Inside My Secret Garden...Day-to-Day Living at Cairnwood Cottage

Ah, The "Musical Fruit!"

2011-09-24T16:01:00.000-04:00

Bean seeds to be planted for next year's bean crop

Many of the green beans that I planted in June and did not pick with the intention of saving them for next year's seed are just getting to the stage when they need to be picked, dried and stored. Beans are some of the easiest things to save seed from! Simply leave the beans on the plant until the pods start to turn yellow and dry, then pick, shell, dry a little more and store them in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. I've read that it's a good idea to place them in the freezer for a short time to kill any bugs that may be inside, but I never do and have never had a bug problem....knock on wood!

I think part of my fascination with beans is the fact that they can be so varied in color, shape and size.

Some of the beans I recently harvest for seed. White bean is the pole bean "Helda". Black bean is a bush bean called "Cherokee Wax", and the red bean is another bush variety, "Provider"

Getting the timing right on picking the bean pods intended for seed use can sometimes be tricky. Our weather this year has been extremely wet which has resulted in some of the beans rotting, getting moldy, and sprouting in the pods! I decided to pick many of the beans before the pods are completely dry in an attempt to avoid the mold/rot/sprout issue. Hopefully that doesn't adversely affect the seed quality. (I seem to remember writing something similar about the popcorn I recently harvested!)

Helda beans with two seeds already sprouting in a still-green pod!

Helda seed sprouting....aw, look at those little roots...I'm assuming they're little roots since the leaf portion is still in the seed!

You know, maybe that Jack & The Beanstalk fairy tale isn't so far fetched...you know how the mother tosses the bean seeds out the window in despair? And the next day there's a beanstalk growing up into the clouds? And the seeds weren't even "planted" in the soil, yet they grew? Well, perhaps my Helda beans are a relative of Jack's beanstalk, seeing how it's so anxious to grow and it's not even planted ;-) Those bean stalks did grow pretty high!

Spuds + Floods = Duds

2011-09-19T13:00:00.000-04:00

I planted 6 varieties of potatoes on June 16 of this year. I like to plant potatoes a bit later than the average bear normally would because this way the Colorado potato beetles don't seem to be the astronomical problem. that they typically can be. That being said, I actually had more CPBs this year than I've ever had, for some reason. Interesting. I don't normally have issues with them.

The six varieties of potatoes that I planted (and they were all from saved potatoes from last year) were "All Blue", "Buttercream", "Yukon Gold", "Red Norland", "Red Gold", and a red-skinned white potato that was particularly tasty that I got from an organic foods co-op. Once planted, the potatoes grew as they should, and eventually the foliage started to die back not too long ago which is a sure sign that the potatoes are mature and ready for harvest.

So, I set about digging my potatoes this past weekend....

But! Two weeks ago we had major flooding here in Central Pennsylvania due to Hurricane Lee (later-turned-tropical-storm Lee). We got 15 inches of rain in 2 days and the flooding was devastating. Our own little house was spared the ravages of the flood only because we had 2 sump pumps running constantly in the basement for several days, and our stream crept closer to the house than I've ever seen: 11.5 feet away from the front of the house. The garden was under water for a spell and the potatoes, apparently, didn't like that one bit.

Reports from local potato farmers are of devastation to their crops. A friend of mine said 50% of his potatoes were destroyed by the flood, which is what I calculated to be my loss to be.

What originally appeared to be good potatoes were later discovered to be rotting once a bit of pressure was put on the spud.

When I began digging my potatoes I was horrified to discovered one rotten potato after another. I could imagine what the Irish potato famine victims must have been thinking as they discovered their crop ruined. I would find what I thought were perfectly good potatoes, but upon lifting them from the earth found that their insides were liquefied, or mostly so. The slightest pressure on the potato caused the release of a foamy white vile stench of a liquid. Yuck!

When I started digging my All Blue potatoes, I was startled to find brilliant purple and blue "smears" in the earth where healthy potatoes once thrived. The colors were so vibrant it makes me wonder how purple potatoes would do as a natural fibers dye.

Former "All Blue" potatoes

My potatoes are now all dug, and I have a very small crop to use as food. The rest I shall set aside as seed potatoes for next year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the chosen seed potatoes keep through the winter and don't spoil as I'm not certain that they're perfectly healthy just yet. Time will tell.

Popcorn!

2011-09-17T22:12:00.000-04:00

Some of the ears of Calico popcorn that I recently harvested

I've gardened for many, many years, but this is the first year I've grown popcorn. Part of the reason I've not grown it before now is I just didn't have the room for it, OR sweet corn, but this year we created a new garden space which has opened up quite a bit of garden real estate for us. My dad grows popcorn once in a while, and I remember evenings at home, helping to shell some popcorn (usually Strawberry Popcorn) so we could pop it. He often had popcorn on the cob hanging decoratively on the fireplace in the living room, and whenever the mood for freshly-popped corn struck us, we'd grab an ear or two, shell it and pop it!

I had a spot in the garden where I'd planted some winter rye last fall, and that is where I decided to plant two varieties of popcorn: Calico, and Early Pink.

Calico, one of the two varieties of popcorn I planted this year

Calico popcorn seed

Earlier in the spring I cut the rye back but didn't till the area, so it looked something like a lawn. I wanted to experiment with planting directly into the un-tilled rye stubble figuring the cut rye would act something like a mulch. So, I grabbed my hoe and went to work digging the necessary trenches for the seed.

Planting directly into the rye stubble

Once planted, I only had to wait 3 months before picking time, and that happens to be right now!

Why hello there, Mr. Calico Popcorn!

It's fun to shuck the ears of popcorn and see what color is waiting beneath the layers of husks. The colors are intense and gorgeous! No human could create colors so extraordinary!

Calico Popcorn

The colors remind me of jellybeans! I can almost smell jellybeans....

Early Pink Popcorn. I think it crossed with the Calico...And these colors are stunning, too!

Another shot of the variety of colors of Calico popcorn

A lot of the popcorn that I picked could have dried a bit longer on the stalk, however, we've had so much rain lately that some of the corn was beginning to mold. I didn't want to take the chance that many more of the ears would succumb to mold, so I picked some before their time. The husks were mostly dry, but not completely so...hope that doesn't make much (if any) difference in corn quality.

An ear of Calico popcorn that is beginning to mold

The following excerpt on growing/storing popcorn was taken from the Horticulture and Home Pest News:

"Popcorn is grown for its tasty, exploding seed. Heating the kernel converts the moisture inside the kernel to steam and turns the seed inside out. The quality of the end product depends on the conditions during growing, harvest, and storage.

Growing

Several different varieties are available to home gardeners. Be sure to select a variety that will mature in your area. Sow seed directly in the garden in spring in several short rows. This ensures good pollination. Thin as recommended on label directions. Do not plant sweet corn in the same garden with popcorn. The quality of the sweet corn will be reduced if it is cross-pollinated by popcorn.

Water, fertilize, and weed regularly. Any serious stress like water deficiency can greatly reduce yields and the quality of the popcorn.

Harvest

Allow the kernels to dry in the field as long as possible. When harvested, the kernels should be hard and the husks completely dry.

