What Dreams Are Made of at 5~Acre Farm

Purple Thrift on the hill at the front of the property

We are hoping that this will be the year we get our five acres fenced in. It should have happened already, but, as usual, there have been delays. For now, about one acre is fenced in around the house, right in the middle of the farm. It's six foot chain link fence, installed when John's dad lived here.

I like the fence we have. If we could afford it, I'd want six foot chain link fence around the entire five acres! It provides a strong sense of security from intruders, while allowing the animals inside the fence to "free range." Right now, those free ranging animals are the dogs and Lulu, our pet pig, and the occasional escaped chicken.

I really like the way the fence defines a "yard" area around the house. It acts like an edge that we can work toward or away from. There are lots of shade trees, flowering plants and trees, bushes, and the larger of our two fig orchards, as well as a single apple tree. There used to be a row of peach trees along the front inside of the fence, but they died off. A couple are coming back, but not at all in the place I wish they were. I am hoping to plant a row of pomegranate trees along the front fence soon. John's father did an excellent job of landscaping the area when he settled here. It's more than 20 years later, and John and I are reaping the benefits of his wisdom and planning.

Front field, looking NE toward the fenced in area and house

Outside the fence, at the front, facing south, we have a lovely large field. I'm not sure, but it might be between one and one and a half acres. We aren't using it for anything right now, but we have been considering various crop ideas like corn or wheat, and we've also thought about using it as a rotation field for a small herd of meat goats.

Behind the fenced area, we have a larger field, probably about three acres. I posted pictures of it recently. This is where we also have our bee hives, apple orchard, second fig orchard, numerous grape vines, greenhouse, and several storage units. Once we have the property fenced, over behind the storage units, among a lot of brush and bramble is where we'd like to put a herd of goats. Behind the greenhouse is where we'd like to put a couple of pigs, and in the open field is where we'd like to put a couple of cows!

This is all kind of an outline of what we're trying to do with our property. If we actually pull it off (and this year, I hope), I'm going to be thrilled, and we will be about 90% complete in our plans for self-sufficiency. The only other thing to do is get ourselves off the grid, and I can't tell you which is going to come first, off-grid or fenced in animals!

Primary chicken pen, behind the Crepe Myrtle, south of the fig orchard

Yesterday I  blogged about John moving the chicken pen over and creating a new garden bed where the chicken pen used to be. Today, I thought I'd show you where the chicken pen is now.

Originally at the  SSW corner of the fenced-in area, it has been moved only slightly back, eastward, under an oak tree, behind some Crepe Myrtles, right next to the fig orchard!

At right, through fencing, brown area is where chicken pen used to be

John used the dog pen we actually use for the dogs to move the chickens, setting it up next to the pen, herding the chickens into it, closing it, then taking the panels of the chicken pen apart, reassembling them in the new area, and scooting the dog pen (with chickens) over to the new place, lining up the doors, and herding the chickens back into their newly placed pen.

There is a lot of grass for the chickens to eat for now (and John loves giving them the mowed clippings), lots of underbrush for them to explore and dig through, and later, when it gets hot, there will be lots of shade for them to rest in, escaping the intense Georgia heat.

Moose, caught in mid-crow

 That's Moose, a white Leghorn. He was chosen three years ago to be our primary breeding rooster. We hatched about 50 of his eggs in several batches over last summer. I was delighted that we had at least one (but not more than two) white chickens in each batch of hatchlings. Only one was female though. The white roosters, along with a number of other roosters, are waiting to be "dispatched" (butchered) as soon as we get the chance.

This is the Rooster Pen. It is directly across from where the Primary Chicken Pen used to be. This once-grassy area became a secondary chicken pen. When the hens were transferred from here to the primary pen, and the roosters were put in the chicken kite, this area became my Spring Garden. That was Spring 2011. Here, I grew several hundred onions, Swiss Chard, kohlrabi, rutabagas, broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts. I was looking forward to planting summer crops here, but it turned out we needed the area for the roosters, who had grown big and fat!

