Memories from the Chicken Coop

Swedmark Hardware 1964

     My friends and I were talking about how time flies so fast, and one of them said the REAL problem is that we keep ripping the pages off the calendar.  So I says, if you want to go back 50 years, come on out to the chicken house with me.  There's a calendar hanging on the wall out there that hasn't lost a page in the 20 years I've lived here, and probably for a long time before that.

     After the meeting, I went out to the chicken house and there it was.  hanging on the wall next to a thermometer-humidity gauge of about the same era.

     Now I'm curious.  Obviously the person who owned this farm in the 1960's did some shopping in that hardware store, and might have known the proprietor, Chet Swedmark.  If anybody is aware of any stories of that era, I would appreciate any remarks in the comments section below, or an e-mail.  We are nothing without a history.


FROM THE GARDEN TODAY

Lettuce, Rhubarb, radishes and asparagus today

     Our old asparagus patch is only about 2 square feet.  We pick about this much every other day, which means about once a week we have enough for a meal for Amber and I.  I planted a 20 foot row this spring, so maybe 2 years from now, we'll be able to eat all we want every spring.  We ate this plus the results of the 2 previous pickings for supper tonight.

     The rhubarb is from behind the chicken coop.  Some years I even forget that it's there, but this picking was made into rhubarb sauce and is cooling in the fridge while I'm typing this.  I'll probably have a bowl before I go to bed tonight.

     Our grandson Al ate half of the lettuce, and the rest is in the fridge and will probably be eaten tomorrow.

     The radishes, except for the 2 or 3 I ate as a snack, are also waiting in the fridge.  There are still plenty of radishes and lettuce in the garden, but for now they're better off in the garden than in the fridge.  We'll keep cutting the asparagus every other day til it stops, and probably get another cutting of rhubarb.  I'm still waiting for the peas, potatoes, carrots, and barn contractors, but patience is a virtue and there is a time for every season under heaven.

Sommer Kommer

     When I walked out to the garden this morning, the old tin can on the fence told me we got 3/4 inch of rain last night.  Added to the 2 inches we got the previous two nights, I believe the dry spell is over.

Hillbilly rain gauge.  That pile of sticks in my garden is the pea trellis.

    Spring was cold and dry until late May, when it became hot and dry.  I planted the early crops like potatoes, radishes, lettuce, peas, carrots and onions in late April.  of course the asparagus and chives are perennial and the garlic was planted last fall.  My inside plants didn't do so well, so I bought broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and tomato plants which I put in the garden in late May.  The last days of May we had a hard frost, and I lost all the tomato plants.  Then it got hot and dry again, so I bought more tomato, pepper, squash and watermelon plants and put them in on June 5th and 6th.  The rains came that night, and continued for 3 nights until this morning.  This homestead is surely blessed.

Lots of tasty worms and bugs out here!

     I think I'm done planting now.  Especially being the barn project will probably destroy most of the garden along with the barn.  The rebuilt barn is more important than one year's vegetable crop, and  I still get the joy of growing it.  By the way, I still don't have a definite offer from a contractor yet, so if you're a barn demolition or deconstruction contractor, please call or e-mail me.  Or if you know of one, give him my e-mail or phone #.  Refer them to my previous blog post "still got my fingers in the dirt" which describes the project in more detail.

     Besides clearing out the barn and the area around the barn, preparing for the tear down contractor, I still visit the chickens every day.  When the weather got hot about 2 weeks ago, I opened up their summer pasture for them.  It's more shaded than the winter-spring pasture, and  the worms and bugs are more plentiful, which our four hens sure appreciate.

    Well, we'll probably have asparagus for our vegetable to night, and lettuce and radishes are ready for a salad.  it looks good for red potatoes and peas about the 4th of July, cabbage and broccoli shortly after that.  Hope to report more progress on both the garden and the barn by about that time.  Remember that doing for others brings the most happiness.