Then Suddenly Everything Was Green

April has arrived and with it some really great weather. Winter didn’t give up easily this year but left us with quite a lot of snow in the mountains and water rushing in the creeks. I love this time of year. For some reason it reminds me of my maternal grandparents.

When I was young they lived about a mile up the road from our house. It was an easy walk for a kid even though uphill all the way. We often walked up to visit. Grampa Pete always had a package of Juicy Fruit chewing gum in the front pocket of his Osh Kosh bib overalls and waited with a grin for us to ask for “a stick”. Grama Opal was always busy doing something. If we were lucky enough to find her in the garden she might offer us a quarter to weed a row of vegetables. This would have been circa 1968, so, 25 cents could actually buy something in those days, like a Big Hunk candy bar or a length of ribbon for our hair. But if Grama was in the house, we would have a very different experience. She must have had three different flavors of ice cream in her freezer box. That was back when ice cream came in actual quart boxes, not the less than a quart embarrassment we find in stores today. And she was always ready to ‘dish some up’ for us. Once it was on the table the tea came out. Hot, steaming Red Rose tea in a Currier & Ives tea cup on a matching saucer, if you please! That tea was amazing, not so much for the flavor, but more for the sheer volume of sugar and canned milk added to it. Oh sweet, sweet delight! And Grama made it just right. She always did.

Grama and Grampa were old soul farmers at heart having arrived in Idaho about 1948 from Cedar Rapids Iowa in, I am told, and old green Plymouth car which pulled a homemade trailer behind. Grampa’s sister, Vi ,and her family were already here. Vi and Harold as well as four of their children were living in what I honestly thought was a small barn when I saw it some 20 years later. But they had a great view of the Pend Oreille River just above Johnson Creek. Vi and Harold were not country folk and had no intention of becoming such. By the time I came along they were long gone to California. But Grama Opal and Grampa Pete remained and I am so very grateful that they did, for because of them I grew to love the land, farm animals, horses, fruit trees, birds and butterflies and Red Rose Tea. I thought they would live forever. I am now older than they were when we first met in 1958 and they have been gone for more than 24 years.

Because I had horses growing up, I rode constantly, summer and winter. There is this thing that happens in late winter/early spring that marks the moment when the snow and ice in the ditches begins to melt along the dirt roads and the roads themselves give up the frost beneath. It is the sound of running water. It is there even if you can’t see it, there beneath the melting domes of snow. The sound is imperceptible to the driver of a car but if a person is walking or on horseback, well, then the sound is a constant companion. This sound reminds me of my grandparents and my walks and rides to see them. This sound let’s my heart know that it is spring.

My grandparents made a huge impact on me in terms of gardening, raising food, feeding the birds, watching the weather and more. They grounded me to nature much more than my parents did. My Mom had a “fruit room “ in the basement. But Grama Opal had a root cellar, which still exists today. It is now my turn to foster a love for all things country life into the hearts and minds of my grandchildren, a process begun by their own mother. Everyday they help me with the chores and learn tasks they will need later. We feed the birds, plant vegetables and fruit trees. We care for the cats that keep the mice under control and love on the horses. And we read stories in the orchard just before dinner, now that everything is suddenly green and lovely.

The date is now April 28, 2025. Thus far we have planted flowers, potatoes, onions, spinach, swiss chard, green peas, and salad green mix. I have set up the hoop houses for the cucumbers and the green beans. The stock tanks have been set in place and filled for carrots and all the dahlias, peonies and strawberries are coming along. Lastly, the raspberry, black raspberry and currant shrubs await planting as well as 5 fruit trees. That’s a lot! But we are on target to have a nice garden in by the end of May, well after the last frost date.

Until next time, Happy Gardening!

Well That Winter Went by Fast!

Good afternoon everyone. It is nice to get back to the blog after so many weeks away. This hiatus was not by choice. Not at all. Our winter season was filled with many things, life changes, unexpected developments and life in general. The gardens have been asleep and now are beginning to awaken. I am excited!

As I write this it is March 6 and we here at the CO-OP are getting ready for the Annual Meeting of the Membership set for this Saturday. It is a fun day as we try to turn a potentially dry meeting into something memorable for everyone.

When I last wrote it was the end of November and we were getting ready for the holidays which really is one of my very favorite times of the year. Not long after my last entry I went out into the farm field and cut down a couple of small fir trees, each about 4’ tall. They were perfect for my front entry project and I didn’t want trees growing in the pasture anyway.

