Adventures of an urban homesteader growing greens, preserving the harvest and tending a backyard barnyard
Portland’s cold weather kept us housebound for several days. Time seemed to stop as the days went on and on, without the distraction of modern life. Instead, our attention was really focused on keeping everyone healthy and happy – inside and out. Every morning started with a visit to the chicken coops. Their roof had about 6″ of snow on top, but the girls were
This marks my 600th post about our little homestead and this morning we received a special, rare gift to help us celebrate: a little blue egg from a very old hen. Pearl, an Americana, was part of our original flock of hens that moved into our backyard in 2007. She was at least two years old back then, which makes her at least nine years
It is mighty quiet on the homestead right now and I’m enjoying every chilly moment. It’s my one time of year to get ahead of the garden. Most of my chores of late include cleaning out dead leaves, setting up new trellis for maturing vines, and working the compost. But there are a few things to harvest when I look carefully. Our onions are best
Happy new year friends! It’s that time of year when we take stock of what we have and dream about what will be. That includes the homestead – is it growing in the right direction and is everyone as happy and healthy as they can be? Today was the perfect time to ask that question about our backyard flock of chickens. We currently have eight hens
The days are growing darker and there is a bite in the morning breeze. Before the first frost hits, which for Portlanders is around November 15th, the homestead needs to be prepped for winter. We have had some fierce rain and wind storms already, so when we had a clear weekend I jumped on my garden to-do list. As we all know, vegetable plants suck
The new pullets are quickly turning into adult chickens. They are close to four months old now and ready to be mixed with our flock of older chickens. Let the abuse begin… Chickens have a pecking order. Whoever is on top gets to boss everyone around. And when you mix two different flocks, the chickens have to reorganize themselves to determine where everyone falls in
Having backyard livestock is a joy, but it’s not all eggs and sunshine. Chickens, ducks and other backyard livestock can attract flies, mice, rats and other undesirable critters. The rodents love the free food, so keeping poultry feed in a hanging feeder off the ground can help. Dealing with flies, however, is a bit harder to control. Disclaimer: Don’t read this post while eating your
Our new flock has settled in comfortably to life in our city garden. The older chickens are still separated from the younger ones, but that will soon end as we combine the two flocks into one. The young gals are about four months old now, except for the bantam who was fully grown when we got her. The bantam is officially the most productive layer
It was strange and sad not hearing the quacking of ducks outside our living room window when we re-homed them a couple weeks ago. I realize that most people would find quacking outside the living room window incredibly odd, but that just became the new norm here. Our plan was to replace the ducks with more chickens, adding to our existing flock. I am happy
This has become my
This is from South
All the ornamental grasses get cu
