Monday, October 24, 2022

Summer Highlights


Summers here seem to always fly by before I know it. And somehow with the long daylight hours and everything that needs to be done before winter returns, I just don't get time to keep up with blog posts. But winter is rolling in once again, the daylight hours are getting short, and once again I have some free minutes before falling asleep to write. 

So, a brief recap of some of some highlights that have happened over the past months. One of the fun things was our Mrs. Quack laid a bunch of eggs but then decided she didn't care about sitting for more than one day. And one of our hens, Ember, looked at the abandoned duck eggs and decided they needed a mother. So she sat on them till they hatched and raised 15 ducklings though I think she might have always wondered why her slightly weird chicks never behaved quite right. 


There's a whole list of videos covering everything from them hatching (in two different batches actually) to growing and even their mama chicken going for a swim with them if you want to watch them move around. Check out the Swedish Ducks in Wyoming playlist if that sounds fun to you. They were pretty adorable when they were little though they do grow fast!



As always, I loved watching the weather and seasons move and change around us here in our little mountain spot. From stunning rainbows and thunderstorms seen from our yard, to hikes with families and friends in the mountains among stunning autumn leaves.



The garden has been amazingly productive. Especially after a very poor year last year, getting a good harvest of many crops was really nice! 



I think, though I did not strictly weigh everything this year like I had a few years back, the total production topped that year. With over 600 pounds of produce yielded out of our 600 square feet of garden space. With excellent harvests of garlic, onions, herbs, carrots, beets, potatoes, and lots of smaller things. But for a rather harsh mountain climate with no expected first and last frost dates, I think that is pretty amazing!







Once again, there are many videos covering more details of the growing and harvesting of as much of these things as I had time to film in the Gardening playlist



Another fun thing to observe was the batch of actual chickens that our Icelandic hen Blackie decided to hatch out. 9 out of 10 eggs were a success and all the chicks were just adorable and multi colored. Watching them grow was quite the pleasure. You can find their whole journey as she cared for them from sitting, to hatching, to teaching them to be good chickens in this Broody Chicken Chronicle list of videos. 




They grew into 3 handsome roosters (one of whom is now hanging out with his own flock on another homestead in Montana) and 6 more pretty ladies who joined our laying flock. 




The ladies also produced us well over 100 dozen eggs in the past year which is pretty amazing for this little chicken breed.


Over the summer we also raised another batch of hatchery spare heritage breed rooster chicks as a meat flock for the year. A few weeks ago the property returned to being much more peaceful and quiet when they all went to freezer camp. Providing wonderful nutritious food for us through the next year. Very glad to have one of my least favorite jobs for the year done. But we are thankful for high quality meat that I know how it was raised, handled, and what it ate. The property is a whole lot quieter with 150ish pounds of meat in the freezer and a whole lot less roosters crowing and harassing the hens. We probably should have done this at least one week earlier for the sake of the hens on the place, but didn't have time so it's done now. I know these roosters all had a good life running around freely, chasing bugs, etc. with a bad few minutes and I am thankful for their lives.



In between freezes, we had a very hot summer which is not my favorite kind of weather for sure. But the flowers and butterflies didn't seem to mind. 



The kitties are looking pretty full grown and enjoy hanging out with each other or snuggling with Burley. 



Clay and I made the time a few afternoons and evenings through the year to go foraging for various wild berries. And harvested quite a few currents, service berries, and choke cherries. Foraging for wild foods is something we really enjoy doing together. You can see more of that in the Wild Foods Foraging playlist too. :) 



I love how at least parts of the property are really starting to bloom as some of the things we have planted get established.



We added many tens of thousands more livestock to our place with a bee hive this spring! I grew up helping my father with his bees and I have long wanted to be able to keep my own again some day. The single colony we started with gave us a strong second colony as well mid summer, so we are going into winter with two well insulated horizontal Layen's style hives full of bees and their stores. So far they all seem to be thriving and we hope one or both will make it through to next year.

 


Their work is so lovely! Above is some of the multi colored pollen cells the built and filled. And below are two big frames nearly full of honey. They even produced enough to allow us to share in some of their sweet stores. See more of my learning journey with natural bee keeping in the Wyoming mountains Here.




