Homestead Diary {Early May}

Chicken integration, spring foraging, first transplants and more in Northern WI

Just a few days ago, snow flurried around my son and I as we mended fences. “Is it winter again?” He asked me, in his sweet, innocent tone.

“No,” I tell him. “This is just spring in Wisconsin.”

Living in a seasonal spirit feels right when it’s a mild, sunny day in spring. But what about the snowy days? I am tempted to shout; I rested (kinda)! I cooked and baked and now I’m ready to break ground and get my hands dirty!

But, the snow still falls. I’ve decided to lean into the season. The actual season, not how I envision the season.

In truth, snow in spring is nothing new. In fact, early spring snows are known as poor man’s fertilizer. Snowstorms in April are common. May is full of frosty nights and mild flurries. Yet, the murmurs in the check-out line are complaints mixed with bewilderment.

Similarly, a few weeks ago, we were in a mini drought. Spring rains are, of course, important for pastures, native plants and trees but it also prevents wildfires from breaking out.

When the sky finally opened up and gave us a good soaking, I was in town, dropping my son off at school. Under umbrellas, the small talk in the vestibule was, I’m sick of the rain. Now, I know sometimes people feel uncomfortable in silence and need to fill the air with some sort of exchange. However, I couldn’t help myself. You know we were in a drought, right? We had been in a high fire risk. You pass Smokey the Frickin’ Bear everyday driving here, don’t you?

Serviceberry in Northern WI

Nature knows the perfect time to break her dormancy. Crimson peony shoots pop through cold soil, reminding me of asparagus, which is not in season here just yet. The mature serviceberry is in bloom, thousands of dangling, white, stars brightening the monochromatic forest. Apples are budding, the wild strawberries that carpet the forest floor are beginning to flower and the showy catkins of the many willows around the property are opening. All of my bare root plants, planted in April, are budding. Such a great relief.

The thrill of discovery is something I hope to never get used to. The sight of stinging nettles peeking through the overgrowth lifts my spirits.

Foraging is an empowering skill that has added so much enjoyment to my everyday life. A walk in the woods comes to life, a weed becomes dinner, nature speaks and connects me to the current season.

Along the fence line between my neighbor and I, I picked nettles for potato soup. The spikes don’t bother me much, so I pinched the tops without gloves and placed a good bunch in a wire basket I had pressed up to my hip.

Nettles shared a pot with caramelized onion, red potatoes, and fresh herbs in a creamy broth spiked with sour cream and white wine vinegar. A meal that leaves me feeling rich is a meal made with seasonal, local ingredients. I plan to replicate that soup as much as I can this season.

Spring is an energized time of year. I would love to be outside all the time. The amount of mending, mowing, planting, building, cleaning, racking and digging done right now is hard to quantity. Some of my larger, seemingly never-ending projects are removing invasive species like bull thistle and cutting and winding up old, barbed wire. Leather gloves are great for both tasks.

I transplanted a JPM Rhododendron near the new front porch my husband recently built. Even though the nights are still frosty, transplanting hardy perennials that have been overwintered outside is safe to do. Little by little, I am adding to the landscaping. I have my eyes on native additions such as cranberry bushes, chokecherries and elderberries in the near future.

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The new chickens are in their awkward teenage years, and we began the integration process. Basically, we have a chicken run split down the middle with the original flock on one side and the new hens and a shelter on the other side. Every night I wrangle the new hens up and put them back in their run in the basement because the shelter isn’t predator proof and I really don’t want to take any chances. I am waiting to fully integrate the chickens when the new ones are basically the same size as my other hens.

In the past, we have fully free ranged our chickens. However, we have ran into some problems. The main problem is our neighbor. Their dog has “visited” the flock on more than one occasion and killed a hen. Other times I was able to scare the dog back to her own yard, but I worry about the dog coming back when I’m not home. It would be heartbreaking to lose my entire flock. Another problems with free ranging is that my rooster wants all the ladies he can find. So, he tries to get the neighbor’s chickens to come over by us. Also, the chickens are frequently in the road, laying under our cars and messing up any and all landscaping. Their new, fenced in run is over 2000sq feet, bigger than our house. 13 chickens should be just fine in that space.

The garden is truly looking like a garden. Last summer I expanded the garden by laying down a thick layer of mulch to kill the grass. Recently, I racked back the mulch to reveal beautiful, bare soil. My no-dig expansion seems to have work out well.

Snap peas finally unfurled from the ground. Soon their tendrils will wind up the trellis. Leeks, kale and lettuce were transplanted today, the first seedlings to leave my indoor growing operation. Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are hardening off and I’m hoping to get them in the ground by the end of this week.

Temperatures should be consistently warmer soon. I’ll be on asparagus watch.

Until next time,

Jackie