Great Horned Owls...

On the Farm

A week or so ago, I had posted a pic of one of the Great Horned Owls.  Shortly after that, I took this video...

As you can tell, if you watched the video, I had trouble keeping track of all the owls!  My best guess is that there are 5 owls.  Two adults and three babies.  

So, I decided to do a little bit of research (also known as "googling") to learn a little bit more about the Great Horned Owl.  I had several questions: do they migrated, do they mate for life, and would they attack a human!

This information is taken from the National Geographic website:

About the Great Horned Owl

The great horned owl is the most common owl of the Americas, easily recognizable because of the feather tufts on its head. These “plumicorns” resemble horns or, to some, catlike ears.

Habitat

Great horned owls are adaptable birds and live from the Arctic to South America. They are at home in suburbia as well as in woods and farmlands. Northern populations migrate in winter, but most live permanently in more temperate climes.

Parenting

The birds nest in tree holes, stumps, caves, or in the abandoned nests of other large birds. Monogamous pairs have one to five eggs (two is typical), both the male and female incubate, and the male also hunts for food. Owls are powerful birds and fiercely protective parents. They have even been known to attack humans who wander too close to their young.

Feeding and Hunting

Like other owls, these birds have an incredible digestive system. They sometimes swallow their prey whole and later regurgitate pellets composed of bone, fur, and the other unwanted parts of their meal. Owls are efficient nighttime hunters that strike from above, and use their powerful talons to kill and carry animals several times heavier than themselves. Owls prey on a huge variety of creatures, including raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, domestic birds, falcons, and other owls. They regularly eat skunks, and may be the only animal with such an appetite. They sometimes hunt for smaller game by standing or walking along the ground. Owls have even been known to prey upon unlucky cats and dogs.

This answered several of my questions.  On a side note, I was mowing the other day and listening to a podcast called Moms and Murder.  It is a true crime podcast and they were discussing a murder in which the defense wants to use the Owl Theory.  In the Michael Peterson murder case, the husband, Michael Peterson, was convicted of beating his wife and then shoving her down a flight of steps.  However, the defense wants you to believe that the Owl did it...

Taken from a local newspaper regarding the Michael Peterson murder case:  A single, microscopic bit of feather listed in an SBI crime lab report could be the key to proving that Mike Peterson was not responsible for the staircase death of his wife nearly seven years ago, an attorney and former neighbor of the Durham novelist says.

Larry Pollard says he believes an owl, possibly mistaking Kathleen Peterson as prey, could have attacked the 120-pound, 47-year-old as she walked from her swimming pool to her kitchen on that warm December night in 2001.

It’s possible, he says, the owl swooped down, became entangled in Peterson’s hair as she pulled on it, and caused multiple bruises and wounds on her face, wrists and arms as well as seven distinct wounds on the back of her scalp, including two tri-pronged lacerations likened to the bird’s razor-sharp talons. 

“The key thing about this feather is not the fact that we found a feather but the fact of where it was located when we found it,” Pollard said. “This feather is located entwined in Kathleen Peterson’s hair, and it is clutched in her left hand in the hair that was pulled out of the root from the ball of her head.”

The evidence was never examined and the owl theory, which has met with mockery and ridicule, was never brought up at trial. Pollard wants the feather and other forensic evidence reconsidered and plans Thursday to call on interim Durham District Attorney David Saacks to reopen the case... 

The idea is that she was attacked by the owl and then stumbled into the house and up the stairs and lost her balance and fell.  She had also been drinking and had taken some medication that makes you sleepy.

Okay, back to the farm.  I have LOTS of grass to mow so I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts when I am on the mower.  I also saw this one morning while I was mowing...

Three baby owls!  I do believe I have seen both the mom and the dad and three babies.  Fun to watch but I will make sure to keep my distance.

~Denise

What's new in sunflowers...

Sunflowers

Did you know the latest, greatest thing in sunflowers?  It's white sunflowers!  I did get to order some so these will be the new flower for this year!  They are also working on green and purple sunflowers.  I didn't really care for the green ones and the purple seed was already sold out.  Maybe next year...

