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Post by feather on May 18, 2021 6:21:35 GMT -6
No idea, I haven't bought flour in years. One of the many reasons I like wheat berries. It waits for you. Currently we aren't really eating anything wheat and I haven't ordered berries in months. When all the bees were still at home and not working and I was baking bread a every day we'd easily go through a 50# sack of berries in a month. King Bee and I are supposed to be gf and the worker bees eat out a lot. Sissy Bee baked pizzas the other night and I think that's probably the first time we grinded any wheat since Jan or Feb. Darn it. I forgot you were going gluten free. I just plain forgot, sorry.
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Post by tenbusybees on May 18, 2021 10:55:38 GMT -6
No idea, I haven't bought flour in years. One of the many reasons I like wheat berries. It waits for you. Currently we aren't really eating anything wheat and I haven't ordered berries in months. When all the bees were still at home and not working and I was baking bread a every day we'd easily go through a 50# sack of berries in a month. King Bee and I are supposed to be gf and the worker bees eat out a lot. Sissy Bee baked pizzas the other night and I think that's probably the first time we grinded any wheat since Jan or Feb. Darn it. I forgot you were going gluten free. I just plain forgot, sorry. No worries. We're still adjusting too.
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Post by manygoatsnomore on May 18, 2021 11:23:40 GMT -6
So, the latest shortage seems to be the cap stones I laid for my front patio...I wanted to get a couple dozen more to expand the patio outward and increase the seating area. Lowes was completely out! I guess I'll use my stack of red and gray bricks to make a decorative border expansion instead.
I was headed out to the garden. The sun was out just a minute ago, but now it's behind very dark clouds and it looks like it will start raining any minute. I'm pretty sure that by the time I get my work grubbies on and my hair up, it will be dumping down. I might just work on getting my livingroom put back in some kind of order instead...as soon as I start working inside, the sun might come back out, lol. 😁🌞
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Post by nbc3mom on May 18, 2021 17:19:33 GMT -6
Rainy Monday which made the ground soft and easier to pull weeds today. I spent about 1.5 hours in the flower beds, weeding and fluffing the mulch. I was just ready to weed the garden when my neighbor called and asked if I wanted to go to the park and walk. Walk or weed?? Hmm, not a hard choice! We walked 3 miles, and she gave me some heirloom squash seeds that a friend shared with her. They have been in his family for generations and originally grew in Belgium. I’ll get them planted tomorrow when it’s not so muddy. I also have to replant a row of cucumbers that haven’t sprouted. They may have started then got hit by frost a few weeks ago. There are 2 unplanted rows yet in the garden. I’ll probably wait a week or so and plant more beans and more zucchini. I noticed a lot of little white strawberries. With 7 days forecast in the mid to upper 80’s, I think they will be ready soon. My daughter and her family are coming for Memorial Day weekend. Hope the berries are ripe for the grandkids to pick. I am so ready for our whole family to be together. DS#2’s family haven’t seen DD’s family since Thanksgiving 2019!
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Post by feather on May 20, 2021 13:13:07 GMT -6
I use a lot of whole wheat flour, a 10 lb tupperware container lasts me 5 batches, or 10 loaves worth. We use about that much in a month. I'm not sure of how much we need to keep on hand given that it goes bad faster than the whole grain unground, which we have on hand. tenbusybees , do you have any idea how much flour you go through for 10 busy bees over a month or more? I'm estimating needing 10 lbs a month for 6 months or less, so 10-5 lbs bags. We have 3 left, need 7. (needs, 2 people, sometimes 2.5 since DS buys some of his bread) No idea, I haven't bought flour in years. One of the many reasons I like wheat berries. It waits for you. Currently we aren't really eating anything wheat and I haven't ordered berries in months. When all the bees were still at home and not working and I was baking bread a every day we'd easily go through a 50# sack of berries in a month. King Bee and I are supposed to be gf and the worker bees eat out a lot. Sissy Bee baked pizzas the other night and I think that's probably the first time we grinded any wheat since Jan or Feb. How many average bees do you have at home now? You and him and how many others?
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Post by tenbusybees on May 21, 2021 18:13:59 GMT -6
No idea, I haven't bought flour in years. One of the many reasons I like wheat berries. It waits for you. Currently we aren't really eating anything wheat and I haven't ordered berries in months. When all the bees were still at home and not working and I was baking bread a every day we'd easily go through a 50# sack of berries in a month. King Bee and I are supposed to be gf and the worker bees eat out a lot. Sissy Bee baked pizzas the other night and I think that's probably the first time we grinded any wheat since Jan or Feb. How many average bees do you have at home now? You and him and how many others? Seven-ish. Kind of. One is on the road, one is fixing to go back otr, one has his own homestead now but comes over often, and one is in an apprenticeship program.
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Post by feather on May 21, 2021 18:43:26 GMT -6
tenbusybees, I care about you so much. Have I told you lately?
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Post by manygoatsnomore on May 21, 2021 21:19:10 GMT -6
After a very wet day yesterday, I was finally able to get back in my garden today. I had Abby shovel me a wheelbarrow load of horse manure compost and bring it to the garden gate. I spread it on the asparagus bed. The asparagus is nearly ready to pick again...just a few spears each time, but what a treat! I was able to pick enough broccoli for a small serving for dinner - yum. 😊
I took the rebar mesh off one of the tomato beds and pulled the weeds out. I do love how easily weeds come out of the raised beds. The hens are always happy when I weed, too...it's the one time I don't mind having them in the garden. I did some random weeding here and there throughout the garden, but I have to admit I ran out of oomph earlier than I'd planned. I'd spent over an hour pulling bracken fern out of my woods earlier and helped Abby roll a round bale out to the horses. By then, I was done for the day. I'm planning an early night and to hit it again in the morning.
