Author Archives: jkmcintyre

Broody Hen

Posted on April 6, 2012 by jkmcintyre
[caption id="attachment_1505" align="aligncenter" width="425" caption="Calamity Jane, our Dark Brahma, went broody in February"][/caption]

My young hen Calamity Jane sits in the nest box. She has done very little else for weeks now. She spends the day in there when the other chickens are out having dirt baths and fighting over the compost pile. She spends the night in there when the other chickens are sleeping on the roost. She makes distraught cluck-cluck-cluck sounds when we force her off the nest. There is no doubt about it – she is broody… Continue reading →

Posted in baby chickens, broody hen, chicken coop / run, chickens, eggs, nest boxes | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Installing Cisterns

Posted on March 29, 2012 by jkmcintyre

Acquiring Cisterns I did a lot of calculations before deciding on the what and how-many of our cisterns.  I also sought expert advice.  I met Nikola Davidson, the one-woman show that is Earth Systems Northwest, through a mutual friend.  In … Continue reading →

Posted in DIY, rain, spring, Sustainability, vegetable garden | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Holy Shiitake Mushroom Log!

Posted on March 25, 2012 by jkmcintyre

Three years ago we bought shiitake mushroom spawn. The instructions recommended hardwood, specifically oak, as a substrate. Biking around town we found an oak tree chopped into logs on someone’s lawn. We knocked on the door, obtained permission from a … Continue reading →

Posted in cooking, DIY, Fungi, Scientific | 4 Comments

Keeping the Hot Tub Hot

Posted on March 15, 2012 by jkmcintyre

This fall I wrote about our insulation woes and our high electric bill.  Although we built storm windows, “…our electric bill did not go down appreciably. But that is another story…” This is that other story. We have lived in … Continue reading →

Posted in energy, update | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments