Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm Blog

"Some people don't know enough to come in out of the rain." Others, know enough, but continue to work in the rain, even into the dark with headlamps. If you've been around or known our family for any length of time, you'd quickly discover that we're not afraid of hard work, even in the less desirable weather conditions. Yesterday was no exception. There's a deadline, and work must continue, even if it's more pleasant to be working on a sunny, warm autumn day, than on a humid, rainy autumn day. Thankfully, while doing the morning "critter chores" with Mom & Dad learning the intricacies, it was only misting lightly. But by the time Mom & I headed back outside to work on the "3rd world coop construction project", the rain had increased its intensity. So cloaked in rain gear and working under the cover of leaky metal roofing, construction resumed as normal. Tuesday's project was to finally make the turkeys a coop. T...

For 4 days in a row, I couldn't find any eggs from the SFH Coop, and wondered first, where they might be hiding them and second, if they just all went on "strike". Then, last Thursday 9/24, when I was looking for something else, I went on the outside of the SFH fence & looked between the two round bales of mulch hay. Lo and behold, there was the hidden nest. Once I got a separate egg carton, I had to reach my hand & arm through the 2"x4" welded wire (yes, that was slightly painful), and grab those eggs. When all was said & done - there was 13 dirty eggs in that hidden nest. Needless to say, we ate those eggs, I wouldn't sell them, even if they were only a few days old. There was a little "tunnel" through the hay, where they'd obviously come through every day to lay their eggs. Crazy girls! Once inside, I looked at them carefully to determine who were the "culprits". Three of the eggs were bantam, so obviously that...

Photos are always wonderful to share, so here's a small collection, reflecting on September's hobby farm happy moments. Remember "Rainbow" who had a hatch of chicks this spring around April 22nd, and this photo of them once they went outside? Well, later this summer, "Rainbow" hatched another batch of chicks & the last hatch from the incubator she adopted on July 22nd. Time has passed, and they're no longer "chicks". They look like miniature chickens. A few weeks ago, they looked like this: They change so fast! Ten days ago, they looked like this: Last night, we moved them to the PA coop, as they'd been sleeping in the small Bielefeler coop, but they were quickly outgrowing it. Plus, they insisted on roosting on the outside of the coop & we had to catch them every night. Hopefully, they'll adjust & continue growing well with the other "young'ins" that are growing out in the PA coop. We al...

Every year in the fall, it's the same story here at Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm. For every batch of chicks that was hatched and grown out for pullets, there are inevitable cockerels. Many of them I grow out for meat, some are kept for breeding. But this year's hatching season lasted a lot longer than previous years, when I was mostly hatching for my own flock & only selling the few "extras". As a result, there ended up being way more cockerels than I've ever had. Once mid-September came, I realized that there was limited time before I go on week-long vacation to Maine, starting October 5th. I couldn't be spending every extra moment processing roosters, plus many were still on the small size. After processing 17 cockerels, and estimating I had a minimum of 20 more to process, I mentioned my dilemma to the rest of the family. Someone mentioned "auction" & I quickly thought how that would be a good, quick solution. While I knew I may not ...

I have a few minutes before heading out to do the "critter chores", but it's 39* out there, so I don't feel like there's any rush to go "freeze". Yesterday was productive. Started out with showing Mom & Dad the morning routine here at the hobby farm in preparation for when I got on vacation for a week in October. Recently, the Lord has been guiding me to make certain changes to simplify things, as chores here at the hobby farm were too much for one person. But since simplifying & reducing the amount of feed that I'm fermenting, and increasing the amount of dry feed available 24/7, it's reduced the time each day needed for chores. And if anything, the animals are getting more feed than they were before, since their dry feed is now the main source. Granted, it's not as "digestible" as the fermented feed and they waste some on the ground, but spending an average of 3 hours every day just on feeding, watering and preparing their...

