Summing Up This Summer ...

I asked for Strength and I was given difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom and I was given problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity and I was given a brain and brawn to work.

I asked for Courage and I was given obstacles to overcome.

I asked for Love and I was given troubled people to help.

I asked for Favors and I was given opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted …

But I received everything I needed.

~ Author Unknown

We all have times in our lives when things just do not go the way we plan or want.  The past month or two has been that time for me.  

My main focus has been on my family, my relationships and my hobby farm with little time for writing or for social media. To say I have been busy would be an understatement.  I have also been spending a lot of time outside this summer working on the much needed renovations and repairs to my home and property.  

There is poor drainage on the acreage and pipes needed to be laid.  "Have tractor, will dig" has been the mantra for the past several weeks.  The job has taken more time than it should as the daily summer rains in Florida can impede even the best of progress, as can accidentally digging up a phone cable or a power line. (I can neither confirm nor deny that either one of these issues occurred. FYI - Call 811 before your dig).

While not working on the drainage issues, installing new exterior doors to the farmhouse became the second most important project on the list.  Having never installed doors before, it took the hubs and I over a week to get three doors installed. When the openings for the doors are not entirely "square" due to the brick fascia settling, it can take much longer than anticipated to get doors to fit correctly. The doors now look beautiful, so it was well worth the time and effort.

All three doors previously looked like this one:

The new kitchen side door, which faces east and gets full sun for most of the day, is now solid and blocks out the incredible heat from the hot Florida sun.

The door going to the back patio from the kitchen is now half window and half door.  I like the look of this so much better that the 15-panel glass French door we had before.

 

The door going to the patio from the living room is the same as the kitchen door, except the door handle is on the opposite side.

 

If these projects weren't enough, hatching and raising over thirty-five Royal Palm turkeys from an incubator was the proverbial icing on the cake. Yes, that is a lot of turkeys - especially at feeding time when they all want their dinner at the same moment! Thankfully we have re-homed many of them as pets to other would-be breeders and turkey aficionados.

Oh, and let me not forget about the massive garden that we planted a few months ago.  In many ways it was a resounding success this year and in many ways a complete failure.  

The watermelons rotted on the vine from an apparent lack of calcium  (oops) and the garden bugs were uncontrollable (without using pesticides), eating leaves and fruit on most every plant we had in the ground. The corn grew beautifully, but was only suitable for cow feed and the cows didn't like it either. Although there was much produced, it was not a bumper crop. However, it was the best garden we have had in all of the years we have lived on the farm. 

Feed corn for the cows ...

 

An over-abundance of tomatoes this season!

A nice harvest of green bell peppers ...

Now that much of the spring and summer work has come to a lull, I am preparing the raised beds for a fall/winter garden of kale, broccoli, cauliflower and swiss chard.

I am also getting back to working on my next book, which is the next collection of personal essays in the "I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak" series.  I hope to have it released by January 2016.

Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the summer!

Bonus Contest for July 2015

Enter for your chance to win a surprise gift and $10 in your pocket.

To enter, see the details on the I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak page on Facebook HERE.

Also, whether you enter the contest or not, please download the FREE e-book, "I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak: Leaving High Tech for Greener Pastures" today through Sunday, August 2nd.

Description:

Have you ever wanted to ditch the nine-to-five job and move as far away as possible from the rat race?

Have you ever just wanted peace and quiet in a rural setting away from the sprawl of suburbia?

Have you found yourself daydreaming about pasture lands and farm animals on a daily basis?

That's exactly what the author found herself contemplating - more often then not - while working at a high tech job in Seattle.

With her husband 3,000 miles away in Florida and the passing of her father, she knew it was time to make some serious changes in her life. She was ready for an adventure, but little did she know what lay in store for her at the 'fixer upper' farmhouse she and her husband would soon become the owners of.

S.A. Molteni has spent over thirty years in the Information Technology field working for various Fortune 500 companies. During those years, she and her husband had always dreamed of living on a farm once they became retired from the rat race.

This collection of essays follows the author in her sometimes humorous transition from "I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak" and depicts the lessons that are learned along the way once farm animals become a large part of her life.

Raising Turkeys as Pets

 

A few weeks ago, I posted about incubating and caring for newly hatched turkey poults with the intent to write another post shortly afterwards about socializing the poults to become pets.  Sorry for the long wait and thanks for your patience.

Today I finally had some time to get my thoughts together and below is what Mr. Freak and I have done with our Royal Palm turkeys from the point of hatching up to them reaching young adulthood.


Feeding:

From hatching until 8 weeks of age a turkey poult should be fed a game bird/turkey feed that is 28 - 30 % protein.  Do not skimp on this as the young turkeys need this much protein to grow during the first weeks of life.

