The Country Homemaker Hop- Week 14

“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. ”
― C.S. Lewis

Are YOU a Country Homemaker?  

Do you make nutritious meals from scratch, labor in a vegetable garden, or raise livestock?  Do you do these things because of the love you share with your family and a desire to provide the best for your loved ones?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, than like me, you must be a country homemaker and WE WANT YOU!


Please join us Wednesdays and share your pictures, recipes, household wisdom, homemaking tips, barnyard stories, gardening, crafting and DIY ideas with our country homemaking community.   Dig in and discover just what's been going on- on the Country Homestead this week? 

This week, I have been making steady progress on seedling transplants.  My baby chicks are growing F-A-S-T, but I got a good scare a few days ago... 

The little Buff Orpington in the center of this picture got sick and constipated.  You can probably tell by looking at her bowels, they were swollen. She could not pass anything.  She grew listless, would not eat or drink for several hours and I thought she was a gonner.  I read in a forum on mybackyardchickens.com about this issue and tried massaging her gently in hopes she'd expel what was becoming a hard lump , I rubbed a little organic olive oil on her bum, and began giving her water with homemade apples cider vinegar in it via dropper overnight and separated her because the others started pecking her mercilessly.  They had all been on electrolytes, so I was concerned.  I had figured she would have gotten loose stools, not constipation.   


When I finally collapsed it was almost dawn.  I assumed she'd be gone when I woke, but to my surprise, she had recovered, was alert, eating, drinking and making lots of poo, She had jumped out of the box I had sequestered her into and was sitting among the others, who were no longer hurting her.   Her stools appear negative for coccidiosis as do the rest of them so I think we dodged a bullet, and she had probably gotten too hot or cold at some point.  It's been two full days since,  and she's still eating and drinking well, everybody appears healthy and they are all getting a tbsp. of my homemade apple cider vinegar per quart of water in their waterers.  Apparently, organic apple cider vinegar with the mother in it is supposed to balance the pH of their intestines and help prevent constipation or diarrhea.  


Incidentally, I learned how to make my own homemade apple cider vinegar by reading this post HERE on Kathy's blog Moving On To The Past last August.  I am so grateful to Kathy.  I use my homemade apple cider vinegar for many things around the house...

My Italian honeybees have been doing well so far.  I have been noticing pretty magenta colored pollen filling their tiny pollen sacks on most of their return flights this week.  The picture above is my second hive, water sealer on, awaiting my trip for another nucleus of bees.  That day should come in about 3 more weeks.  

 Tomorrow, I plan to unpot some radishes, purple carrots, pak choy, cabbage, beets, onions, and broccoli that I started together in 1 gallon pots.  

I won't transplant these veggies into 4" pots, they're going right into raised beds.
They've hardened off for more than a week in the greenhouse.  


That's what's going on around here.  What's going on at your homestead???