Breakfast to catch our Lunch

Yep, we used breakfast to catch our lunch.  Here's the story;

We got up Sunday morning at The Compound, late mind you, somewhere around 6 am and we may have slept even longer if it wasn't for the choir boys (our roosters).   After we cleaned up, rubbed the sleep from our eyes the Moose asked me what my plans for the day were.  Do you want to go home right away this morning?  I knew there was a bit more behind that question, and since we'd really rather not be anywhere else than The Compound to begin with, we decided to stick around and let the day play out. 

The Moose opted to go fishing.  Something he hasn't done in years (not including the two visits to the ocean which amounted to him getting seasick, and neither of us catching anything we could keep).  I'm talking about the pull up a chair, kick back, put a blade of grass between your teeth and throw your line in the water, kind of fishing.  The kind of fishing he's only been able to dream about for many years.

Our dear friend Fred mentioned to the Moose the other day.  "Now that you got an RV, it just means more work at The Compound".  Well maybe, but not this past Sunday! I'm telling you, within seconds of me saying,  I'd be more than happy to stay, he was up and out of his chair, running down his fishing gear. 

As soon as the Moose was running down his gear, the boys (BJ and Donnie) were up and wondering what the heck was wrong with the Moose!  That's not a shovel in his hand, it's a fishing pole!  You didn't have to tell them twice!  Within a matter of mere minutes all three of them were on the dock.  I served them up some breakfast sandwiches, which they ate some of, but used as well to catch the fish!

 

Breakfast sandwich;  ciabatta bread, fresh egg, steak (left over from Saturday's dinner) and cheddar cheese.

 

A little piece of steak, egg, cheese or bread on the hook, and within minutes you had one on the line!

 

We ended up with 10 blue gill (of differing varieties) pan fish.  They threw back in the smaller ones.  By about 9am they stopped biting.

That was our lunch.  The boys cleaned them and grilled them.  They were delicious!

The Moose deserves more days like this one.

Saturday Part 1 - Friend or Foe?

Well, to say we've been busy would be an understatement.  We are crazy busy, with no immediate end in site.  But we need to make hay while the sun shines.

I'm breaking down the events from this past Saturday into a few different posts.  I hate having a post that is too long and loses your interest.

The guys decided Saturday was just as good as any other Saturday to clean out the pond filters, set up a new fountain, and remove any large debris that lay lurking at the bottom of the pond.  All of a sudden I get a call, "Laura, grab your camera!". 

I was instructed to take a photo of this strange worm like thing that was all over the pond filters, so we could look them up back home and figure out if we have a problem with the pond.  These very tiny, bright red worm like, creepy crawlies, were all over!  We were a bit worried.  Are they a parasite?

 

As it turns out, it's a friend!  These tiny red creatures are actually blood worms.  A sign of a healthy pond.  People actually buy them to put in their ponds to help, and also provide a very high source of protein (52%) to fish. 

They get stuck in pond filters, due to their size and as a means of protection from fish.  They're too big to go through the filter, but the action of the filter;  drawing in water which includes the algae, etc. is the perfect breeding and brooding ground for these little things.  If you'll notice in the photo the longer, green pieces are  actually mini-tubes they use for protection.

http://www.bonniesplants.com/bloodworms.htm

So the pond is healthy!  The new pump is up and running and per BJ who traversed the pond in hip boots, there's a lot of fish in this pond!

Raising the Roof - Again in 2014

Well, back in 2012 along with the loss of the Hooligans (our first set of chickens) we had some additional challenges to overcome.  One of which was the feeding frenzy by the area wildlife in our pond.  http://www.theschultzcompound.blogspot.com/2012/06/tilapia-protection-honey-bee-larvae-and.html

 

As a result, the Moose created a fencing system to keep them out, and our new Tilapia as safe as possible from the predators.  We showed up one Saturday, and it was standing room only for the Egrets, and Storks!

 

 

It's worked out great!  Only issue now, the fish are large enough for us to eat, but it's really difficult to fish them out.  There's no room to maneuver underneath.   Since we decided to electrify the fencing around the garden to keep the pigs where they belong, and create a larger space for them at this point to dig up and fertilize the garden, the fencing around the pond was dual purpose.  Keep the pigs contained and raise the roof on the pond.  Here are the results;



 

Easily walked under by all of us at The Compound.  

