Monday is our day to go into town. Because I am committed to conserving the amount of gasoline we use during the month we coordinate all of our errands and shopping into one long day.
Bundles of mint and tansy help with fly control around the coop.
On Monday we start out with our beloved restorative yoga class. We meet friends for lunch, run errands and buy our groceries. Often I visit our local library to check out books or read current magazines. Once a month or so we stop at the health food store and pick up a load of bark chips from a friend’s blueberry field as well. So creating a blog post on a typical Monday is tricky for me.
Our Rhode Island Red pullets gather around for their breakfast of fermented feed.
Instead I have taken to an idea I saw on another blog and sharing a weeks-worth of photographs on that day. That is manageable for me and since I typically take photographs throughout the week that do not end up in a themed blog post anyway, it works to make Monday our Photo Diary day.
The shade garden behind our three season porch this week.
Last week was another busy week for us. Gene worked almost all week on building the second chicken coop and I painted the sections; primed and top coated side pieces and doors. Since this is his second coop project he now has coop building down to an art and will assemble all the parts after I have them painted.
Gene is fitting the nest box on the new chicken coop.
My week also consisted of weeding and hauling pea gravel and bark chips, taking care of chickens, dead-heading flowers, cleaning and cooking and hanging my wash on the clothesline to dry. We also took an afternoon drive one day to the Amish feed store to purchase a 50 lb. bag of rolled oats for the chickens. I pre-tested my chickens with a small bag of human oats and they loved them.
Broody Goldy took a break from the nest box to eat, drink and poop.
In addition to my chores, I took my daily garden “vegetable garden walk” and was pleasantly surprised to find only an odd bug or two in among the vegetables. I am certain that having the chickens grazing in the vegetable gadren off-season has really helped control our bug population.
I weeded the side of the pole barn this week. Next comes a layer of bark chip mulch.
Freckles, the Phoenix Bantam resting in the run.
The coop frame before the side panels or double doors have been attached.
The side panels to the new coop are freshly painted and drying.
My Asiatic lilies are quite lush and lovely this year.
I staked the tomatoes in the grow bags this week.
This is our life on the homestead!
Small House homesteader, Donna
Small House Big Sky Homestead 