Thursday, May 24, 2012

Nobody can resist a cute chick!


 Here are just a couple pictures of our baby chicks.  They are now just over a week old and doing quite well.  We brood them in the garage in old cow water tanks with pine chips for bedding and heat lamps.  The important things to watch when raising chicks from a day old is to keep them the right temperature and give them lots of fresh water and food.
The chicks we are holding (and resting on the giant baby belly) are laying hens and will lay their first eggs at about 20 weeks.  The little yellow chicks in the brooder could be your dinner in just 8 weeks.  They will all move outside at week 4.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Peonies in bloom and Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp


Our Memorial Peonies are in full bloom almost a full month early.  Most everything is early this year, I love all the early bloomers but don't love mowing the lawn so much already! I do wish we still had the wonderful smell of lilacs outside our front door.  I guess you can't have it all though!

We harvested some rhubarb this morning and have this wonderful Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch in the oven.  It uses less sugar than most recipes, but still tastes fantastic with fresh fruits.  We had to buy the strawberries, but it looks like we should have our own in a matter of a couple weeks! Enjoy the recipe!