Busy, Busy

To say the Moose and I are tired, is an understatement, we're sore all over! (see bengay-to-you-too) We could use some Bengay ourselves!

We had a very long, very busy weekend at The Compound.  We spent the night so we could get as much work in as possible.  You see, the 7 little pigs escaped their confines this past week, so we needed to work on their area, and what was really one project became three-in-one.

1.  We wanted to section off the garden, so we could move the pigs into different locations so they could help till up the soil, eliminate the weeds, grubs, and fertilize the soil.

2.   We need to install electric fencing around the perimeter to keep them where they belong.

3.  We need to build a taller screened room over the pond.  (tilapia-protection)  The one that's in place now, keeps the birds out, but we can't get in very easy to see how the fish population is doing and/or to net some for dinner.

So, after a trip to the local farm and hardware store, and packing of two vehicles to carry all of the materials and overnight bags we headed out to The Compound.  The weather was beautiful, but I'm sure the guys that did the heavy lifting would have liked cloudy 60 degree temperatures, rather than sunny and low 80's. 

They installed roughly 15ea 4x4x10, 14ea 2x4x10, fencing on three sides, buried an auto water hose, and dumped upwards of a hundred loads of gravel to create a walkway all around the pond.   They repaired the overflow drainage from the pond, that will fill in the pig wallows and when that's filled, the water will drain out to the swamp.  It's easily summed up in a paragraph, but trust me, it took all the energy they had to get the holes dug, rocks shoveled, wheelbarrow loads moved, nails hammered, etc.

We had bags of compost and top soil along the edge of the pond holding the orange fencing material in place so critters wouldn't crawl underneath, and those bags have grown weeds and broken open. (I thought compost didn't have weed seeds, or they were killed through the composting process?) Those were pulled out of the way and dumped in the pig run.  They'll rut through them eating the weeds, and I'll go back later and collect the plastic remains.

The posts will eventually hold up the orange fencing material over the pond, and create a ceiling with plenty of room to maneuver inside.  The posts also hold the fencing that section off the garden for the pigs, which by the way, they were totally excited about their new space!  They couldn't eat the pickers (sticker plants) and weeds fast enough! 

 

Work is so rewarding, when you can see how happy the animals are!  Still no electric fence, and I'm sure they won't be happy when that's finally installed.  I'll just have to bring them some extra treats!

 

So, in short order we'll have three projects completed.

Saturday in Photos

The youngest group at The Compound. Getting a bit rambunctious at this stage.

This poor hen was picked on to the point, she had a large wound on her head. We separated her from the group and put her in the broody pen with the two smallest chicks. All are getting along very well. The two small ones leave her poor wound alone, and she doesn't pick on them. They've seemed to buddy up pretty well.

I still can't tell if Rooster Cogburn (left) wants to become my boyfriend or tear me a new one!

My favorite photo of the weekend. Here's Lacy, checking out the shutter on the camera.

Doing what chickens do the best. Some of my Easter Eggers out hunting. They are the sweetest, and great egg layers.

Yes, we do have Tilapia in the pond. This is not the largest we've seen, but here's proof of life!

Finally, here's the group getting ready for bed. Miss Berta (Left) and Miss Corrie (Right), still sleep next to each other.



One Giant Leap

It's official, we finally have water at The Compound.  What's that you say?!  But you have a man made pond, a canal, besides you live in Florida, what do you mean you finally have water?

Yes, we do have a man made pond.  This;

Became this:

A pond holding Blue Tilapia, and an occasional turtle.

The canal which started as this:

Will remain this.  Although it looks nice, it is not clean, full of iron and other run off.  It could be drinkable, but with a lot of work and expense.

As to rain, yes we have lots of that, and more than our share this year, over 30".  Our dry season can be devastating when trying to garden in the fall/winter months.

But with a bit of labor from the Moose and Spud, and a small expense (around $200 total for the pump and PVC fittings) we have this:

 And THIS!

This water is coming from our 35' shallow well, that came with the property when we bought it.  The previous owner had it drilled, but that was it.  Now, we just need it tested to determine it's overall quality, and what we may or may not need to insure it's drinkable.  This could mean no more hauling of water for the chickens!  Better quality water for the garden and cleaning. 