After harvest, remove the husks and place the ears in mesh bags and hang in a warm, dry, well-ventilated location. The ideal moisture content for popcorn is between 13 and 14%. Once or twice a week, shell a few kernels and try popping them. When the test kernels are popping well and tasting good, shell and store the rest of the kernels. If the popcorn is "chewy" or the popped kernels are jagged, it is too wet and needs to continue drying.

Storage

Store the kernels in sealed, airtight containers. If stored properly, popcorn should retain its popping quality for several years. Unshelled corn should be stored at temperatures near 32F and high relative humidity. The storage location should also be rodent proof.

If stored popcorn fails to pop, it may be too dry. Add 1 tablespoon of water to a quart of popcorn. Cover and shake at frequent intervals until the popcorn has absorbed the water. After 3 or 4 days, test pop a few kernels to see if it is ready. Add more water and repeat the process until the popcorn pops well."

After The Rain

2011-09-05T12:18:00.000-04:00

Rain fell overnight and early this morning. I love to wander through the gardens here at Cairnwood Cottage in the morning after a rain...

This morning glory on the arbor at the entrance to our patio seems to be glowing from the inside out. Viewed from below.

Morning glory and spider's web on the arbor at the entrance to our patio this morning

Close-up of the arbor/spider web morning glory

Little green cherry tomato basking in the morning rain

Gladiolus

Speaking of Beans....

2011-09-04T11:13:00.000-04:00

A few of the jars of green beans I've canned this year

I like green beans. A lot. If I could plant only one thing in my vegetable garden, it might be green beans (string beans/snap beans). I like them frozen. I like them canned. I like to eat them, Sam-I-Am.

This year I planted 10 varieties, and a lot of them. As you can imagine, I've got green beans coming out my ears! Some years I have problems with bean beetles, but thankfully they've not been a problem this year. I'm making plans for next year, saving seed and deciding which beans are worth saving and which are not.

Beans worth saving and planting a ton of next year: HELDA. This is the first year I've grown Helda pole beans. Someone on my organic gardening list mentioned them and they sounded intriguing, so at the last minute I ordered some from Territorial Seeds. I have nothing bad to say about these beans. As I mentioned, they're pole beans and quite vigorous growers. They produce huge pods that don't fill out and get "beany" until late...I really don't like green beans that have big old seeds in them; I'm a pod person. It's not unusual to get 10 inch beans that are STRINGLESS and tender. Yes, stringless! They're a Romano type bean. Positively lovely!

One HELDA pole bean, 10 inches long, not at all unusual!

HELDA pole bean

Next year I'm going to create an arbor where the beans can grow up and over so that the ripening beans will hang down for ease of picking. I can see it now....a shady tunnel walk with massive beans within easy reach. Sigh. And these beans produce and produce and produce! One tepee of beans this year has produced an amazing amount of beans for me.

HELDA pole beans are prolific producers! I planted one tepee of them around a compost bin--here is a "nest" of beans waiting to be picked

SEQUOIA. I've been growing these beans for quite a few years. They're a purple-podded bush bean of the Romano type. Again, stringless. I honestly don't have the time to fiddle around with stringy beans, so if they're not stringless they don't get planted here again. I love purple podded beans, which, by the way, turn green once cooked. They're easy to pick because they stand out from the green foliage, and I'm sure they must have more antioxidants that their green counterparts. And they're just so cool looking! Sequoias have a good flavor and don't get overly beany until they get old.

I'm also growing GIANT STRINGLESS , a bush bean, green, and as their name suggests, stringless. PROVIDER is another that I'll be saving seed for to plant again next year: bush, green, stringless.

Saving bean seeds is a snap. Simply let the bean grow out and dry on the plant. Shell the seeds from the pod, let dry a bit further and store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place, then plant next year and repeat.

"The Kitchen Is Full of Grape-y Goodness"

2011-09-03T10:37:00.000-04:00

Concord grapes ready to be made into wine!

So, I finally got around to picking the Concord grapes. I should have picked them last week, but I was just too busy/tired. Rain is predicted for later in the day, and I simply had to get out there and pick grapes! I have a newly-planted vineyard of 10 vines (mostly Concord and Niagara), but they're too young to produce just yet. The grapes that I picked today were from one vine that I healed in about 18 years ago when I'd got the vine but didn't know quite where I wanted to plant it. I stuck it in the ground and never did figure out where to put it, and there it's stayed all these years. It's currently climbing up into an apple tree and has wild blackberries growing all around and through it.

Grapes climbing up and into an apple tree

Needless to say, the grapes are a major pain, literally, to pick. The constant jabbing of the blackberry thorns is a grim reminder that when I buy something, I really need to know where I'm going to plant it!

The grape vine, apple tree and blackberries create quite a jungle, and apparently birds have found it to be a safe and secure place to raise their families. It does seem impermeable to predators of all sorts! I had a very difficult time getting that close to this nest:

Bird's nest and wormy apple!

So, grapes are picked, a 5-gallon bucket of wine is in the works, and I made about a gallon of Concord liqueur with the remaining grapes. Now, we wait....

When I Am An Old Woman...

2011-08-20T07:39:00.001-04:00

Royal Burgundy (left) and Sequoia bush beans

When I am an old woman, I shall pick purple beans and put them in a red colander....

Gee, Have I Ever Mentioned That I Like Free Stuff?

2011-08-07T16:30:00.001-04:00

Free bricks!

In case you missed it the first time, I like free stuff! Freecycle is an amazing thing, and a network that I use often, both to give things away that we no longer need, and to receive things that I need but don't really want to spend a bunch of money on to purchase. As their website states: "It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills." Rather than throw it away, why not give it to someone who can use it? Today I scored a truckload of approximately 400 free bricks. These weren't a Freecycle find, but rather the friend of a friend gave them to us. I have so many things I could do with these bricks: wood-fired brick oven, greenhouse base, edge walkways, raised bed edging, outdoor fireplace, etc. etc. They won't go to waste, and there's not nearly enough to do everything I'd like to do with bricks!

Used greenhouse plastic

Another recent freebie item that I scored was a bunch of used greenhouse plastic. A friend of ours has a large greenhouse business, and he has to replace the plastic every 5 or 6 years or thereabouts. That's a LOT of plastic that would end up in a landfill somewhere! He tries to place it in new homes....we got two piles of it for use on my future hoop house. I can think of several other things to use it for too, but the hoop house is my first priority. I realize it won't last as long as if it were new, but it can be replaced every couple years, free, if need be.

New step leading up to my compost bins

For years I've been wanting to put a step into a small slope that leads up to the compost bins from our back yard. Earlier this spring while wandering through the woods, I found the perfect rock....big, nice and flat. I lugged it down to the house and finally just last week got my rear in gear and dug it into the little slope. It looks nice there, it's nice and level, and now I don't have to worry about slipping and falling on my behind when I trudge up to the compost bins when the grass is wet. Sweet...another free item.

Now if we can just find the time to create everything out of these freebie items (bricks, plastic) that need creating....

Munch!

2011-08-07T11:03:00.001-04:00

Climbing Cécile Brunner rose--post munch

Sometimes gardening can be very frustrating, and I often find myself pining for The Garden of Eden...what must that have been like before humans screwed it up? I often imagine that Heaven must be a garden of Eden sort of place...anyway....