Now fall seems to have pretty much passed and two days ago, winter rolled in. It's snowing off and on as I write this. I would love to hear some of the highlights of your summer or new projects you tried recently!

11 comments:

  1. Hi Ariel! it's such a joy for me to read your blog and see those BEAUTIFUL pictures, to see the successes and then the fruit of all of your labor. Watched your channel since around 2016. So happy for you! God bless you.

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  2. Hi Ariel, been thinking of you and Clay and thrilled to see the harvest of y’all’s hard work, my hubby and I are working hard in trusting in God to deliver me from metastatic breast cancer, lymph cancer, and stage four bone cancer, but just as I see the results of y’all’s hard work, prayers are being answered for us and may God be glorified!

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    1. BeckyPin California here. Subscriber to your YouTube channel. Something went wrong with your comments to your live Q&A vlog and can't post. Simple Living Alaska on YT uses createphotocalendars.com to print and ship their calendars for $20 probably + sh.

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  3. You should name your homestead Abundance.

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  4. Wonderful summer recap! I enjoy following ur journey on YT. Johnny Mayo

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  5. I'd say you two have had a bumper crop of well, just about everything you raised this year! Your onions are massive. We've never had luck growing onions perhaps our ground is too hards. Your birds are beautiful and thank you for gently discussing how they went to freezer camp. As a vegetarian, I do appreciate that you and clay are raising what you consume and have a strong appreciation of the animals. I do wish more folks understood what it takes to raise animals for food. I have a nephew who lives in Colorado and he too is getting the winter weather as well. I do enjoy the slower days of winter but not the shorter days. My best to you and Clay as you begin the next part of your journey in the next season. Hello from PA, Cathleen

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  6. your video on onion harvest has inspired me to try onions next year in Zone 6, long day onions. I'm on the hunt now to determine the best seeds for our area. Love your videos.

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  7. Thanks for taking time out to keep us updated, I really enjoy sharing your journey

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  8. You are always such an inspiration with all you do. I love that you have used what the Lord has given you in talent with gardening and raising food for you and Clay. I pray a blessed winter for you both.

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  9. Thank you for your Blog Post Arial.
    It has been an abundant year from your garden’s returns for all the work you put into it making compost, getting your soils checked then that’s all before planting anything but after re-setting up your gardens from their previous home. Then you plant your seeds or seedlings, water and nourish your plants both in the garden beds and also trees and flowers planted directly into the Homestead Soils. The year moves along, fad5 for you due to your shorter growing period I understand. I’m sure you are in perpetual movement from dawn till dust when you add all your animals into the hours in your days, plus do you still work of the property as well apart from haying with Clay? You lost a few weeks due to your period of I’ll health this year and I know, one never seems to regain those lost hours. I’m so glad it is now all resolved as it was a miserable time for you Arial.
    Here in New Zealand I’m busy getting my gardens flourishing and all my seeds planted. This year I’m trying to grow chillies. Plus I’m growing my tomatoes, peppers and chillies all in large 45litre Grow Bags an$ I must say, the plants are really thriving. My rental property has a very small vegetable garden so this new Methos will allow m3 to expand the size of my vegetable crops. I will be adding some small cucumbers valled MiniMe to the bags for pickles and fermenting. My seeds are starting to germinate for the rest of my tomatoes and peppers so they in turn will be planted in bags. I have empty ones lined up ready and waiting.
    So in out Autumn (Fall) I will be busy preserving (canning) dehydrating, pickling, making sauces etc from my produce to see to me through the next winter. As I’m now 76 and I’m partially disabled, it’s really hard work as there are flower gardens (which I love) to maintain as well. I work then I have to rest and then I’m back out there again. I must admit it’s a passion and it keeps me not only grounded and in tune with nature and myself, it makes me incredibly happy to be out there with my two cats not allowed a dog here sadly) but my Birman and La Perm are true Companions day and night.
    Oh I hope you received my message about sexing your eggs?.?
    Enjoy your cold snowy months ahead as I know in many ways this is your favourite time of the year.
    Thank you for adding so much pleasure to my life.
    Margot

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