Wow! So much time has passed.

     It is spring again, finally spring, after an especially brutal winter. We lost Buddy, our faithful chocolate lab mix. We gained Max, our Rottweiler/Aussie mix, the new big baby of the bunch. Our chickens started laying and provided well through the winter even though it was so cold. Snow fell, and fell, and fell. And it stayed around. We lost power for a week at Christmas and camped out in our house using the stovetop for heat. Aaron cooked up pheasant breast road kill over the campfire Mark kept going to melt snow for wash water. And we ate spaghetti sauce and grape butter, and pickles, and eggplant/spaghetti sauce from the arden well into the fall.  What an encouragement to us to start again this spring.  

     And we got more chickens.  Twelve new babies.  Six Plymouth Barred Rocks for Mark and six Araucanas for me.  I want the green and blue eggs, you see.  So they are all growing up together, and we need to finish the new coop soon.  At about 10 weeks, it became apparent that I would not be getting eggs from one of the new chickens.  She, or should I say HE, was crowing in the mornings and growing beautiful rooster plumage.  Had to be one of my Araucanas, and not the Barred Rock, of course.  So back he went to DUCK N COOP, the local hatcherie we use.  

     So Iwill try to do a better job of blogging our experiences from this point on and forget about catching up any more on what I missed, because, boy, have we already had a spring of it!

We pause a moment for reflection.

6/9/13

Today is Tuesday.  I know that because yesterday Mark went to work after staying home to work on Sunday
The days

This blog was interrupted for no apparent reason.  It will be published in its entirety for no apparent reason.  

The Kids

This was originally published under the blog "The Family", but I am combining the two blogs (and any subsequent bright ideas I have, except the one about Mom) under the farm blog. 

The Family  

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Kids

The Family. It has to be more than just Mark and me, so let me introduce you to the rest of the members of the monkey show.
In age order: Nathaniel, Ian, Jason, Jacob, Zachary, Aaron.
Nathaniel just turned 29. He is my son, the oldest of my five. He has had an interesting life so far, and maybe he'll blog it someday himself. He was married young, and has two beautiful, smart, funny, talented children. Cameron is 8 and Rebecca, who I call Reba, is 6. They live full-time with their mother and blended family, and stay with us alternate weekends, and for weeks during the summer. Nathaniel moved home in March of last year, and he has integrated well back into the family.
Ian is my stepson and he is 26. He is a great kid, very personable, and has a great future ahead of him. Ian has lived with us during the last three winters. This spring begins his fourth summer season tending bar up on Mackinac Island, and he has met some really interesting characters. But his real passion is the screen. He spent two years out in southern California, and has worked on the set of a nationally syndicated TV show. This summer he will be directing a movie in northern Michigan, which will hopefully lead to more cinematographic work in the future.
Jason is my second son. He is almost 21 and working to save money for college. He is a prolific writer in his own right, and you should look for blogs from him as soon as I put the idea into his head. He loves anime, plays Magic and YuGiOh with friends, and aspires to be a master swordsman. He hates his shop job, which I totally understand, but it gives him a reason to save and get out of there. He is funny and talented, and doesn't know his own value yet.
Jacob, my third, is 19. He will finish high school in 8 days, and has aspirations to produce indie movies someday. He draws beautiful black and white original artwork. His immediate future is up in the air and will be interesting to explore.
Zachary is 17. He is brilliant when it comes to math, smart when it comes to science, hopeless when it comes to writing, and altogether entertaining. Zachary is (very) high functioning ASD, and he is sometimes aware of how the condition affects him, and sometimes not. His story would be interesting to hear from his perspective. He is a high school junior.
Aaron is 15 and a high school sophomore. He cannot wait to drive, graduate, get a job, move out, become a professional athelete, grow up. He has had a girlfriend, lost in love, found love, tossed love aside, and believes himself to be independent of all that. Aaron is a typical teenager, at once my child and an exasperating adult wanna-be. He is the youngest of the bunch, and always feels he has to fight for his place. That may have been true when he was little, but he has come into his own, and has the potential to be truly empathetic and superior, if he can be humble long enough.
Buddy is a ten year old labrador mix. He was rescued seven years ago when we adopted him. He has run away, been found, been hit by a car (twice), recovered, gotten incredibly overweight, suffered a stroke, recovered. Through it all he is a sweet, loving pup. He is deaf now, and wanders the farm aimlessly, content. He still tries to jump for his food, which is amusing beyond belief. He still thinks he is a puppy. He will sleep on the couch only if he thinks no one is looking, even though no one yells at him for getting on the furniture.
This is the cast of characters. My personal children still have not forgiven me for moving them out of the family home during the divorce, and the move out to the country adds insult to injury. No one is very excited about farming, even going so far as to tell me they're not " working on my stupid farm". We shall see.

