Backyarding And Kids

Category: backyarding with kids and every day house projects

about chickens,kids, and house/bacyard porjects

  • Cleaning

    It’s been a long week of yard work, and it’s only Wednesday 🤣.

    We have gotten a lot done. Cleaning out the weeds from the front area where the pumpkins will be planted.

    Before photo

    I know in the photo they don’t look long but they are. There was also dead sun flower stalks.

    ( after) Still have some weeding to do, but the big stuff is gone.

    Wel also got the raised garden beds built and filled with soil. I added some worms to them but forgot to take a photo of them 🤣.

    And got the fencing done around the garden area.

    Now, to get the ground ready for planting and let the fun begin! 

    I got some cute little solar mushroom lights. 🍄

    I planted flower bulbs around them. I can’t wait for those to come up.

    #mjbackyardingwithkids #homesteading #gardening #needamassage

  • New

    If you follow me on Instagram. I had to make a new account.

    Please give me a  follow/share on the new account

    https://www.instagram.com/mjhomestead7?igsh=MTlyc3ZhcXc0ZGRtMA==

    You can still follow me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MJkidsandchickensblog?mibextid=ZbWKwL

    #mjbackyardingwithkids #homesteading #deliciouscluckers #thankyouforfollowing

  • Snow/ planting

    We had a little bit of snow today. Mostly rain, though. I took this time  since  everything is muddy to do some planting!

    Chocolate cherry sunflowers

    Mongolia giant sunflower

    Emily basil

    Cinderella pumpkin

    Mint mountain

    Spinach

    Pepper ashe County pimento

    Sweet corn

    Lemon balm

    Corn hopi pink

    Brown sugar tomato

    Tatsoi

    I get my seeds from bakerscreek. The brown sugar tomato would be the one I’m most excited about. The other one I would be excited to try is the pepper ashe County pimento.  I’m looking forward to trying to making pickled eggs with them.

    Today, my daughter pulled one of the beets to give to the livestock, and it was the biggest one we have grown yet.

    Tomorrow, the livestock will be very happy to get this big one.

    #mjbackyardingwithkids #homesteading #deliciouscluckers #thanksforvistingmypage.

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  • Turkey love

    Our Broad Breasted White turkeys  hens are getting big! They  love hanging around us. 😍

    #mjbackyardingwithkids #homesteading #deliciouscluckers

  • Doris

    Doris is my Red Shoulder Yokohama hen. I’ve been wondering when she would start to lay.

    My friend and I thought it would be around May, but I had a wonderful surprise today when I went out to check on things.

    Doris laid her first egg! 

    1639 to 1854 – almost all of the Edo period – Japan was effectively closed to foreign trade. Under the Convention of Kanagawa of 1854, there were  five ports  that were to be constructed for trade with the rest of the world. One of these was Yokohama!

    Seven  among the goods exported to Europe were  traditional Japanese long-tailed chickens; the first documented export was in 1864. In that year, some of the birds reached the Jardin Zoologique d’Acclimatation in Paris, where they were named Yokohama for their port of origin.

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  • Getting ready

    We are to have another storm where I live. They are saying 3 to 6 inches of snow. I could care less about the snow. Every homesteader knows about getting work done in the snow. For me, it’s the wind storms. I can’t get work done in wind storms.

    Everyone is always asking how to keep their runs for their girls/ guys ( chickens hens / roosters) to not move/flip during a wind storm. I love the idea of using cinder blocks on the outside of the runs. Planting herbs in the cinder blocks. I have this project for my homestead for during the spring or summer. Until then, though, I use
    Eurmax USA U-Shaped-Rebar-Stakes-12-Inch, Ground Stakes Heavy Duty.

    I put two on each side of my longer runs and one on each side of my shorter runs.

    The girls/ guys didn’t care about me adding the stakes. The turkeys did, and they tried to help.

    This is Monica.