Yesterday I was admiring a perfectly formed bud on my climbing Cécile Brunner rose. It was about to burst open, and since I just got this rose I'd never seen its blooms before and was anxious to see the rose unfurled. Today when I spied the rose....horrors! Something has munched it! See above photo. The rose smells divine, but it looks like it's been through a war zone. Sigh...

Green tomato "Early Girl"---post munch

Another "Early Girl" tomato---post munch

Then I walked out to check on my chickens. I sneak a peak at the tomatoes I have growing from hanging pots every time I go out there since they're right on the way. Yesterday, these tomatoes were perfect green dudes waiting to ripen. Today....something's munched them! See above photos. Sigh....

What flattened my corn?!

And yesterday morning my corn was looking fine and dandy. Then we got a little rain and a slight breeze. I looked across my corn patch and much to my horror....where'd it go?! Upon closer inspection it appears to have been flattened by either the breeze or water weight from the rain. See above photo. It doesn't seem to have been uprooted, but rather just bent over in some places. Some stalks are actually snapped right off mid-way up or near the top. I know planting the seeds at the wrong depth can make corn fall over, as can various grubs that attack the root, but this stuff seems bent. I'm hoping I can prop it up, perhaps...Sigh....

Well, at least we got some rain!

More Freebies

2011-07-23T12:41:00.001-04:00

Tiger lily...or mysterious sea creature?

Years ago a friend dug up a start from one of his "wild lilies" that he had growing on his property, and gave it to me. I planted it near my Secret Garden, and they've been growing happily ever since. I love these "wild lilies" ("tiger lillies" or "Lilium Tigrinum")...their brilliant orange contrasts vividly with dark brown spots. And they look all the world like some kind of sea creature...a type of jelly fish or an octopus.

These lilies spread readily and are low maintenance, though they don't like this drought-y weather we've been having. And I love how those little seeds just sit there at the junction of leaf and stem.

View from below... Notice the seeds at the stem/leaf junction

Canoe?!

And what's this? A ready-made canoe for a very small fairy-like creature sits at the end of each pistil!

I Love Free Stuff

2011-07-23T10:42:00.000-04:00

Freebie beans saved from the plant that resulted from one lonely seed...

Sooo, one day at work back in late winter, a package came through the system that had popped open and dried beans from a seed packet spilled. The beans were carefully put back into the packet and then into the package and continued on its way. An hour or so later, I noticed a lone bean seed lying on the floor....

Rather than toss the lonely legume into the trash, what can a saver of seeds, such as myself, possibly do other take it home and plant it?! I planted the little bean along with other seeds that I was starting for the garden, and when it was big enough I planted it in a corner of the asparagus/strawberry bed, all by its lonesome little self. It grew like a bean possessed, and soon I had a nice crop of green beans (bush) and very early in the season since I started the little guy indoors well before our frost-free date. Curious, I tasted one bean. Very nice and stringless. I let the rest mature, and now I've got a nice little pile of bean seeds to plant out next year. There are still a few beans maturing on the plant, but I'm guessing I'll end up with another 20 or so bean seeds in addition to the 88 that I already have.

I wish I would have taken note of the packet of beans so I'd know what kind these are; they're probably something like Bush Blue Lake or another popular bean. I'll always know them as "Work Beans."

Chickens In The Mist

2011-07-22T13:06:00.003-04:00

When someone says, "hot chicks", is this the image that pops into your mind? If not, it will be now!

With current temps in the 100 degree F. range, The Girls are probably wishing they didn't have quite so many feathers, and lucky is the one currently molting! I do worry about them when it gets this warm, and egg production can suffer greatly when they get overheated. Last year I came home from work in the midst of a heat wave and found an otherwise healthy hen lying dead on the coop floor under the roost. It looked as if she just fell off the roost in her sleep. I made several phone calls (vet, extension agent) to see if I needed to have a "chicken autopsy" done, and it was suggested that no, it was probably due to the heat. That certainly opened my eyes to the perils of hot weather for the chickens.

You can tell when your chickens are too hot by the way they stand around with their little beaks open and their wings held away from their bodies. Chickens don't sweat, and like dogs they need to pant to cool themselves off. See above photo.

Photo of the thermometer in our kitchen. This monitors the outside temps just outside the window...in the shade. Photo taken today (July 22, 2011)

Here are some of the things I've been doing to help my girls stay cool.

(1) I make sure they've got plenty of shade. The coop and chicken run are in the woods, so this really isn't an issue.

(2) I make sure they have plenty of water. Chickens don't like warm water and will forgo drinking it if it gets too warm. I change their water several times a day to make sure it's cool, AND/OR add ice to the water. If you're able, freeze a block to toss into your chickens' water.

(3) When I have "treats" for them, such as old fruit or vegetables, I toss these into the freezer and freeze them solid before feeding to The Girls. They love pecking at these cool treats....is this the chicken equivalent of ice cream?!

(4) I hose down a section of their run so they've got cool mud to walk through.

(5) I set up a mister so they can hang out in the mist ("Chickens In The Mist") They seem to love this.

(6) I have a fan sucking warm air out of the coop...this is especially important because their coop is on the small side and with 31 chicken bodies in there at night, it warms up fast.

Guinevere taking a turn in the mist

Bandito cooling off in the mist, with Guinevere shaking like a wet dog

I'm trying to keep the girls cool so I get more of these...

Where For Art Thou, Rain?

2011-07-19T17:10:00.000-04:00

Sweet pea after the rain...

Yesterday we got a little rain in the evening and through the night. It wasn't much, though, and today I had to grab the hose and water things that were beginning to wilt. We just got enough to make things very, very humid. We had a very wet spring, and I thought it would never stop raining! We could certainly use some of that excess rain at the moment, however.

I just got chased into the house by a thunderstorm. The sky is dark, there's lots and lots of thunder, the breeze picked up and cooled the 88 degree F temps down to a chilly 78. Right. Chilly...Rain drops have begun to fall, but they're few and far between. I hope we get more than we did last night, otherwise this dog's bark will certainly be worse than its bite.

The above sweet pea was photographed yesterday after a bit of rain fell. I think this sweet pea variety is "King of the Blues" (I'd have to unearth my records to know for sure!) Click on the photo to enlarge it...that lavender bit that hangs down to the left reminds me of a Walt Disney-style ball gown, swooping across the dance floor, bedecked with sparkling raindrop jewels.

Oh, Those Blasted Hornworms!

2011-07-19T15:06:00.000-04:00

Why, hello there, Mr. Hornworm

OK, I'm really tired of the hornworms devouring my tomato plants. Last year I had more hornworms in the garden than I've had in all previous years combined, I think. Last night while looking at the garden, I found two hornworms and saw a good bit of hornworm damage (tomato limbs completely denuded of their leaves). I always called these guys "tomato hornworms", but according to the following Wikipedia article, they're actually "tobacco hornworms":

"The Five-Spotted Hawkmoth (Manduca quinquemaculata) is a brown and gray hawk moth of the Sphingidae family. The caterpillar is often referred to as the tomato hornworm and can be a major pest in gardens. Tomato hornworms are closely related to (and sometimes confused with) the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta). This confusion arises because caterpillars of both species feed on the foliage of various plants from the family Solanaceae, so either species can be found on tobacco or tomato leaves, and the plant on which the caterpillar is found does not indicate its species. The larvae of these species can be distinguished by their lateral markings; tomato hornworms have eight V-shaped markings while tobacco hornworms have seven diagonal lines.^[2] Furthermore, the caterpillars can be distinguished from the larval stage onwards by the color of the horns on their back ends: M. quinquemaculata caterpillars have black horns, while Manduca sexta caterpillars have red horns. The moths can be distinguished by the number of spots on their abdomen, with M. quinquemaculata having five."