We will be getting a hand pump, in the event we do not have the ability to run the generator.  The Compound is off the grid and we need to plan for all contingencies.

We are another huge step closer to self sufficiency at The Compound!

Proof of Life

It was a very busy Saturday at The Compound, when isn’t it really?!   Started out pretty typical, taking care of the chickens, and mowing part of the acreage.  We’ve decided to try and divide the mowing up in to sections, a little each weekend, that way it’s not too much at one time.  We also worked on cleaning up the garden, pulling weeds and spreading out the mounds of chicken compost we pulled out a few weeks back.  There should be loads of nutrients to pass into our garden.

 

We were surprised and happy to find some already growing watermelon plants.  Since the Hooligans were regularly fed watermelon, I guess it was only natural to find some new growth in their compost.  We've left them undisturbed.

 

 

 

We placed down cardboard in some of the really weed ridden areas, and put mulch on top to help kill them off.  The cardboard will decompose over time, and we should see a reduction in weeds.  This picture looks great, but it basically looked like a hay field, but it was covered in weeds.  Maybe I'll get over my embarrassment and take a photo or two of the remaining areas that need to be done, just so you can see how bad it actually got.  We need more mulch again.  Not looking forward to that work.

 

 

The Moose also helped me by setting up some additional shade cloth so I can grow some of the more delicate plants like lettuce and peas out of the direct sun.  They just don’t do well at The Compound in direct light.  We also set up some water gutters along the walls, so I can plant lettuce, herbs, etc., avoid weeds, and make it one less thing we need to bend over to harvest.  I’m not a spring chicken anymore!  We got this idea from a preppers meeting we had a few months ago.

During the clean-up of the garden the Moose discovered two of these squishy eggs!  Yuk!  They were snake eggs.  I’m wondering how big the snake was to lay these eggs.  They seemed to be about the size of a robin’s egg. 

 

 

 

Finally, while the Moose was rearranging the pond covering, he found this Tilapia.  Proof of Life!  We have some good sized fish in this pond!  There are also plenty of small frys and fingerlings.  OK, not sure on the spelling, but a baby Tilapia fish is called a fry, to make that plural are they frys, or fries?

 

We left exhausted, and actually disappointed we couldn't get more done.  I'm behind in planting the garden, but thankfully I have some seedlings almost ready to go.  There always seems to be one reason or another for not getting the garden planted in time.    Say a prayer that we have warmer weather, longer than the past two years, so we can actually harvest the veggies we plant.

Knock on Wood - Robber Bees

I'm beginning to wonder if we're dealing with our own "7 plagues" out at The Compound.  The water hasn't turned blood red, grasshoppers have not taken over (knock on wood), but we've had our share of situations, that I frankly am tired of dealing with.

Without our knowledge, we hosted a standing room only party in our pond for the area storks and egrets.  They cleaned out our Tilapia.  The Moose subsequently had to create a netting roof over the top.  So far so good on that account.  We have plenty of fish. (knock on wood)

Of course a few weeks ago we lost the entire group of Hooligans.  A predator chewed through the roof and killed them all.  We spent three weekends putting on a metal roof.  That's done, and so far no other attempts on the new flocks lives have been made. (knock on wood)

Just when we hope things will start going our way, we discovered our hive of bees, empty.  It appears they were robbed.  Dead bee bodies everywhere, and a chaotic swarm of bees, signs of a robbery in progress.  By this time it was too late.  We opened up the hive, no workers, very little brood, and no queen. They put up a good fight, but there just weren't enough of them to hold off the masses.

It's back to square one, and another delay in realizing our sweet dreams of honey.  We'll likely have to wait until next spring to get another colony.  It seems to be one thing after another and I'm just plain tired.  I'm usually the optimistic type, but right now the glass is half empty.

Dry Chickens, Raised Roof on the Pond and Home-Ec

We spent the night at The Compound Friday.  We had some rain, but did get a chance to mow a section of the yard, and insert a plastic sheet above the Hooligan's roosting area to help keep them dry at night.  They decided some time ago, that sleeping in their coop was out of the question, and we've finally gotten around to eliminating the issue of rain while they sleep.  The Moose unhooked the green cloth overhead, and inserted a sheet of white plastic and the reattached the green cloth and plastic together on the overhead chicken wire.  They were all very curious Friday night, but I'm sure were grateful for the dry feathers come Saturday morning.


