Moving On

Eleven years ago today, Halloween, we moved onto EarthNSky Farm. The beauty of Autumn was breathtaking, and I recall that I felt like I had died and gone to heaven-I was finally home. The sky was brilliant blue, the wind was crisp, and the leaf color was nothing short of spectacular. Before the moving truck was unloaded, George, our neighbor, came by on his old Ford 9N tractor to introduce himself and to visit. Throughout the years, we've had our ups and downs with George, but generally we get along pretty well, our only disagreement being about the type of fence that should go on the property line. He is our most immediate neighbor and I've learned a lot about homesteading from George and his wife. George taught us how to hunt and field dress a deer. Nancy taught me how to clean the meat and cook it. I recently bought the 12 gallon cast iron pot from him in which I learned to render lard. He's taught me how to raise and catch pigs, how to sight in a rifle, how to take care of horses, how to buck 70 pound alfalfa bales into a barn, and countless other skills. They were with me when I got my first chickens and they gave me my first ducks. Almost all of my current flock of chickens are from his Blue Laced Red Wyandotte rooster. His workmanship is all around me as he built this house from the trees on the land; his rockwork on my hearth is beautiful and everyone who comes into the house compliments the artistry. Over the years, we've been the beneficiary of his various hunting kills, wild goose (which looks and cooks like beefsteak), deer, turkey, and even bear. I'd eat bear again only if I were starving-there are much better meats to put on a plate. But tonight for dinner, I'll be enjoying native trout, caught this past Spring by George up in the Cohutta Wilderness. My son loved to watch George forge knives and other creations. He built wagons and learned to forge metal from Judd Nelson of Foxfire fame. He is a true artist, with skills in metalwork, woodworking, rocklaying, carving and painting. His wife is also an excellent wildlife painter and I have a beautiful walking stick with a carved and painted copperhead snake on the handle.

There have been a few times over the years that George has put up a for sale sign. I've never taken it seriously as he has family here and his wife and sister in law are the daughters of the original land owners, the homestead of which we now occupy. They have roots here. However, they have struggled financially over the years and most recently health issues have surfaced for both of them, making money even more scarce. A few years ago, after George recovered from chemo, his son sent him out to Arkansas on a fishing trip on the White River. George fell in love with the place, and his son bought some land out there. For the last two years, they've bantered the idea of moving to the Ozarks. While I know he would fit in there, he is what I would call a true, modern homesteader, I just could never see it happening, until yesterday when he told us he had a contract and buyer for his house and land. He was going to sell off, pack up the camper, and move to the Ozarks. I'm in shock. I'm trying to see this from their perspective in that it will be cheaper to live there and it will afford them a little financial breathing room.

In addition, there's always that anxiety about who will be buying in. All I know is that they are rather wealthy by local standards, have 3 kids, currently live in Atlanta, and will be using the cabin as a weekend home, a place where the kids can 'run free'. I don't know if they will appreciate the beauty and primitive nature of life out here or whether they will try to bring the city, and all of it's conveniences, with them. I'm sure they will be wonderful people, but it is hard to see the good side of anything when the loss feels so great. It is the first time in eleven years that I have even had a fleeting thought about moving away. I look out the window, and this Halloween is much scarier. The sky is overcast and foreboding. The Autumn leaves are wet and muted. Rock Creek will not be the same without George and Nancy.

It's All Good

The Fourth of July has come and gone. The year is flying by. Like many of you, I had a very nice family cookout for the holiday. My foot is good-I must say this is the easiest surgery I've ever had, and I can't wait until the stitches come out and until I can get it wet. I long to take a shower again, but I suspect it might be another week before that happens. This afternoon, the doctor called me to check on my recovery. That was definitely a WOW moment as they just don't do that anymore. So, if you need a good foot and ankle surgeon in the Rome, GA area, I can provide a recommendation!

