Four Leaf Clover Farms
Welcome to Four Leaf Clover Farms!
This is our fun little homestead. We hope you find something interesting and inspiring here. Stay tuned and thanks for visiting.
First, let's meet the Flock...
Sunday, February 4 - Hanging Snacks
This nifty little gadget is perfect for hanging apple cores for the chickens. This is where play meets nibbling - we can't decide if it's more fun for them to peck or if they're simply persistent at pursuing snacks! ;-)
Friday, December 15 - Rest in Peace, Bernice.
May 8, 2020 - Dec 14, 2023
This post comes with a heavy heart - our beloved Bernice is no longer with us. It appears a hawk was able to catch her, as we found quite a pile of feathers but nothing else.
Bernice was so special - she was exceedingly friendly and genuinely seemed to like hanging around with us. Sure, she was always ready for a treat but, she also relished being held, pet or simply being close.
We miss you, Bernice!
Friday, December 1 - Round and Round she goes...
With bringing a dozen chickens together over the course of a few years, there's bound to be some lines getting drawn. Rowan has generally been more on the bullied side of that equation, but increasingly she has been asserting herself - particularly when it comes to food. Here's a short video showing Bluey, Dominique and Chuckie all circling and waiting patiently for their turn.
https://youtube.com/shorts/vnnE_XdTODY
Just a few months ago this would never have happened - Chuckie historically goes where she wants, eats what she wants, and puts the others on notice when they act out of turn. Chuckie is among the eldest, so perhaps this is a turning point for her reign?
Sunday, November 26 - Muscadine Pepper Jelly
A friend pointed us to this pepper jelly recipe and we just had to give it a go with all those muscadines we harvested!
https://www.tasteofthesouthmagazine.com/muscadine-pepper-jelly/
Preliminary taste tests indicate deliciousness!
Friday, November 24 - Post-Thanksgiving Feast
Oh, the irony - "Idiot" decided to get right in the pan to chow down. Lucky for her, she wasn't the meal. But all the chickens enjoyed their little feast on the remains of our holiday turkey. 🦃
Tuesday, November 21 - Stop! (Egg) Thief!!
So we've been having some trouble with a petty thief. They keep stealing our wooden eggs. They probably are getting some real eggs as well - it's hard to tell since many of the hens are molting and it's getting quite cold out (for NC!). ❄️
But since we've been down this path before - with fake eggs disappearing, we started numbering them. As you can see, we are up to #3...no idea where #1 and #2 went. They were taken on consecutive days. But the perpetrator seems to be learning from their past misdeeds. For #3, they apparently decided to taste test the egg before carrying it to who-knows-where...resulting in a lot of teeth marks.
Hopefully, these wooden eggs not only keep the hens focused on laying in the laying box, but also train the thief that their crime is not worth the effort!
Sunday, November 12 - Twinning!
Well, we don't see this every day - two hens peacefully laying next to each other in the laying box. Usually, there's a bunch of pecking and prodding for one to get out and wait their turn. Additionally, we generally see each hen lay an egg if they go into the laying box. In any event, today was different with Adeline and Chickie comfortably sharing the box. And once they vacated, only one lonely egg remained.
To be fair, there's a chill in the air and it's probably nice and cozy snuggling up on the wood shavings. As for the single egg, Adeline has not been feeling well lately. In the past week, she's had an egg break just before it was laid; another day she walked around slowly like a zombie-chicken for most of the day; and later in the week she laid a shell-less egg.
We do supplement their free-ranging with layer feed as well as a handful of crushed egg shells plus another handful of crushed oyster shells most days. They prefer the egg shells and usually eat them all while they barely touch the oyster shells. But they're also 3.5 years old at this point and we suspect their ability to utilize their dietary calcium is diminishing. And for White Leghorns, who typically lay nearly every day (except when they're molting), that calcium deficiency can be tough to manage.
Friday, November 3 - The Final Harvest
So, This is It - the last of the good stuff for 2023.
On one hand, we finally emptied our second 5-gallon bucket experiment that was growing sweet potatoes. They look good, but they are few. Next year, we'll upgrade the container size.
