August 5, 2020

All homesteaders, farmers and those building their own homes know that EVERY.SINGLE.PROJECT has obstacles that have to be taken care of before getting to the actual project. We have learned to take them in stride.  Before we build the bathroom wall, we had to take care of the rotted sill plate.  Before we could install ceiling joists, we had to remove hundreds of old nails.  Before we could install new plumbing in the mud room, we had to install stud shoes.  Before we could plum the new master bathroom, we had to remove part of the old floor.  We can’t finish the main room floor joists until the master bathroom is plumbed and all the air ducts are removed.  We can’t take down the main room ceiling joists (to create a vaulted ceiling) until the new ceiling joists are up.  We can’t put the ceiling joists up until we get scaffolding.  We can’t use scaffolding until we install the sub-floor.  We can’t install the sub-floor until the bathroom plumbing is done. . . . . . . There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza!

But, that’s the way of any projects.  We have to remember to sit back, think of the project and take time to sharpen our saws (literally) and tackle one project at a time.  As we were cutting the floor for the new bathroom so our plumber friend could advise us on what to do, we were having a terrible time with the saw buckling in the hardwood.  After several stops and starts, we realized the blade was old and dull.  After installing the new saw, it cut like butter with a hot knife!  We have to do that in our real life, too.  Sometimes, the most efficient thing to do is to rest.  It allows us to reassess the progress and the “to-do” list and move forward with more enthusiasm and less mistakes.

We are now officially chicken farmers!  Of the 23 eggs that we hatched after Easter, we have 7 left.  Three died as chicks. We sold 4 roosters. Raccoons and opossums got 9 of the remaining hens!  We’ve since installed traps and the electric fence will go up this weekend.  We hope they’re safe. We have 2 roosters. One is a Black Copper Maran, named “Copper,” the other is a Dominique, but he doesn’t have a name, yet. And only the Black Copper Maran hen has a name. Her name is “Tootsie.”   The others will be named as we learn their personalities!

Over the past 2 weeks, we added 12 new chicks for egg laying and 25 new chicks for meat.  At the end of August, we are expecting 30 more meat chicks.  We will be having a processing party at the end of September for the first batch.  If you’d like to come help, we’d love to have you!

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We built 3 chicken tractors so the new chicks can all be separated.  The chicks have been in the tractors from the first day (we usually brood inside, but the weather is nice and warm, so we are trying them outside).  We built an “Ohio Brooder” to keep them warm.  They can move in and out from the brooder as they like.  After the first few days, we are noticing they are spending quite a bit of their time away from the heat lamps, and we think they are feathering quicker, too.  The tractors with the chicks will be moved across our property regularly.  With the baby chicks, they will probably stay put for a week and then we will move them every few days to spread their “fertilizer” across our pasture.  As they get older, the meat chickens will be moved at least once a day (maybe even more if their fertilizer load is too much for the area).

Joshua’s friend was staying with us for the summer and he wanted to do a leather project. Joshua also decided to be creative. John helped Ian make a satchel and Joshua made a wallet for a friend. We think both projects turned out great!

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Our garden is not doing very well.  We weren’t particularly confident when we planted it.  We did not have time or money to amend the soil like we would have wanted to.  Our soil is very heavy and full of clay.  We did add a truck load of compost and rabbit manure, but we think it need MUCH more!  Even after fertilizing, our tomato, pepper and green bean plants are all about half as big as they should be, and producing about a quarter of what we expected.  The cucumbers are going crazy, however.  We can go from a 2” starter to 8” overgrown in 2 days!  We have to pick twice a day to keep up with the growth – none of us like the overgrown cukes.  Hopefully this week, we will try to dehydrate cucumbers to use in salads and soups after the fresh veggies are gone.  For our fall garden, we are only going to grow cabbage, beets and spinach.  We really need to keep it simple so we can spend as much time as possible on the house.  We did get some great flowers, which we’ve been cutting and bringing inside!  We’ve never planted flowers in our garden, but I think I’ll continue to do so.  They add a smile while we are weeding!

We found a quail farmer who produces 2-4 HUGE feed bags full of quail manure and hay every week.  We’ve been picking it up and adding it to our compost pile.  Next year’s garden will have all the compost it needs!  Katie is already planning the layout, looking through seed catalogs, and adding seed start days to her calendar.

So here’s where we are in the house:
-All except 2 floor joists are installed.
-The new ceiling joists in the main bathroom are installed.
-The load bearing wall in the bathroom has been replaced.
-The plumbing in the mudroom is almost finished.
-The plumbing throughout the rest of the house has been planned.
-A 3-D model of our house has been created.
-We’ve decided to build our own kitchen cabinets (we will try with the one in the mudroom first to see if our table saw will make the cut (pun intended)).
-We’ve chosen a paint color for the mudroom (and maybe the kitchen).

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Here’s our current plan for the farmhouse.

Up next is
-Finishing the plumbing in the mudroom.
-Rebuilding a wall in the mudroom.
-Taking all the drywall down in the mudroom (we found more mold).
-Installing all the other plumbing.
-Installing the cathedral ceiling joists
-Installing a 21’ header in the living room.
-Removing the old ceiling joists.

AND, in the meantime, our youngest two sons are heading back to college in 2 weeks, so we have to help them secure proper cleaning supplies and PPE for a very different kind of semester!