Super sunday!!

Today has been just super wonderful and sunny!   My mom and I made some jam this am, I planted more squash in our garden and more tomato plants that have been patiently waiting to get their little roots in the dirt and grow.   Also it has been a glorious day of eggs hatching.  A customer brought us some turkey eggs they found abandoned in the woods last weekend so we put them in an incubator and hoped for the best.  WELLLLLLLLLLLL 6 have hatched right now and one more is working on coming into the world.  Here are some step by step pics of what we got to witness (which we never tire of experiencing on the farm)

U can see the little chips off these eggs, you can put the egg up to your ear and listen to the eggs slowly cracking and a faint little "chirp" inside at this point

A bit more off this one, you can just barely see the beak inside

A close up of the beak along the left side of egg

the membrane inside the egg wasnt peeled yet but very close and the chick will be out

THERE IT IS!! this one I captured and snapped at the perfect time, it happens so fast you pretty much miss it, they are very eager little ones to get stretched out! 

These were the first ones to hatch all the rest followed very closely

Arent they litle cuties!!   So we have 7 little baby turkeys now.  They are in a box with a heat lamp on them.  "Welcome to our farm little ones!"

This was a new concoction I made for us the other night, will definetely be made again for markets this week!!  "Rustic mozzarella roasted pepper tart"  I made some of my pie dough, rolled it out to about a 10 in circle, sprinkled some olive oil and some fresh parmesean and romano cheeses, then topped with some roasted red pepper slices and pieces of some fresh tomatoes, the edges were folded over the top and brushed with olive oil.  I baked them and when done added some fresh minced sweet basil and oregano.  OH this was a perfect light supper and the flavor was really something!!  GREAT!!

I like that you can do it without a pan they were baked on stones and had a nice crisp crust.

So hope yall had a great weekend, almost over now.   Monday will be a full day of gettin cookie doughs made and maybe some bread dough to freeze and also pickeled asparagus. So far I have done up 50 pounds and now want to make some "clucking hot" pickeled asparagus and also I have some pickeled radish and carrots in the fridge at kitchen I cant wait to taste.

Have a wonderful sunday evening!!

Will be back with more soon!! thanks for stopping by chicken scratch farm!!

HUGS

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Relish, babies, and bread

My friend gave me a new kitchen gadget and I am in love!! LE PRESSE!!  it is so easy and can do so many cuttings!! It is a hand cranked cutting machine that actually is very useful.   It is big and comes with a tower full of cutting dies that also will rice, grate, chop, dice, extract juice, and julienne veggies.   So I wanted to play and brought in some cucumbers from the garden and made my dixie relish.   It has candy sweet onions from VISSER FARMS, in Zeeland MI, our cucumbers and peppers, lots of apple cider vinegar, which by the way is made right here in sw michigan and the Heinz factory in Holland, celery seed, mustard seed and salt.  This is great on burgers, brats or I like to add it jack up a plain ol sandwich.  It also tastes great in tater salad or mac salad.

And we got our last load of babies in, we have had no luck hatchin out our guninnea eggs so I ordered 15 of them from our feed store and also got in some more Isa Brown hens and some plymouth white rock hens.  Miss Margaret and Miss Annamae did hatch out 3 more little babies and boy I can sure tell which rooster is doin the deed as these two ladies are white and brown and the babies are solid black. last time they hatched some eggs they came out white with black spots so it is always fun to see the surprises!! and my girls are such good mammas to these babies.  And we also got another pair of bronze turkeys.  My little guy "frankie" the bronze turk that we got in may is growing and doin great.  The 2 new ones are suppossed to be a pair but we will see how that goes you never know.Here are some lemon buttermilk cakes I made for markets last week some had fresh Mi blueberries some with our red raspberries and then a few with both berries mixed.  And my fabulous  BERRY BERRY BANANA BREAD which is always a big hit.  IT has both blueberries and strawberries cut into my banana bread.   This week I am thinkin of tryin a new banana bread maybe chocolate chip or chunky monkey with peanut butter and chocolate chips?? 