We spent Saturday, trying to resolve the sinking of the orange fencing material over the pond.  We think birds were landing on it, and caused the twine to stretch and the material to sag.  If left alone the birds would have the ability to reach through the holes and continue to fish for Tilapia.  So we headed to the hardware store, and bought 3/16" wire cable and stretched it across  the pond, under the fencing, and raised it all back up again.  Hopefully this'll do the trick!  We seem to learn something new each weekend, mostly by trial and error. 

Finished mowing on Saturday, picked another basket full of veggies, and took care of the Hooligan's all 30 of them!  The Class of 2012 are getting restless, but are too small to mix with the older ones. 


I took sewing lessons a few months back, part of my Home-Ec goals for the year,  and decided to try a larger project.  I've made a pillow or two, and this project is my largest to date.  I had some left over fabric, from the curtains we used inside the camper.  We got the curtains at Ikea at $4.95/pair and they were 96" long.  I had to cut them down for the windows in the camper and was left with 6,  48" x 54" pieces of beige fabric.  I pinned them together and sewed the sections together, to create one long, 27' piece, and created an opening on each end to hold a piece of 1/2" PVC pipe.  This pipe is to help keep the fabric weighted down and in place.  Here's what I made;

A shade cover for the deck.  It gets awfully hot under the sun this time of year, and we need a place to go for shade, still enjoy the outdoor view and breeze.  This should do the trick.  I have the fabric held up along each beam with more PVC pipe and hooks. 








Fabric:  free, left over from previous project
PVC - 4 each 10' pieces 1/2" $3.55  total of $14.20

Hooks - $4.46 for a box of 25, needed only 10, or $1.70

Thread - $2.30, used around a 1/4 of it $ .57

Total - $16.47

Knowing you did it yourself;  priceless

The bees are doing well, I took a peak through the window and see more capped brood, which is a very good sign.  We should see a noticeable increase in the population in the next week or so.

We had a good time, hot and sweaty, but good.  Glad to be home, and already starting to think about next weekends project list...



Garden Update and Tilapia Release

Just a quick update on the garden.

The tomato plants are about done.  They are dying back.  I have a decision to make;  leave the green tomatoes to ripen, and risk the raccoons getting them, or pick them green and ripen off the vine at home.  I'd like to make some tomato sauce, but haven't had enough at any one given time thanks to the furry bandits.  My cherry tomato plants, planted later, are just coming in, and boy are they good!


I am getting more cucumbers each visit to the garden.  Between the Moose and I we can not eat them fast enough.  I'm gathering recipes for making dill pickles.  I like my dill pickles a little on the tangy/spicy side.  Any recipes you'd be willing to share?  I will be trying one my Great Aunt Marceille in Wisconsin just gave me, but trust me, I have enough cucumbers that I can make more than one recipe to find my favorite. 








The watermelon, cantaloupe, butternut squash and pumpkins are also doing great.  They just keep expanding out, and it's hard now to walk around the vines without stepping on any. 

Lettuce is done and started to bolt.  Temperatures are just too hot now.   I'm still getting green beans from my run of pole beans.  I pick enough for 2 meals for us, 2 times a week.  I continue to freeze them, as we can't eat enough, fast enough of the veggies we get each week, and I'll look forward to the beans later this fall.






We dropped the new 200 Tilapia into the pond this week.  This time, we received a variety of sizes, some as large as 3-4" in length.  Hopefully, we'll be able to harvest some in 4-6 months from now.  Better us, than the storks and egrets!




At this point, there are no major projects on the list for this weekend.  But there is still a couple more days..  I'm sure we'll come up with something!

Tilapia Protection Honey Bee Larvae and Capped Brood

When we arrived at The Compound Saturday, there were only 2 smaller fish eating stealing birds.  They snuck in under the bottom of what the Moose had put together earlier in the week.  We knew this would likely happen.   Here's what the Moose did by himself while I was home with the foot up.