One good thing about the hornworms....my chickens love them. Whenever I find one that's not covered in parasitic wasp larvae, it gets fed to the girls. If I see one with the wasp larvae clinging to it, I leave it alone so the larvae can mature and continue the cycle.

Hornworms can be very difficult to find in amongst the tomato plants (or peppers, or wherever they happen to be feeding). I normally spot the hornworms first that are covered with the rice-like parasitic wasp larvae, then look a bit further and discover the rest.

Hornworm playing host to parasitic wasp larvae. I'll leave these guys alone so the larvae can mature and produce more parasitic wasps.

Good riddance, evil hornwom! I found this deflated fellow on a tomato cage as I was cleaning up garden debris last autumn.

They're Berry, Berry Good!

2011-07-18T16:24:00.000-04:00

Currently ripe for the picking here at Cairnwood Cottage:
Strawberries (everbearing varieties)
Blueberries
Blackberries
Wineberries
Yellow raspberries--but only a few since the plants are still young

One ripe strawberry and one on the way...looks like strawberry creamcicle! Yum!

A favorite way to prepare strawberries! A perfect union: strawberries and dark chocolate!

Blueberries!!

Ripe wild blackberries...future cordial or wine

Wineberries...look very much like red raspberries

Future Concord wine!

Life....and Death

2011-07-18T13:31:00.003-04:00

In case you haven't figured it out, I love flowers. I love taking pictures of flowers, especially close-up. Close up and with things crawling all over them. See below.

Echinacea with bee and butterfly

I also love to see things living together in peace and harmony, see above. But, I live in the real world and I know that can't always be the case. I know things have to kill other things in order to survive, but I just wish it weren't so. The poor unfortunate bee in the photo below had been enjoying her time on the echinacea flower, probably happily gathering pollen, when suddenly she became ensnared in a spider's web. Said spider crept out, did the deed and is now happily snacking on the unfortunate bee. See below. I just wish the spider had nabbed one of those bugs that we really don't like at all, like Japanese beetles, or something similarly destructive. Ah, such is life...

Poor little bee has become a spider snack

So, I Have This Mirror....

2011-07-16T09:09:00.002-04:00

As I was pondering what I could do with this mirror yesterday, Gypsy sauntered by and paused for a look at himself

So, yes, I've got this mirror. It had been hanging in our dining room for many years, but then we re-did the dining room (painted walls, new floor...) and the mirror came down. Hubby wanted to toss it in the trash (horrors!) I wasn't sure what we would do with it if we kept it, so I advertised it on Freecycle, twice. No takers. So, I've still got the mirror and it currently resides by the patio waiting for a new home. I nearly hauled it off to the Goodwill store, but then I remembered....

I remembered the amazing gardens we visited at The National Garden Exhibition in Kilquade, County Wicklow, Ireland back in 2004. One of the exhibits featured an Oriental Garden, and I remember being intrigued by the mirrors.

Jeremiah posing in front of the TWO mirrors (see the other tucked away under the "bridge" to the right? Click photo to enlarge) in the Oriental garden at the National Garden Exhibition in Kilquade, County Wicklow, Ireland 2004.

Ah yes, now my head is spinning, coming up with ideas of how I can incorporate this mirror into one of my gardens here and have it look right, and how to keep it from getting broken, or how to keep birds from flying into it or from animals from crashing into it...Ideas, anyone?

Where-Oh-Where Have I Been?!

2011-07-16T08:39:00.002-04:00

Butterfly enjoying echinacea

So, looking at my poor little blog, I see that it will soon be a year since I last posted! I've taken loads and loads of photos with the express purpose of posting them here, but alas! It just hasn't happened. There are so many things I want to tell you about, such as my new garden beds, my hugelkulture endeavors, how I've foiled the hawks in their attempts at getting my chickens, etc., but I will just have to try and catch up gradually. In the meantime, enjoy a few recent photos from some of my strolls around Cairnwood Cottage the past few days....

Close-up of the butterfly bush (buddleia) that grows by our front yard stream

Zebra/Maiden Grass (Miscanthus sinensis "Zebrinus") in one of my newer perennial beds

"Cherry Brandy" rudbeckia in a new perennial bed

The Stamen Choir....it looks as if these stamen are a choir floating above the petals of this daylily, singing praises to the glorious new day!

Newly-purchased (and as yet un-planted) varieties of rudbeckia...hey, they were on sale and I couldn't resist. I LOVE rudbeckia!

Wild daylilies hovering over our front yard stream....they look as if they're cooling their "feet" in the water!

Sweet pea in a front yard flower bed (the variety escapes me at the moment, I have it written down somewhere!)

One Sunday in September...

2010-09-12T19:18:00.004-04:00

Today was a misty, cool, Sunday. I love days like this; they remind me of Ireland, but the day wasn't so moist that I couldn't get outside and enjoy it. Rather than write a bunch, here are some photos taken from my stroll around our property today.

I planted sunflowers at the edge of our property where they'd get plenty of sun. Despite the drought this year, they're doing pretty good.

Squeak follows me everywhere. Here, he's near the hedgerow at the edge of our property near where I've planted the sunflowers. He's a most excellent "helper".

My garden was somewhat pathetic this year due to the fact that I had a bunch of young chickens running wild most of the summer. They devoured everything. Here is a young kale volunteer that I managed to cover with a sheer curtain; these kale volunteers have come up 2 years in a row!

Ah, this is suppose to be a "Peter Pepper", which is suppose to look strikingly like its namesake. I got the seeds from a Seed Saver's Exchange member, but obviously it crossed with something else....it's nice and hot though.

Mail call! Our mailbox....send me a letter! Inside the blue newspaper box lurks an old bird's nest...

My red raspberries appear to be about to produce a bumper crop of autumn raspberries.

Future red raspberry

Checking for eggs, I lifted the nesting box lid and found FIVE hens occupying the 3 boxes.

I cleaned out the chicken coop yesterday and now have a full /overflowing compost bin in the garden...Golden Sexlink looks on in the background.

A "Beautyberry" bush, (Callicarpa Dichotoma) is growing up between cracks in our patio (!!!) I need to transplant it somewhere, or start more from seed. I love the purple berries that it produces.

Callicarpa Dichotoma aka "Beautyberry Bush"

Chickens Update

2010-09-11T10:38:00.006-04:00

Squeak

So here it is September already. Summer has come and gone for the most part; where did it go?! I've kept busy all summer, though apparently not quite busy enough when I stand back and see all that I did not get accomplished (that I'd hope I would) this summer.

I will give a quick update on the 15 chicks that hatched this spring (rather than blather on and on about what I didn't get done this summer!). And I promise, I WILL write about other things in this blog besides chickens....I don't want to have to re-name it "Chickens In The Mist."