Bingo is wonderful still, he hasn't chewed anything he shouldn't, and he is just all puppy. You remember in Charlotte's Web that Charlotte wrote 'Some Pig' in her web to tout the specialness of her friend, well, here, I write "SOME DOG" for the same reason. Day before yesterday, he helped
my daughter and I catch some chickens and put them back in the run. He herded/chased the chickens around the perimeter right into my hands. When I caught the bird, I continued to hold it at Bingo's level, and he just sniffed the bird and did not try to bite it or act aggressively at all. This was very surprising considering what a rambunctious pup he is. I read into this that Bingo has excellent herding instincts, not so aggressive as to hurt stock, but aggressive enough to install fear in the animal. His eyes are very different than Bear's eyes. Bear has normal dark brown doggie eyes, but Bingo's eyes are more hazel, a weird light brown color that is more piercing and intense. I hope they don't change as he ages. I like his eyes. Jordan loved him, too. She could say his name and sing the melody for the song, and by the end of their visit, she was telling him "No!" so that he would not jump on her. After she got tough, he did not jump on her anymore.

Today it is raining-the first rain here since June 4. It is not raining much, but it is a slow, light rain and that is the best thing for the garden. Yesterday, Skyguy reinforced the pier under one of our rainwater tanks, so it is filling up again. The support pier is made of scrap 4x4's and 2x8/2x10's on the side. Over time, some of the joints had weakened and the tank and pier had started to lean. If we have a good downpour of hard rain, it can fill in about 15 minutes but since we only have a light rain, it might take all day, if it fills at all. We use rainwater for watering the garden as well as for watering birds that are kept in the old coop (roosters or turkeys or whatever). The purpose of the pier is to elevate the 350 gallon tank to provide head for gravity flow to the garden.

Also of note this weekend are a couple of more Facebook reunions with college friends. I am glad to be back in touch with Donna and Susan. I am fortunate to have such good friends-to know so many who are "good people", people who have huge hearts and work for the benefit of others.

Culinary herbs and strawberries

Thought I would show some pictures of Skyguy's herb bed, and my strawberry bed from the start to 'almost finished'. First, the herbs...it will take several years for the beds to really become established, but they are coming along. This past week we pulled up the rocks in the path and put weedblock down. We have put sand in some places, but we need more sand. Once the sand fills in the gaps below the rocks and somewhat locks them in place, we will sweep a mortar mix over the path and wet it down to hold the rocks in place. I envision that happening later in the summer. This has been Skyguy's idea and pet project, but I've been doing most of the weeding and watering. Still, I think it was a great idea, and I really like the atmosphere it imparts to that side of the house. Everyone who comes up to the house raves about it. As we see what herbs we want, we will either sow or transplant, adding to our little culinary herb garden. Since much of what we want are hard to find perennials, I have planted a few beans and other annuals in the beds, just so the space is not wasted. The nasturtiums are starting to bloom and they are really pretty. We put up this little reed fence around the herb bed mainly so that I could let the chickens out. I've started allowing the birds to free range in the afternoon as long as I am home. I want to avoid those dusk and dawn predation hours, and this allows the birds out to find some shade, too. Of course, a chicken can just fly over the fence, but I am hoping that with so many other places to explore, that they will stay out of there. I hope I will hear them flying over the fence and will be able to get them out before too much damage is done. So far, it is working.

At last, the strawberries.... This is the first year for these berries, and I really can not wait until I have some fresh strawberries, some pound cake, and freshly whipped cream smothering it all! I actually made the strawberry bed in 2007, I believe it was, and I spent last year filling it up with waste hay, compost, and the last of my rabbit poop pile. Everything composted nicely, and there are as many earthworms in the top tier as the bottom. If you notice, the wooden posts are taller than the top tier of the bed. This will allow me to cover the entire 6x8 bed with netting to keep the birds away. In addition, I have two whirlygigs(you can only see the posts in the picture, but they both are of ducks flying-wings spin) that will hopefully keep the birds at bay until I need to net them. Anyway, I bought 25 Tristar and 25 Tribute. The Tristar are in the top tier and on the Southern side of the lower tier. The three remaining sides are Tribute. I believe that the Tribute plants are doing better and are more prolific than the Tristar. These are day-neutral berries, so they should produce for a while. I planted them on February 20th, and have been picking off the flowers until this week. Doing that is supposed to encourage runners production instead of fruit production. It allows the plant to develop more roots as well before fruiting. I bought them as crowns, the had no leaves, and for a while they were so small that you could not see them in the mulch. Now, they have spread everywhere! I tried to peg the runners in open spaces. Now that it is June, I have stopped picking off the blooms, and I will give me a light dose of organic fertilizer(mostly kelp) so I will hopefully get some strawberries soon!