Introduction

So this is the first blog I've written, and I'm not sure how committed I am to this particular blog, but I want to create several linked pages to Croteau's Corners, our home and family hobby farm in Dryden, Michigan. The family is a blended family. My husband brings his two stepchildren and two children, and I bring my five kids. Not all of them live with us, but the majority do, and life is very full around our house.
Mark and I met less than two months after my divorce was finalized in 2009, and although we hit it off, we both affirmed to each other that neither was interested in a long-term, committed relationship (read marriage). Mark had been widowed for 10 years, and was done with flaky women. I was coming off an eighteen year off and on marriage. We were both looking for someone to have a drink with, play a little Buzztime trivia, and share a few laughs.
Fast forward to summer of 2011, when Mark and I, on a quick camping trip to a nearby park, decided that we really should spend the rest of our lives together. Being the traditional souls that we are, that meant...you guessed it...marriage. So in August of 2011, surrounded by loving friends and family, we were wed in a singularly spectacular outdoor wedding in Mark's sister's front yard. Spectacular for us, anyway. Stunningly simple and country-inspired, we began our new life together as husband and wife with Mason jar wineglasses, sunflower centerpieces, and a potluck buffet.
In the summer of 2012 we started house hunting, and found our dream home - a country-style ranch with a walkout on 4 1/2 rolling acres in rural Lapeer County, Michigan. Over the winter we have planned our "farm" and began decorating the house. The rest is our story.

The Garden

The posts are in, the fencing attached (thank you honey), the plants in the ground. 
Where is summer?
One of the Tiger's Baseball announcers asked Saturday, "Will we ever see 80 degrees again?"
The answer is, "Not in the next ten days."
And the real problem is, the nights are cool, too.  If we were maintaining a nice, even 65-75 degrees, I wouldn't worry.  But the truth is, the ground just isn't warming up and sustaining the kind of temperatures plants need to grow and seeds need to germinate. 

Percentage of Normal Vegetable Seedlings
Produced at Different Temperatures* **

Numbers in ( ) are the days to seedling emergence. Number in red = optimal daytime soil temperature for maximum production in the shortest time.

Crops	32ºF	41ºF	50ºF	59ºF	68ºF	77ºF	86ºF	95ºF	104ºF
Asparagus	0	0	61(53)	80(24)	88(15)	95(10)	79(12)	37(19)	0
Beans, lima	0	0	1	52(31)	82(18)	90(7)	88(7)	2	0
Beans, snap	0	0	1	97(16)	90(11)	97(8)	47(6)	39(6)	0
Beets	0	53(42)	72(17)	88(10)	90(6)	97(5)	89(5)	35(5)	0
Cabbage	0	27	78(15)	93(9)	0(6)	99(5)	0(4)	0	0
Carrots	0	48(51)	93(17)	95(10)	96(7)	96(6)	95(6)	74(9)	0
Cauliflower	0	0	58(20)	60(10)	0(6)	63(5)	45(5)	0	0
Celery	0	72(41)	70(16)	40(12)	97(7)	65	0	0	0
Cucumber	0	0	0	95(13)	99(6)	99(4)	99(3)	99(3)	49
Eggplant	0	0	0	0	21(13)	53(8)	60(5)	0	0
Lettuce	98(49)	98(15)	98(7)	99(4)	99(3)	99(2)	12(3)	0	0
Muskmelon	0	0	0	0	38(8)	94(4)	90(3)	0	0
Okra	0	0	0	74(27)	89(17)	92(13)	88(7)	85(6)	35(7)
Onions	90(136)	98(31)	98(13)	98(7)	99(5)	97(4)	91(4)	73(13)	2
Parsley	0	0	63(29)	0(17)	69(14)	64(13)	50(12)	0	0
Parsnips	82(172)	87(57)	79(27)	85(19)	89(14)	77(15)	51(32)	1	0
Peas	0	89(36)	94(14)	93(9)	93(8)	94(6)	86(6)	0	0
Peppers	0	0	1	70(25)	96(13)	98(8)	95(8)	70(9)	0
Radish	0	42(29)	76(11)	97(6)	95(4)	97(4)	95(3)	0	0
Spinach	83(63)	96(23)	91(12)	82(7)	52(6)	28(5)	32(6)	0	0
Sweet Corn	0	0	47(22)	97(12)	97(7)	98(4)	91(4)	88(3)	10
Tomatoes	0	0	82(43)	98(14)	98(8)	97(6)	83(6)	46(9)	0
Turnips	1	14	79(5)	98(3)	99(2)	100(1)	99(1)	99(1)	88(3)
Watermelon	0	0	0	17	94(12)	90(5)	92(4)	96(3)	0