We were supposed to dispatch the roosters in early February with help from the folks at Darby Farms. That was put on hold, and at this point, has not been rescheduled. But these wonderful, well-fed, fat roosters will be dispatched before summer is gone, and this little plot of land will become my fall garden! Until then, I'll think about the collards and cabbages I will plant here, and maybe some more onions and Swiss Chard. Hopefully, I can plant some more rutabagas, kohlrabi, and Brussels Sprouts, and I might even think of planting turnips! I hear baby turnips are absolutely delicious!

Moving the Chickens, Finding a Garden Bed

Primary Pen: Mostly hens

 John is always working hard around the farm. He's got more ideas than he has time to implement them.

Late yesterday afternoon I stepped outside to see what John was up to. He'd been telling me for days that he was going to move the main chicken pen to a nearby area under the trees.

Well, he moved it! All by himself! His idea is to have the chickens in a well-shaded area as the summer gets hotter, and to let the chickens clean out the area under the trees. That works for me!

If you haven't noticed already, the chicken pen is constructed of two 20'x20' dog pens. We were considering several types of chicken pens when a number of baby chicks were more than ready to be moved out of the brooder pen two years ago. We put them in a 10'x10' dog pen temporarily, and quickly realized that it was the perfect pen for adult chickens. And the dog house? That works too! The chickens love it! They lay their eggs in there during the day, and roost in there at night. The A-frame thing is a cover over the food dish, and another favorite perch for the chickens.

Where the primary pen was, now the new garden bed

The area where the pen was standing will be another new garden bed. The area is 20'x20', the size of the pen that was there, and having already been cleared and fertilized by the chickens, it makes for a great garden bed! There are some brushy stumps that need to be removed, but John says he can do that rather easily.  

Before sundown yesterday, John had tilled up the area to about 18 inches deep.

Of course John's entourage was nearby to observe and lend a hand as needed.

Maggie took point.

And the hard working genius behind almost everything that happens here at 5~Acre Farm, completed yet another task just before the sun settled low on the horizon, then quietly moved on to another task, anxious to do as much as he could before darkness settled in
and his day would officially be over.

The End.

Pictures of the Farm, Spring 2012, Part One

#1

John came in late this afternoon and asked me to go riding with him around the property. So I grabbed my camera and hopped into the golf cart with him.

I managed to get a few nice pictures before the sun went down, and thought I'd share them with you tonight.

We started our tour near the chicken pen. That's Samantha in the foreground of picture #1. She's grown so much since we got her in December! She's the most fearless little animal I've ever known and an absolute bundle of love!

#2

That's Maggie behind Samantha, watching the chickens, and yes, their "coop" is a dog house! That was John's idea, and it works! If you look close in the first picture, you'll see one of the hens up on the top of the pen. They do that all the time!

In picture #2, we're looking at the chicken pen through the yard fence. That black spot down center is my dad's Scottish Terrier, Chu Chu. All the dogs like to check out the chickens several times daily.

#3

In picture #3, you can see the Crepe Myrtle. It hasn't bloomed yet, but it will be a dark pink when it does. More importantly, behind the Crepe Myrtle, you can see our primary fig orchard. We'll have an abundance of small brown figs ripening in August. Last year, I canned the harvest in a light syrup. This year I might try a fig jam!

#4

#5

Picture #4 is a shot of our back yard looking South to North. That entire row of greenery was fully blooming Forsythia only two weeks ago! In the distance, besides John's blue work van, you can see the chicken kite that John designed and built. Picture #5 is a close up of the kite from the back end. I'll blog more about the chicken kite another time.

#6

Picture #6 is a shot of the back of our house, facing West. The patio is a bit junky right now. We've been doing our spring cleaning and we've gathered a lot of stuff we need to get rid of. John never disposes of anything too quickly, in case it has another use. I'm a household recycler, but John is a recycler of any kind of machinery!

#7

Picture #7 is a close up of two of our three snowball trees. They bloom twice each year, in the spring and in the fall. I absolutely love these trees! As the blooms age, before they turn brown, they are easily blown from the trees by the wind. Once, the petals on the ground gave me an idea, and I gathered a bunch of the petals and strew them all the way up the driveway, as a welcome for my mother, who was on her way over to visit (with my dad). She loved it!