Speaking of berries, I noticed that the blackberry bushes are loaded this year. We have a few bushes in the island next to where we park and I think there might be enough on those few bushes for a pie. They are looking good!

Gotcha!

As you may recall, I've lost two chickens in the past two days. I set the Have-a-heart trap last night, baited with a chicken gizzard, and this morning I caught a raccoon that was just too cute. He was looking at me with his cute little eyes proclaiming his innocence, not snarling or growling like a possum would have. This old Bird, however, knows that killers always return to the scene of the crime. He was actually playing dead or sleeping very soundly when Bear and I first
approached. I put Bear up and he magically woke up, like he was afraid of Bear, but not me.

I should have known the way that chicken was manipulated and cleaned to the bone that it was a coon. It is the only animal with enough dexterity to eat a chicken like that. Recall that I had not thought that the predator was a raccoon because it did not eat the chicken's crop. Now that I think about it though, the crop was neatly separated and set next to the carcass, as if he were saving the best for last. I should have known, too, that coons like to wash up before and after dinner, and my little frog pond is only 30 feet away inside the garden fence. We had known that something had been eating the beans and peas. I actually thought it was a rabbit, even though the perimeter garden fence has rabbit wire at the bottom. A few weeks ago, the pea and bean feast seemed to stop. Next to my garden frog pond is a huge clump of spiderwort. It was beautiful, about thigh high and 3 feet square in size, maybe a bit larger. About a week ago, I noticed that the spiderwort had been smashed down. Skyguy asked me if Bear had laid on the plant-that's what it looked like, but I knew that he had not. (see third picture) It all makes sense now. Now, I know that Mr. Raccoon was tired of eating his veggies so while he was waiting on my corn to mature he thought he would have some chicken to fatten up. Actually, he probably dined on pond comets as an appetizer for the main meal to come as I had put a few large comets in that pond about a month ago to keep mosquitoes down. I seriously doubt they are still there. It is funny how it all seems so clear now, all the little mysteries of life-like where did my fish go? and Why did Bear lay on that plant?-are solved. :)

The top picture, is of course, Rocky Raccoon (he was a male) caught red handed(now I know where that phrase comes from) at the scene of the crime, next to the chicken moat (second picture). The red X is where the attacks happened and the C is where I found the remains. I also saw a place under the blueberries where it looked like he laid in waiting for the chickens to pass by, as well as some tracks in the barn next to the old coop where the roosters are that were obviously raccoon. If you look closely at the tracks, you can also see that a small snake crossed the path, snake track runs 2:00-8:00 near the double print. Pretty cool stuff. Anyway, Rocky is now killing chickens in Coon heaven-in a universe where people, dogs, coyotes and .22's don't exist; he did not suffer.

Canoes and Critters

Skyguy and I went paddling yesterday at Rocky Mountain Lake. If you live anywhere in the north Georgia or northeastern Alabama area, this is a really nice lake. There are several lakes on 5000+ acres owned by Oglethorpe Power. It is about 35 minutes away, but worth the drive. The fishing lakes are used as backup lakes for the power plant and have been stocked and opened to the public since 1996. Unlike some of the larger reservoirs, these lakes are not polluted and it just feels clean, the way a lake should be. The lakes are entirely no-wake lakes and no jet skis are allowed. It is a quiet place to camp, fish, or canoe.