* The above data was taken from a report published in the mid-1980's. Author, affiliation, and publisher are not known.


There is some variation, but soil temperature in the  65-86 degree range is best for all seeds to grow, and we're not seeing those temperatures consistently right now.  Seeds take longer to germinate, and fewer plants result at the 50-70 degree temperatures we have been experiencing. 
What does this mean? 
I dunno. 
I am just anxious for my garden to begin showing some signs of life, or my transplants to perk up, but nothing seems to have happened in the last week.  And the forecast for the next ten days is not hopeful, either.  I can't stand the thought of another "summer that wasn't" like we had a  few years back.  Yuck.  Even if we had some sun, the temperatures would aggregate over time, but we're not even getting that.  Meanwhile, I am worrying every time that I water the garden that I am cooling the soil down and encouraging further heat loss through evaporation. 

 That said, the boys dug in and spent a good chunk of last weekend helping out.  Jacob, Zachary, and Aaron dug holes and rows, we mulched and planted, and got in most of the plants and seeds.  There are 24 Celebrity tomatoes, 24 San Marano plum tomatoes, eight green peppers, eight cucumbers, eight eggplant, four each cabbage and cauliflower, three rows of peas, four rows of beans, and five rows of corn.  The next week Mark planted four hills of pumpkins further down the hill.  I still need to get in two cherry tomato plants and nine sweet potato.  I just have run out of space inside the garden, and I'm worried that wherever else I put them the deer will find and eat them.  Oh yeah, and the four herbs I got to start and herb garden; those need to go in, too.

 So the waiting game continues.  How long will it tak the seeds to germinate?  If the weather keeps up with neither heat (from wind) nor sun, it could be an iffy proposition that crops wii come in at all.  And while I am an awfully small proposition on this "farm", I hope it is not indicative of all farms in the area, because there is going to be a serious food expense incfrease come fall if the harvest is compromised. 
I know myself.  I am easily discouraged.  I will have an even harder time sarting next year if this year is not at least marginally successful.  On the other hand, if I have a bad year out the gate and success forever after, that could be a good thing.
Just hoping and praying for some warmer weather, and soon, so that the plants get a good start. 
 

Chickens, Part One.

     Cickens are funny.  People have told me how they run to them and climb on them and mine are just a bunch of - well - chickens. They scatter from me like I have the plague although they do seem to appreciate my food offerings. They will eat from my hand if I put it I'm the brooder VERY still, but they're jumpy. 
Actually,  I should back up and include Mark's comments, because so much of the prep work was his.  My contribution was to go to TSC and buy waterers, feeders, heat lamps and bulbs, feed, bedding and so on.  Mark was the creative genius that took scrap parts and built a beautiful brooder box.  He had the box up and running a week befoer we got thte chickens. 

They really are cute the first few weeks. They're easy to pick up and hold and if they eat from your hand, they really don't peck that hard. The grandkids were thrilled to carry them around like babies and I was thrilled to let them. 

So chickens are pretty easy to take care of when they're in the brooder box. A little food each day, a little water, a little attention. And they do what chickens so naturally - grow. So within a couple weeks what I had was a bunch of funny looking gangly teen-age chickens. 

