I would not have voluntarily shown you this ugly bit of the ugly shed….
… but the white chickens chose to camp in here yesterday and it made me laugh.
There is nothing much in there. A few sticks of old furniture, parts of cars, broken totes, a few old seed bags and a lot of junk. What I would do for a dumpster. But. This is not my shed. Him Indoors lives in fear of me throwing out the Good Stuff so it molders on.
And no. There is no food in this junk shed. The feed is all stored securely in the barn which is my domain. So what attracted the white chickens to this area is anyone’s guess.
I am very happy not to be in charge of all the spaces. Or I would drive myself nuts trying to keep everything tidy and essential. I teach minimalism and sustainability for goodness sake. None of this will sustain our lives gently on this planet.
The broilers are free in the afternoons so they can eat grass and greens. Not to go and lay about in junk yards.
The Charlottes
They are big hogs now. And I have cut out their lunch feed. They get less grain and less bread now. More vegetables. I call the last two weeks a consolidation period. Our aim being to turn some of this fat into meat.
This is the only group I have raised who choose to sleep outside.
There is a pic of them sleeping outside in this weeks newsletter. I think this long warm dry spell has contributed to that. They feel warm and dry out there.
These old birds!
Things are drifting with the falling leaves towards a quieter rhythm. I can see the end of a long haul of growing in right. I only leave the farm to tend to my aging mother in law now. Other than that I stay close. I have too much invested in these last two codes (hogs and broilers) to relax yet. Especially with the predator problems and savage turkey problems I have been having.
As the fields are cleared we have more and more displaced critters moving through the farm. Something new has set up camp in the barn and the turkeys are refusing to go in there now. There are suspicious piles of feathers in there too. Scat I do not recognise. Boo spent a lot of yesterday running across the hay jamming his nose in the gaps. Maybe he can run it off.
My flock and my little herds need guarding.
But this is what free range farming is all about. I refuse to cage my animals and birds when we have such lovely big spaces. So we need to physically guard them and make safe choices.
In the meantime we (Boo and I) do the rounds often and remain vigilant.
Take care and talk soon.
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
20 responses to “The Ugly Shed”
I love all the pictures but particularly the old brown birds on their roost…..this is beautiful
Those old brown birds. Just sitting up there watching the world go by!
I think that’s what I love so much….they look so comfortable and content. X
Yes. Waiting out their retirement.
I hope Boo manages to find the nasty intruder and get it gone!
it seems to be gone. Or at least well hidden!
gut soothing farm wisdom to a city girl who was even afraid of garden worms
Not anymore though, right?
What is it about men hanging on to things when it’s so obvious to us sensible people that things are”way past their sell by date”. Our loft being a good example of this. Everything looks calm on the farmy except of course the hiding chick eater. Boo will sort l’m sure.
I could walk out right now with my two suitcases. Our John says he expects to be carried out of here feet first. Different visions entirely.
To each their own shed
Exactly. Which is why we have designated spaces. It works.
I could’ve used a dumpster after I lost John. I spent a lot of time muttering why on earth did he save this?! My sister’s story is that she found her son’s portable stroller hanging in the garage, her husband’s reply to why was – I might’ve needed it for something. BTW, her son just turned 54.
Good Lord! What are they like?!
is john not with you anymore; lost?
My John died almost 7 years ago now. I say lost as in lost a part of me. Miss him every day. Celie, my sister and her husband are 79 and 82 respectively, he’s pretty much an invalid so his pack rat days are over, they’ve been married over 50 years so are pretty much inured to each other’s foibles.
oh my dear, i am so sorry; are you doing all the work on the farm; you are my hero; my bill died in 2014, and as a twin, and always connected, and single mom who worked, this is the most expansive time for me to write. I wish you the moon, the sun, the stars, and a good piece of your bread! love e
And the same to you. As for the work, it makes me keep going, critters need feeding, grass needs mowing and on and on. We are of a sisterhood I don’t think anyone aspires to. My John lost his first wife after a 6 yr cancer battle so I can only say I’m glad he went first as I cannot imagine having to bear that kind of loss twice in a lifetime.
Those Charlottes have really grown! I suspect their bad behaviour has kept them off the front page lately. I wonder if something startled the chickens and they hid in the shed.
That may be true. There is something out there.