Anyway, it was after 7 when we got there, so we did not paddle much, just enough to get the boat christened again and to get our own feet wet. Still, that canoe will hum across the water, so we covered a lot of ground in the 45 minutes we were out on the lake. We paddled into a lake sized cove and saw a muskrat diving nearby. I'm not sure what he was diving for, but he did not seem bothered by us. I saw one of the largest herons I've ever seen-that sucker had an 8 foot wingspan, at least! On the way back to the dock, a mallard hen with her crew passed us going in the opposite direction. It was good to get some upper body exercise, and of course, just be out in the natural world. On the way back from the lake, just before dark, we saw a fox run across the road. If I absolutely had to ID it, I'd say it was a red fox, but it had enough gray on it to make me really wonder if the two species interbreed. I've only seen a few foxes in a my life, so every sighting tells me that they are still a viable predator in this area.

Speaking of predators, it seems I have a something eating my hens(2 lost to date). No, I don't think it is the young hawk that has refused to leave the nest area. I believe it is a possum. The attacks happened at the same time both days(yesterday and today), at the same place, and I found the carcass at the same place. It all happened in the chicken run, which is dog proof, but not coon or possum proof. Yesterday, the bird was about half eaten, and today the bird was almost picked clean the way raccoons eat. However, raccoons like the crop, and this predator left the crop. Today's predator ate all the meat, most of the innards(except the crop). Leg bones were cleaned down to the feet. The head was still attached, but barely, as the neck bones and the neck itself was all but gone.

I suppose the predator could also be that feral cat. I don't know. As of today, I have 25 birds in the main coop, and 9 roosters in the old coop waiting to be put in the freezer. We are now in a poultry fortress lock down, and the birds won't have access to the moat until I think the coast is clear. Just in case you are unfamiliar, the 'fortress' is a 8x25 chicken run made of 2x4 wire with rabbit wire at the bottom, metal siding at the bottom(to prevent digging), and 2x4 wire covering. It is not snake or weasel proof, and a small possum might be able to get in. It was designed mostly to prevent airborne predators and canines. It is the best I can do right now. The coop is 8x9 and can be totally locked down, but the bird have to be able to walk around outside some. It is too hot for them to stay in the coop all day, but I will lock them in at night. Stay tuned.

Snakes, Chickens, Sex, and Sermons?

We were able to get the jungle under control this past weekend, but we crossed paths with 2 additional snakes..that makes 3 snakes in two days...one King snake and two red rat(corn) snakes. I was down at my friends house this morning and she showed me a single winding track through the grass-the track was muddy, the grass was green, so it was easy to see. The track was several inches wide. The only thing that would make a track like that is a big rattlesnake, or a monster king snake that just ate the monster rattlesnake(like the one we saw in SC). This track definitely has a Wow Factor associated with it. The snakes are definitely out and about.

We have a few more roosters to dispatch, but in doing that, we will end the great 2008-2009 hatching project to replace chickens lost to predators. I started with 6 birds, and now have 6+ roos that need to be dispatched, 30 hens and 1 rooster in the main coop, and one poor battered hen in the chicken tractor. There are 2 or 3 birds in the 30 that might be roosters, too, but right now they are just androgynous pullets. I have a beautiful partridge rock looking roo that I am thinking of keeping. He would be part Partridge Rock(mother) and Blue Laced Red Wyandotte(father). Currently, I have a RIR/BLRW roo. I've forgotten the number of hens a rooster can service, but I think it is somewhere close to 15. I doubt I will keep all the pullets/hens, but I can always raise two flocks separately. I wonder if two roos will fight if there are sufficient hens for both?

I'm quite amazed at the percentage of pullets I hatched vs. roosters/cockerels. I think I've maybe a dozen+ roosters in all the birds I've hatched since Thanksgiving and with close to 70 total birds, that's rather amazing. Even at 15/75-that's only 20% roosters, and I believe the actual percentage is closer to 17%. It's got me wondering about evolution and the role temperature plays in determination of sex and embryo development. I know that with some reptiles, noteably crocodilians(alligators, crocs, caimans,and gavial), temperature of the eggs during incubation does influence gender. I believe that it must be true with some birds, perhaps in my case, the chicken eggs I hatched. The incubator temps were kind of high, 100-101F. In some reptiles, higher temps can switch off male expression genes and create females. The embryo starts off as a male, but when the egg is exposed to higher temperatures, the embryo undergoes a gender switch and the hatchling becomes female. In addition, some animals that appear female are actually male and visa versa, i.e. their sex is ambiguous;they are intersexed. Could this have happened with my chickens? I think it is possible. Birds are descended from reptiles and the sex change thing is related to a changing environment. Perhaps during warmer eons, more females are produced to expand the population, but during colder eons, the embryos remain predominantly male. The planet is currently experiencing a warming trend as we all know....is it Nature's Way-the ultimate survival technique-the Master's Plan- to turn males into females to expand the population while it is warm and to prepare for the cold eon to come? Are my ambiguous, androgynous looking pullets really male?

If this interests you as much as it does me, read this:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/sex2.htm
References are listed at the bottom of the page, but consider this:

"Sex is relative. Among animals, especially cold-blooded ones, males
can be turned into females by increased feeding or a change in
temperature. In the case of warm-blooded creatures, it can be done by
extracting ovaries to turn, say, a hen into a cock. In many species,
sex reversals happen naturally. Quahogs (hard-shell clams) are born
and grow up male, but later half of them turn female. Slipper shells
and cup and saucer shells do this too; they commence every season as
males, but nearly all of them later pass through a phase of
ambisexuality and turn into adult females.
Fish have evolved the quickest sex-reversing capacity of any animal:
some species not only change from male to female as they grow, but a
few, like groupers and guppies, develop the ability to switch
sexually back and forth within seconds. [ I intentionally picked an image of fancy guppies-quite 'flamboyant', huh?] If two female guppies meet
while feeling amorous, one is likely to start turning into a male so
he can mate with the other. Occasionally both shift at the same
moment, which usually results in a furious fight, with the winner
emerging as a female who somehow forces the other to stay male."

If you want a good mental exercise, think about all of this with respect to human evolution, global warming, homosexuality and gender identification. You've probably already figured out that I believe homosexuality, intersexuality, as well as heterosexuality to be natural phenomena. I realize that many of you believe otherwise due to your various faiths, so I don't mean to be disrespectful to your beliefs, but I do believe that there is sufficient scientific evidence and sufficient Biblical contradictory passages to suggest that perhaps we all should have a more open mind to things we don't fully understand or know. I suppose the middle ground we meet on is this:
Matthew 22: 36-40
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Life is a Salad

Pardon my absence from this space-it is a busy time of year, and we've had some real life interruptions that have taken us away from normal doings. I couldn't decide what image to display so of course I take that as an excuse to be a grandmother and brag about how wonderful my Jordan is by displaying a pictures. I titled this first picture "I love you this much", the second one is "Bear kisses", the third one is "Luvin' Jade"

Saturday, we spent the morning butchering chickens and cleaning up around the farm, mowing grass, etc., and then Saturday evening we had a NWGAA star party. It was a good meet-up, with two new members and their families visiting the field. The clouds dampened the viewing, but the company was good. I now have about 50 pounds of chicken in the freezer and about 38 birds left, 17 in the main coop and 21 in the old coop. I still have a few roosters to dispatch when they mature a bit, and I'll probably sell some more hens, but I envision a flock of about 25 birds or so when all is said and done. Today, I got 11 eggs, several were pullet eggs, which always amaze me. Soon, I will be awash in eggs. I hope I can sell them. On the way to town last week I saw a sign that read "Fresh Eggs $5 dozen" I hope *that* price holds! I usually sell mine for $2 dozen.



Sunday, we visited our daughter and granddaughter, and from her house, headed south to visit my father in law in the hospital, down to the Atlanta area. He had his cancer surgery and is recovering as expected. I've also had two doctor's appointments since I last blogged, saw my PCP today and my rheumatologist last week. I got some refills for our epi-pens, an appointment with a podiatrist, and of course a general checkup. I'll be waiting on my lab results, but the good news is that I am losing weight. The dietary changes I've made are working! I'm hopeful that as we ride our bikes more, even more pounds will come off. Since life has been a bit stressful, my RA has been flaring more than usual, but at least my allergies are not as distracting as last year. I'm trying to stay positive about things as I am finally believing, I mean truly believing, that attitude affects health. I suppose I've always believed that, but have never actively made a conscious effort to NOT be negative or to not worry about things. With no immune system to speak of, I could worry about all sorts of things, like catching a cold from being at the hospital, a re-emergence of MRSA in my body, or catching swine flu, but I'm making the decision to focus on all the positive things I am doing-eating healthier, losing weight, getting the right mix of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants, and exercising.

Last week, while Skyguy was in a waiting room reading a newspaper, he saw an ad for a local breeder of shelties. After a brief discussion, it appears that we may have a new sheltie baby before 2010 rolls around. I contacted the breeder and we will be headed over the mountain to meet with her and see her dogs tomorrow evening. We will also need to discuss pricing so we can start saving money to buy the pup, etc. She will be breeding two of her bitches in the late summer and fall, so we are hopeful that between the two litters, the right puppy for us will be born. Take a few minutes to Ooh and Aah over the Shelties:

http://hornmtnshelties.com/

The remaining block of time has been spent gardening, planting flowers, watering in the seeds I've already sown, weeding, harvesting, etc. The Michihili cabbage is no more as I either ate it, froze it, or gifted it. I needed the space in the bed for peppers. It never did head up properly, but the quality was good nonetheless. I've eaten about a third of the Pak choy, taking two heads to my daughter. It looks like flea beetles are starting to attack it, so I need to cut the rest of it and bring it in. I love the stuff, so I will definitely plant more for the fall garden. I really wish I could freeze it and have it retain it's texture after being frozen. We are eating salad every day, mixing all the lettuces and spinach and greens. I throw in a few violet leaves, and soon I'll be adding nasturtiums and other flowers. To round off the salad I add asparagus shoots, broccoli florets, radishes, carrots, alfalfa sprouts, black olives, and we split a boiled egg. I'd love cheese and meat in it, too, but I'm staying away from that. I do, however, have some leftover grilled chicken, and since that is a healthy meat, I'm tempted to slice it and add that to tomorrow's dinner salad.

I got distracted there and started talking about food instead of gardening, but it is hard to grow food without talking about how good it is to eat! At any rate, I do have some sweet corn coming up, as well as about half of the pole beans. My tire stack is 4 tires tall and the potatoes are growing like mad. I sure hope they produce well. It is nice to be able to water the garden. With the old well, we barely had enough water for household use, but since we got the new well 16 months ago, the supply is more than I could have dreamed. I still don't waste water. I water by hand and only in the planted areas, not the paths, and I try to reduce the evaporative loss. I watch the weather and I won't water if there is a chance of rain. I have a rainwater catchment tank that I used to water from-it's a 330 gallon tank that catches water from the barn roof-but right now I need a new hose for it. I need to come up with a way to poke holes in a hose that will allow gravity fed water to seep from the hose. I think using some kind of metal straw to puncture the hose would work, but I have no idea of what I would use for that or practically how to accomplish what I envision.

We are going on a short vacation soon, and I have to get the rest of my tomatoes and peppers and squash in the ground and the pole beans strung before we leave. I started running string this evening, and tomorrow my friend is coming over to help with that. Maybe she will take some Pak Choi as payment. In a garden, there is always some task to do, and my vacation clock is ticking away. Last night, we spent time weeding Bermuda grass from the herb bed. While we were out and about this past weekend, Skyguy bought me a very nice lemon verbena plant. I'd been wanting another one since I stupidly killed the first one I had 20 years ago. That happened when I was first getting into herb gardening-a friend gave me a 3 foot tall shrub and I did not realize that it was a *deciduous* plant/tree and tossed it mid-winter thinking it was dead-DOH! This one is small, only about a foot tall, but it definitely has that heavenly lemon scent. We also bought salad burnett, summer savory(to go with all the beans), tricolor sage, purple sage, chocolate peppermint, horehound and anise hyssop. The herb bed is starting to come together. Seeds have sprouted and the seedlings are growing. The seedlings are small, two inch tall chives and basil, for example, but they will mature quickly.