Of the 15 eggs that hatched this spring (3 different batches), 10 were cockerels and only 5 were little pullets. What are the odds?! The roosters were all gorgeous and varying combinations of Welsummer/Ameraucana/Golden Sexlink/Speckled Sussex crosses. I wanted to keep them all of course, but I've already got 2 Ameraucana roosters and with 12 roosters crowing all day long, it was getting to be a little much. So, I advertised on Freecycle requesting that they go to "pet only" homes; I couldn't bear the thought of these sweet little boys ending up in a freezer or stew pot somewhere. I ended up parting with 9 of the roosters. I kept "Squeak", a handsome Welsummer/Ameraucana cross.

Squeak is the stunning result of a Welsummer/Ameraucana crossing

Squeak was so-named because he was the second to hatch in the first batch, the first being named "Pip"....Pipsqueak. Get it?! Anyway, Squeak is colored just like a Welsummer, has a Welsummer comb, but has these big, fat Ameraucana cheeks. What a stunning combination of characteristics!

Squeak
Who's yer daddy?! Ameraucana cheeks, but everything else screams Welsummer!

Currently Squeak is the sweetest rooster to grace the earth. He follows me around like a lost puppy, making constant chittering noises. He sounds like a senile old man muttering to himself. And it's just non-stop. I will be devastated if he turns mean like Ding Dong, but I know that's a possibility.

Of the 5 pullets hatched this spring, 2 ("Biddy Boop" and ""Zoe") look like full-blooded Welsummers. Three ("Meep", "Guinevere" and "Smidgen the Pigeon") look like full-blooded Ameraucanas. I will know for sure when they begin to lay eggs; egg color will be the deciding factor. I'm really, really hoping for some Welsummer/Ameraucana crosses, as their eggs should be a wonderful dark olive color.

Guinevere appears to be a full-blooded Ameraucana

Meep, another pullet that appears to be all-Ameraucana. That's Domino in the background. He's a Speckled Sussex/Ameraucana cross.

So, with the 6 new additions to my little flock, I've now got a grand total of 33 chickens; 30 hens and 3 roosters. I've got all the new hens (pullets) integrated in with the rest of the girls. Squeak and the lame Venus still have free range of the yard. I worry that if I put Venus in with the rest of the flock that they'll pick on her. And Squeak, well, the other 2 roosters are very, very jealous. Someday soon though, I'd love to get all the chickens under one roof. Life would be so much easier.

Life is Full of Surprises

2010-05-29T15:00:00.001-04:00

Biggest Speckled Sussex egg ever....NOT!

I've mentioned before how large my Speckled Sussex hens are compared to the other girls, and how very small their eggs are compared to those of the smaller hens. You'd fully expect such a, uh, large girl to lay a fairly large egg. But NO! The SS girls lay the smallest eggs in my flock. They, however, make the most racket, and sing the loudest egg song of all the hens. Silly girls.

Today as I was collecting eggs, I came across the most ginormous egg ever. OK. Not really. It's the smallest egg I've ever seen, other than from a wren or something. And it's a Speckled Sussex egg, no less. I can just imagine the egg song this girl must have warbled upon laying such a giant! It came complete with a butt feather. How adorable!

The colossal Speckled Sussex egg...

I haven't had the heart to crack it open yet, but I imagine there's no yolk inside...and if there were, would this thing even hatch?! Oh, how tiny would that poor little chick be!

Sesame Street game..."which egg doesn't belong?"

Speckled Sussex egg and quarter

Normal "large" Golden Sexlink egg, and the gargantuan Speckled Sussex egg.

Oh Wild Grapes, How Do You Tease Me? Let Me Count The Ways....

2010-05-27T14:05:00.000-04:00

Leaves of a domestic grape vine, either a Concord or Niagara

What I thought were infant clusters of wild grapes growing over my Secret Garden by the woods

Number one: you tease me by having a poisonous look-alike. I was so excited a couple weeks ago when I discovered that the "wild grape" vine growing up and over my Secret Garden was absolutely covered with teeny, tiny, wild grapes in hundreds upon hundreds of clusters. Then, I compared the fruit clusters with my Concord grape vine clusters, and the Concords are miles ahead of the "wild grape". And those leaves....the leaves of the "wild grape" look a bit different than "domestic" grape leaves. But hey, these are wild grapes, after all, they're entitled to look a bit different. Then I remembered reading about a fruit that mimics wild grapes and is poisonous. After a quick Internet search, I re-discovered that Common Moonseed (Menispermum canadense) looks a bit like grapes. Upon comparing their leaves to my "wild grapes", I found that, sadly, I have the poisonous Moonseed plant growing over my Secret Garden. I was soooo looking forward to plucking clusters of wild grapes from overhead, and making some wild Concord wine.

Canopy over my shaded Secret Garden is draped with Common Moonseed

Another view of the Secret Garden's canopy with Common Moonseed climbing a drooping wild cherry branch

#2....You're elusive. I know we've got loads of wild grapes growing in our woods, so perhaps I can muster the energy and time and forage for them when they're ripe. We can smell that sweet, grape aroma when we walk in the woods, or down the road by our house on crisp autumn days. And I see the clusters, waaaaaawy up high in the treetops. How on earth am I suppose to get those?!

Perhaps it's a good thing I've got a small vineyard planted, though it's still young and not productive. At least I'll have a source of grapes that I can actually reach and not just a bunch (pun intended) of teasers.

On This Day in May...

2010-05-26T11:32:00.005-04:00

Late May is a beautiful time. Well, the entire month of May is beautiful, really. Here are a few things blooming at Cairnwood Cottage on this fine day in May:

Lady Robin Azalea

Marigolds (from the nursery)

This is suppose to be a Paul's Himalayan Musk climbing rose, but I'm not so sure...I didn't think it would be this pink, and it doesn't have the extreme fragrance I was expecting. And it's not climbing too vigorously. It's pretty, none-the-less.

Another view of the alleged Paul's Himalayan Musk as it climbs up the dog yard fence.

And for the first time since I planted it several years ago, my Polish Spirit clematis has climbed into the sour cherry tree and is BLOOMING!

Impatiens, after being watered, in a flower bed under a tree in our front yard.

Don Juan rose is putting on a good show in front of the Rambling Rector rambling rose which climbs up the side of the house.

Don Juan and Rambling Rector roses growing at the entrance to our patio (as seen from the driveway)

I got a start of this iris from someone at a Master Gardener conference...not exactly sure what it's called, but I think it's some type of Siberian iris (?)

Daydream shrub rose

Creativity. It's a Good Thing.

2010-05-25T13:55:00.000-04:00

I'll be the first to admit that I have a problem throwing away perfectly good things. I'm always looking for ways to recycle things; sometimes I'm successful, other times not.

Several weeks ago I bought some replacement Niagara grapes from Lowes since the ones I tried to over-winter in pots didn't make it. At any rate, two grape vines came bound together in a nifty little "gunny sack". What a cute sack! How could I throw something like that away, yet what would I do with it?!

Lightbulb moment! I'll turn it into a planter! I simply lined the interior of the burlap sack with a plastic bag, poked a hole in the bottom and filled it with potting soil, then planted a nifty little viola in it.

Little burlap sack lined with a plastic bag, waiting to be filled with potting soil and viola.

The happy little finished product!

So, what does one do with an empty Baltimore oriole nest that has fallen from the tree? Same thing!