After 8 weeks of age, move to a game-bird/turkey pellet that is 20% protein. Supplement the feed with berries, cracked corn, fruits and vegetables.


De-worming:

Keep in mind that turkeys can get parasites from the ground and also if they are raised with other types of poultry (chickens, ducks, etc.) At 8 weeks of age, they should be de-wormed.  We used Panacure brand de-wormer that was recommended by our vet and it works well to keep the parasites/worms away.  Follow the directions on the package.  After the initial de-worming, the turkeys should be de-wormed again every 3 to 4 months.


Socializing/Bonding:

To form a bond with your poults, start handling or holding them periodically during the first week of their life so that they get accustomed to you.  They will imprint on you as their "mother" and look to you for food and security.

At 2 weeks of age, get some small crickets from your local feed store or you can order them in bulk at flukerfarms.com (very inexpensive if bought in bulk). Hold each poult in your lap and offer them a single cricket.  They will usually take it from you and try to swallow it whole.  You may have to kill the cricket in order for the poult to eat it.  Then the next time you offer the poult a cricket, set him on the ground and snap your fingers, while holding a cricket in the other closed hand.

The poult will soon associate snapping fingers with a treat, even when no treat is in your hand later on.  Do this "training" for a couple of weeks and they should be fully trained to come to you when you snap your fingers (at around 3 - 4 weeks of age).

From 2 weeks on, spend time with the poults - letting them sit in your lap or near you while you pet them.  The only way for them to get used to you is to be near them and be calm and quiet while around them.  They will come running to you when they see you after this initial bonding period.

We started taking walks around our property with the turkeys at 1 month of age.  They will follow you as their "guide" if they have bonded to you from the "cricket training"


Housing/Shelter:

At about 4 week of age, place the poults in an enclosed pen, cage or barn area where you plan to have the turkeys spending the night as they grow older.  You need to get them familiar with their "safe place".  Turkeys need to know that there is a place that they can run to if they are scared or want to take a nap.

We have set up an old barn for this purpose for them.  They like to roost in the rafters of the barn and sleep there at night.  But, an enclosed 10 foot by 10 foot dog kennel will work just as well, as long as there is a roof on it to keep predators out.


Ongoing Care:

As the turkeys get older, take them for walks, spend time with them, feed them treats and let them sit in your lap to nap if they want to. If you spend the time to do all of these things, the turkeys will make wonderful, smart and enjoyable pets.

Farm Girl Freak's "Topless" Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:

• Frozen, ready-made pie crust for single-crust pie (9 inches) or make your own.
• 2 - 3 cups fresh blueberries (if using frozen, thaw and remove juice).
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375°. 
2. Pre-bake the ready made pie crust for 5 - 10 minutes or as instructed on the package.  
3. In a large bowl, mix sugars, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice. Add blueberries and toss.
4. Transfer filling to baked pie shell. 
5. Bake  for 40-45 minutes or until the the blueberries are tender when poked with a knife or fork and liquid surrounding blueberries is thick and bubbly.
6. Serve with ice cream or whipped topping.

Farm Girl Freak's Apple Crumble Pie

Ingredients:

• Frozen, ready-made pie crust for single-crust pie (9 inches) or make your own.

 Topping: 

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cold butter, cubed

 
Filling:
 

• 4 - 6 cups peeled and sliced apples (Anna Apples or Granny Smith are good)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375°. 
2. Pre-bake the ready made pie crust for 5 - 10 minutes or as instructed on the package. 
3. Filling - In a large bowl, mix sugars, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice. Add apples and toss to coat. Set aside.
4. Topping - In a small bowl, mix sugars and flour; cut in butter until crumbly. 
5. Transfer filling to baked pie shell. 
6. Sprinkle topping until all of the top of the pie is covered. 
7. Bake  for 40-45 minutes or until the topping is browned and apples are tender when poked with a knife or fork.
8. Serve with ice cream or whipped topping.

Incubating and Raising Royal Palm Turkeys

Mr. Freak and I started our new flock with two female and two male Royal Palm turkeys. From the four, they have produced over 50 fertile eggs so far this year.

This was our first attempt at raising Royal Palm Turkeys and oh what a learning experience it was!  Filled with hope, joy, disappointment and finally success as we learned how to incubate and nurture these wonderful little peepers.

The first incubation and hatching out went horribly wrong and only two of seven babies survived.

The second hatching went much better and twelve of thirteen survived. On the third hatching, eleven of fourteen made it.  On the fourth hatching, eleven of thirteen hatched out.

It is normal to have two or three of the eggs being incubated not to hatch due to them being non-fertilized or spontaneously aborted for whatever reason.  Not all of the eggs will hatch - unless you are very lucky.

