Stress. Struggles. Success.

Stress. Struggles. Success. I promised to be transparent about homesteading and this past week has had some real stress and struggles. I've been working my 9-5 (which is more 11-8) more the last couple of weeks and things have been piling up. My seeds aren't started yet, I waited a bit too long to get our Easter ham curing, and apparently extra people moved into the house based on the miles high loads of laundry I need to do. On top of it, we have had some unexpected losses and a snafu with our custom chicken feed we ordered. I'm not one to complain but I think it's important to share some of the pressures homesteading can place on the MOH (mom of the hause). Dave has been feeling it too. He's been insanely busy with work and trying to help keep things afloat while I'm running all over. Time waits for no one and if we didn't put a lot of extra hours in this week, we would pay dearly later this year. The beauty of homesteading is even amongst the hardships it is dotted with fun, excitement, and frankly lessons learned. So here goes! The good, the bad, and the ugly of the week 😉

Stress

Last August we decided to try our hand at raising two hogs and successfully butchered them ourselves in January and February. Let me tell you, our girls had some big ole booties and we ended up with some VERY large cuts for hams. I knew from butcher day that I wanted to try making ham for the first time for Easter. I did have enough foresight to remember to thaw the meat in time to wet cure it but procrastination and lower prioritization left me in a real pickle getting it in the brine solution on time. I've been known to dilly dally when it comes to finding a recipe and I was full out avoiding emptying the fridge to fit a giant brining pot. I'd like to say this won't happen again but I'll spare us all that fib. We are having homemade ham for Easter dinner if it's the last thing I do. So, I had to adjust the plan. After weighing this beauty on the bathroom scale (it was too big for my kitchen scale), I determined it was 12 pounds. You need roughly 1 day of curing per 2 pounds of meat and I couldn't get to it until yesterday. How in the world was I going to get this done in time for Sunday when Dave also needed time to smoke it????? I split that booty into 2 cheeks and dropped them in for a long soak. Two six pound hams ***should*** cure and smoke faster so we are giving it a whirl. I'll let you know next week if it worked or if Easter dinner ended up being sourdough pizza 🫣

Struggles

We have also had some unexpected losses this past week. We've been chicken tenders for over 7 years and we have the chick starting process down pretty well. We try to account for a predictable amount of non-viable chicks when they need shipped via mail but we have had some trouble with this batch. Four chicks have died over the course of a week and several ended up with what I call poopy butt. The hatchery I ordered from only offers a 48 hour guarantee of life so I was only refunded one bird...which means I'm at a financial loss of 3 (this isn't just chick fee but also revenue loss for a grown meat bird). For 25 chicks, I expect to lose 2 in the first week. We have been giving the babies a lot more attention, adding electrolytes to their water and gently wiping fluffy bottoms to keep them clean. Fingers crossed the rest make it out of the brooder stage.

We had an unhappy first on the farm. One of our Mystic Onyx hens died unexpectedly. I guess the underlying theme of this post is derrieres because this chicken's wazoo started to look unusually large and within 3 days she passed away. I'm reasonably suspicious that she became egg bound (I've since learned this is more common amongst hybrid breeds) and unfortunately you have to make a decision to rehab a chicken for months or let her pass. She wasn't a great egg producer and spending months without her laying and needing sitz baths didn't make sense for us (I know this sounds harsh but part of self-sufficiency is making hard choices and sometimes that means cutting your losses). Dave had a ton of meetings the morning we found her so I had the pleasure of getting in there to unwrap her frozen body from the coop run. Chickens will cannibalize if left long enough so I had to crawl in there and haul it out before I left for work. Glamorous, I know.

Geesh, things seem pretty grim at this point so let's do a hard pivot and talk about the good.

Success

I made a sourdough bunny boule and it was REALLY stinkin' cute. Aside from her little cotton tail migrating a bit south, it was a great first try!

Huge bonus, Chelsea FINALLY gave my sourdough a chance with an open mind (nothing like a little rabbit novelty to encourage new things!) and she couldn't stop eating it. I think the entire loaf was gone in less than 2 days. Total win 🙌🏼 I've been challenged to try and make a chick shaped boule...my wheels are turning.

The guys have made amazing progress on the chicken tractor. Dave had to shorten the frame to cut down costs and we decided the PVC pipes were too flexible to give enough structure against wind. He and David decided on metal conduit which they learned how to bend and boy has it really taken shape! There's even a door! She's a real beaut...now if I can just get these chicks to live long enough to use it 🥴

Chelsea started taking riding lessons with a new instructor a few months ago and each month the teacher holds a vet clinic for the kids. This week all three of my kids had an amazing opportunity to watch a horse endoscopy! Apparently the horse wasn't as healthy as everyone had previously thought. During the procedure, the vet found a belly full of bot fly larva and a small ulcer. What a cool learning experience!

I wasn't able to get my vegetable seeds started indoors yet but I did find the time (after many repeated reminders from production) to get our seed potatoes started. Our crop of red potatoes last season didn't do well so we needed to purchase seed potatoes this year. I was able to use russet potatoes from our last year's harvest which really cut down our cost. I spend a painstaking amount of time choosing the smallest seed potatoes with the most eyes because stores charge per pound and I really just want good sprouts. A trick we use is to cut the potatoes into smaller pieces leaving 2 eyes per chunk and then laying them out to dry before planting. The 5 pounds of potatoes I bought roughly tripled our seed count after cutting them. Our kids love potato planting day which will be coming soon!

I intended to tell yinz about the time I spent crawling inside a coyote tank and how I learned to mix cement, however, I think sharing the reality of this week was important so I will cover those adventures next time! Check back next week to see how our skinless ham turned out, what I cooked up from the farm for Easter, and get the deets on some of our dirty jobs! Happy Easter!