This is going to be a super short blog post because I HAVE LIKE A MILLION THINGS TO DO TO GET MY GARDEN READY!  I am so excited (and nervous) to have a "real" garden this year and I am busy laying soaker hoses and such.  I will definitely be posting about all my garden adventures at a different time.

So, back to the sunflowers.  Yes, I am trying to grow them at our new farm!  I laid out the drip hoses last week.

As you can see, the cardboard and hay did a great job of keeping the grass down.  I planted daffodils all around the perimeter of the sunflower area to keep the voles away (but I did see one scramble under the hay when I was mowing the grass last week).

I also had started some seedlings in the house and transplanted them out into the area last week.

I also planted some seeds directly into the area to see how they would do.  Still waiting on them to germinate...

If you don't remember, last year, I had actually bought several new kinds of sunflowers to try but my sunflowers just did not take off and then we were moving onto the farm and blah, blah, blah...

Anyway, there were 6 new sunflowers that I wanted to try last year but it just didn't work out so I ordered all of those sunflowers too.  Here is a link to the blog that explains all those new sunflowers.

That is it for now, I am headed back outside to do some more sunflower transplants!

~Denise

Birds, bats and bees...

Birds

I want to encourage birds to the property to help eat insects.  Over the winter, I built 6 bird houses.  Now, these bird houses ain't fancy.  I used lumber that I found in the barn.  You can google "one board bird house plans" and find lots of easy design ideas.  I used the plans on the Birdwatching Bliss! website.

Boards that I found in the barn to use for the bird houses.

The size of the bird house and entrance hole diameter will determine what type of bird uses your bird house.  There is a chart on the Birdwatching Bliss website that gives you the dimensions and what birds will be attracted to that house.  Also, it depends on the height of where you hang the house too.  Taken from the Birdwatching Bliss webiste:

"There are different bird house dimensions for different species. To attract the species you desire you will need to construct your bird house with specific sizes for the box itself, entrance holes and the species desired height placement above ground.

Using the correct bird house dimensions will also help to exclude undesirable species, i.e. house sparrows and starlings."  

I didn't even bother to paint them (it was a lot more work to build these things than I anticipated...)

Bird houses!  

When you put up your bird house, make sure it faces to the east or south (to keep snow/rain out).

Bird house in our crazy crab apple tree.

Bats

I totally had plans to build a bat house too.  There are lots of free bat house plans online too.  After building all the bird houses, I was pretty much tired of building things.  Also, there are certain dimensions needed in the bat house for the "chambers".  Okay, I am not that precise with my building capabilities so I just bought one online (I did paint the bat house!).  

You need to hang the bat house at least 12 feet off the ground...

If you didn't know, bats will fly under bark that is leaning away from a tree and sleep there.  So that is the idea of the "chambers" in the bat house, to try and simulate a small area for them to crawl up into and get cozy.  Our bat house has 3 chambers.

So, why bats?  Some bat species eat an incredible number of night-flying insects including mosquitoes. By some accounts, they can eat as many as 1,200 insects in an hour of feeding!

Bees

To encourage native bees to come and pollinate our garden, herbs, and trees, I made 2 bee blocks.  A bee block creates a community, and drilling holes in different sizes encourages diversity. Alternating rows of holes that are five-sixteenths in diameter with rows that are three-eighths is recommended. Holes of all sizes should be about 5 inches deep.

The holes of the bee block is similar to the bird houses.  The diameter of the tunnels, as well as their preferred length, varies with the different species of bee, make a variety of different sized holes. 
I did not put a roof on my bee block and I realize that I should do this so I guess I will be doing this today.  Here is some more information from HoneyBeeSuite website.

I probably could have put a lot more detail in this post but I am just too excited to start planting some more seeds for my garden so I am going to go and do that now... 

Now we wait and see what will come to inhabit the new houses.  I just hope the bats and birds don't eat all the bees!

~Denise

Untestable...