I placed one tree near my kitchen entry in a stand, strung it with lights, and then lit the adjacent porch railing. It turned out very nice. The smaller tree went up on the new front porch in a large ceramic pot filled with dry potting soil. The tree received colored lights while the adjacent stair railing had soft white lights. Behind the tree I placed an old antique wood and metal snow sled with a ribbon on it. A plant stand with battery candles and a new wreath on the front door finished the display.

This year we plan to paint the exterior of the house so all the facia décor lights will be replaced at the same time. We will also be planning the permanent flora display for the front of the town house where we live. While I try not to bite off more than I can chew when it comes to plantings…..I confess I can get into trouble fast. So, this year, I have a better plan, that is, I will not lose my mind at the nursery and will stick to the plan.

The town house needs a thoroughly designed die back floral display. It is located beneath the roof drip area as well as right where the snow blower aims in the winter. If I try to tell my husband where he can and can not blow snow…..well….I don’t want to see that look in his eyes.

So the flowers and woody plants have to die back in the winter. This is not the case against the wood fence! So this year the plan is to acquire 5 more compact burning bushes and finish the fence display. At the end of the burning bush display is a large patch of Day Lilly with a Louisa Crab Apple in the middle. The annual pink blooms are beautiful next to the pale green lilly leaves, and dark green Burning Bush. In autumn the Burning Bush will tower over Crackerjack Marigold for a wonderful display!

So this year iris, periwinkle flag, columbine, coneflower and giant marigold will round out the new plantings in town. We do have deer in town so will be mindful of it. The farm plantings will be different for a variety of reasons. Deer, for one, and little hands that want to help for another.

I have already started the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and all of the marigolds. The Large Red Cherry tomatoes are always the first to germinate and they are the most fun to plant and eat. The grand kids love them because they climb and the fruit is a great garden snack! We are also great fans of green beans, green peas, and carrots as snacks in the garden. So this year we will be building Teepee structures for the cucumbers and panel trellis structures for all the other climbers. We have to be able to get all the way around the plant to find all the fruit! Green on green is very hard to see!!! But the grand kids love a good treasure hunt, or vegetable hunt, as the case may be.

We are going to be making use of as many weird shaped tree branches, nut tree suckers, tall dead branches and rocks as possible this year. The grand kids will help collect and tie them together as the snow subsides in the garden and orchard. Each day we will discover perennials coming up in the various locations, how these plants look and what else may be needed in the spot.

There is still snow on the ground. For all intents and purposes winter is over for me, or at the very least I am ignoring what is left of it.

Until next time, Happy Gardening!

Of Chickens and Grand Kids and Snow Blowing

For the last three weeks things have been pretty busy on the farm. Our old mare, Misty, got her new winter turn out blanket. It is lime green so we can see her anywhere. It matters because she is an escape artist and her muddy brown color blends in with every winter landscape until snow arrives. She is warm and dry, eating well and nickering for treats. So far, so good.

I did indeed get all the flowers planted and all the tools put away. The electrical problem in the hen house was an easy fix, a couple of breaker replacements and we were back in business. There is still a ceiling outlet mystery which we will deal with in the spring, but for now it is disconnected.

For the last few weeks several people have posted on the public poultry forums about keeping chickens warm in the winter. I have always run two 150 watt heat lamps in my hen house not so much for warmth, but to keep the waterers thawed. Most of the time it is not an issue, but that –20 we had last January did freeze the water, so I did need the lamps. However, I am thinking of going a different route this year for two reasons: my hens simply will not stay out of their water pans, and I am sick of cleaning them! So, this year I am moving to heated water pans only accessible by simply walking up and drinking. There will be nothing to climb on, roost on, sit on poop on, or otherwise make my job harder. I might be able to tackle this project after the weekend. Hopefully there will be photos.

In addition to waterer issues some folks have asked if the hen house needs to be heated at all. In general, I would say ‘no’ with a caveat: When and if temperatures do get down to subzero make sure your chickens are NOT roosting near any drafty areas. Their combs and feet can be frostbitten by the cold air. So many folks have said they don’t use any heat, and all the chickens are just fine. While circumstances certainly can vary, I found in my world, this is simply not true. My poor rooster lost about half of his comb last January.

After several days of no precipitation it looks like the valley is finally going to get the snow we so badly need. I did get all the debris cleaned up and made clean passage for the snow blower. I use it to make paths from the farmhouse to the shop, barn, and hen house. No, I don’t have to. There is a backhoe which can clean some of this, but it turns out snow blowing for me, is therapeutic. Who knew?!

Apart from a few random toys and possibly a water sippy cup I think I managed to clean up after the grandkid's orchard play area well. I will make another pass through before the coming snowfall arrives.