Empty Baltimore Oriole nest

Baltimore Oriole nest turned into a planter

And They Grow....

2010-05-20T13:46:00.000-04:00

They're a mere 4 days old, growing feathers and exploring this big, big world.

Isn't this THE cutest, fatest, fluffiest face you've ever seen? Chick from a Speckled Sussex egg...I'm guessing the daddy is an Ameraucana, judging from the chubby cheeks.

They're four days old and already they're starting to feather out. It simply amazes me how fast a chick can grow. What amazes me even more is the fact that a fully developed chick can crack out of an egg in a mere 21 days. Now that's fast. And miraculous!

Yet More Babies!

2010-05-18T19:54:00.004-04:00

New peeps! Speckled Sussex, Ameraucana, and Welsummer (L-R) with proud mama, Chicken Lickin' looking on.

Sunday, May 16 saw the arrival of three more peeps here at Cairnwood Cottage. Chicken Lickin', a Welsummer hen, had been sitting on a clutch of 7 eggs. And for the precise reason that you shouldn't count your chicks before they're hatched, only three hatched. Well, four hatched, but unfortunately the fourth one disappeared somehow....I found a pipped shell about 10 feet from the nest, but no chick in sight. Since the nesting box is inside our closed garage, I'm guessing perhaps a snake made off with the unfortunate peep. I've since snake-proofed the nesting box by closing it off with screen at night while the babes sleep.

The three eggs that Chicken Lickin' hatched were a Welsummer egg, an Ameraucana egg, and a Speckled Sussex egg, the daddy being either an Americauna or the late Welsummer, Ding Dong. I'm anxious to see how these guys will look when they mature. For right now though, I'm just enjoying their cuteness way more than a person should!

First meal. (L-R) Welsummer, Ameraucana, and Speckled Sussex

Chicken Lickin' gives detailed instructions to the peeps for their first drink...

And down the hatch!

A Safe Weed Killer?

2010-05-17T13:08:00.003-04:00

Yes. I have a terrible problem with poison ivy here, and really hate the idea of using a toxic weed killer. After a bit of searching, I found a recipe that sounded safe, and amazingly, it actually works! I didn't really think to write about it here until I read my niece's blog where she wrote about using a similar homemade concoction to kill weeds successfully. My recipe is nearly identical to hers, but mine includes the addition of liquid dish soap (hopefully an environmentally safe soap!) which acts as a "sticker".

With poison ivy, you need to spray it while it's still young, otherwise it doesn't work well at all. Some weeds it works great on, others it takes several applications. Don't spray this stuff on plants if there is rain in the forecast as that will just wash it off and you'll have to re-apply.

Here is a before and after photo of a particularly nasty weed that I have to deal with in my garden, and for the life of me I can't remember what it's called just now. I'll look it up tomorrow (hopefully), and make a note of what it is. It smells like mums, so it's not ALL bad, but it spreads like wildfire and is a bear to get rid of.

Moments after homemade weed killer was sprayed on the weeds--they're already starting to droop!

The first photo was taken just a few minutes after I sprayed my homemade weed killer on it. The second photo was taken a couple hours later. Amazing how fast it works! I don't think this actually kills the plant right off the bat, but several sprayings will be in order to eradicate it.

Several hours after weed killer was sprayed. Gotcha!

Here's the recipe:

1 gallon vinegar
1 cup salt
8 drops detergent

mix together and shake until salt dissolves, pour into a sprayer and go to town killing weeds!

This is great to use on our brick patio where little weeds grow up between the bricks. And I can feel good about using something that isn't harming life or the environment.

One Fine Day in May

2010-05-14T21:30:00.008-04:00

The sky threatened rain most of the day and thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance, but we didn't get rain until early evening, and then it was nothing to write home about. The mercury rose to 80 degrees F, and it was humid and buggy the entire time I was working in the garden. Not my favorite conditions for working outside at all.

I got a fair bit accomplished, but not nearly what I had hoped (of course!) I planted some cabbage, kale and spinach in my straw bale garden. I'm curious to see how this gardening technique works; more on that in another entry.

Noticed a juvenile toad sitting on a stone in one of the flower beds as I walked past. He didn't move from that spot for several hours. He's obviously not concerned that he's got spirea flower petals on his back. The stone is probably nice and cool on his tiny belly in the shaded garden on this hot, humid day. And why is it, that toads are seemingly always referred to as males when people talk about them?

Young toad enjoying the shade in one of my flower beds

I then managed to transplant a variety of herbs in my sewer pipe tile herb planter. I'm hoping the chickens that manage to escape the chicken run leave this alone

Herbs growing in tile flower bed border

Chiquita, an Ameraucana hen, helping me with garden chores

Speaking of renegade chickens, here's one that somehow manages to escape in spite of the fact that she's got her wings clipped. Chiquita is "helping" me, as you can see.

English Lavender

I'm trying to be good and get things transplanted as soon as I buy them. I love lavender but never seem to have much luck growing it. So, here's to trying yet again. Once I got the lavender planted, I rustled up the various empty pots and containers to add to the pile of said items beside our garage. Why is it that, in spite of the fact that I'm not scared of snakes and in fact I like snakes, that they still make me jump a mile when I see one when I'm not expecting to? This little garter snake nearly made me jump out of my skin when I went to put the pots on the pile.

Garter snake

Venus, my crippled Welsummer hen, has gone broody. I've got two other Welsummer hens that are broody and I'm trying to break their broodiness; egg production is dropping with all these broody girls! I need no fewer than nine dozen organic eggs a week for my faithful egg customers. A fourth Welsummer is due to hatch out a clutch of eggs in two days. She's down to six eggs in her clutch; there were seven there just a couple days ago. I'm hoping she's not going to cause me grief like Speck did when her eggs were due to hatch. Anyway, I've decided to let Venus hatch out some eggs...she needs a job. I don't let her in with the rest of the chickens because I'm afraid the roosters will hurt her already hurt back/leg. She seems to get along fine with the hens, but the roosters think she's hot (with a name like Venus, well....) and can't seem to leave her alone the few times she's managed to sneak into the pen.

The five eggs Venus is mothering

Venus has been sitting on these eggs for about four days. I've got them marked lightly with pencil lines so I can tell which eggs are to hatch, and which eggs Chiquita and Maggon lay in there....yes, Chiquita and Maggon know all about this "secret nest" and have been laying eggs in this nest for months. They crowd in there in spite of Venus's protests and scolding, lay an egg (pale blue and green), and leave. It would be disastrous if I couldn't determine which eggs were fresh and which eggs are growing. Venus is such a sweet chicken...I think she'll be an excellent mother. Right now though, she's pretty fierce if you stick you hand in the nest. It's amazing what a few hormones can do to a girl!

Maggon (in rear) crowding a broody Venus

You would look crabby too, if you'd been sitting on a clutch of eggs in one spot for 19 (so far) days

Plant Label Fail

2010-05-13T13:52:00.007-04:00

The problem with those plastic plant labels/tags that come stuck in the pot with the plant is that they have several drawbacks. They fade over time rendering the tag useless as the printing has magically disappeared. Chickens like to eat them. They can blow away. They're rather unsightly.