April is Autism Awareness month

I have decided to try and dedicate one blog each April to Mark.  This past January, Mark turned 17  and we are getting ready to "transition" him to adulthood.  We have LOTS to do to get everything ready for this big transition.  I am going to outline what we need to do between today and next January to get everything set up for Mark to become an "adult"...

1.  First, we have to prove that he has a disability.  This is the part that I hate the most.  Last week, I took Mark to the Child and Youth Study Center at the University of Idaho.  Mark sat down and was asked one question from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale test.  A couple of days later, I received a letter in the mail.  The last sentence read, "Due to Mark's extremely low cognitive functioning, it is this examiner's impression that Mark is untestable."  I don't know what it is about that word but I just hate it...untestable...it makes me cry every time I hear it (yes, I am sobbing while typing this).  Okay, let's move on because this is just too upsetting...

Clearly, Mark has a disability.  

2.  Next step, I will be applying for Developmental Disability services with the Department of Health and Welfare this summer (usually, you do this about 6 months before their birthday).  They will send out an independent contractor to come and ask me like a million questions to determine the level of (financial) support that Mark requires as an adult.  We will receive a "budget" and then I will work with a Support broker to make a Support and Spending Plan that determines how we will use Mark's budget for his support as an adult.

3.  Need to apply for Medicaid to help cover medical expenses.

4.  We will also need to apply for Social Security Income.  The social security money will be used for Mark to pay rent and have some spending cash each month.

5.  We will need to decide if Mark needs a Guardian (I am not in favor of this).  We have pretty much already decided that we are going to pursue Durable Power of Attorney (this will let us help manage Mark's finances) and Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare Decisions.  I am not interested in taking away Mark's rights and that is why we don't want to do the guardianship.

6.  We will need to set up our home to be a Certified Family Home (CFH).  Basically, this means that Mark can live with us and we will be paid to take care of him when he becomes an adult.  To become a CFH, we have to do the following:

• Pay $150 and attend the CFH New Provider Orientation Training ($)
• Henry and I both need to get a background check through the Department of Health and Welfare ($)
• Attend a First aid and adult CPR class ($)
• Take the Assistance with Medication course from a university (an all day, 8 hour course) ($)
• Show proof of home ownership
• Show proof of homeowner's insurance
• Have our homes electrical system inspected ($)
• Get a letter from the Fire district
• Purchase fires extinguishers for each level of our home ($)
• Smoke detectors in all sleeping rooms
• Fireplace inspection ($)
• Have well water tested ($)
• Pump our septic tank (every 5 years) ($$$)
• Evacuation plan for our home

I think that is all.  I am getting tired just looking at this "To Do" list.  In addition to the above, I will need to help get Mark's egg business going.  I have been reading this book:

There are lots of incentive programs through Social Security and Vocational Rehabilitation to help individuals with disabilities start their own business.  The problem is knowing how to get all these programs to work together.  It just makes my head spin every time I read this book (I have read it 3 times now...) and I still don't understand it all or where to begin.  

I have decided that I really need to just concentrate on numbers 2-6 (from above) at this point and get his supports all set up.  I will have to put off any business planning until after Mark turns 18 next January.  

All this planning is bittersweet, it reminds you that your child will probably not go to college, not drive/own a car, not go to graduate school, not have a significant other, not get married, not have children, not have any anniversaries, not get a job in the community or promotion at work, not buy a home, or meet any of the "traditional" milestones you usually prepare for when you start adulthood.  High school graduation is the last big bang.  I don't mean to sound so negative and that is why I try to focus on the positives...  

We want Mark to live a meaningful life.  Mark will have a business.  Mark will be a part of his community.  Mark will be a part of his church.  Mark will volunteer in his community.  Mark will go swimming in the summer and jump at the trampoline place in the winter.  Mark will go for walks.  Mark will hang out in his hammock.  Mark will go for bike rides.  Mark will throw rocks in water.  Mark will go bowling.  Mark will learn to communicate better.  Mark will help around the home.  Mark will watch YouTube videos. Mark will learn to become more independent.  Mark will constantly ask for pizza, Cheetos, and ice cream...

I may have posted this pic before but I just love it...Mark hanging out in the foam pit at the trampoline place!