I am taking my mom out to breakfast this am to Saugatuck so we can eat on the deck at IDA REDS.  THEY have the BESTEST BREAKFASTS!! I love that place and the atmoshpere in town is charmin, by the deck outside there is a little waterfall and flowers and it is just awesome!!so is my mommy though!! SHE IS THE BEST EVER!!  I had Elijah make some spinach cheese ravioli last week and they were amazing!! HE did a wonderful job on them and they look perfect!!  This week is a new ravioli!!  I sauteed some red onions, yellow squash, zucchini and some patty pan squash in butter with a touch of fresh chopped garlic and some pepper and mixed it with some ricotta cheese and guyerre cheese and some fresh parmesean so cant wait to try that!! I thought it would be fun since we are picking alot of squash now and sauteed it tastes amazing!!These are my white chocolate thumbprints with red raspberry preserves ontop, and some of my rustic round cinnamon raisin bread.Before bakin they look have such a nice light tan color from all the cinnamon in them and after they are nice and golden and I add just a touch of melted butter mixed with some cinnamon sugar for the tops.

Ok well it is time for me to get ready to get my mom  so I will chat more with ya later.  Hope your july is going smoothly and it isnt too awful warm for ya!! I know they are talkin in the 90s this week here!! too hot for me but it doesnt last too long so I can handle it!!

The produce is just abundant right now so if yall are nearby stop on by for some fresh yellow squash,patty pan squash, 8 ball round italian zucchini, green and yellow zucchini, cucumbers, onions, beets, and soon I will have fresh beans out in the farmstand for ya!!  we are located just off Lakeshore Drive and 120th ave.  Someone is usually around and will help if you have any questions.  Peaches and Nectarines soon too!! 

we are 2 miles south of Glenn, and just 10 min south of Saugatuck.  OPEN 7 days a week!!

HUGS

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Busy Tues

HELLO~~
Wow the weeks go by so dang fast and we have had such a beautiful absolutely glorious summer so far it is gonna be sad to see ol man winter knockin on our doors!! The last few days my mom and I have made lots of goods.
We did up more of our silly dilly beans and I came up with what I am calling "CLUCKIN SPICY SILLY DILLY BEANS" which just means they are jacked up with some great spices. Mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, fresh garlic and also some chili powder!! Cluckin good!! LOL
and we made some more mild hot pepper jelly, some carmel apple jam and today I want to try to sneak over to the kitchen to make some banana nut bread jam!~sounds sinful dont it???
Maybe make a few more pancake mixes up and cookies. My brother has to have some surgery on his foot so we are plannin on leavin around noon so that doesnt leave me alot of bakin time today oh well can go when we get home too i supposse.
Well all the girls are doin good keepin up with egg production and we added 24 of the babies to the "flock" they are big enough to be mixed in now, i just feel so bad for them as the girls ahve their peckin order and usually the babies all get pecked at the first few days, I try to watch them closely though and hollar at the olders ones. I know i wont stop it but i dont like the babies being picked on. This set of little ones is so sweet too. We have some isla browns, rhode island reds, white plymouths and not too sure what the mixed ones, our hatched eggs are but they are just little honeys!!
It is looking more and more like rain so hopefully it doesnt blow over us like the last few days has, we need rain!!

Better get my butt off to get some things done so with that I say have a blessed day and will chat more soon!!!
HUGS
Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Sunny sunday

OH WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY TODAY HAS BEEN~~ it is only in the high 70s and sunny and BEAUTIFUL!! what a weekend we have had!! Market was the best of the season yesterday and the weather was just right not too hot, no wind and no rain!! Even though we sure do need a nice rain shower for the garden.

"THE EARTH IS GIVEN AS A COMMON STOCK FOR MAN TO LABOR AND LIVE ON. THE SMALL LANDOWNERS ARE THE MOST PRECIOUS PART OF A STATE. Great statement by Thomas Jefferson.

The flowers and trees are in their full beauty of the summer and it is just so wonderous!! it is light out til about 9.30 pm and well just plain ol GREAT!! LOVE SUMMERTIME!~!

