The Girls at 27 Weeks

Our very talkative hens are giving us 4 - 6 light-to-medium brown eggs each day. They all appear to be laying, with the exception of the two "Easter Egg" chickens.



Everyone seems fat, healthy and happy! They are truly funny girls.

We are sharing eggs with our friends.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

Reaping what I’ve sown. . .

Gaia blessed my first garden with abundance. The various tomato vines were quite rewarding. I enjoyed the Yellow-Pear heritage and Roma tomatoes best, both were extremely flavorful and firm inside. The differences between our homegrown and the store-bought were significant, and well-worth the effort.

August 28th was a banner day!
My largest single-day harvest from the garden - tomato and eggplant stewed and served over polenta; fresh mozzarella with tomato and basil - delightful!

Marilyn, one of the Gold Sex-link hens, laid the first egg in the hen house. A pretty, brown egg measuring 1.846-inches. [Who knew we had a set of engineer’s calipers in the shop?]

Marilyn’s second egg measured 1.945-inches and by September 12th they measured 2.227”. She continued to be the only hen laying until about the 12th of September.

Now, at 21-weeks old, the Black Sex-link and one of the Australorps have also begun to lay.

Everything I’ve read has said that “hens lay first thing in the morning.” Well, not mine, at least, not yet. The first egg usually appears about 10:00, and the Black Australorp seems to like to get into the nesting box about 3:00 in the afternoon. Perhaps as they get older and the days get shorter, this will change. But, for now, these girls are truly My Chickens, where, preferably, “first thing” doesn’t happen before ten.


I’ve noticed a significant change in behavior with The Girls. Once a hen has produced an egg, she is much more willing to be petted and picked-up. It’s happened with each one - where before the hen would run away from me, now they squat at my feet and allow me to stroke their feathers. They no longer squawk when I lift them.

I saved the first egg’s shell. Now it rests on my Altar for Abundance and Joy. With this strong magic at the center of my life, I celebrate the Harvest.

Interesting things I’ve harvested online:
http://www.myspace.com/kttunstall
http://www.myspace.com/brucespringsteen

Have an Excellent Equinox,
Julie Epona

House of the Mooning Dragon

I visited my dear friends, Sarah and Larry, this past week at the home in Mt. Shasta. The prevailing wind often turns their delightful Dragon to ‘moon’ the road. Today, she was enjoying the flowers with me.

Sarah is a gardener extraordinaire with the eye of a trained artist. Her gardens have inspired me for years. I call S. my “4-H Mentor” - she gives me advice on gardening and chickens. She’s also taught me to knit and bead, but those are stories for another day.




While my garden is bursting with tomatoes, Sarah’s is a riot of flowers: Poppies, Black-eyed Susans, various types sage and lavender, and lots of others whose names I can’t remember.



The Iris Labyrinth is a wonderful walking meditation. At a quiet, meditative pace it takes several minutes to complete the 11-levels to the Center and back to the Eastern entrance. When the Iris bloom it should make for a rather spectacular presentation, a colorful meditation, "Tout, touta, tout, tout, throughout and about. . . ."

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

Sweet Taste of Summer

Yesterday I ate the first little, ripe tomatoes from the Yellow Pear bush - sweet, juicy, still warm from the sunshine.

WOW! Thank you, Goddess. What a delightful, sweet reward for all the work of gardening. I've never been able to grow anything prior to this. I'm very thankful I listened to Her prodding to plant a garden this year. The blessing of eating from the garden is more fulfilling than I had expected.

Today there are 3 more tomatoes ready for lunch.

Another diversion - Playing paperdolls online with the Yahoo Avatars. What fun! A great way to spend the afternoon when it's 100+ degrees outside.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

Garden Delights

The Garden is thriving! Each of the tomato plants is bursting with tiny, green fruit. I’m seeing canning lessons in my future.



The sunflowers tower over me with thick, green stalks. The eggplant is now showing buds below its thick, green foliage.

There have been a few “volunteers” in the garden: a white Petunia, one small Pink. The wild Sweet Peas have finished for the year. Still no buds on the Morning Glories.

Each evening I water. Each morning I look for what new surprise the Garden has for me.
My first harvest of Purple Bush Beans tasted divine, very sweet. The harvest was one, small handful, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Watering, watching, cultivating - She is giving me a sweet lesson in patience.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

Carpentry is a lot harder than it looks.

The Chicken Run is now built. I say that with great satisfaction and exhaustion.

My son, Aidan, and I built the frame for the run. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him. While I painted all of the lumber with Copper Green, he dug the holes and set the posts.

I salvaged the lumber for the project from around the property. The posts were from a previous owner’s chicken coup, which had long-since been torn down. The 2x4s were purchased several years ago for a now long-forgotten project. Aidan and I soon learned how difficult it is to use old wood that has been stored improperly.

Aidan’s friend and bass player, Pooch, helped him string the wire and finish the run. It’s solid, just not exactly plumb. The Girls don’t seem to mind. In fact, they cluck quite happily each morning as I open their window to let them out for the day.


They now have nice nesting boxes and roosts in the coup. I’ve placed a wooden egg in each of the boxes to show them where to lay their eggs. Or, it may just be a good-luck charm. My Uncle John built the nesting boxes, while I played “carpenter’s assistant.” We had a great time working together.

John also installed the roosts and made a functioning gate for the run.



The Girls are 11 weeks old this week. Two of the chicks that were supposed to be Black Australorps appear to be Black Sex-Link hens instead. They have brick-red feathers on their breasts, the Australorps are all black. One of the Ameraucanas has a black-feathered head, the other’s is gold-brown. They are shorter and rounder than the other hens.

The Girls won’t begin laying until August or September, but I’m enjoying watching them grow and getting to know them.

Never Thirst,
Julie Epona

Growing Season

I can’t believe it’s June already!

The garden is growing like topsy. The sunflowers are almost 3-feet tall, the Yellow Pear heritage tomato has tiny green fruit, the others have lots of blossoms. The Bush Beans are almost 10-inches tall, looking lush and green.

The Girls are now pullets. They love the salad scraps and weeds from the garden. Soon they’ll be scratching outside in their run.

The lilies are full of buds, as is the lush ground-cover around the house. Everything looks about to burst into full-bloom.


We have visitors to the garden - our tree-frogs have returned from hibernation.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona