Old Otter Holler Farm

Good Spring Weather for Cool Weather Crops

The spring of 2012 has been a good year so far for cool weather crops.  Our spinach, lettuce, kale, cabbage, onions, carrots, radishes, peas, and beets  have done really well this year.  Despite the generally above average temperatures for much of the spring, we have received the right amount of rain at the right time allowing the crops to weather the heat.  The image below shows a new way of growing our peas.  In the past, we tied strings from the bicycle rims atop the poles to the frame of the raised beds and let the peas climb.  Although this method worked, it was a pain in the behind to constantly prop up the peas so they could wrap their tendrils around the string.  Oftentimes, the pea plants would latch on to each other and form a mess that would inevitably fall over and not produce well.   This year, we decided to replace the string with some old fencing.  What a great idea that turned out to be.  The peas had no problem latching on to the fencing and have been able to grow straight and tall increasing sun exposure and air circulation thus reducing the risk of powdery mildew.  We're looking forward to eating peas in the next few weeks.  They will make an excellent addition to our already awesome salads.  I hope you're spring garden is also doing well!

Hatching Chicks with an Incubator

To rejuvenate the chicken flock here at OOHF, we have used two methods in the past - let a hen go broody and hatch a clutch, or order day old chicks from a  hatchery.  Both methods have worked, but had their obvious downsides, namely the cost if ordering and the lack of control over the number of chicks if relying on a broody hen.  This time, we decided to try our hand at incubation.  After purchasing the incubator and egg turner, we set aside about a dozen fresh eggs every day until we had about four dozen.  The eggs were kept in the house at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and moved several times a day to keep the yolk from sticking to the side of the shell.  Once we had enough eggs to fill the incubator, we set it up and let it run for a day to make sure we could keep the inside temperature at 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once satisfied with the temperature setting, we removed one the ventilation plugs on the cover and poured some water in the bottom of the incubator to add humidity, then inserted the eggs into the egg turner holes making sure to place the pointed side down.   Because the egg turner moves so slow, we marked an "x" on top of a couple of eggs to make sure the turner was in fact working.  Once everything was in order, all we had to do for about 21 days was make sure the temperature remained constant at 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit and that there was water in the bottom of the incubator for humidity.  At about the 18th day, we turned off the automatic egg turner, removed the eggs from the turner, and placed the eggs on the screened bottom of the incubator.  This step is important since it allows the chicks to roll the egg as they struggle to free themselves.  Sure enough, our first two chicks emerged from their shells on the 20th day with several more chicks trying to peck their way out.  Each newly hatched chick will be kept in the incubator until they are thoroughly dry.  Once dried, we will remove the chicks from the incubator and place them in the brooder with a  heat lamp.  It is important to keep the lid on the incubator and keep it running for several days past the 21 day hatch period since some chicks may hatch a bit later.  Once all the eggs hatch, I'll follow up this post with details about how many hatched, the survival rate, and any thoughts I might have about this method of increasing the size of the chicken flock.

 

   

Culling and Rejuvenating the Chicken Flock

Saturday was a beautiful and productive day here at OOHF.  With the help of several of our brothers and sisters from the Summers County, West Virginia chapter of the Ghost Riders Motorcycle Club, we butchered eight three-year-old plus Buff Orpington hens that had stopped laying, at least reliably.  It was quite an experience for the group since most had never butchered a chicken before.  We began the day by setting up all the equipment and gathering all the supplies we needed for the task.  Once we were ready, I gave the group some quick instruction on each step in the process and turned everyone loose.  To my surprise, everyone did an excellent job and had a good time doing it.  Not only did this help us out here at OOHF since we were feeding and taking care of hens that were not producing, but it gave the group a chance to personally connect with our local food system while educating them on self-reliance.  Best of all, we donated the chicken to the club to make chicken barbecue at an upcoming fundraising event where we'll all get to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Culling these eight birds reduced the size of the flock to 12 hens, which are still reliably laying eggs.  The next step in the flock rejuvination process will be to introduce new Rhode Island Red and Buff Orpinton crosses to the flock in about four weeks.  We are currently incubating 45 eggs, which are scheduled to begin hatching late next week.  This is the first time we've used an incubator and it has proven a challenge to keep the temperature at 99.5 degrees Fahreheit for nearly 21 days with the wide swings in temperature between night and day this time of  year.  The chicks will spend their first three weeks or so under a heat lamp in the brooder, then we will integrate them into the existing flock.  If all goes well, the new chickens will be laying eggs before Christmas!

Telling Time on the Farm

Having spent a great deal of time outdoors on the farm over the past eleven years,  I have become familiar with the sun's path in all seasons as it traverses across the sky, and if the sun is shining, can usually tell you the solar time within an hour or so just by looking at the sun's location and its relation to other geographical features around the farm.  Having hung up my wrist watch for good once I left the military nearly 20 years ago, it is a useful skill that I use everywhere I go...all I have to do is pay attention.  One step up in accuracy from this form of dead reckoning is the sundial.  Sundials have been around for thousands of years and come in a surprising number of shapes, sizes, and accuracies.  Here at OOHF, we have set up a decorative horizontal sundial that is fairly accurate, but could probably be fine tuned by tilting the gnomon to reflect the latitude of our location.  Still, it is close enough for us.  All you have to do to set it up is lay it on a flat surface, point the gnomon (the part that sticks up and casts the shadow) to true north, and let the sun do the rest.

There is a story about the sundial in the image below that I'd like to share.  Many years ago, the sundial rested on a large rock in our backyard, but was taken down and stored when we moved the rock.  The sundial was forgotten for many years until this past spring when I was cleaning out the well house and came upon it.  I decided I wanted to set it up again, but did not have a suitable pedestal to raise it up off the ground.  A few days later, we experienced moderate flooding on several small streams on the farm and a large chunk of well-aged wood that looked to be the butt of a timbered tree washed up on the edge of our driveway.  I noticed this interesting piece of wood right away and was drawn to its shape and aged look.  I thought to myself, what can I use this for?  After a day or two of contemplation, I realized it would make a great sundial pedestal so I scooped it up with the tractor and brought it to the house.  After moving it around for a few hours, we finally settled on this arrangement.  In our opinion, it works great, looks good, and is in a high-traffic area near our house entrance where it can be used daily.

    

Making Hard Cider

Every year we shred and press between 1,000 and 1,500 pounds of apples (between 20 and 30 bushels) here at OOHF to make sweet apple cider, which we usually drink fresh, can (pasteurize), and freeze in gallon jugs.  By the way, sweet apple cider freezes really well and tastes as good 10 months later as it did the first month.  For the last several years, we have partnered with our friends at the nearby Big Branch Farm to share the work and of course the cider.  This past year, we set aside six gallons of fresh apple cider during the last pressing of the year to make hard cider.  I'm not going to go into details here on how we made it...suffice to say that every detail in the process was meticulously recorded in a notebook (e.g. apple blend, temperature, sugar content, alcohol content, length of fermentation, dates, etc.) for future reference.  Our thinking was that if this batch turns out spectacular, then we want to be able to reproduce it, and the only way to do that is to have detailed notes at every step in the process.  Well, the batch did turn out spectacular and  I am really pleased with the results.  This coming fall we plan on doubling our batch and perhaps experimenting with the other six gallons.  For now, I get to enjoy cellar-stored hard cider made right here on the farm.  Cheers!