This is such a wonderful time of year for the farmer/gardener. He/she just sort of HAS to rest. Everything is under a blanket of snow. The ground is frozen. There is just not much more one can do but maintain until.....January! The month of dreaming and planning.

Happy Holidays everyone. Make it a great holiday season for yourself and by extension, for others. Be blessed.

Winter on the Farm

Winter on the Farm

by Kathy Osborne

The garden is put to bed, the horses have donned their winter coats, the canning is finished and it is time to slow down here in the north Idaho/western Montana area. Well, for some folks. Winter on the farm is a little different.

Those of us who have animals know they require just as much attention in the winter months as in other seasons. Our horses and cattle, goats and sheep must have the proper forage foods and clean, available water as in other seasons.  Sometimes that means dealing with the occasional frozen hose or hydrant.These days most folks have traded in the old faucet/heat tape combo for frost free hydrants. I have used both and frankly, I was thrilled the day we went to all frost free on the farm. My dad was relentless in his water planning. We have frost free hydrants in the barn and the chicken house. And I hate dealing with frozen hoses so much that I unhook and hang them up to drain after each use all winter.

This year my chicken flock was joined by two Pekin ducks. They were the last two left after chick days and I like ducks so I took them. Both turned out to be males which was a bit of a surprise, but even more so, they turned out to be guard ducks. Not only will they engage any dog that intrudes into their territory, they also break up fights between hens and roosters alike. Who knew?

I have had ducks before and overwintered Pekins as well as regular mallards. But Pekins have a habit of turning the area surrounding a  water fountain into a swamp. That is OK during the summer, but in the winter it can make a real mess in the chicken house. So this year I gave them their own open water space. The chicken house already has a sand floor so I just built that up with more course gravel, with small rock as a top layer. The water pan goes on top of that with a heat lamp overhead to keep it from freezing. We are now three weeks into this project and so far, no swamp! It is draining great! The chickens have their own water fountain on the other side of the house.
This year in September we had a garden wide freeze at the farm and it took out the tomatoes as usual. I had been told that I could just pull up those tomato vines and hang them inside the greenhouse and the fruit would continue to ripen. It is true. However, damaged fruit will also continue to rot. So, in the future, I may use this method but will remove any fruit with any freeze damage. But the better way is to hang the vines before they are frosted. I have done that successfully and had ripe tomatoes well into early December.  

Also new this winter is my greenhouse experiment with growing beet greens. When I put my beets in the root cellar I noticed that a couple of them continued to send out leaves. So I planted them in the greenhouse and they are doing great, producing tasty leaves under the grow lights. The beet roots are fairly large, about 4" at the widest point. I look forward to seeing how long they continue to grow. And I wound up with three very vigorous eggplants. They bloomed in the greenhouse but failed to fruit up. Still, they are healthy right now, just drinking up the sun and growing well. It will be interesting to set them out next summer and see what they do.

Birch Creek Farm is always running an experiment of some sort. We finally won the battle of bare root tree deaths. Birch Creek is on very sandy soil. So without a lot of mulch and extra soil to hold the water, a bare root tree just will not take. So, we started putting bare roots in 5 gallon buckets of dirt from the mulch mountain and leaving them in it all summer to create a decent root ball. We have not lost a new tree in three years. (Note: these buckets DO have drainage holes. Very important.)

As we move into the true winter months we will be keeping an eye on wildlife habits and threats to the farm. I saw an owl in broad daylight the other day and coyotes continue to move ever closer to a unsuspecting meal. As farmers we have to learn to live with the wildlife around us and respect it. So, we will provide a little corn for the turkeys and some suet for the birds. Deer and elk will try to get at the hay and the salt lick.  They have already eaten what cornstalks and pumpkins we had out for decoration. We will likely find a moose in the corral one day and promptly head the other direction. They are interesting but nothing to mess with. And we will continue to enjoy winter on the farm.

Dealing with the Broody Hen

Dealing with the Broody Hen

by Kathy Osborne

This is one of my Feather Legged Banty hens. She was actually hatched on the farm herself three years ago. These are her Buff Orpinton/Rhode Island Cross babies, hatched June 2, 2014 at Birch Creek Farm.

Chickens are a staple of the small farm. They "talk" to us. They are where we get the social concept of "the pecking order" (who gets to rule the roost).  They give us eggs, manure for the garden, and a reason to go out and do that final check of the farm each evening when we shut them in for the night.