~Denise

Kombucha (fermented tea)

In the Kitchen

At the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to try and make kombucha.  If you don't know what kombucha is, it is fermented tea.  It does not taste anything like tea because of the fermentation process.  I really like diet soda so I decided to try and kick the habit by replacing my daily Diet Coke with kombucha.  Kombucha is naturally carbonated...more on that in a minute...

Basically, this is what you do.  Brew a gallon of tea (we used 3 tablespoons of tea for one gallon) and add 1 cup of sugar.  Let that cool down and then you add your SCOBY.  It floats on the top and that is what makes the magic happen.  It takes about 7-12 days (this is the initial ferment) and then you have kombucha!

One gallon tea jar with scoby floating on top.

"The SCOBY, or Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast, is the collection of microbes responsible for turning sweet tea into a probiotic beverage. Essentially, it is a living colony of beneficial organisms that turn sugar into healthful acids and probiotics."  Taken from Wellnessmama.com

There are LOTS of health benefits of kombucha.  Again, taken from Wellnessmama.com:

"To be clear- it isn’t some magic pill or silver bullet, but it may help the body function well by supporting:

    Liver detoxification
    Improved pancreas function
    Increased energy
    Better digestion
    Improved mood (helps with anxiety/depression)
    Reducing Candida (yeast)
    Helps nutrient assimilation
    May be beneficial for weight loss"

After the initial ferment, I put the tea in bottles and added some fruit to do a secondary ferment.  This is the part that makes the carbonation.  At first, I used whole fruit, and then the next time, I made some fruit syrup and used that.  You let it sit another 3 days and then put it in the fridge.

Secondary ferment with huckleberries and raspberries

Here is a website with a whole bunch of recipes for flavoring your kombucha.  The sky is the limit on flavoring your kombucha!

Then, I started reading about continuous brew kombucha.  You use a bigger container (at least 2 gallons) and then add sweet tea to the top each day and draw off the finished kombucha from the bottom.  There are even MORE health benefits to kombucha that is in a continuous brew situation.

My continuous brew jar of kombucha.  We keep it on top of our water heater.

Making your own kombucha can save you a lot of money.  One 16 ounce bottle in the store will cost about $4.00.  I think I figured out that I could make 8 gallons of kombucha for the cost of one bottle at the store...maybe even more...

~Denise

Winter 2018 update...

Winter happenings on the farm...

Makeshift cold frame...I found these glass panes in the barn so I just threw them on top of one of my stock tanks.  I can just pull them apart to let some heat escape.  It was 40F outside the other day and almost 90F in the cold frame!  At night, it still gets cold so I am going to throw a heavy blanket over and see if that helps at all to conserve some of the daytime heat.  I am only putting cold hardy things in here (spinach, lettuce, and some herbs), just to give us some early salad greens...I will plant them in there next week.

I have started some seedlings in the house and put them out on the patio when the temperature warms up so they can get some hardening off.

Onion, cabbage and parsley getting some sun...

 I also found these old seeds in the barn!  I can't believe some mouse didn't eat them.  They are from 1979!  Almost 40 years old...I planted them.  I couldn't resist.  I am just SO curious if anything will grow...I'll keep you posted!

We rented a chipper/shredder to break down some of the smaller, dead limbs that are accumulating that are not really good for firewood.  I will put this in the garden and around the flower/herb garden.  We worked all day and still did not get through all the wood!  I think we will just plan on doing this each year...

After we did all that chipping, I started pulling more dead wood out of the trees for next time.  This is just the dead stuff that I can reach from the ground.  There is a lot to do in this area and we will be working on this for quite a while.  I am also just trying to trim things up so you can walk around without getting hit in the face with a branch. 

A little hard to see but there are 4 piles of dead tree limbs down the row...

Yesterday, I started using those wood chips.  I am hoping to cover the other half of the garden (the first half I covered last fall with a foot thick covering of hay over cardboard) with cardboard, a small (less than 6 inch) covering of hay, and then wood chips.  The lighting is bad in this photo but I think you can barely make out the row of wood chips at the top (near the fence), then a row of hay and the cardboard...this is a large area and I expect it will take me the rest of the month to get it completed...I will post more pics once it is done.  I remembered to take some "before" pics so I should have some nice photos to compare.  I am curious if the voles will like the wood chips...I don't' know if they would find them easy to tunnel through...I guess time will tell...

