I saw nesting and I peeked inside and saw 4 perfect bluebird eggs.

My mother brought me some starter plant that she got.  Tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.  My nephew picked out some tomatoes and peppers starters to grow and my mom said I could have the rest.  I have them in my house sitting with the seedlings I planted last weekend.  I will plant them for outside after the frosts are done.  I don't have any sprouts for the inside seedlings yet.  Soon...I hope.  Last night and tonight we are supposed to get frost so I've been tucking in everything I have in the greenhouse just in case.  I don't want to lose any more plants.

Cheesy Veggie Quinoa Bites

I came across a blog for a recipe on Cheesy Veggie Quinoa Bites.  It looked delicious and easy so during meal prep yesterday I decided to make some for a snack.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

It's only 5 ingredients...which is a good thing.  Nothing complicated.

1 cup cooked and cooled quinoa

1 cup (4 oz) of shredded cheese (I used colby)

1 cup chopped and cooked vegetables (I used broccoli)

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

Mix everything until combined.

Spray a mini muffin or regular cupcake pan with non-stick spray.  Add mixture to tins and press down to pack in firmly.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  It took mine 18 minutes.

How yummy do these look?

They are very tasty.  My husband loved them.  He said "wow that's a lot of flavor".  You can use whatever veggies you want.  I might add some fresh bell peppers next time.  I will be making these again.  They would be good for a healthy breakfast too.

Backyard Chickens Update #2

I'm so happy to share with you that I have baby chicks hatching!!!  :)  I can't wait until they are all fluffy and pretty.  :)

I'm getting two Plymouth Barred Rock Chickens.

Two Ameraucana Chickens.  (The chick hatching in the blue egg is an Ameraucana)

And one Autralorp Chicken.  :)

Those chicken pictures are from a book I just finished reading from the library.

I found a mat I want.  It's at the store And that!  I might go tomorrow during my lunch break to see if they have it.  Isn't cute?

I'm so happy my chicks are hatching.  Since they are at my friends farm, I'm planning on going out there this weekend to see and hold them.  :)

Now I will leave you with some chicken humor....

Dollar Tree Finds

Over the weekend, I went to the dollar tree.

I went in for a weed barrier and ended up finding some other goodies.  

I bought:

-2 weed barriers (for a project for a path to my green house)

-2 packs seed starting pots (used for my indoor seed starting)

-2 hanging baskets (in greenhouse)

2 coco liners (in greenhouse)

-1 4 pack of fly catcher rolls from raid  (to put in chicken coop to catch flies)

Everything I got has a purpose.  :)

2016 Garden Update #5

I've got some good news and some bad news.  :)  :(

Here's what my greenhouse looks like right now.  I had to do some cleaning yesterday morning. I'm sad to say I lost some plant babies.

First, I did put some ant bait in the greenhouse.  I've had some of those annoying piss ants crawling around.  I wanted to put a stop to them now before it gets out of hand.

This was a picture from early on in the week.

Early in the week the sunflowers doing good.

Yesterday morning, here's the sunflowers.  They are pretty happy.  

Last week, the temps dropped below freezing and we had frost.  I thought my plants in the greenhouse would be okay.  The next morning I walked into my greenhouse to devastation.  My peppers and tomatoes were dead.

So sad.....

I should have tucked everyone in or brought them into my house.

Here's the sprouts.....one green bean didn't make it.

I loss my potato plants too.  :(

I dug it up to check it.  Some of the roots looked okay but I don't think it will be able to re-grow so I have to throw it out.

I dug the dead green bean sprout out as well.  Sad.

Here's all the sunflowers I have now in the greenhouse.  I've moved all of them to the top shelf.

This is my spidey friend.  He was jumping all around.  He has bright blue eyes.  So mesmerizing.  I'm leaving him here because he will kill and eat bugs that I don't want eating my plants.  Hopefully.  ;)

Marigolds that did not die.

We had another freeze warning Saturday night.  I was prepared though.  I tucked everyone in.  I just looked around my house and found stuff to use.  Nate had some bags, paper and a box from computer stuff that he didn't need.  They worked perfect.

I wrapped flowers with packing paper.

I unwrapped them yesterday morning.  The flowers are happy and safe.

My little succulent is good.  I did not wrap him.  I knew he would be okay.  He's the only plant that survived the winter.

I loss a marigold spout but I noticed yesterday morning I had some new sprouts so they didn't all get zapped by the cold.  YAY

This tomato plant seems to be okay for now.  It did not like the freeze but I think it might make it.

An awesome find.....I saw these hanging planters at the dollar tree.  I got 2 and hung them on my hooks I have in the greenhouse.

They also had coco liners for them.  I might go back and get 2 more.  I love these!  I just gotta think what I'm going to put in them. :)  I also might want to get a few more for my chickens.  I can put heads of lettuce in them and hang them for the chickens to peck at so they don't get bored while in the pen or something.

So, I unwrapped everything to make sure it survived the frost.

I'm saving this packing stuff.  It was perfect and just in case another freeze warning pops up I am prepared and can tuck everyone in.

My squash balls look great.

Here's the squash balls after I took the bag off.

I covered my sunflowers with some packing paper.  I also placed some old grass on top to keep paper from blowing and I poked some skewers in the ground to hold the paper in place.

I took the paper off and there's lots of little baby sunflowers.  :)

I made a little fencing area to try to keep animals out and to make sure my husband doesn't mow it.

My tomatoes I planted in egg shells never seeds.  I threw them out.  It might have just been too cold for them to germinate.

My front bushes.....the pollen seems to be gown the the new growth turned kinda black.

I think it was zapped from the frost.  :(

I decided to start some seeds in the house since my peas and tomatoes didn't grow in my greenhouse.  I'm hoping by the end of next weekend I will have some sprouts.

I have one orchid where the blooms are falling off.  That's okay because that happens.  It's part of an orchid lifecycle.  It's storing up energy to rebloom.  :)  If you look closely to the tallest orchid you will see more growth.

I can't wait to see this one bloom.