He used an orange fencing material, ran them east west, stapled them to the wood stakes, and then zip tied each run together.  Then, because the material wanted to sag in the middle, and if you leave it that way the birds would just land on top, and still be able to fish through the holes, he strung rope through in 4 different areas, and pulled it tight using the posts from the garden fence.  We needed it up enough, that the birds could not get access, and we need room to stand underneath so we can fish out the grown Tilapia.  We're also debating on whether or not we'll try some hydroponic gardening.  It's a thought...  We finished getting more material wrapped around the bottom to close off any access the smaller birds would get.  I wonder what they're thinking today!  The new Tilapia have been ordered.

We are also re-rethinking the idea of getting ducks.  Since we don't live on the property, and I'd want them to have access to water without predator attacks, this might be a good solution.  Maybe build a house of sorts, with access on one corner for them to get into the pond at their will.  Have any of you had experience with ducks?  Do you think this might work?  Any issues with ducks and raccoons?  I don't want to protect them from flying predators, and not work out the raccoon issue.  Are raccoons just as viscous to ducks?

The pond covering took the better part of our day, along with caring for the Hooligans.

Then, before we left for the day, I took a peak at the Sopranos.  I'm so excited, I have bee larvae and even some capped brood.  That's the sign I've been waiting for!  I was able to actually see worker bees feeding the larvae, and spotted the Queen when peering in the window, which was awesome! They've also built out 6-1/2 combs, along with little pools of honey and pollen.  Once the honey has cured to just the right consistency, they'll cap it as well.  Busy little bees..



Have a great week everyone!

Perseverance

Word of the day:  perseverance.  It's what we need at the moment!  We headed out to The Compound today to check on things.  Beryl paid a visit to North Florida, and the outer bands have been passing through Central Florida with wind and minimal rain, at least in our area.  Nothing out of the ordinary, just a couple of palm fronds down in the yard, no big deal.

We were however, devastated to find around 20 or so Egrets and Storks in our pond.  Yes, the pond that holds our Tilapia!  They're awesome to watch, but NOT when they are in your stocked pond. We've not had any issues with birds in the pond for the past 2 years, but now we do.  What is the solution?  Don't know.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know.  The best idea we could come up with was cutting down some more palm fronds and floating them in the pond, to give the fish an area to hide from the birds. 

Then to top it off, we still have animals eating the ripe tomatoes off the plants and leaving a mess in their wake.  We also have a huge bug problem.  Anything and everything that eats leaves and the fruit have descended upon my garden!

We need to persevere.  I know people who would walk away from this challenge, but not the Moose and me.  On went the garden dust.  We were still able to leave with a basket full of produce, so I'll count my blessings.

We also let the Class of 2012 out of the coop for a couple of hours.  We had to get the Moms and Dad out first, and they were not happy.  One of the Moms got in, and she didn't waste anytime trying to exude her dominance.  Poor little bugger lost a chunk of newly grown feathers before the Moose was able to get the hen back out of the run.  The little one's sure enjoyed themselves.  At first they wouldn't even come out of their coop, but once they figured out that scratching, flying, running and eating would be involved, they were happy campers.

I left The Compound with a sprained foot, and will spend the next day or so with the foot elevated.  Have a good week!  Thanks for following along.

Jack and the Pea Stalk

That is not a typo.  Take a look at this pea plant.  It's nearly 6 feet tall!  It finally has blossoms, so we'll see what we get for pea pods in a few weeks.

We ran out by the Hooligans late tonight, and all is well.  They were so happy to have a little bit of time roaming the Compound.  It rained recently so they made a beeline for one of their favorite dusting areas.

The Moose spotted a turtle in our pond.  OK, I ask you how did it get there?  You can visit my previous blog about how the fish got there, but if anyone comments that a bird pooed a turtle into my pond, I'll ask if they're celebrating St. Patty's Day a bit early!

http://www.theschultzcompound.blogspot.com/2011/09/too-good-to-be-true-and-give-man-fish.html

What are the odds, a completely fenced in garden, with a pond in the middle now has a turtle?  I think I'll buy a lottery ticket.

I have signs of life on my tomato plants. 

I also have a small plague!  They're everywhere!  The Hooligan's don't like them either...

Finally, save those coffee grounds!  I've been putting coffee grounds on my roses, and WOW do I have the buds and blossoms!

Thanks for following along!