Well the girls are all doin better now that the first big heat of the summer is over, they got really warm, we all did last week. One thing to remember if yall have "girls" chickens dont forget that they get heat stressed quickly and very easily too. I read somewhere awhile ago to make up some of water with the commercial electrolytes in it put in ice cube trays and freeze, then pop a few out and tuck them in their waterers. Be sure to leave out plenty of cool water for them to drink and they will eat early in the am when it's hot. I will also put a soaker hose on and a fan in their coop to help them relax and not get overheated, plus since they are free range i have all sorts of pots and buckets and trays out around their stomping ground for them to drink from.

Well hope yall have a blessed day and I will be back soon with some new pics and garden pics too. It is gonna be a wild week I think so I may not be on here as much as I would like but I am still thinkin about what to put on my blog next!! LOL we do have onions, radishes, carrots, taters, celery, spinach and cilantro for sale now too!! and the maters and squash are about ready too!!

Oh by the way if i hadnt already told yall the pic of the rooster on the left side is my RED FRED!! I love that the gal that made this for me incorporated his pic!! he is one cool dude I tell ya!!

Happy gardening and baking from me!!

~~HUGS~~

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Stormin Weekend!!

OUR EGGS FROM THE WEEKEND!!

Hey Everyone!! GOSH what a weekend!! Yesterday started out beautiful but by mid afternoon it started gettin really dark and then big ol rain drops started and that was it! windy, rainy, downpouring, lightin,thunderin well into the night!! and then around 5pm last night!! BAM!!!!!!!!! we went black!!power out!! yuk so hubby and I ran to the grocery store and grabbed something to eat and when we got back home round 10pm it was back on!! YEAH!! but today it is rainin and dark and gloomy outside. BUT>>>>>>>>>>> april showers bring may flowers so I say rain rain RAIN RAIN!! LOL. it will be good for the morel mushrooms and also the asparagus crop. My lilac trees have open green leaves and the grass looks a shade of such beautiful green I forgot how pretty green is!! My hyacinths are up and blooming and oh the smell when you walk past them is breathtakin!! daffodils in full bloom and also my climatis plants I see are starting to emerge on their trellis. YEAH!! LOVE LOVE LOVE SPRINGTIME!!

We arent doin too much today, probably since it is rainy I will go up to the shop and work on replacin our counter top, hubby has work on one of our tractors to do to get her ready for tillin up the gardens.

And we have more chickies!! 6 more brown guys hatched and hopefully they are hens!!well actual term is pullets. I am goin to our feed store tomorrow to pick up some Brown Islas I ordered they lay big ol jumbo brown eggs and are suppossed to be very personable and friendly. DONT need any more ANGRY hens round here!! I do have to nip a problem in the butt asap though. We have an egg breaker amongst the gals!! YEPPER we do and when I find out who it is LOOK OUT!!! chicky heads are gonna roll!!LOL right! well someone out there is breaking most of our green/blue eggs and some brown so they are NOT to be considered prejudice. Maybe they are tellin me they need some extra oyster shell in their layin mash?? Will have to ask the feed store.

I will be all about the bakin soon so will be sure to take my camera to the bakery with me for some yummy shots.

Until tomorrow hope yall have a blessed sunday.

~HUGS~~

Darlene

HAPPY WEEKEND!! and spring chicks

Here was us this past week!! I slept on one of our couches almost all week after surgery!! As you can see my boys were right with me!! LOL


Buster was on one end and Bubba and Barney in the middle which didnt leave a whole lot a room for me but we were cozy!! LOL they are such sweeties.

Well the first of the new additions to the farm for 09!!! there guys are 2 weeks old here and hopefully are all hens! please=) Rhode Island Reds which we have alot of and they are such honeys and also great reliable egg layers for us.

OH they are just too stinkin cute at this age arent they?? Love all my babies! We are on the look out for a female white peking duck as our daisy and daphney both passed this past winter so poor Donald is without a mate right now and he does walk around chasing the geese.

Springtime is just such a glorious time on a farm all the babies and new things and the seeds sprouting so lovely!!! My mini japanese iris are about 4 in tall and the big iris are comin up nicely. Oh and the lilac trees are full of green buds so with a couple more warm days and then the rain it will pop them fast! cant wait they are just beautiful and the aroma in the air is breathtaking when they bloom!!