And it was time for them to come out of the brooder box. Mind you, this process only takes a couple of weeks. Fortunately I have a VERY handy husband who had, just in the nick of time, finished building the coop and chicken run. By this time I had had the birds outside a couple of times in a small temporary enclosure and they had a blast pecking around the dirt. What wasn't fun was carrying them in and out of the enclosure. I began to have some doubts. 

Our original plan was to let the chickens free range. I began to worry about how I would ever get them back into the coop at night if we did that. I mean, I know IN THEORY chickens return to the roost on their own at night, but frankly, I was a little afraid of the chickens. I mean, who likes being pecked?  

Well, obviously, as anyone who ever raised chickens knows, they actually do come home to roost at night. And about fifty thousand other times a day when they get spooked by the wind, or a passing car, or the dog waking up from his nap and stretching his legs, or the screen door opening, or by absolutely nothing at all. They are truly hysterical to watch. And I can no longer go outside barefoot, because they are fascinated with my toes. As food. But they put themselves back to bed each night and that is easy. So now they are around ten weeks and halfway to egg-laying age and so far so good. 

Their favorite hangout is at the top of the hill, but they range further afield each day. Just yesterday I came in the back, lower-level door, which was standing open, and found a chicken wandering around the family room. I had to chase her out and back up the hill. It is pretty rare to find a single chicken so far from the rest on her own. They really are flock creatures; it's funny when they all race back to the pen together for no apparent reason, and its gratifying to see them come now when I bring scrap treats out to them. It's just my toes that I need to worry about, and for that there's shoes!

It begins

          How can you go through life with a vague sense of unease that you aren't doing everything you always wanted to do, then suddenly, in your sixth decade, find yourself beginning to live that life that you hardly dared to imagine for yourself? 
          When I remarried in 2011, Mark and I talked about a simple life wherein we chased chickens, milked goats, and planted massive crops of vegetable to eat all summer and lie in for winter.  Who knew that in two short years we would be beginning that dream together?  First came the property. 

We found 4 1/2 acres in Dryden, Michigan  that were situated among rolling hills and fronted onto passable dirt roads.  We are on a corner lot (hence, Croteau's Corner) that allows access from two sides.  We are located on an electric powerline easement, and the resulting limitations on our land use are not fully known at this time.  There are open hills, two treed areas, and a small grassy area near the house.  The house itself was completed in 2006, but the owner did not spend any time decorating, improving, or otherwise working on the property.  We spent much of the fall clearing out scrb and fallen trees, raking out leaves, trimming the pines, organizing the one outbuilding (a small shed), and getting a feel for the land.  We spent nearly every night burning stuff, which is great because we love campfires and being outside in general anyway. 
         We also spent the winter planning.  I had two small goats, a quaint flock of chickens, another outbuilding complete with running water and electricity, and a 1200 square foot garden all built up in my head and ready to go by spring.  Somewhere around February we (I) realized that to do this right we needed to start out much slower than I had hoped.  Mark had already reached that conclusion, and was waiting for me to figure that out on my own (it can be a bit difficult to tell me something I don't want to hear).  So in between surfing the internet and searching the bookstores, I discovered Tractor Supply Company (TSC), my new favorite store.  I had a few heady days when a young salesman turned my head into thinking that we could, in fact, afford a goat pen, but I wasa soon back on track, 
     The limitations right now are time and money.  Mark could work on the farm, but he has to work at his job, which is not sitting at a desk pushing a pencil, but rather wrestling around blocks of stone and wheelbrrows full of mortar.  Being self-employed means he does all the drummimg up of business, running for supplies, billing, etc., and is the chief cook and bottle washer of his business.  As a school teacher, I am going great guns trying to finish out the school year in one piece.  Both of us come home tired, but Mark handles it better.  He gets out and builds chicken coops, transplants vegetation, mows the lawn, and usually has dinner going by the time I drag my sorry self home. 
     In my mind, tahe farm will only come to fruition when we retire in about ten or twelve years.  We'll slowly pick away at it (as Mark says) and by the time we retire, we'll have a full blown operation under way.  I need to get a garden going this spring, and we went ahead and bought a flock of eight chickens.  We have four  ISA browns, and four Rhode Island Reds.  We got pullets only this time around; I'm not ready to raise something I know I'm going to eat.  The chickens are funny, but they're for another blog.