And then there's all those green tomatoes! The frost hit the other night and it promptly killed off the tomato plants. Hopefully, the salvaged tomatoes will continue to ripen?
Sunday, October 29 - Good Eats!
A quick and simple variant of our favorite Frittata: 4 eggs (but only 2 yolks), tomato, sweet pepper, spinach, cheddar cheese.
A custom two-layer yellow cake with orange spread between the layers, and homemade vanilla icing. Dried mandarin slices dipped in melted chocolate accent the sides. Yes, that's a sheep knitting!!
Tuesday, October 10 - Winter is Coming!
Honestly, we're thankful for the cooler weather following a dreadfully hot summer. But with the cooler weather comes the inevitable chill of winter's arrival. It's that time of year where both the furnace and the air-conditioner are battling the daily weather swings of a transitional time of year...
So while we're reaching for our sweaters on one hand, we're also enjoying the final summer harvests.
Notably, this is our final collection of figs and also of muscadine grapes. The tomatoes and peppers are doing well. The chickens and squirrels tend to compete for the cherry tomatoes, so we pick those as soon as we see the slightest tinge of orange.
Wednesday, October 4 - Fig Tower Cake
In searching for ways to creatively make use of the large fig harvest, well, why not make a multi-layer cake and adorn it with lots of fig slices?!
This tasted as good as it looks!!
Monday, October 2 - Fig Finale
We're finally about done with the fig harvest! It's been somewhat of a joke that each day we pronounce the end, only to find a few more to pick the following day. But the end is near!!
This year, we had another helper collecting the ripe figs. Chuckie decided the figs looked pretty tasty and were worth getting up into the heart of the tree. Unsurprisingly, she ate all that she picked... here's a short video of her exploits in action: https://youtube.com/shorts/fDQLJeDwCes
We're still not making good use of all the figs, try as we might. But we are doing better than in prior years, so there's that....here's hoping next year we can be even more efficient and make use of more of the harvest!
Friday, September 22 - Muscadine Grapes
We were pleasantly surprised to see the muscadine grapes ripen these past couple of weeks - and that the birds/squirrels haven't taken too many!
We're not sure yet what to do with these, but we're thinking of making a muscadine-pepper jelly based on a recipe passed along from a friend.
Muscadines are new to us, but they appear to have a rich history in this region. This site has some notable highlights we did not know!
Thursday, August 24 - Fig Harvest
It's that time again - the "Scott's Black" variety fig harvest is upon us!
While these are not the easiest to pick, they are incredibly delicious and nutritious as well. Unfortunately, birds really like them as well - so they have to be harvested promptly. Additionally, if not picked quickly enough, they become a bug factory rather quickly for gnats, mosquitos, moths, etc. BUT, if they are picked before over-ripening, they are impressively resistant to bugs up to that point, yielding a great-looking fruit!
Figs do not freeze well (they get incredibly slimy upon thawing!), but they do dehydrate decently for a longer-lasting snack.
Here's a quick look at the tree:
https://youtube.com/shorts/P5CKWJSVgyY
Update (Sept 22): We are still getting some figs every day, though the yield is going down - kind of thankful, as it's very time-consuming to pick/wash and store... BUT, as for freezing, it seems this is a more viable option if the figs are prepared by quartering (after removing the ends). Then these pieces can just be used in recipes without trying to otherwise deal with the melting "slime" while handling or cutting.
Wednesday, August 23 - Potato Harvest
Good news and bad news on the potatoes... Some look really good....and some do not.
To be fair, we have done almost nothing beyond planting these and letting them be. But the biggest issue seems to be the limited space each plant had in the ground to fully grow (before it reached the Carolina Clay).
In hindsight, we should have dug out and loosened the soil in a larger hole. We planted a few in 5 gallon buckets as well, and those grew the best - though clearly wanting more space themselves. Overall, the above-ground plant growth is very impressive - and surprisingly resistant to bugs, though it is misleading on what is going on beneath the surface!
Fun fact: Hornworms like potato leaves, too.