My hens devoured the portion of this label which tells the plant name. Fortunately I could remember this one: Polish Spirit Clematis.

There is a plus side, however. Lazy folks, such as myself, can just jab the label down into the earth by the transplanted plant, and voila! 'Tis marked! Years later, however, when we want to remember what was that plant I planted there, well, there's no way of telling (see above).

For years I relied on those markers because I really didn't have any other means to mark my plants. My recent chicken acquisition has made me re-think the way I mark my plants because, you see, my chickens simply adore eating those plastic plant labels. I've lost track of countless plants now because the girls have either eaten the entire label, or they've eaten just enough so as to remove the name of the plant, or they've scratched the label out of the ground and the wind has blown it into Oz, or some other obscure place that I can't seem to find.

Aluminum plant labels--a more permanent solution

Enter: aluminum plant labels! Our nurseryman friend gave me a handful of aluminum plant labels with little wires that can be twisted around a stem or branch, and the label stays on the plant for eternity. I defy any chicken to eat these labels!

Newly-planted azalea with its nifty aluminum label (which looks huge, but only because it's in the foreground!)

Now, when I get a new plant, it gets marked immediately so that when I'm old and senile (oh wait, that's NOW!) I'll know what I've got.

Close-up of the aluminum plant label showing how the words get "pressed" into the label with a pen or pencil

A pen or pencil is used to write on the aluminum which etches/scratches the wording right into the label. There's nothing to wear off or fade. Genius. I write the year that I'm planting the plant, where I got it, and of course the plant's name.

Promises, Promises

2010-05-12T17:51:00.007-04:00

Nothing says "promise" or "hope" like spring. Spring's hard at work making summer's bounty:

Soon-to-be-ripe "Sparkle" strawberries

Bamboo that I transplanted last year is sending up some new shoots. Bamboo...the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, the third year it leaps!

Spinach

Future chicks: Ameraucana, Welsummer, Speckled Sussex, and Golden Sexlink eggs

Broody Welsummer

Sparkle strawberries after the rain

Dwarf Gray Sugar Snap peas emrging

Tomato

Blueberries!

Blueberries after the rain

Douglas Fir shooting out new growth

On Being a Bargain Hunter in an Acid Land

2010-05-11T14:45:00.003-04:00

Toodie enjoying the swing at Keithan's Bluebird Garden in Sunbury, Pennsylvania

My love affair with azaleas began, oh, maybe 40 years ago (!!). During one of our annual pilgrimages to Florida from northern Indiana one spring, our car broke down in Valdosta, GA. We had some time to kill, and walking around that town I was gobsmacked by the number of, and beauty of certain bushes that were nothing but intense color. I'd never seen anything like it, but immediately fell in love.

I later learned that what I'd been seeing were azaleas. Valdosta even holds an annual azalea festival, so I guess we went to the right place to be introduced to azaleas!

Indiana soil is not conducive to azalea, mountain laurel or rhododendron growth; these beasts need acid soil, something that Indiana is lacking. Our attempts at growing these beauties always failed miserably. So, when my husband, sons and I moved from Indiana to Pennsylvania, I was delighted to learn that not only do rhododendrons and mountain laurel grow wild in these parts, azaleas thrive in the acid soil here! Bliss!!

Toodie, ever the poser, in front of a gorgeous azalea in full bloom in Keithan's Bluebird Garden, Sunbury, Pennslyvania

Now, some of my favorite gardens are Keithan's Bluebird Garden in Sunbury, just 6 short miles from my home, Asticou Azalea Garden in Northeast Harbor, Maine (Mount Desert Island) and the nearby Asticou Terraces. These places are loaded with azaleas. Gardens like these must be close to what Heaven is like!

Asticou Terraces in Northeast Harbor, Maine, in autumn 2007 .

Asticou Azalea Garden in Northeast Harbor, Maine, autumn 2007 No azaleas in this shot, but a gorgeous azalea garden to visit. Would love to see it in spring when they're blooming!

My goal is to transform our yard into an azalea/rhododendron/mountain laurel masterpiece. OK, well, it probably will never happen because I'm just one person with a job and family and other responsibilities, but when I can and can afford it, more azaleas, rhodies and mountain laurel get planted here, all over the place.

I'm a frugal person and a bargain hunter. At the end of the spring planting season, many stores and garden centers mark down their plant inventory just to get it out of the way. This is when I attack. Who cares if these plants aren't blooming now? They will be next year, in my yard and garden! A good friend of ours has a landscaping business, and anytime he has to remove a rhododendron or azalea, he brings them to me to transplant here in my Woodland Garden, or Secret Garden, or elsewhere on our property. Slowly but surely, the transformation is taking place....

Stream in our front yard with a freebie rhododendron in full bloom to the right

Front yard view from across the stream

Part of our front yard...stream is down there in the "weeds"

Ding Dong

2010-05-10T20:49:00.001-04:00

Welsummer rooster, Ding Dong

Ding Dong the Wicked Rooster's Dead (to be sung to the tune of Ding Dong The Wicked Witch Is Dead from the "Wizard of Oz.")

Sad but true. Ding Dong was perhaps the most gorgeous, beautiful Welsummer rooster you've ever laid eyes on, but he was mean! He just turned a year old in April, and up until about 3 or 4 months ago he was just fine. But one day he decided to take on the world and attack any living thing that wasn't a chicken, yours truly included.

Last month Ding Dong sent me packin' to the doctor's office with a nasty infected puncture wound on my left knee. Roosters have some pretty impressive "spurs" on their legs, and believe me, they know how to use them! He nailed my knee with a spur on a Saturday morning, and by nightfall I was on crutches and in serious pain. That's when I knew Ding Dong had to go. Next I could just imagine him putting someone's eye out, or worse.

I simply cannot kill things, unless it's sucking my blood, like a mosquito or a tick. I catch spiders and bees that are inside the house and release them outside. So either Hubby Dean had to dispatch Ding Dong, or I'd advertise him on Freecycle. A couple days ago Dean did the deed, and now Ding Dong is packaged up and in the fridge...dog food. (I feed the dogs the Raw Meaty Bones diet, which includes raw chicken...more on that in another post).

This whole business grosses me out. I guess that's part of the reason why I eat a vegetarian diet. Even though Ding Dong was a nasty, mean rooster, I'd raised him from a tiny peep and really, truly hated to see him go.

I must admit though, that it's a joy to be able to walk into the chicken yard unarmed (sans rooster beatin' stick) and not have to worry about being ambushed. My other two roosters, Loki and Livingston (Ameraucana boys) are as sweet as pie and wouldn't even consider hurting me. In fact, when Ding Dong would be attacking me, Livingston would always come running to my rescue and chase Ding Dong away. Smart boy...he knows how to stay out of the freezer!

Mother's Day Video, or, Peeps Peekin'

2010-05-09T21:17:00.000-04:00

In honor of Mother's Day, here's a video of an outstanding mother....Speck.

Where's Waldo?

2010-05-08T17:09:00.006-04:00

Where's Waldo? Click photo to enlarge.

I can't seem to get over how cute this is when the chicks warm up under/on Speck. There are five chicks visible (whole or in part) in this photo. Can you find them all??

I took this photo early this morning while it was still chilly and drizzly. I wonder if Speck can make hot chocolate, too?

