Saturday, June 20, 2020

The Chickee La La's

It took us years of discussion to finally pull the trigger on being "Chicken People".  Let me tell you why, our dog Lady has Cocker Spaniel in her and she is a fierce hunter.  So fierce in fact that she has killed at least 13 chickens in her lifetime along with an uncountable number of bunnies, chipmunks, etc.  It takes her just minutes and she can demolish a flock.  Unfortunately, she has proven this with an incident at the neighbors and involving the County Sheriff.   This dog is just 20 pounds and the sweetest looking thing you would ever see, but when she is on the hunt that goes out the window and what can I say, it is in her nature.

Well quarantine and time on our hands pushed us to finally say, let's do it.  We decided to build a fully enclosed coop/run and keep our fingers crossed they don't get out or we can train Lady to leave them alone.  So I hopped online and ordered 10 chicks, the Beginner's Guide to Raising Chickens and we were set to get them the next week.  I have plenty of time to figure this out.  Well, they came 2 days later and I had to go and pick them up at the post office in a tiny little 12"x12" box.  Ready or not!  I dropped them at home and made a run to Farm & Fleet and picked up a feeder, waterer, chick starter feed and a brooder light.  We had a small cut barrel to store them and pine shavings.  My book came the next day and the first thing I read was, "Don't order chicks until the coop is complete!" 
Well oops, not a great start.  I sat down and carefully reviewed coop plans until I found one I liked to which Dick reviewed and immediately threw out and told me he had plans already (they were in his head).
So we immediately began building as we found out quickly, chicks grow at a rapid pace they seriously look like they about double every couple days.
We found a nice flat spot next to our garden for their first residence as the coop we made is mobile.  Well, sort of.  We affectionately call them the Chickee La La's.  They are all so similar in color it would be difficult to track who is who, but the kids have come up with a few names, "Feather Butt, Awesome, Richie, Princess...etc."

The plan is to raise these girls for eggs they are ISA Brown which from the description is a real basic "beginner's chicken".  They are just about 7 weeks old so we have at least 10 more weeks until we would start getting any eggs.  It did not take long at all for me to embrace being a Chicken Mom.  I really love these girls and fear that they will be snatched up by a predator.  Each night we lock them up in the coop in hopes that if something was able to break in, they wouldn't be able to get inside the coop.
Most recently I added their sandbox in which they love dusting themselves and picking out grit.

They have been a wonderful learning experience for the kids and for me too.  They love the scraps from our garden and strawberry tops are their favorite.  I really look forward to the days of collecting eggs for breakfast!  

-Momma G

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Kombucha Brewing

THE OBSESSION My love of kombucha started a couple years ago when I went to a kombucha tasting.  I was absolutely hooked.  Additionally, there are many potential benefits to drinking kombucha (hello probiotics and staying ahem, regular) and I got hooked on drinking about 4-6 oz daily.  The thing is, kombucha is not cheap and if you refer back to my Welcome Back post...well, I don't have  job anymore.

GETTING STARTED I ordered a kit off of Amazon (don't judge me) from "The Kombucha Shop".  It was great because it included everything needed for the first brew and a step by step brewing instructions.  Now if you are thinking, this sounds great and want to jump on the "Booch Brewing Wagon" I suggest the very next thing you do after you order your kit is to join a Kombucha Brewing Facebook Group.  These people know their stuff and the second you see something funky floating in that jug you will freak out and want to be assured it is normal.

THE PROCESS The next thing you want to think about is if you are planning on drinking plain Kombucha or if you want to flavor it.  Don't kid yourself, of course you want to flavor it, so next you need to buy some bottles for fermentation 2 or F2.  That is the stage I am at today.  I am on batch #2, finished with F1 (or fermentation 1) and I chose to use Watermelon for F2.

Day 10 of Fermentation - Testing PH and Checking Flavor
Verifying PH is between 2.5-3.5 - Looks Good!
Batch #2 headed to F2, and starting F1 - Batch #3 & Batch #4

1/4 cup Immersion Blended Watermelon to each bottle

Start of Batch #3 & #4

 Before filling bottles for F2, you need to reserve some of the liquid from the batch for the starter for your next kit.  I reserve 2 cups per gallon and I decided to start 2 new batches.  My batch #4 will be the one with the spigot and is something called a continuous brew.  The picture above I have not yet added the SCOBY and starter because I am waiting for the sweet tea to cool to between 68-86 degrees F.

To finish up, the F2 Watermelon bottles will sit in a dark warm spot, (in our dining room in their original box covered with a towel) for 1-3 days or until I can't stand it anymore and then moved to the fridge which will then slow the fermentation process.    At this point I will have a cold, fizzy refreshing Watermelon drink that I can't wait to try!

This process is definitely not as difficult as I imagined and I'm so happy I was able to overcome my fear and give it a chance.  I still consider myself a beginner, but happy to have fresh homemade kombucha coming straight out of Momma G's Country Cafe!

Happy Sunday!

-Momma G

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Welcome Back



WELCOME I am not even quite sure how to start.  Welcome back to my blog (formerly Julie's Junk Drawer).  I couldn't be more excited to start writing and sharing again.  The past (gulp!) 2 years I dropped off my writing as I pushed through becoming a Mom to 3 and working full time.  I am not kidding you I had been going about a million miles per hour each day sun up to sun down.

TOP ANNOUNCEMENT So let's start off with my BIG news...I decided to take a break from the Corporate World and become a Stay at Home Mom!  How did this come about you ask?  Well, it was not even on my radar as 2020 rolled in and as we are all well aware, BAM Corona Virus hit and we all ducked away in our homes.  I worked from home for a few weeks and things changed at work and I was furloughed.  So, I found myself staying home with my 3 wonderful children Richie (6), Leela Jane (5) and Willy the Silly Boy (3) and though it has been challenging, frustrating, daily I run out of patience...I LOVE IT!  The decision did not come easily as going from 2 incomes to one isn't just something that happens without a hitch.  There was a lot of discussion, budget planning and communication over the past 2 months to figure out if this will all work.  The good things is, decision like this aren't permanent.  I can change my mind and we will make it work, but for now this is me living in this moment.

THE NAME CHANGE  I spend a lot of time in my kitchen (actually I am sitting here right now) and it is my favorite room in the house.  It is the beating heart of this home and a lot of the posts you will see will be related to things that come from the kitchen.  I thought about beginning a new blog, but I didn't want to lose all that history of our infertility journey and everything leading up to where I am now.  So, you get a new name, a new look and all the history is still there.

CONTENT The direction of this blog's content will be snapshots of our day, hobbies and just our simple county life.  I enjoy gardening, line dried clothing, brewing my own kombucha, tending to my chickens, fitness,  preparing food, writing, coffee & being a Momma and Wife.

Tomorrow I am going to be transferring my second batch of kombucha to the F2 phase which is where I will add fruit and bottle.  Stay tuned!

- Momma G




The Chickee La La's

It took us years of discussion to finally pull the trigger on being "Chicken People".  Let me tell you why, our dog Lady has Cock...