Wow! It has been a while since we last posted. Somehow the whole summer (and a frighteningly large portion of the fall) slipped by since our last blog, when I very accurately predicted that it would be a good year for apples. I guess that just shows that if you say enough things you will be right sooner or later. Anyway, while we weren’t busy posting stuff, we were busy making things happen on the farm!
The first big project of the summer was a whole new chicken coop. In our exuberance to get back to working on the store, Dad and I told ourselves we would build the whole coop in a couple weeks. I guess I can still say I was right about it being a good year for apples. I will also say that we made a nice coop. Our birds are happy. I am happy.
Hands down, the nesting boxes (see below) are the best part about the new coop. The boxes are slanted at just the right angle, so once a chicken lays an egg, gravity rolls it into the pad at the back of the box, making it safe from the perils of still being in the box with the chicken. In other words, the eggs are completely clean and never pecked. We don’t even have to go inside the coop to collect them. We have a door on the outside of the nesting boxes. I have to be honest with you… it really feels like we have moved up in the world.
We still have some plans for the new coop, but they can wait until next year. We intend to hang some rabbit cages in there and come up with better systems for feeding and watering. For now though, the coop is all set to go for winter… which is good… because it’s almost winter.
And if you are wondering if that is all we’ve gotten done since the spring, wonder no more. There is much more to tell and many more pictures to show. As it gets dark a couple hours after it gets light out now, I fully intend to post on the regular again. That way we can relive the accomplishments of warmer days, find solace together as we struggle through the impending winter, and dream about what we will do when the seasons bestow upon us the favor of spring.