Borrowed photo from the Cochise County Fair Facebook page.
This Saturday we took a trip to the Cochise County Fair. We weren’t really too sure what to expect, but hoped that we’d be able to meet up with other chicken farms in the area, maybe find out who has baby chicks for sale or the like. So, we went on a beautiful Saturday morning and got there right when it opened. There were few people there yet, only those setting up booths or rides, those who had shown dogs in the morning, or those getting ready for roping competitions. We did end up watching the roping competitions for a few different categories. I tried to get photos of the young men and women, but our vantage point wasn’t the best and mostly my photos showed the fence rails and a lot of dust clouds! These kids were fearless! And quite talented. Plus we learned that you can go to college on a roping scholarship – who knew? How cool is that. Sue said she missed here calling! (Not sure that I’d agree with that.) Continue reading
The Autumnal Equinox is on Friday, September 22nd this year, but we’ve not been waiting for that date to begin our fall planting. Not that we’ve been going gang busters or anything, but we’re gearing up for our winter garden. One of the great things about Sierra Vista is that the temperatures remain quite temperate late into the year. We had some success with our little winter plantings last year, so we’ll try to expand on that this year. 
We haven’t been in the community long, but I’m beginning to see how we are becoming connected; small connections, but they really help us out. We’ve become somewhat active in the Sierra Vista United Methodist Church (I’ve never been a Methodist before, but so far it seems to be working – after I got over the fact that the pastors are changed on a whim. Sah.) and we’ve met some great folks who have helped us get into Outreach in the area. With their help, we will be able to continue finding avenues for the 10% donation to our community; our effort to bring quality, whole, organic food to those who may not be able to afford it. It is still a small effort, but we will be growing. Thank you Holly and Rev. Mark, for getting us connected and encouraging us along the way. 
I know that you’ve been hearing a lot about hay movements lately, but just one more report today and we’ll move on. Today, Sue hauled all the goat hay from the previous cleaning over to this side of the fence. Some of it she used to give the newest plantings a bit of mulch. This will help keep them from drying out so quickly since the rain has started back up. The remainder of it she put in the chicken runs. The photo you see, to the left, is little Maeve who quite quickly scratched herself a hole in the hay and got to work. Later, both she and Imen were submerged to their heads in the hay. I was sure the hay walls they had made were going to topple and cover them at any moment. So far, the walls – and the chickens – are still standing. 
We’ve had a quiet Labor Day Weekend, but we still managed to get some things completed. I just wasn’t much help to Sue this weekend as she cleaned out the large side of the chicken coop. She didn’t plan on doing the total clean like we did on the littles’ side, this was just to get some of the old out and put a new layer of clean on the top. In general, you leave an inch or two of the old so that you don’t get rid of all the beneficial enzymes and such. Usually people do it once a year, but it was getting a bit stinky in there, so wanted to change it up a bit. Instead of hauling it out, like we did the other side, Sue scattered it around the enclosure. This will help to replenish the earth around the coop and give the chickens something to rummage through for bugs during the day. Leaving the hay on the ground also encourages bugs to come into the enclosed area, thus giving the chickens a nice supply! That was the big project for Saturday. 
Wing and a Prayer 