Happy Birthday, Good Friday

Today is my son's birthday. My 'baby' is now 22 years old. It is so hard to believe that he hasn't lived here in almost 5 years. It is harder to believe that it will be 5 more before he gets out of the Navy. Due to the educational time involved, submariners enlist for 6 years at a time, not 2 or 4 like other Navy rates or other military personnel. Re-enlistments are for four additional years. I talked to him on the phone a couple of weeks ago, and he told me that he has worked 18-20 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day in 2009, so I doubt he will have the day off. What good is it to be stationed in Hawaii if you spent that much time on a submarine? Anyway, Happy Birthday SubmarineSon, I hope you can at least grab an extra hour of sleep.

This week's been rather busy in spite of the intermittent rain. I had an ad go into the state market bulletin for selling chickens, so today and yesterday I've been fielding calls from that. A guy was supposed to come out this morning, but due to the thunderstorms, we postponed it until tomorrow. I'm hoping he will buy the whole lot of them. Purebred pullets are going for $15-$20 each around here, and the mutts get at least $10, $15 if they are laying already. When I first bought chickens over ten years ago, I thought $5 a bird was outrageous. Now, with the state laws tightening on transporting birds, and with people worried about the future, the price has increased.

Today, Good Friday, is the day I've long awaited for to garden. It is THE day to plant the summer garden crops like corn, beans, tomatoes, etc. I need to cultivate one more time before I can plant, and it is simply too wet to even walk in the garden, let alone till or plant. For anyone who is wondering why people don't plant when the soil is wet, well, the first reason, and the most important reason, is soil compaction. Water displaces the air and instead of the soil being fluffy, it is clumpy or muddy. After you plant in those kinds of conditions, the soil surface will harden and cake over, and future moisture will run off instead of soak in. Also, if you walk across wet ground, you compact it and it becomes like cement, harder to work and till. If you transplant when it is wet, you risk exposing the plant to harmful fungi and diseases.

Yesterday, I was able to cultivate a flower bed in the front yard and scratch up the soil surface in a few other places around the yard, so today, I'm planting flowers. I planted a few bulbs like glads and freesias earlier in the week. There are a few places in the yard where I can plant things like basils, so I'll transplant those today.

I can only do so much due to the wet soils, so I am going to be behind on my planting schedule for the summer garden. I should have already had corn in tubes ready to transplant today, but I never planted them because I was watching the weather and I knew it was going to freeze again. Our last freeze was Tuesday.

Recycling News About Eggs

This is an old story from Mother Earth News, but it is a must read for health conscious homesteader types who raise their own chickens and eggs.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/Relish/Pastured-Eggs-Vitamin-D-Content.aspx

Eggciting News!!!
10/15/2008 3:37:53 PM

By Tabitha Alterman
Tags: free-range eggs, egg tests, pastured poultry, grazing livestock, egg nutrition, vitamin D

The results from Mother Earth News' latest round of pastured egg nutrient tests are beginning to come in. So far, pastured egg producers are kicking the commercial industry's butt - woo hoo, go free range! We've invested a lot of time and energy over the last few years in researching the differences between the meat and eggs coming out of the commercial industry and those produced by conscientious farmers who let their animals graze on fresh pastures. In the past, we've found that eggs from hens raised on pasture, as compared to those commercially raised factory farm eggs, contain:

1/3 less cholesterol
1/4 less saturated fat
2/3 more vitamin A
2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
3 times more vitamin E
7 times more beta carotene

Now we're looking at vitamin D, which many of us do not get enough of because we don't spend any time outdoors, and even when we do we use sunscreen that blocks vitamin D production. Eggs are one of the few food sources of naturally occurring vitamin D, and we wondered if true free-range eggs might be higher in this important vitamin, too. Our latest tests show that pastured eggs have anywhere between 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as typical supermarket eggs.