Inside the house, I hardboiled a bunch more eggs to feed back to the chickens and chopped up more rhubarb for sauce, did more cleaning and straightening in my bedroom/bathroom, the same in my livingroom, washed dishes and folded/put away laundry from last night. I think I've earned my episodes of Poirot tonight - I'll probably fall asleep during the first one, lol!
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Post by manygoatsnomore on May 22, 2021 16:45:38 GMT -6
Boy, I slept well last night! Right on through the morning, actually, lol. So, I'm off to a slow start today. It's good that it stays light until around 9pm now...I still have time to get in a good day's work.
I forgot to mention that we've had a couple more hens bring out chicks in the past few days. One only had a few babies, but the other hen has at least a dozen. It's so hard to get a head count on tiny, fast moving chicks! We have more hens that should be coming off their nests in about a week, and who knows how many others on nests I don't know about. I'm down to gathering about 18 eggs a day, so I know more hens have sneaked off to brood. I do love having poultry that reproduce on their own.
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on May 23, 2021 13:30:57 GMT -6
We have 2 chicken nuggets! (so far). We have our first broody hen (well, she was broody last year too....but by the time we realized and allowed her to sit she was fed up with us and quit after 3 days). She is sitting 7 eggs....but about a week different in ages. Not sure how long she will sit now that 2 have hatched (that we know of). If she gets a 3rd, I may not use the incubator for any she leaves in the nest.....but then again, I might, lol. We really don't need anymore chickens..... but I'd hate to leave any eggs unhatched. Could be the left eggs are hens....and the hatched ones roos. Such a dilemma, lol.
Chicken run is "ready". Snow last winter destroyed the overhead netting. Got that replaced this weekend, so we should have fewer escapes. Salt (my broody hen) escaped and is sitting outside the run in our "Meat bird run"!! Good thing we haven't done meat birds this year (yet). She picked a spot under our original coop (a little tiny thing)....so I have to put a board up in front of her every night to try to make it preditor proof-ish. So far so good.....but now there are chick sounds. We will see if that brings anything in.
The Garden is in and so far I'm keeping it watered. There are some chances of rain this week. Sure would be helpful, rain barrels need re-filled, too. Now the weeding....that needs to get going this week. Pull then while they are small...right??
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Post by manygoatsnomore on May 31, 2021 5:07:57 GMT -6
Final check on May's list:
May 2021 To-Do List:
1. Take Abby to get her 2nd Covid shot May 2nd. ✔ 2. Continue going to all ordered tests and referrals, even though I'm already feeling much better.✔ 3. Finish grooming the tangles out of Muttley's coat and give him a bath, then keep him groomed. 4. Keep losing weight Fail...gained back a few pounds and improving stamina.✔ 5. Continue to track spending, income and expenses.✔ 6. Use new tiller on the garden ✔and do what planting is safe in May as we move through the month. By end of month, pretty much everything should be in the ground. Tilled and weeded, but the seeds aren't in yet. 7. Transplant rhubarb to amended soil in main garden from chicken pen. Pulled and weeded, but didn't transplant. 8. Unstick stuck 5 gallon buckets using compressed air and finish cleaning them.Tried and failed. 9. Strain diesel into clean buckets with gasketed lids, clean up the old buckets and switch out lids where needed. 10. Drain old fuel and oil out of generator, add fresh and test. 11. Plant the rest of the bulbs, perennials and plants I bought in March and April, plus gladiolus corms from last year. NO MORE NEGLECTED PLANTS! Still have dahlias, hostas, lilies and glads to plant. 12. Clean and spray paint planters to match lawn chairs✔ and plant flowers and herbs in them.✔ 13. Hawk and chicken proof the chicken pen, including removing trees that interfere with overhead netting, add another row of chicken wire to top of pen, install netting, start sorting out the good layers of nice big eggs from the ones who lay smaller eggs, sell the ones who don't earn their keep. 14. Replace the leaky fitting on the framing nailer. 15. Keep working on the sheds for lumber drying, hay and equipment storage. 16. Start getting some riding time in. 17. Use sump pump to drain the pool, scrub and pump again, level ground again and install new pool pump, solar pool heater and iron removal sock, refill pool, turn on filter pump on a timer, reseed lawn all around the pool area and keep chickens away from it - I want to be able to swim this summer!
Added just for the fun of checking them off:
18. Get the oil change done on the F-150. ✔ 19. Order pool bleach before the price goes up any more. ✔ 21. Remember to treat the cats and dog for flea and tick prevention ✔, cats for tapeworms. 22. Wash F-150 and canopy. ✔
It feels like I really worked this month, but it sure doesn't look like much of what I did was on the list, lol.
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on May 31, 2021 16:50:24 GMT -6
Lost my broody hen and one of my chicks to a predator. Thought I lost both chicks but one survived and was found running around that afternoon. Took a while to catch her, she was out in one rainstorm. Caught her and let her dry in my bra, lol. She had to live in my shirt for about 2 hours before someone was home to help me. She is now safely tucked away in the brooder.....with 7 store-bought chicks so she is not alone. Other chicks range in ages from 2 weeks older than her to 4 or 5 days younger. I really didn't want to raise more chicks....
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