Freedom Ranger Chicks

 They're here! And early. They were shipped out yesterday from Pa. The lady at the post office called at 9:45 and said I had a box full of little peepers. I was expecting that 6:00 am call tomorrow morning. I thought I still had tonight to get the brooders ready. So had to hurry up and cut the 2 holes between the 2 boxes and put down shavings and mix their vitamin water and get their feed in the feeder. Got it all done and went to the Po. They were very loud. There was another lady there that came in after me and she just had a fit over them. They are cute little chicks.

 Here they are now all tucked into their new home for a few weeks. There are 51 of them. All differnt colors. I dipped each of their beaks at least 5 times in the water to make sure they got some. Then plopped them down into their feed trough.

 Then they took off! Some of them were a little slower and had to take a power nap. But after that, they were all on the run. Back and forth through the hole, from one side to the other. They look like little ants.

 But I think they have all been to the waterer and to the feeder now. And have all been through the hole several times. There is always one chick that's the loudest of them all. And I have one.

 This is a little video of them zipping around. The PO lady said these guys are bigger than any she's gotten there before. So hopefully in a few weeks I can put them outside. And they might not take the 12 weeks I had planned on waiting.

These little guys have not been vaccinated. They don't usually do that unless requested. So I got the vitamin and mineral additive to put in their water for the first few weeks. And the chick starter is unmedicated too. So they should be pretty natural healthy birds. Already have at least half sold. I'll post pictures every few weeks for my records and for others to see how these guys are growing.

Hard Work

You know you've been really working hard when the water in the shower is brown. And there is dirt after the water's gone down. And the white wash cloth is no longer white. I feel like I have been working harder the past few days than this whole summer. I have been mowing down old rows and tilling to make room for new things. I planted Blue Lake green beans this morning. Cucumbers a few days ago. I will plant Purple Hull field peas and squash tomorrow. I couldn't find zucchini so will look tomorrow. I also got some more beet and radish seeds. It seems like I have so much room for more things now.  I'll wait til about the middle of August to plant fall greens like kale, chard, collards, turnips, spinach and lettuce. It's almost August already!!

Here is some of the produce I took to market today. Not much. But I sold a lot of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. I love all the colors of the peppers. And the little Lemon Boy and Pink Girl and Valencia tomatoes. So pretty and colorful. I sold a lot of soap today too. I just need to get motivated to make more. I just got my order from Brambleberry so I have lots of new essential and fragrance oils to play with. Peppermint seems to be a favorite right now. I only have 2 bars left.

So has anyone been playing out in the gardens, replanting or harvesting?

What?

Can you see this? Click on and enlarge this picture. It's a woolie worm. This is July 25 th. A woolie worm that is ALL black. What is an all black woolie worm doing out on July 25 th? Really weird. It wasn't moving very fast either. I guess it was too hot with all that black wool on.