Well hope yall have a blessed weekend and all get to enjoy some nice weather out there!! I am resting but plan on goin outside and sitting in that warm sun a bit this afternoon, maybe will take a journal book with me and watch and write about the chickens running around!! LOL they are always fun to watch!!

Talk to yall soon!!

~~HUGS~~

Darlene

HELLO AGAIN!!

HELLO ALL!!
WOW! It has been so long since I last posted well since i have been on the computer actually!! BUT I AM BACK!! and will be sharing some pics tomorrow with ya of a few of our new babies!! we have 6 hatched rhode Island reds (hopefully hens) LOL dont need any more roosters as we have 4 and that is plenty believe me!! they have quite a few gals to choose from too!! so at least they are not aggressive with each other nor with us!! Well surgery went well I had a rough time last week though as my blood count was slow to rise back to normal but today and yesterday I am feeling more like myself again. I actually got dressed and walked around the farm with my boys and also did plant 3 more flats of come cosmos seeds and 2 flats of yellow zucchinis so am trying to do a bit a day not to overdo it though!! I am getting really excited for markets as I am starting one in may and the other the weekend after mothers day and I did talk to an area tourist attraction place this am and they are goin to be gettin some of my goodies to sell there thru the summer!! YEAH!! So i am thinkin of doin chocolate dipped rice krispy treats on sticks and some individual pkgs of cookies and then the pretzels and maybe some bags of granola bites!! Cant wait to get to the kitchen and start bakin some new goodies!!! Hubby sanded down that green/white old cabinet for me and tomorrow I am goin to put a couple of coats of paint on her and then distress it a bit with maybe some dry brush white on top. LOTS and LOTS of fun things to do. I do need some input from all of you if you dont mind. I will be using a white canopy for one of the markets and am wanting to make a sign to hang from the back pieces like by my checkout. My question for yall is what would you have it say?? keep in mind i do have a standing sign that will be in the front that has chicken scratch farm on it with a couple of chickens so now what should this other one say? I was kind of thinking baked goods, fresh baked treats, or homemade goodies?? What do ya think???
Well gotta go chick on our babies I will take my digital cam with me into the coop to get a few pics of the little darlin's!! too cute they are almost 2 weeks old!!!
Have a blessed night and will talk to ya tomorrow!!
~~HUGS~~
Darlene

HAPPY WEEKEND~

I posted this when I first started my farm blog but wanted to share him again. THIS IS RED FRED!! he had a rough start to life being a mean, top dog of the coop at a friends house, so she gave him to another friend of mine where he acted up quite a bit too!! HE would stalk her and was terriblely aggressive so instead of the stew pot for him we took him. I AM A SOFTIE for any animal in need and hubby and I thought he was too pretty to cook!! SOOOOOOOO RED FRED came to our farm, well he was a pistol!! yepper he would run out from behind something and chase me or he would attack with his massive spurs. Both my mom and I would have welts on the backs of our legs from him until we both started carrying the pitch fork with us or a big stick, when he would attack he would get pushed away from us, which only helped for a min then he would wait for us to walk away and you could here >>>>>>>>>>>feet running behind you and turn quick to find him aiming at your legs!! I swear when he stalked he was good too if you turned to look behind you sometimes he would stop right there and look around casually as if he didnt even know you were there and then as soon as you would turn around to walk away HERE HE COMES!! LOL CRAZY!! he is one crazy rooster~~ FOR the last couple of years however he is more like one of the dogs, i would call him OH RED FRED COME HERE RED FRED and he would come running to be near me!!! when i work in the gardens he would be really close by and do his dirt bath and lay there watching me, I pick him up and carry him around the farm AND some of my customers ask about him!! several even had their pics taken holding him!! so he is quite something here. We sat and figured out the other night he has got to be 12 years old now or dang close to it but still is my beautiful RED FRED~~

WOW it is the weekend!!! I havent had a day off in so long now that I can just play all day in my pjs if I want!!! LOL right!! still have chores to take care of but that is ok!! I am just happy not to have to go anywhere or be on a clock today!!! YEE HAW!!!

