Making Connections

At one time during one of our small group meetings we had talked about goals or something ~ I don't remember what the focus was, but I do remember that I shared my big ol' dream to make something of the property that the Lord so graciously led us to nearly 20 years ago.

Overall, the goal of the church that we belong to is to be mission minded. Sharing who Jesus is in our everyday existence?

Oh sure...okay...hmmmm - Got It!

I keep wanting to say that I'm not very good at this whole sharing Jesus thing, but I forget that just being a friend to someone or encouraging someone who needs it is sharing Jesus in a very personal way. I was reminded of how we are connected with all sorts of people that we encounter in everyday places. So yeah, I guess I got this sharing thing down. 

What I'm learning about myself is that when I am home, I want to be home. Doing my own thing and not having to interact with more people than I really need to, because deep down inside I'm an introvert. I can socialize and be engaging for so long, but I need and LOVE my down time. However, if we are going to make something of this property I need to step out of my comfort zone and share what we have with those around us (our neighbors) and those who are a part of our church family, but mainly with the people who are not a part of our church family.

What am I getting at here? Ever since the houses were built across the street from us I had thought of ways to get to know our neighbors. More than the smiling and waving as we drive by. Anyone can do that! The more that I thought that we would create a little hobby farm for ourselves, the more I realized that whatever abundance we are blessed with the "extra" could be our way of connecting to our neighbors (aka "the world" per Felida Bible's purpose statement). I'll tell you what...this has been a project in the making, but this connecting thing is finally starting to happen!

Until this year we had been sharing what we have been growing in the garden and it's been fun bringing fresh tomatoes or whatever else we might have an abundance of to our neighbors and chatting with them for a minute or two. Seriously, nobody can turn down fresh veggies right? 

When we added the chickens to the mix in the form of baby chicks, that was the game changer. We started out with one week old chicks (straight run) and when we figured out how many of them might be little dudes, we added six more Australorps which were about a week behind the Jersey Giants and a good deal smaller. Eventually the sixteen chicks turned into five cockerels and eleven pullets. Then the cockerel count went to four (one died, let's chalk that up to Natural Selection) and then on Labor day down to one. 

Before we harvested the cockerels, one or two of the Aussies started laying. So, I was curious and really wanted to start understanding what kind of timeline we were working with I started reading about when the girls would start laying. Many of the forums had varied answers to my questions. Jersey's, being a larger breed, would start later than normal. The Aussies were pretty much right on track though and started laying at around 20 or 21 weeks which was at the end of August. 

Miss Chickie says "Excuse Me!"

At the beginning when the little girls (Australorps) started laying it was slow going, a couple eggs here and a couple eggs there. It stayed that way for a little while and I started having eggs for lunch! A couple of weeks ago things changed and all of the littles were laying then about a week ago we started getting more than 6 a day. Which meant that the Jersey Giant girls started to laying. The laying habits of the little girls is pretty much what I have read. The Jersey's were a different story. 

All of the things that I read about the JG's is that the grow fast and take their time maturing. Also, some people had posted that it took more than 6 months before they would see their JG's first egg. Well, the number started going up around October 4th - so either the Aussies are laying more than once a day or those BIG girls are getting into the nesting boxes and getting to work as well.

Good Girls!!

Now we are experiencing an abundance of eggs more than we can use in a week. It's time to get a little creative. One of the things that I was doing was making ice cream once a week with yolks in the base. The difference - my previous batches were made with store bought eggs - this last batch home grown eggs! We also an egg here and there for breakfast or for a special meal like Huevos Rancheros. So simple, but oh so good! Seriously, I need to get some more egg dishes going! 

Even so we still have quite a few eggs on hand with more eggs added to that daily so what do we do?!

Share them of course!

In doing this we have made some "deals" with a couple of people. The family directly across the street from our driveway asked if we wanted the eggshells back for the chickens - something I hadn't thought of...YES!! Somehow that turned into us also saying that kitchen scraps would be good too! Yesterday afternoon their two oldest boys (poor little brother had to watch from afar) came over with a little bucket with a few food scraps and tossed those into the chicken pen. Yay! Way to get the kiddos involved! One of them even asked if they could pet one of the chickens...oh goodness, that is cute!

Tom decided that we should take some to our Master Gardener neighbors who are in the older neighborhood just a little further down the road. I love their yard! They pretty much took all of the grass out of the yard and planted flowers and veggies (annuals and perennials) - amazing! So a few days ago we be-bopped over and presented a basket of eggs to Julie. She was surprised and so thankful that we would offer up the eggs for FREE. It was fun connecting with her and chatting for a few minutes. Before we went back home she mentioned how she had a friend who raised chickens and she used to get eggs from her and helped her process some chickens for meat. 

What the WHAT?!

That perked me up and little more about when we get raise the birds she could come and help with the harvest. That would also mean she take home a chicken or two. Man...we need to get out more!

This is just a step in the connection direction and things are going well right now. It amazes me how things work out when you say it out loud to a group of good friends who believe in encouraging each other and their dreams. So thankful for them!

Farm Fresh Eggs!!!

Now, I know that the egg production will go down during the winter months, but I'm not sure how much. That is the big question right now. I'm hopeful that the Aussies will continue to lay here and there when the days are shorter and cooler...there will be a report here when we are in the middle of our Pacific Northwest winter.

The other way I'm going to try connecting will be by growing veggies in low tunnels and the hoop house. I've already got the plants started, just need to get them into the beds and covered up before the month is over!

Oh man, connecting on the food level is AWESOME!