Whiteley Creek Homestead

root vegetable harvest

Deep within the soil, the tiny seeds of carrots and the "eyes" of seed potato chunks that were planted in the early spring take root. Silently, steadily over the warm summer months root vegetables grow. Unseen. Until end-of-summer and the tease of autumn gently intersect.   

For several years, I have been planting three varieties of potatoes: purple skin with purple flesh, red skin with red flesh, and white potatoes. Sliced, then fried alongside pastured hen eggs with deep orange-colored yolks... Holy moly. 

 

 

nesting boxes

Our Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red Hens have a cluster of sixteen metal nesting boxes attached to the rear wall of their chicken coop... all lined with straw.

Our hens are a flock of six. They could each have their own nest. However, five take turns laying their daily egg in one box and the sixth on top of a bale of hay where she has hollowed out a bowl-shaped nest.

Then, one hen... and later two... started hanging out in an old wooden nesting box that we had, several years ago, attached to the wall of our front porch just for quirkiness. If we had extended an invitation by lining the two units with straw, it wouldn't have struck us as odd, but the hens identified it as a nesting box on their own.

They have never laid a single egg in the box. Maybe because they lack straw, but they hang out long enough for us to know that they may be considering it.

triticale harvest

Each year, a local farmer plants, tends, and harvests grain on a portion of our acreage. Utilizing a four-year rotation plan, he intentionally selects crops that enrich the soil naturally and provide bees with nectar for honey production.  

Last fall, in our field, he planted triticale (trit uh KAY lee), which is a hybrid grain made by crossing wheat (triticum) and rye (secale). Hybrid and GMO are not the same. A hybrid is a plant variety developed by intentionally crossing two parent plants using a low-tech process that mimics what occurs naturally in nature. Conversely, GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are created using highly complex methods to create unnatural plant varieties that would never emerge naturally in nature.

We are grateful for the partnership we have with a committed organic farmer.