Tuesday, August 22 - Hornworms... Ugh!
Hornworms have arrived! Not that they were invited...but 'tis the season for them to start chewing up our tomato plants. :-(
Of course, the chickens are loving these as treats...once we find them - they have fantastic camouflage!
Monday, June 12 - Potatoes!
Okay, so it has been a little while...
One of the major new developments for us is growing potatoes. It's not something we were actively looking to do, but the local feed store had a large bag of seed potatoes on clearance and it seemed like a good thing to try out.
Realizing the soil should be in very good condition (and also a bit easier to till) where the coop used to be located, we planted about two dozen there and then let them be. We probably should have watered them, too, but since it was May we did get quite a lot of rain so it really was mostly hands-off once they were in the ground.
Within days, the potatoes took off - and the plants continue to look very healthy, growing phenomenally well. Fast-forward to today and they look amazing. We can't wait to see what the harvest looks like. Stay tuned!
Monday, April 10 - The Long Pole
For a variety of reasons, our laying boxes are not inside the coop. So in the morning, upon opening the coop several hens flock to the boxes - often before even eating, which is saying something. But when we sleep in, the girls decide they're just going to start laying whereever - meaning the bottom of the coop. Which is not always the cleanest after an evening of roosting. That's where The Long Pole comes in... this is simply a length of 1/2" PVC pipe duct-taped to the mouth of a 2-liter soda bottle. On the side of the bottle, we cut a hole just a little bigger than an egg. Now we can collect those eggs without actually climbing in the coop!
Monday, April 3 - Tomatoes & Pies
In hindsight, it was inevitable. Our promising "Big Boy" tomato plant was ripped out of the ground recently with those ever-present dinosaur talons roaming the yard. Certainly, it wasn't intentional - the chickens enjoy eating tomatoes as much as we do. But some grub, or worm, perhaps, directed our little feathered friends to the exact location of the tomato plant. And so the poor, future provider of tomato greatness was plucked from the ground - laying on it's side with roots exposed, seemingly calling for assistance.
After some terse words were shared with the wind, there was a nexus of resolve, ingenuity and the pangs of approaching hunger. Aha! This could work. Fetching some old pie crust tins (which are not recyclable here, sadly), I made a cut down the radius (folding over the sharp edge lest it would damage the precious plant...) as well as cutting a large enough opening in the center for the stem. Voilà!
Hopefully, the chicken shield does it's job and keeps the scratching crew away. As for the plant itself - 🤞fingers crossed🤞it wasn't too badly damaged to recover and go on to future harvesting greatness!
Sunday, March 26 - Farmhouse Frittata
There are various ways to describe a Frittata, but mine is simple: a delicious and healthy open-face Omelette! Here's my recipe - but you can mix this up quite a bit for your preferences. This is how I like it!
Ingredients:
4 eggs (sans two yolks)
~ 1 tblsp olive oil
~ 1 oz fat-free milk
~ 1 tsp paprika
a few twists of freshly ground pepper
1 roma tomato, diced and drained (or pat dry with a paper towel)
1 slice yellow sweet onion, diced
1 medium broccoli head, finely chopped
~ 3 large spinach leaves, torn into small pieces
2 slices pre-cooked pork loin, diced
small handful cheddar cheese (cubed or shredded, as you wish)
Directions:
Start pre-heating the skillet on low heat and give it a splash of olive oil. Whisk the four eggs in a bowl, but only two of the yolks (discard remaining two yolks; better yet, use them in your garden along with the egg shells). Add milk, ground pepper and paprika. Mix gently then pour into skillet. Cover on medium-low heat. After about 30 seconds, add the tomato, onion, and broccoli evenly distributing each. Cover for another minute and lower the heat a little so it doesn't burn the bottom. Add the pork and spinach. Cook mostly covered until either there's no more liquid or until you only have a tiny bit of clear liquid (from the tomato) remaining. Turn off heat and add the cheese. Cover and let sit for another minute or two then serve!
Wednesday, March 22 - Happy Hour!!
Tuesday, March 21 - Another Frosty morning in NC!!
