Growing, planting and cooking

The birds continue to grow and have hit the unattractive teenage phase. They still have some attributes of baby cute but have way more adult feathers and are getting more every day. There are feathers growing on their chest, neck, back and wings. Pretty much all of the body but not the head yet. I'm guessing that that happens last.

There is a dramatic increase in size as well. It's hard to hold on in just my hands. In part because they just don't hold still. I'm blaming the wing feathers; makes them feel like they can fly. They can't but they try.


Ian put a roost in the brooder the other day and they have started to use it. It was such a success that Ian made a second roost but way way taller: it's about half the height of the brooder itself. The birds are very curious but have to fly up so sit on it. There are some stability issues as well so getting more than one bird up at a time is a challenge. Watching them try is entertaining for the humans and the cat alike. I hope the stimulation will keep them from picking on each other and such things. I'm worried that one of my Reds is a boy and that the other one is a frizzle. I would be able to tell, right?

The chicks are getting so big that we had our first outdoor day this weekend. Saturday was pretty nice so we moved the box outside while their bedding was cleaned.

We took it through the back door on the way out and almost got is stuck in the doorway. I know I've said it before but this brooder is huge. The chicks seemed to enjoy their outing. No bad dog stories or anything.

The nice weather also means we got some gardening done. I planted lettuce, peas, carrots, beans and marigolds in the raised beds. I completely forgot the spinach and I'm waiting for really nice weather before I put in melons or tomatoes.


Notice that it's nice enough here for shorts and t-shirts? I'm not bragging just suggesting that now would be a good time for a visit. Not everyday is warm and sunny but we get one such day every week now. And I suspect the last frost may have already happened. We also planted some flowers in the back and the front. I feel like some people disapprove of using garden space for flowers but I've been thinking about bees lately and they're my new excuse for flowers. If there are no flowers then how will we get honey?

Last thing. I attempted my own ginger beer today. It's not real beer, there is only one fermentation and that is 48 hrs long to get carbonation. I saw this recipe online and though it sounded really simple. However, I bought the wrong size of bottle at the store and after I started making it I realized that I wouldn't be able to juice the ginger like I thought. Solution? Just throw some stuff together using the recipe is a guideline and see what happens. And I'm a bad yeast counter. There wasn't enough to fill the two bottles all the way so I will need more next time I try. I'm going to write my "recipe" here and let you know how it turned out later.

4oz pulverized ginger
8oz lemon juice
2 cups sugar
52 oz water
Small amount of yeast

Bring ginger, juice, sugar and water to a boil. Cool to >100deg F. Place ~50 granules yeast in each bottle and strain liquid into bottles.

You should try some your own ginger ale and we can have a swap! Or maybe you can tell me how to make liquid that is less foul. Huzzah for cooking adventures.