Well, here it is the end of another day, September 21st. Time flies by so fast, and autumn is now upon us. The leaves are falling, and so are the chicken's feathers. It's that time of year when chickens molt. The old feathers fall out, and new feathers grow in. While this process in going on, many of the hens stop laying eggs and most look like they're having a "bad feather day". Usually the young pullets are exempt from this, but the adult hens get this "make-over". In past years, I've always had a light and timer in each coop to maintain 14 to 16 hours of "light" year-round, which helps keep the hens laying throughout the shorter daylight hours of the fall & winter. But, this year, I decided that some of the hens deserve a break, so while they still have lights & timers, I'm reducing the hours they are on, so they can take their more natural break. Yes, that'll mean less eggs during the colder months, but I also have young...

I just posted an update on the BYC NY thread - I'm "myfivegirls", and there's some of my recent photos there. http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/231485/ny-chicken-lover/46940#post_15818750 I also just uploaded a lot of photos to my Flickr account, which can be viewed here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paradise_in_disguise_hobby_farm Here's just one example of what photos you'll find there:

Today's supper started out with a search for "kale quiche" on Pinterest. Among the many results, this particular one stood out above the rest: Zucchini and Kale Quiche with a Sweet Potato Crust (Paleo, GF) Of course, Mom & I usually don't leave recipes alone, but add or substitute something. Which according to Dad no longer makes it following a recipe. But, I came up with a solution, we create a "new variation" of an already great recipe, I'll post it on my blog & it'll then be a recipe. The only problem with that theory is that it didn't convince Dad's "traditional" taste buds to try something new and different. Oh, well,  but hopefully some else will be inspired by our "September Harvest Quiche". We had enough ingredients that we made 3 pie-plate sized quiches, but this recipe can be easily made smaller, or the extra quiches frozen for a quick meal some other day. Crust:         6 l...

Yesterday, Mom dusted off her camera and got some great photos of around home, aka, "Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm". She's a great photographer, and I love her camera's quality. It especially shines in close-ups, but this time the photos are mostly landscapes and broad retrospectives. The first two are of our home, now that the garden has blossomed and the trim is painted, the deck railings stained. Welcome to our deck, where we love eating meals and relaxing.  What a provision from the Lord, we couldn't have asked for a better place.  And there's hardly any mosquitoes here! Oxalis - a favorite of mine, from my uncle Keith. It's thriving here, thanks to the chicken's wonderful compost. Front entry to the deck, arbor, flowers and gate to keep out Gordon. Right here, folks, is our "state of the art" garlic drying facility. Ha ha, it's just the rafters of the covered deck area, and yeste...

A few weeks ago, I saw this post: http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2013/12/swinging-chickens-make-easy-diy-log.html and ended up making two for my flock, where there's lots of "young'ins". One evening, we pulled in the driveway just in time to witness of the young cockerels swinging back and forth on the swing! A few seconds later, he hopped off, but it was a moment I wish I could have captured with my camera. But alas, we were too far away, and the cockerel jumped off once he saw we were spying on him. Oh, well, but at least I have the memory.

Since we're a fan of quinoa, I think our next recipe to try out will be this: Spinach Pesto Quinoa Salad with Radishes Although, I might add to it some freshly made pesto, that is, if we can make a batch and not eat it right out of the food processor like Mom & I did last night before bedtime! Oh, and by the way, this is the 80th post I've made! I've taken enough photos this year to make 800 posts, but hobby farm life doesn't necessarily allow time for that during the summer. Perhaps, we'll have "recaps" during the winter for a bright spot to cheer us up. But right now, I want to enjoy the beautiful warm, even hot weather we're having! We're supposed be high 80's this week, with lows in the mid 50's - I'd say that's wonderful weather for Delaware County, NY.

Wow! I can't believe that August is already gone and September is here! One of today's highlights was using our surplus of radishes in a new recipe, which I found on Pinterest, thanks to this other blog post: Roasted Radishes Our version of Roasted Radishes is: 1. Cut radishes in quarters 2. Toss in big bowl with olive oil, balsalmic & Gobs of Garlic 3. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet 4. Cook at 400* for 30 minutes, or until fork-tender 5. Enjoy!  I didn't expect them to be still crunchy, but they were a good, juicy crunchy, not like an under-cooked potato kind of crunchy.  I love the bright colors of the radishes,  and you'd almost think they were red skinned potatoes.  I was pleasantly surprised by how good the roasted radishes tasted. Of course, we added Gobs of Garlic , so the aroma was wonderful and wet our appetite before they came out of the oven.