So are yall wondering how I am goin to spend my day??? WELLLLLLLLLL I am getting all my giveaway prizes off in the mail since I got everyone's addys and then work on a couple of new jewelry pieces that I have been thinkin about all week, make a nice supper (hubby hasn't had too much of suppers the last couple of weeks with everything goin on round here) I have to work on a couple of labels for some treats I made that will be on the menus for market this season, and alot of catchup work on puter!! This is the first time in awhile the computer is on and I am not on a strict time limit!!LOL YEAH!!

So we got more snow the other night and now they are saying today there is a storm coming thru along the lake again. ALRIGHT!! I know what yall are thinkin.........isnt this the gal that was just singin LOUDLY SINGING let it snow let it snow let it snow and doin the happy snow dance all around!!!??????yepper that was me~~BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTT Now that we got a taste of spring in the air 2 weeks ago and all our snow melted it was a nice feeling!! so what I am saying is I AM GETTIN SICK OF SNOW (just for this winter of cource) LOL and am wanting to get out in the greenhouse and plant~~~it isnt a heated one so unfortunately I am stuck waiting for that for a while yet. LOL

Since I dont have any new pics to post of any new creations I will post my boys!! I love these pics, it was in feb of 08 when we brought our little Barney home. He always is laying with his big brother Buster. Bubba usually is in his waterbed but does play quite abit with his baby brother. In the pic he almost looks like if he could talk he is asking what is this squirt that looks like me doing on my couch?? LOL oh LOVE my boys~

Hope yall have a wonderful weekend I am off to check a few things and then do chores and in my studio of me!!!

Talk to ya soon!!

~~HUGS~~

Darlene

Some of our Flock

Happy Sunny Day!! Here's some pics of some of our flock, they are in the big pen we built just waiting for me to open the gate and let them run!! We have such a problem with hawks and coyotes that we had to build this pen that is 50 feet long and 18 feet wide complete with handsewn chicken wire top so they are safe when i am not home. The white palm turkeys are so pretty we have 1 hen and 2 toms and those boys strut their stuff so proudly!! We have 4 geese which are also pretty and NOT aggressive thank goodness, then the guinneas which are very cool, they are the watch dogs of the barnyard. We also have 3 white peking ducks and one female mallard which is our "little duck Annie" who by the way does not go in the duck pool for some reason but she is adorable and small. I kept joking that i was going to write a kids book about the duck that doesnt like water!! Then there are my "girls" our hens we have all kinds and them some, since we hatch our own eggs we get some really pretty different looking girls. Auracanas, white rock, barred rock, rhode island reds, sultans, crested polish, silkies, and a couple of frizzles which are absolutely adorable. They are in the pic on top in the cage as they are still quite young and very friendly too!! It is cold here so wont do too much in the greenhouse today we got a light frost the other night and it has really put things on hold for a bit. We need to clean out the horse barn and spread that manure on back garden then maybe cut some grass if it dries out more. BUT the sun is shining and bright so all is good!!

Have a blessed day.

Welcome

HELLO!!
I live with my wonderful hubby on our small hobby farm in sw michigan and love it!! We live across from lake mi. and never never get tired of the beauty in sunsets over the blue water. We have 50 some hens, a couple of old roosters one "Red Fred" who used to be in his younger dominating life very mean and nasty. After several times being shooed away and pushed with a pitch fork and several bruises and cuts to my mom and I both he has turned into more of a dear feathered friend. He comes running when we call his name and talks to us and loves to be picked up. CRAZY never had a rooster this tame and docile. My hubby and i both grew up on farms and love to garden and raise our animals. Oh we also have in our flock, 5 turkeys, several several guinnea hens, 5 ducks, 4 geese and one peacock. Then we have 2 goats and my special Appy my blind horse, who is a leapord appaloossa, we have 3 dogs, our kids!! Buster, Bubba and Barney who is just a young un at 3 months old, and 5 cats that have come to us to live. On our little farm we grow produce and some fruits mostly veggies though to take to the local farmers market and we put up a building on our property for a self serve farmstand complete with fresh eggs from our "girls". I recently aquired my state food license to be able to make some baked goods and want to can some our own jams and jellies. Busy life we have but wouldn't have it any other way.
IT IS 69 degrees today and this is the warmest since last year so i am off to start some seeds in my small greenhouse!! Will post some pics of our flock and of cource Red Fred!!
Have a delightful day!!