Did a small kitchen remodel...took down the cabinets to open up the room between the kitchen and the dining area.  Also, the hood fan never worked (It was actually not even hooked up) so we bought a new one and had it installed...

Before

After

 Found this old tractor tire in the barn.  The plan is to plant sweet potatoes in it.  I am hoping the black tire will capture the heat needed for the sweet potatoes to grow well...

Started some sauerkraut...trying to get back to eating more vegetables which can be challenging for me in the winter when there are not lots of fresh options...

We went tubing at Silver Mountain in January.  Mark seemed to really enjoy it!

 Planted some future Christmas trees!   I know it is hard to see them in this photo but there are 3 (the one in the middle is VERY small).  I think I should have spaced them out a little more but I can add on to each end when I get more...I bought these in December when they had "live" Christmas trees for sale at some of the stores in town.  I will probably just add a new one each year...

We have had a nice amount of snow this year!

Snow wave in the field behind our house

The bees were out yesterday and it is going to be a warm day today so I assume they will be out again.  I took a look through the side window of the hive at the first of the month.  At the beginning of February, I could see 2 different "groups" of the bees.  This seemed odd and I was wondering if there were maybe 2 queens.  Well, the bees were out in February for a cleansing flight and now it seems that things have rearranged in there and now there is one cluster.  There was a cluster in the back of the hive and one in the middle.  The cluster that remains is the one in the middle of the hive.  I am just so happy that it seems they have made it through the winter!!!

~Denise

We got worms!

For the Garden

I purchased a worm bin that I have set up in the storage room of our house.  I wanted to play around with raising worms to see if this would be a good system for growing worms for chickens, worm castings for the garden, and worm wee for fertilizer...

There are about a million different "homemade" types of worm bins if you "google" it or do a search on YouTube.  I was going to make one and then decided I didn't have the time and wanted to get started.  I am actually really happy that I decided to buy this bin.  It will make harvesting super easy.

The bin came with coconut coir.  You soak it and it needs to be the consistency of a wrung out sponge...

 I put some shredded newspaper on top of the coconut coir...

 Then, I put some of my finished compost in and another level of the coconut coir.  I put some food (veggie scraps) in one corner...

 I know this pic is blurry but you can see that I put a couple of damp piece of newspaper over the top to keep things from drying out.

 Here are the worms gathered around the veggie scraps...

 The bin I bought has 5 levels.  You start at the bottom and then build it up.  To add the next level, you scatter some food on the bottom of the new bin.  Here you can see the holes in the bottom of the bin.  This allows the worms to move up and down in the bin.

 Here is the worm bin with 2 levels.  You can see the "tap" at the bottom where you can harvest worm wee from.  The idea is that you keep adding bins to the top and slowly the worms migrate up and then you can take the bottom bin off and harvest the worm castings.  Then, put that bin on the top and keep rotating them bins from the bottom back up to the top.

I feed them a small amount of veggie scraps a couple of times a week.  When I am cutting up vegetables, I put some of the scraps in a small plastic container and then I put it in the freezer.  The freeze and thaw helps to give a head start to the decaying process.  I have read that one of the biggest problems with worm bins is feeding them too much.  From what I understand, the worms feed on the microorganisms that break down the food (not the actual food).  So, you don't want too much food "rotting" at one time or that will cause problems.  

I started this bin at the beginning of January and I am no where near ready to add the next bin.  My point being, that this is going to take a while to really get going.  Worms need the temperature to be between 50-70 degrees.  This is going to make it impossible to keep worms outside in the cold or in the summer when it is super hot.  Unless this bin starts to really get going, I don't see how this could really produce a lot of castings/worms...time will tell.  I guess you would have to have multiple bins and I am not that interested in being a worm farmer.  We will continue to play with this and see how it goes...

~Denise