    This is Janice

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  • Hurry spring

    While most wait until after the frost date to start planting, there are a huge amount of us who plant now!

    I was excited to see my Pink Dandelion starting to srpout!

    This is my first year growing these ones. I can’t wait to make jam, tea, and, of course, getting seeds to plant more of them. 7 to 21 days for germination. 60 to 95 days until it blooms. I have started mine in the greenhouse, and I will be planting them in the outdoor garden area. I just haven’t decided where yet.

    This blog post isn’t just about planting. I do have to show off my Dark Brahma cockerel.

    I love the Dark Brahmas, but I would love to get some Isabella Brahmas. Show me your chickens!

    #mjbackyardingwithkids #homesteading #deliciouscluckers #planting #chickens

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  • Russian Orloff

    I’ve loved the breed Russian Orloff for a long time.

    When we lived in the city, I received two chicks not knowing anything about the breed.

    The Russian Orloff was considered to be a product of Russia and Orlov. Modern research has discovered that the breed first appeared in Persia and was distributed across Europe also Asia by the 17th century.

    In 1884 that the first Orloff chickens were imported to Central Europe from the Russian Empire. The breed then reached the Saxon professor Friedrich Zürn (1835-1900) in Leipzig. The breed then came to possession of Baron Ludwig von Villa-Secca Navarro d’Andrade (1822-1894) to Vienna-Ottakring.

    Orloffs were first introduced to Great Britain in the 1920s. Germans created the first miniaturized bantam Orloff by 1925. The breed was once included in the American Poultry Association’s breed standard, the Standard of Perfection, but it was removed due to a lack of interest from breeders. In the 21st century, Russian Orloff remains a rare breed in the West. The Livestock Conservancy lists the breed as critically endangered.

    I love being able to help this breed!

    #mjbackyardingwithkids

    #homesteading #deliciouscluckers #Russianorloff #chickens

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  • Long time

    It’s been a long time since my last blog post.

    There are a lot of ups and downs. More up than downs, though. We did move, and that was interesting. We have a place we do love, it has 5 aceras, and we can have anything but pigs here ( I don’tknow why I didn’tcheck on why).

    Since the move I’ve been busy with the children. Getting our school room unpacked was the top priority. Then, of course, getting the girls ( chickens ) set up. My girls are still laying eggs even with the 8 inches of snow we have gotten. I’ve gotten some breeds I’ve been wanting.

    Red shoulder Yokohama is one of the breeds I’ve been wanting forever! This is Dick Best named after

    Richard Halsey Best (March 24, 1910 – October 28, 2001) was a dive bomber pilot and squadron commander in the United States Navy during World War II.

    The hen we named after his wife Doris. We also got turkeys. I find that turkeys, at least these ones, are calm and more gentle than chickens.

    Amazingly, in my order of st run, I got all hens! I’ve put in another order, and more turkeys will be coming in June. I’ll laugh if that is all Tom’s 🤣.

    You can follow me on Facebook to see more photos of our livestock https://www.facebook.com/MJkidsandchickensblog?mibextid=ZbWKwL

  • Volcano 🌋

    It has been a long time since I have written a blog post. Life got a little crazy, I thought I would coming back writing a blog post about what we have been doing in our schooling this week. We learned about volcanos!

    The kids and I made a volcano out of plaster. It’s a small volcano, we decided not to paint it. The kids wanted to get right to the erupting part🤣

    The kids made the volcano erupt three times. ( we do not own the rights to the music/ lyrics in the song / theme playing in the video )

    When baking soda is mixed with vinegar, something new is formed. The mixture quickly foams up with carbon dioxide gas. If enough vinegar is used, all of the baking soda can be made to react and disappear into the vinegar solution

    My oldest picked the theme music for our volcano experiment. #pleasefollow #pleaseshare #thankyou #mjbackyardingwithkids #homeschooling #largefamily #volcanoweek #sci #homesteading #bakingsodaandvinegar