The Halpern Homestead Animal Haven. Maybelle

In November a friend of Kelsi's had a little kitten that needed a place to live. Those of you who know Kelsi, know that she doesn't turn down an animal in need.

We named her Maybelle. She was the sweetest kitten. So full of love.

She has the brightest eyes.

She was so clumsy and awkward when we got her. Just a ball of fuzz.

She quickly developed a feisty personality. She's the kind of cat that waits around the corner for you, and attacks your leg when you come around. In a playful way of course.

She loves to climb. 

And she is pretty good at it.

The big cats were a little standoffish at first. Maybelle quickly took over the top of the cat tower. Formerly owned by Walter (The fat black one below). 

Eventually Walter decided to take his thrown back.

Sharing is caring. They were the best of friends.

Matilda was a little less welcoming. She took to unusual hiding spots to get away.

I took a little time and soon enough, Maybelle was sleeping with Matilda at night.

Then Khma.

And momma.

She is also a notorious water thief! 

She just had her spay the other day, and even a surgery can't slow her down. Just as feisty and full of energy as always.

Welcome to the family little fella. 

Thanks for reading!

Grow Station Progress.

Day 4. No growth.

Day 6. First onion sprouts.

Day 10. Onions

Peppers

Day 18

Our usual performers are doing well. California Orange

Mirasol Pepper

The peppers seem to have started off a little faster this year, maybe due to the seed warming mat. They are about the size that our peppers were last year at one month, instead of 18days. There are still a lot of empty pods that have had no germination. 

The temperature module is working pretty well at keeping the soil right around 80degrees. It has a harder time when the room is cool, but it still works well enough. 

We planted the onion trays with different patterns to see what works best for us. The tray above was seeded by sprinkling the seeds on the soil surface

The one shown here was a bit more purposeful in rows. 

Pretty good start so far to our seedling endeavors. 

Thanks for reading

Furniture Building: Front Entrance Bench and Shoe Cubby- Painting/Priming

I have been patiently waiting for a warm day to paint our 'Mudroom' style bench/cubby. Today was the day. We had a really nice warm and sunny day here in Spokane, so I decided to paint outside.

This is the bench after a coat of primer applied the week before in the shed on a decently warm day.

First coat of paint. It is much easier to paint outside than it is to paint in the shed. I was glad for the opportunity!

The back.

The photo above shows the bench with the top piece. It is lifted up because I had extra time and was able to paint the seat before it got too cold. I was able to do both coats of green paint as well. I just need to paint the front trim with two coats, apply one more coat to the bench top, and secure the top to the base. In the middle cubby, 2 pieces of laminate tile are shown; we are going to use these to cover the surfaces that come in contact with the shoes. I haven't ever done tile before so it will be interesting.

I put the bench away for the night in our crammed shed. I wish I had a woodshop, but I am happy to have a saw and be able to work outside. We are nearly done!

Thanks for reading! 

Simple Idea For Winter Feeding of Chickens

Here at The Halpern Homestead, we are always looking for ways to substitute the chicken's diet in the winter. Winter for many chickens is fed based on a packaged chicken feed offered at all hours of the day. Us, as well as many of our blog friends and local friends, choose not to follow this practice as the only source of feeding during the winter. 

Summer around our home is a great time for the chickens. The hens are free range. Meaning they have unlimited access to all the bugs and vegetation that they can forage in the daylight hours. In addition to extras we provide our chickens with: garden overgrowth/weeds as well as produce damaged by the voles, daily kitchen scraps/spoils that they love so much, and any other 'human' waste that the chickens just love (rinds, cobs, seeds, anything too bitter or sour).

The winter complicates things since we aren't growing extra produce in the garden and the vegetation in the fields is limited. One idea that I really like, is buying organic produce at sale prices and feeding it to the chickens. Now in an ideal world, we would grow enough food in the garden to support us and our animals throughout the winter. Someday this will be our goal, but for now we are doing the best we can with what we have.

I was at our local natural market 2 weeks ago and found a 25lb bag of organic carrots for only $15. Screaming deal on carrots! 

Now carrots may not be a 'complete' feed for chickens in terms of needed proteins, fats, carbs, and minerals; but they have a lot more minerals and vitamins than one would think.

Nutrition facts according to the USDA

Vitamins according to http://nutritiondata.self.com.

Minerals according to http://nutritiondata.self.com.

Plenty of trace minerals such as: calcium/manganese. Electrolytes such as: potassium and magnesium. Vitamins such as: vitamins A/C/K/B6, thiamin and the wonderful folate. Small amount of protein, a large amount of dietary fiber and even iron. What more can you ask for in a low carbohydrate snack?

Carrots are well tolerated among our animal friends from the dogs to the geese, they all enjoy them. We have found that the carrots are better tolerated by the birds if shredded first.

Luckily we have a food processor with a shred blade.

It makes quick work of pounds of carrots. The usual batch is 1.5 gallons of volume.

The shredding power is almost excessive. Even the largest of carrots are gone in seconds.

Every time I take a late night snack to the birds I feel like they know I am coming.

It is well past bedtime and these birds are cruising the floor like they knew it was too soon for bed.

All birds from the hens to the ducks come running and flying for carrot time.

May not be a common practice for most, but the extra produce and attention shows in these beautiful eggs!

Thanks for reading!

Gardening Season 2012 Starts Today!

Tonight Kelsi and I started our first seed trays of the year.

We planted 4 open flats of onions. 

Gladstone- Long day white onion.

Newburg- Yellow onion with sweet white flesh.

Stuttgarter- Yellow onion, known for keeping all winter.

Violet De Galmi- Bright pink/purple onion which also keeps well.

We also started our peppers and eggplants. We decided to start them earlier this year than we did last year. We usually start them around March 1, but they have been pretty small still by the time we have the plant sale. So, we are trying an extra month earlier this year to see what happens. 

We are growing more varieties this year.

Black Beauty Eggplant

Long Purple Eggplant

Corno Di Toro Sweet Pepper

Cal Wonder Orange Bell Pepper- Awesome producer! Grew last year, fantastic flavor

Pepper Quadrato d'Asti Rosso-  Italian Red Pepper known for it's massive size.

White Habanero Pepper

Pizza Pepper- Mild Jalapeño 

Mirasol- Hot Pepper

We also bought a two flat seed warmer and thermostat to help the peppers and eggplants germinate a little better that last year. Haven't used a warming mat before so we are hoping for the best.

Thanks for reading!