Saturday Prep Post--Jamming with the Chicken Coop

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When I last filled you in on the chicken coop project we left it like this.  And it stayed this way for about three weeks due to Jeff and Jordan's crazy work schedule.  Jeff was, however, able to take a couple of days off and I am so glad to see some great progress being made.  We have one hen who is laying one egg every day in the chicken tractor.  I am sure she will be happy to have a real nesting box and a little privacy in the next few days.

Thursday and Friday the guys headed out back.

It's been bright, sunny weather with mild temps so sunshades were required....At least if you are a cool 15 year old!

The roof work is almost completed.

The doors are finished and the trimwork just needs a coat of paint.

Jeff is sharpening a carpenter's pencil ready to mark some wood.

Jackson is happy to be working with his dad!

Caedmon has already learned we measure twice and cut once!

This is my BABY!!  Can't believe he will be three this next week!

Aaron is cutting some board while Jeff watches on.

My boys have learned so many skills with this project!  Some mistakes have been made and corrected as they have worked all together.  This hasn't been a cheap project, but you can't put a price tag on the skills they have learned or on the time that they have been able to spend with their dad.  Priceless!!

Measuring for another cut.

Jordan putting on the shingles.  I think the older boys did all the shingle work themselves.

And Jackson was there to make sure they did their work well.  Or else!

Digging holes for the fence posts to get started on the chicken run.

Jeff is checking out the work on the shingles.

This is what it looks like this morning.  Lots of progress in the last two days!

Today the plan is to trim the shingles, finish out the inside with nesting boxes and a screened-in wall, and to get the chicken run completed.  Lots to do out there!

And while they are busy outside the girls and I will finish defrosting and taking stock of the the last of the freezers (I did two smaller ones yesterday) and making muscadine jelly.  Jordan has been foraging in our woods the last few weeks and has collected a huge amount of muscadines.  He has been bagging them up for the freezer and yesterday I cooked them down, strained them and got a gallon of juice. 

I wonder how many jars of jelly or jam I have?  No matter what happens we will have a great variety to spread on our fresh bread.   We'll all be busy today so I better get hopping!

Wild frozen muscadines with a few fresh on top

A gallon of muscadine juice

Linked up at homesteadrevival.blogspot.com

Photos courtesy of Kaelan Elizabeth Chamblee

Preparing for September

Other than purchasing 5 cases of rice milk for my dairy allergic children, I haven't been in food prep mode this week at all.  I did purchase 40 pounds of Granny Smith apples for our daily consumption and I will be making applesauce with them as well.  I have several pounds of carrots that need to be dehydrated (loving having dehydrated carrots to toss into some soup!).  The last of the garden tomatoes will also be dehydrated.  I recently dried several trays, put them in a quart jar, added a handful of dried basil (from my garden) and covered with olive oil.  I think they will be a wonderful addition to our Friday night pizzas or to a pasta salad.  The oil will be used as well!  I am letting it sit for several weeks before trying them out.

As soon as the temperature cools down I hope to set up several canning days for seasoned white beans and beef broth.   I recently acquired Jackie Clay's canning cookbook and am eager to can some of the "instant" meals that she includes...soups, stews, meatballs, sloppy joes and more.  We have enjoyed some quick meals incorporating the pinto beans that I canned a month or so ago and I think having even more quick meals ready to heat from the jars will be a blessing on busy school days.

I do have a new food storage system that is helping me to see exactly what I have on hand and how quickly items are being used.  It seems that we are  using olive oil much more than I had anticipated so I will need to keep much more of that in stock.

The men in the family have continued to work on our permanent chicken coop, not to be confused with the chicken tractors.  Our layers have grown and look beautiful!  It's fun to feed them bread and vegetable scraps a little at a time and watch them run after each morsel.  I know they will enjoy having more room to run around once their new home and run are completed.  We still haven't ordered the meat birds, but will soon.

The fall garden has been planted.  I had intended to order more seeds, but I think we will stick with what we have on hand for now.  My 18 year old son is in charge of the garden and has set out lettuce, spinach, turnips, broccoli and cabbage.  The broccoli and cabbage were started in seed starter and are still on the porch.  It will probably be a couple of weeks before he puts them in the raised beds.  The other seeds were direct sown, but we will be using some type of covering to protect them from the sun as we will still be having very warm temperatures for another 5-6 weeks I am sure.

This morning I will be preparing for our next school week and taking care of some household tasks.  Today is my husband's birthday, so while he and the boys work on the chicken coop the girls and I will be preparing a hamburger feast with an apple cake for dessert.  Our oldest daughter and grandchildren will be here as well, so things will get a little chaotic as well.  Aaron's 15th birthday is on Monday, so we will need to prepare his special egg-free dessert tomorrow.

I also started my Christmas gift list for this year.  I always keep an eye out throughout the year and have a box full of goodies already purchased.  With seven children and soon to be four grands, shopping early is a must!

As I sit here I think of so many tasks that need to be completed.  I think I will list them here and then check back next week to see how much I actually got accomplished.

-defrost large freezer
-clean out refrigerator
-organize kitchen cabinets
-take inventory and make a list of needed bulk purchases
-choose colors and buy paints for our indoor projects
-can beans and broth
-dehydrate carrots and tomatoes
-make a list with prices of all curriculum and learning items that I have for sale
-floor to ceiling and wall to wall cleanings of all the bedrooms

homesteadrevival.blogspot.com

There's a lot more to do, but I stop here.  I must be realistic.  These will be good goals for the month of September.  What's happening around your little homestead?