#8

Picture #8 is a shot from the back gate, facing East over the lower part of our property. On the left, at that bunch of trees, are the bee hives. To the left is my father's grapevines. Further back are some storage units, and out of sight, to the left, our greenhouse.

#9

Picture #9 is facing South, along the back fence. Those are Garden hives, 5-frame, that John moved there at the advice of a more experienced beekeeper. John successfully split our three hives into six, and may be able to split again in the next few weeks. On the other side of the hives is our mulch pile. It's three years old and a lot smaller than it was when we got it!

#10

Picture #10 is of our one and only pear tree. In seasons past, the limbs have been so full of giant round pears that they hung to the ground with the weight. The tree hasn't produced in the last two years, but is showing a lot of fruit this year. Picture #11 is a close up of little tiny pears already filling the branches!

#11

#12

Picture #12 is a shot of the greenhouse. It sits on the back of the property on the North side. It gets the first rays of sun in the morning, and a good bit of the day's long light. John helped his father build this greenhouse in 1992. Picture #13 is a closer shot of the greenhouse. Those trees in front of the greenhouse are our secondary fig orchard. Yeah, we need to clean out the undergrowth!

It's after 11 p.m., so I think I'll stop here so I can publish this blog before Midnight. My next blog will be a continuation of this one, with plenty more pictures!

#13

Chicken & Macaroni; Roast Chicken with Veggies

 

I found some beautiful, meaty, bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts in the freezer last night and pulled them out to defrost for today's dinner.

I decided to make Chicken and Macaroni for my dad. It's very boring to look at, but it's really delicious to eat! It's a dish that's easy on Dad's digestion, and easy on his gums. It's also one of his favorite dishes, a modification of the chicken and noodles that my family ate often while I was growing up.

When I was little, my mother often shooed me away from the kitchen while she was cooking, but once in a while I'd get to sit at the dining room table doing homework, and watch her cook, especially chicken and noodles. Just home from work, and still in heels and pearls (really), Mother would don her apron and set-to cutting up a chicken to dump in the pot. (Back then, they didn't sell chickens already cut up. You had to do it yourself! Can you imagine that?)

Mother cooked, I watched, we didn't chat. It was too distracting for Mother, who never took well to cooking. She cooked because she had to, not because she loved it. (Some day I'll tell you that story.) But I loved watching her, heels and pearls, and perfectly curled hair, and the scent of the chicken and noodles mingling with the scent of her perfume, White Shoulders.To this day, the two scents still linger together in my memory.

Now, back to those big, meaty chicken breasts!

I decided to make Roast Chicken with Veggies for John and myself. I seasoned them with a rosemary-garlic seasoning blend, and popped them into my counter-top convection oven at the grill setting for about 30 minutes. I served the breasts with mixed veggies and stir-fried broccoli.

We harvested the broccoli from our garden on Sunday, and we haven't been able to stop eating it! It is so delicious! Stir-fried in a bit of extra-virgin olive oil and butter, then seasoned with a bit of sea salt, the broccoli was the real star of the meal!

My counter-top convection oven is probably my most important kitchen tool. My first one was a gift from my mother 12 years ago. When it died in 2006, my mother surprised me with another one before I had a chance to get one myself!


When I first got the oven, I wasn't ungrateful, but I really wasn't sure what to do with this thing, so it sat on the kitchen shelf for a few months before I pulled it out, studied the booklet, and started experimenting. I realized, pretty quickly, that this wonderful machine was going to change the way I cook everything!

For many years, I have used my counter-top convection oven to cook everything! I've grilled chicken, steaks, and other meats in it; cooked cornbread, biscuits, muffins, and cakes in it; and baked potatoes and roasted vegetables in it. I've even baked pizzas in it! Meats are always juicy, moist and tender, and everything cooks fast and easy. I really can't imagine being without it at this point!

Have you got a kitchen tool that you are particularly fond of? Can't live without it? Tell me about it!