Anyone who has had a flock of chickens  for any length of time will eventually experience the broody hen.  She is easy to spot: she won't leave the nest. Period. Or at least it looks that way. In reality she does leave the nest for food and water- just not when people are around. She is nesting and cannot be swayed from this effort.  She will sit there until she produces a chick. This can be a good thing.

New baby chicks can cost anywhere from $2-3 each in the spring time. Once purchased, baby chicks need food and water continually and special chick starter food. They need to be kept warm with a heat lamp during the cooler seasons and sometimes, for no apparent reason, they die. A farmer can be into this project for $50 quicker than you can say "Oh, honey....they are so cute!"

If you have a broody hen and you want to add birds to your flock, let her set. If you have roosters, the eggs she is setting on  are likely fertilized. I would remove her from the rest of the flock to a space with a covered nesting box. If she continues to be broody, giver her 4 eggs you know to be no more than 1 day old. Mark the date down in a notepad and count 21 days - that is the due date. make sure the hen has food and water.  Then go on about your farming business.

On the due date check the hen for babies. You don't even have to touch her. You will hear the unmistakable sound of "peeping" the moment you enter the room if any have hatched. Baby chicks hatch with the yolk sack still inside which they consume for the first two days. After that, they need food and water so make sure the feeders and waterers are short enough for new chicks to use. The hen will show them how to drink and eat. In fact for this purpose I use a shallow baking pan and just dump some chick starter in it and it doesn't even have to be medicated.The hen and the chicks will all just jump in there and eat all they want. After about a week, if you can safely turn the hen and babies out into a fenced space/yard, the hen will teach the babies to "scratch" for food. They will follow her around and go under her if they sense any danger. Just FYI: should a snake appear looking for a meal, the hen will make very quick work of it. At the end of the day, the hen and her babies will go back into their space and sleep for the night. You need only shut them in. 

By the time the chicks are 3 -4 weeks of age their mother will have already taught them to roost so be sure and have a bar of wood fixed up off the floor for this purpose. A simple piece of 2" x 2" will work fine. If the new family can stay in their space for several months, until the chicks are full grown, this would be the time to introduce them to the rest of the flock. Watch for any chickens who try to hurt the new babies. Sometimes this attacking behavior only lasts until they all get to know each other. However, any repeat offenders go to the butcher. There is no good reason to put up with mean chickens.

This early summer, between three hens I have 11 new baby chicks. That is enough to replace any laying hens and odds are some of the chicks are males so they will go to the freezer for winter.

I hope this has helped those of you who are dealing with broody hens. It is easy once you get the hang of it. And really kind of fun! If you have any questions just email Kathy at kathy@coopgasandsupply.com.

Continued Dry and Warm

It would appear that summer has arrived here in North Idaho. Of course it officially arrived on June 21st, but the last few weeks we have been experiencing 90 degree temperatures. Normally June can be counted on to be one of the rainiest months of the year. So far, that just isn't  the case. Our last serious rainfall was May 25th and we had about 10 minutes of rain last week. Yesterday we had a lovely downpour that was dried off the streets in about 20 minutes.

I bring this up because of the Old Farmer's Almanac. I have been reading it and referring to it for about 15 years. In  the past the OFA has been pretty accurate. But not this year. June 1-9 showed showers and cool north if we go by the Intermountain Map, and showers & cool if we go by the Pacific Northwest map. Both are wrong. In fact, based on what I have noticed from year to year the accuracy is changing. It's hot and dry out there! So what happened?

The Old Farmer's Almanac has been around since 1792. That is a long time! The publication has a ton of interesting and useful information, folk lore, customs, cultural information and some fun features. It also has what's going on astronomically every day of the year. That is my personal favorite. But when it comes to weather, the almanac is only about 80% accurate. While the OFA writes that their weather predictions are based on a highly guarded mathematical formula, most people can arrive at a fairly accurate weather prediction of their own by keeping track of average temperatures & dates, and whether we are in an el nino or el nina cycle. This information can be found on the web. And of course "there is an app for that" giving those with phone access to the web and up to date weather report.

It's July 14th today and we have finally be gun to cool down from those three weeks of 90 degree temperatures. Because I have so many things in the hopper right now I was late getting my garden in. By late I mean the first week of June. But guess what? This warmer soil, hot temperatures and lots of water are germinating the seeds faster and my garden is responding faster. In fact everything is growing so fast! Even the Autumn Beauty sunflowers have begun to bloom. So beautiful.

The long range forecast for the inland Pacific Northwest is continued drier and less than average moisture well into winter 2015-2016. This may be great for summer activity enthusiasts, but it is bad for farmers, hay farmers, forest conditions, huckleberry pickers, skiers & boarders, and people on a city water meter.