I have learned quite a lot about the process of incubating turkey eggs, much of it by pure trial and error.  I have taken notes on what worked and what didn't over the course of the past few months and thought I would share that with all of you.

So here goes ...


Incubation:

• Make certain that you have an incubator that has a circulating fan in it along with a good thermometer/thermostat.  Without these, there are hots spots and cold spots in the incubator and any temperature above or below the optimum of 99 - 101 degrees can mean the death of the embryo in the egg.

• When you first start incubating, turn the incubator on and let the temperature stabilize in the optimum range (99 - 101 degrees) before placing eggs inside. This "warm-up" process may take 6 - 8 hours, so leave the incubator empty at this time.

• Once the temperature is stable, place the fertilized eggs in the incubator, making sure not to jostle, bang or shake the eggs (this can lead to spontaneous abortion of the embryo/fetus).

• Add warm water to the channels that are on the bottom of the incubator, this will increase the humidity level during the gestation period.  Optimum humidity is 80 percent or higher.  You want it like a sauna for the babies during this time.  The windows of the incubator should be "fogging up" which indicates a high humidity. You could also invest in a humidity indicator, but the foggy windows are a pretty good measure of the humidity.

• Gently turn the eggs 3 - 5 times per day for the first 25 days that the eggs are incubating.

• On day 26, 27 and 28, STOP TURNING the eggs and position them with the air sac facing upward (the eggs themselves should be on positioned on their sides).  This will help the baby to emerge from the shell with its beak and face upward without having to struggle to get out of the shell.

Hatching:

• On these last 3 days (day 26, 27 and 28), check for dimples or cracks in the shell that will indicate that the baby turkey is trying to break through the shell with its beak.  Actual hatching could take 12 to 24 hours for each chick.

• If you see that the chick is having trouble coming out of the shell, resist the urge to help, but make sure that the lining just inside the egg shell is moist (not dry or rubbery).

• Have a spray bottle with very warm water  handy and lightly spray the egg shell to keep it moist and easier for the chick to escape from.

• There should be plugs on the top of the incubator which either stop or allow more air into the use. Remove those when the babies are hatching. This will assure that the chick has sufficient oxygen when it is trying to break free of the shell while hatching.

• Once the baby hatches, LEAVE him in the incubator until his down feathers are dry and fluffy (up to 6 - 12 hours).  This will help the chick to better regulate his body temperature and this will also help the chick to transition better from the difference in temperature from incubator to the brood area.

After Hatching:

• Once the down feathers are dry, move the chick to the brood area.  This can be a tub, box, or any other enclosed area with a heat lamp to keep the chicks warm. 

• Also make certain that there are no drafts or cold breezes flowing over the chicks.  At this young age, they cannot regulate their body temperature very well and can get chilled, sometimes leading to death.

• Make certain that each baby is drinking and eating after the first day, but before the third day of life.  Turkey babies are not the smartest creatures, so you may have to drop turkey starter crumbles at their feet so that they will peck at it and start to recognize it as food.  You should also dip each one's beak into a small amount of water so that they start to recognize water for drinking.

• Make certain that the baby can scoot around the brood area. If the baby cannot get around immediately after being placed in the brood area, do not put the baby directly under the heat lamp.  To do so will overheat the baby if he cannot scoot out from under the heat lamp.

• The temperature in the brood area should be 95 - 98 F degrees with a humidity of 70 - 80% for the first week. Then the temperature can be dropped 5 F degrees and the humidity can be dropped 10 % every week after that  - until both get down to normal room temperature and humidity (about 4 weeks of lowering the temperature and humidity).

Hope this is helpful to anyone who is interested in incubating and raising turkeys.

Farm Girl Freak's Yellow Squash Casserole

Ingredients:

4  medium yellow summer squash or crookneck squash, cut in chunks/cubes
1 large sweet onion, diced into large pieces

1 cup sweet red, yellow and/or orange bell peppers diced

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk

4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 tablespoon thyme
1 cup of bread crumbs

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
• Pam or grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
• Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the squash, onion, sweet peppers and butter until vegetables are soft  and the onion is translucent - about 10 minutes.  
  

• Allow the above ingredients to cool for 5 -10 minutes.
• After cooled, place the ingredients in the casserole dish.
• Add the Parmesan, Cheddar, salt, pepper and thyme to the squash mixture and toss until all ingredients art mixed will.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together.  Pour over the top of the casserole, making sure the squash and other ingredients are covered completely in the egg mixture.
• Pour and evenly distribute the bread crumbs on top of the casserole.
• Slice the other 2 tablespoons of butter and place over the bread crumbs.

• Bake at 350 F degrees for 45 - 60 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbly.
• Serve hot and enjoy!