Living Like a Pioneer: Why Raise Chickens?

Why Get Chickens?

They provide food.
-Every twenty five hours a chicken lays an egg. With three chickens I get about eighteen eggs a week, plenty to feed a family. These eggs are not just grocery store eggs either. They are fresh (You donโ€™t have to worry about eating eggs that have been in factories and then onto trucks which take them to your grocery store. These are not the freshest.), nutritious (You know what you feed your chickens and you know that they are not being fed chemicals. Remember, what you feed your chickens is going to show up in your eggs!), strong (ever noticed how the yolks and shells of fresh eggs are so much stronger? None of those chemicals on the shell to keep the eggs โ€œfreshโ€!) and humane (You know that your chickens have laid these eggs in a humane environment. In fact, you are the one who lovingly cares for them!). Also as a bonus, eggs are full of protein!

They provide education.
-Raising chickens are great for kids and young people. The experience teaches you about responsibility in caring for animals and shows you the process of where food comes from and how it is produced. You can learn about hatching, incubation and care for baby animals. It is also very fun to watch the chicks grow from tiny little babies to grown chickens who are producing your breakfast!

They provide entertainment.
-Chickens can be pretty funny and each one has their own personality. You can feed them treats and when you bring their food to them they just flock to you! Also, it is fun to collect eggs, it is like an Easter egg hunt but everyday!

They provide help around the homestead.
-Chickens can provide some practical help for you in ways other than eggs! First of all, they eat your scraps which would otherwise go in the garbage and landfills. They also eat your bugs and keep that bug population low. And thirdly, chicken manure is great for your garden and yard as a fertilizer. So collect that manure and put it on your garden to produce that rich soil that is excellent for growing things!

Hope you enjoyed my four reasons why you should raise chickens!
Look for a post on how you actually raise chickens…. (There is your sneak preview)

Priscilla the farm girl

Journal Entries- My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 16 years old. I sometimes can’t believe I am that old but I like the sound of both 15 and 16 so I am still happy. ๐Ÿ™‚

I had a really fun time yesterday so I will reveal what I did in this journal entry blog post.

When I woke up I had my devotions like usual. I had been reading in Isaiah but I took a break from that and read Phillipians because that is one of my favorite books of the Bible and you always do your favorite things on your birthday, right?

We had breakfast together (my dad and Jace took off work) and looked at my baby book. I always love looking at that. It is fun to see our family when I was born, my little brother Jace (almost two at the time of my birth) is SO cute! I opened gifts and then we all got ready and dressed for the day.

We headed out on the road to Stone Mountain about 9:30 a.m. We arrived there at about 10:45 a.m. I like to go hiking on my birthday because it is something I love to do but we don’t get to do a lot. We had never been to Stone Mountin before so we were all looking forward to it.

I decided we should do the Stone Mountain Loop Trail. It was 4.5 miles but we probably hiked about 5 miles in all because you had to hike .3 miles to get to the trailhead.

Stone Mountain Summit

Stone Mountain Summit

It was very pretty. Not too long before we started there was this HUGE stone slab that we stopped at and just hung out and explored and ate lunch at. It was cool. We hiked up some more (up and up and up) until we reached the Stone Mountain Summit. It was 2,305 altitude! It was sooo high up!

The view from Stone Mountain summit

The view from Stone Mountain summit

We saw lots of Hawks (maybe 100?) circling in the air right about our height. It was cool that we were the same height as the birds. Also the mountains around us were about equal with us. We were high up. After experiencing that awe inspiring work of God we continued.

This next leg of the journey was through the forest so it got cool and damp in there. We went down lots of steps and we were all very glad that we were not going up the steps! It was about 1.5 miles between each attraction. We stopped at a “comfort station” (a wet bench) and had granola bars and apples. Then we got to the Hutchinson Homestead. It was pretty cool. There was an old barn, cabin, corn crib, outhouse, garden, smokehouse and more. You know me… I love the pioneer/frontier times!

Hutchinson Homestead

Hutchinson Homestead

After that the trail went through a field and then into the forest again. There were a lot of gurgling brooks on the side of the trail and we soon came to the source! The Stone Mountain Waterfall! It was a huge slab of stone with sheets of water just careening down it! William, Celia and I went to the bottom of it and watched it for a bit. The trail then went up the waterfall so there were lots of stairs. Lots and lots and lots.

Stone Mountain waterfall

Stone Mountain waterfall

There wasn’t too much more. After the waterfall there was only less than half a mile to go. We went back to the car and headed back to Statesville where we stopped for dinner at Crackerbarrel. It was a really good time as a family. Very precious.

We went to a friends house for dessert. We played Risk and had ice cream sundaes and brownies. Then we came home and since we were all very tired went to bed soon after.

I stayed up and looked at my baby book one last time and then I went to bed. I had a great day! Thanks to all who made it special! I look forward to see what God will do in me this next year!

-Priscilla Joy

DIY Project: Seedlings

Spring is just around the corner so as well as taking care of baby chicks and welcoming my friends baby goats to the world I am also growing some “baby” plants. Yes! Seedlings! Doing seedlings are much less expensive than buying plants in the summer and more fun too in my opinion. Here are some easy steps to planting your own seedlings.

The things you will need.

First, seeds! We got these from the hardware store downtown for about $2.00 a packet. We planted jalepeno peppers and lettuce so that is all I have pictured but we have many more seeds too! These seeds are also non GMO! That means that they are NOT genetically modified! Yeah for that!

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Next, containers! These are little seedling containers we got free from someone on Craigslist a couple years back. We have a ton of them! The seedlings will be transplanted into bigger pots later.

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The soil we got at Lowes for about $4.00 a pack. It is made especially for planting seedlings.

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Lastly, we got a spray bottle of water to water our seedlings. You could find a spray bottle at a dollar store I assume.

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We put the containers filled with soil on a tray next to the window and put the seeds in. Then we watered them.

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And labeled them…

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I then put plastic wrap over and put it on top of the fridge (for the warmth) until it germinates. The seeds are supposed to germinate in about 2 weeks.

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I am keeping track of seedlings on my calendar. Just follow the directions on the back of the seeds. Our frost date that I am going by is April 10th, most of the seeds are to be planted about 2-3 weeks before the frost date. Jalepeno and lettuce are to be planted earlier. If you do lots of seedlings make sure you keep a calendar.

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Quick recap of what you need! Blessings on your planting!

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I will post an update of my plants later…. Thanks to my little brother William for helping with the pictures. ๐Ÿ˜‰ And getting pictures taken of him too… ๐Ÿ™‚

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Enjoy getting in the dirt! (I know I will)

Priscilla

Surprises In The Leaves

I found some pretty flowerbuds coming up through the leaves. Don’t you love glimpses of God’s beauty? For all you garden geeks, these buds are tulips and daffodils. I hope to plant some wild flowers and black eyed Susan’s soon. Enjoy God’s beautiful earth!

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