Hey Reader,

Can I say something without jinxing us? Probably not but...

August was a bit calmer than some of our previous months which is always great news. Don't get me wrong, it's been hot as heck here, but at least that's not a deviation from the norm.

Along with some updates, I've got something special for you that I worked on over the last couple of months when I had spare time here and there.

I enjoy writing, not just for the sake of writing, but to share what I've learned and create community. When we started this "homesteading journey" (I hate using that cliche but it fits), a lot of research, deciding, changing our decision, changing our decision again, and then finally trying and sometimes failing happened.

I like to share what I learn and experience so that others might find usefulness in it. Or so that others can help me out! I'm always still learning.

But first the updates!

In the Coop

This has been the weirdest year we've experienced yet with egg production. The girls were going strong in the colder months up until May. And then the heat started up and the Swedish Blacks just do not like it. Same, girls, same.

Then we had the rat snake fiasco happen twice which flustered the girls and resulted in many eggs being stolen until we discovered the problem.

Thankfully we have enough hens to keep producing all our egg needs plus some even with all the hiccups. It's been an interesting year so far!

And August gave us crazy heat which did not help the situation. And finally this past week I discovered why egg production was still down in cooler weather.

I count the chickens nightly, usually before they go up to roost, and noticed a few days in a row that one hen was missing. Suspicious.

After a few days, I found her. 😑 In the compost bins. Sitting on 15+ eggs.

And here's where I committed a newbie mistake and I definitely should have known better. I picked up all the eggs instead of leaving her one in that nest. By leaving one, I bettered my chances at her continuing to lay there rather than find a new spot.

Welp, I know that girl is laying outside the coop and being a bad influence to some other hens but I'm not sure just where yet.

But I'll find it.

Thankfully some of our hens are actually using their nesting boxes and we're still getting eggs, but the small remaining remnant of rebels are beating me soundly at the moment. Such is the life of tending free ranging chickens.

Send thoughts and prayers.

I'll be interested to see how egg production picks up once the cooler months hit us here. We're all ready for them over here.

In the Garden

The luffa really took off this month.

But see all those yellow flowers at the top? We pinched them off so that all the remaining energy can go into maturing the existing luffa rather than creating new plants.

Not doing that was a mistake I made last year (besides not giving them the hog panels to climb) which led to a messier clean-up to make the sponges and the loss of mature seeds to use in the next growing season.

So excited for all of the all-natural sponges we'll have this next year!

In the Kitchen

I am still making my white flour sourdough loaves without any stretch and folds. And it's been amazing. The crumb still turns out great and so does the taste. I highly recommend giving this a try. Experimentation is fun and you'll still end up with delicious bread.

I did experiment more with those freshly milled einkorn flour choco chip cookies this past month. Like I mentioned last time, I cut back on the butter to 8 tbsp instead of 12 tbsp but I also tried 400 grams and 350 grams of FMF in two different batches.

The 350 gram of FMF einkorn and 8 tbsp of butter were a success. Of course I'll need to keep trying the recipe (they're delicious) to really be able to hang my hat on the adjustments.

If you're looking for that original recipe, it's here. Again, I only dropped the butter to 8 tbsp and upped the FMF to 350 grams.

At 400 grams, the cookies didn't spread at all (see left pic) while the 350 grams spread a teensy bit without entirely deflating (see right pic). Success.

In the Library

We are members of Amazon's affiliate program. This email includes affiliate links that earn us a small commission from your purchases at no extra cost to you.

I recently finished two books related to homesteading and business that you might find interesting.

​The Frugal Homesteader has some great economical tips for those just starting out and those who've been at it for years. An easy read with great pictures for reference.

​Ready Farmer One is all about marketing and makes for an interesting read with tons of case studies from real farmers. With my accounting background, I didn't get much education on marketing at all so this book is a great intro.

Do you have a favorite homesteading book?

What I Wrote For You

Now I'm not claiming I know everything and, in fact, I still (and always will) consider myself a learner! However, I have found as I share Maremma puppies, Swedish Black chicks, and fainting goat kids with our community that I get a lot of questions from beginners and experienced folk alike.

So I've been meaning to write beginner guides to these three areas that I have experience in. I've only made it through one guide and I fully expect to continue to expand upon it over time as I experience more with our flock.

Of course, I can only speak to what has worked for us in particular scenarios but I do enjoy sharing and talking about chickens, goats, and LGDs. Whenever someone comes by to get one of the three, they usually end up staying at least 30 minutes to an hour or more just chatting about shared experiences with whatever animal is in question. I love it. I learn more and hopefully others gather something from our chat as well.

So here is our beginner guide to raising backyard chickens. I'm using this to point new owners of our chickens in the right direction. Hopefully it brings up more questions, discussion, and research for all of us. I hope you find it helpful whether you're a newbie or experienced chicken tender.

One Small Beautiful Thing

This most perfect flower bloomed for us this month.

Ciao for now!

Jamie

​​​