Hawks Do It in Trees

Hawks do it in the trees. I'm such a curious voyeur that I could not stop watching. How often do you see a hawk mating ritual?
There is an old squirrel's nest in the top of a hickory near the driveway. A few weeks back I saw a bird fly to the nest, so I got out the binoculars and checked it out. It was a large crow and it seemed that the crow might be building a nest. I watched the nest for a few days but never saw the crow again. A little bit ago, I looked out the window to check the sky and saw another bird fly to the old nest. It appeared that the bird had something in it's mouth, so I grabbed the binoculars. It was not a crow, it was a somewhat small Red Shouldered Hawk (Buteo Lineatus). It appeared to be carrying part of a small bird. I could see the outline of the wing against the sky. I watched for a moment and then he flew off, sailing over to a branch from another nearby tree, about 40-50 feet from the ground. Once he landed, he started flitting around, showing his feathers. I saw him look down so I removed the binoculars and stepped a bit to one side and lo and behold, there was another hawk in the tree but I had not seen it before because it was hidden by a branch. If you have ever seen a turkey drum and dance around a hen, that is how I would describe what was happening in the tree. The male flew from branch to branch encircling the female at a distance of 5 to 8 feet. She seemingly ignored him. Then, he flew down and mounted her, much like a rooster would mount a hen. Then, he would repeat the ritual: fluffing, encircling, mounting. As I type, they are still in the tree. It has been over two hours since I first saw the male fly to the nest. The female has been eating something-probably the other half of whatever bird they caught. I wondered if hawks present food as part of their mating ritual so I made quick websearch and discovered some really cool facts about hawks.

For example, hawks can see in the UV range. Voles and mice urinate almost constantly as a form of communication for other rodents. Their urine trails absorb UV radiation differently than the surrounding ground so a hawk can see the trail of the vole and follow it home to the kill.
(http://tinyurl.com/aze2e2)

Here is a good educational page:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Buteo_lineatus.html

This page even has a good sound file:
http://whatbird.wbu.com/obj/40/_/Red-shouldered_Hawk.aspx

Apparently, the mating ritual lasts for several weeks. One of my neighbors noticed a pair of hawks diving last week, but I have not seen that behavior. I have, however, heard more hawk vocalizations than usual, which I understand is also part of the ritual. From what I read, these hawks usually don't mate until April, so my guess is that the warmer weather has fooled them into thinking that winter is over. Even my plum tree is fooled. It has been in bloom for over a week.
I hope that the weather says warm, for the chicks sake. These birds prey on chickens, so I am not exactly thrilled about having them nest 150 feet away from my coop, but hopefully I won't have any problems. Raptors are beautiful birds, and maybe they will choose smaller prey, like rats, moles, and snakes instead of my chickens.

Photo link: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/03_01/RedHawk_468x298.jpg

The State of EarthNSky

I finished the carrot bed today. It is ready for seeding. I breathe a sigh of relief with this particular bed. Usually, I take the slow approach in preparing a raised bed. Most are built, filled, and then planted two or three years later after the material composts. This particular bed is a spur of the moment experimental bed which should produce large, straight, non-hairy carrots. The layers in the bed are the key: nitrogen deep so that the root drives down to reach it, creating a long carrot. We built the bed a few weeks ago and it has been a non-stop endeavor trying to fill the bed. I almost feel like I should rename it as the Instant Gratification Bed. I also prepped another raised bed as well as some containers for sowing lettuces and greens. I'm ready to go, just waiting on Spring.

The chickens are doing great; it is hard believe that I've been able to raise so many with minimal loss. Lately, I've been missing my rabbits. I'll probably re-acquire sheep before rabbits, but rabbits have definitely been on my mind again. I've just discovered that one of my neighbors has a Rex doe. I used to raise Rexes, and I've always said that I should have never strayed from that breed. If I get rabbits again, it will be Rexes.

This weekend, we will be re-plumbing the house and installing a water heater. IF we can complete this project in one day, then perhaps we will have time to work on the herb bed on Sunday. I need to take some pictures for the blog, too.

Today is Ash Wednesday, and while I am not Catholic, I sometimes give up something for Lent. Last year, I gave up Coca-Cola. This year, instead of giving something up, in the spirit of fitness, I think I will make myself do situps everyday. That fits with my New Year's Resolution of losing 50 pounds in 2009. Don't ask me how much I've lost in two months. It is not enough.