It's Just What Chickens Do

2010-05-06T11:26:00.003-04:00

Peeps hitchin' a ride on Speck

We've all seen photos of it. We think it's cute...and it is. But I had never seen it in person until this week. When I went to check on Speck and the peeps, one brave explorer was hitching a ride on Speck's back. HOW ADORABLE! This is part of the reason I get so little done, or so it seems. I spend way too much time watching babies grow up.

Step one: Fly on up!

Step 2: Chill out (and what IS the little guy to the right doing?! He/she looks like a ballet dancer!

Step 3: Make room for a copycat

Step 4: Enjoy the view!

Bad, Bad Chickens!

2010-05-05T18:37:00.006-04:00

Newly planted Impatiens happily growing in my boot planters in the Secret Garden

So the other day I decided to plant some violas in some of my old work boots. I love recycling things, and my old worn out work boots make the perfect planters. I'd been planting impatiens in them (see above photo), but decided to change this year.

Here's a before photo of what they looked like:

Happy little violas freshly planted in boot planters

And here is what happens when hungry hens discover said planters:

After ravenous hens attack!

These were inside our fenced dog yard. Silly hens...no plant is safe.

Which Came First?

2010-05-05T14:53:00.004-04:00

Shades of eggs...from left to right:Golden Sexlink, Welsummer, Ameraucana, and Speckled Sussex eggs

For the past few years I'd been playing around with the idea of getting some chickens once again. Years ago I raised a few chickens (Mille Fleurs, black and red sexlink, Rhode Island Red, and Barred Rock), but we had them for just a short time before we moved to our current location (sans chicken housing) and had to get rid of them when we moved.

Fast forward 18 years to the present, and the urge to get chickens once again has hit home. So last year I ordered some chicks from a hatchery...

I'm all about color. The more the better, the wilder the better, and the more outrageous the better! I was always envious of a girl in my elementary school that had one blue eye and one brown eye...I used to think, "how cool would that be?!" I like "different". Plain white eggs are boring. Plain brown eggs are only slightly less boring. In my opinion, of course. Though all eggs are truly beautiful if you ask me; some just have more pizazz than others.

So when I was deciding which breed of chickens to get get, I knew I had to get ones that would produce some truly colorful eggs. I also wanted "productive", but you can't always have both, can you? I got a few Golden Sexlink girls that would be "egg machines" and crank out a (slightly boring) large brown egg nearly every day. My Welsummer girls lay a nice dark brown (and sometimes speckled) egg about 5 times per week. The Ameraucanas lay shades of green and blue about 5 times a week as well, sometimes more. The Speckled Sussex lay a very, very light brown egg...kinda creamy looking, but they're very small and add a nice contrast to the other colors in the box. They're average layers as well.

The girls started laying last August (2009), only 4-1/2 months after they hatched. What follows is a short "photo essay" of some of the lovely eggs they've blessed me with. Enjoy.

A few of the eggs collected one morning recently. Who needs an egg coloring kit for Easter when you've got eggs like these?

A few bizarre eggs

Color! Color! Color! 12:00 and 2:00 = Ameraucana 4:00 = Welsummer

6:00 = Golden Sexlink, and 8:00 & 10:00 = Speckled Sussex

The most eggs I collected in one day was 24 from the 26 girls that were laying. Here they are in all their glory. Thanks, ladies!

A sampling of eggs and one butt-feather

Shades of Ameraucana eggs

That had to hurt! A Golden Sexlink egg dwarfs all the others. It weighed more than a "jumbo" egg by quite a bit! The rest of the eggs in this carton are considered a "large" size.

My Welsummer girls lay quite a variety of egg shades and patterns. Above are just a few.

Wee Baby Peeps!

2010-05-04T16:16:00.001-04:00

New babies at Cairnwood Cottage!

My big fat Speckled Sussex hen, Speck, went broody last month. She had a serious case of it, so I decided to let her hatch some eggs. All five of my Speckled Sussex hens lay very small eggs for their size; honestly, they look like banty eggs, and these are coming from the largest hens in my small flock! I've been wanting to hatch out some Welsummer/Ameraucana crosses in an attempt to get some "olive eggers"; hens that lay a dark olive-colored egg. I've read that this particular cross will result in olive-colored eggs, especially if the daddy is a Welsummer and the mama is an Ameraucana. We shall see!

I placed 13 eggs under Speck: 1 Golden Sexlink egg, 6 Welsummer eggs, and 6 Ameraucana eggs. I've got 2 Ameraucana roosters and one Welsummer rooster running with my 25 hens, so obviously the daddies are going to be Ameraucana and Welsummer.

Hatch date for these eggs was April 21. A couple days before the 21st, I noticed a Welsummer egg had mysteriously ended up outside the nesting box (which was located away from the main coop and nesting boxes). It was cracked and I could see a chick inside, so I put the egg back under Speck, not knowing if it would hatch or not. Perhaps the chick was already dead as I had no idea how long the egg was out in the chilly air.

Next day I checked the eggs when Speck left the nest to do her chickenly business. I counted and found only TEN eggs! The cracked Welsummer egg from the day before was gone, as was an Ameraucana egg. I saw bits of eggshell, both brown and green/blue in the nest, so decided that Speck must have eaten the eggs. HORRORS! By this time I was feeling a bit sick at the thought that perhaps Speck was eating the chicks as they hatched, which sometimes happens, I've been told, when a new mama is startled by the activity going on beneath her. Or maybe Speck accidentally cracked the eggs and was cleaning up her mess. Who knows?

On April 20 I peeked into Speck's nesting box and saw her poking around under herself, and when she looked at me she had blood and goop on her beak. Wuh? I grabbed her off the nest and found a partially opened Golden Sexlink egg, chick inside which I assumed was dead. I removed the egg intending to bury it, but noticed the chick moved. It was still alive, but not for long. Poor little thing died in my hand, a perfect little yellow chick, just like its Golden Sexlink mommy was when she was a peep.

OK. By this time I was in a panic and decided to take the remaining 10 eggs away from Speck at the advice of several folks who know about such things. Problem: I don't have an incubator! I was advised to put the eggs in a box with a heat lamp, lightly mist the eggs with warm water several times a day to prevent them from drying out, and hope for the best. This I did, and waited....

April 21 came and went with no signs of life. I had heard peeping coming from several of the eggs earlier, but none on the 21st. I assumed they'd all died.

BUT! Miracle of miracles, on April 22nd one of the Welsummer eggs pipped! For those who don't know, when an egg "pips" it simply means that a tiny hole finally appears where the chick is beginning to work its way out. I was so excited when I went to bed that night I could barely sleep! I checked the eggs when I went to work at 3:00 a.m. and still there wasn't much progress. By the time I got home from work around 9:30 a.m., my husband announced that there were 2 chicks waiting for me upstairs in the "brooder". Sweet!

This little peeper was waiting for me when I got home from work.

I won't bore you with all the details, but let me just say that this business of hatching out peeps is very, very stressful!

So on the 23rd a total of 3 eggs hatched: two Welsummer and 1 Ameraucana. The third peep to hatch had a big "blister", for lack of a better term, on its right "shoulder", just at the point where the neck and wing meet. Odd. First chick to hatch is named Pip, and the second is Squeak. The third chick is Bubble, for obvious reasons.

Pip and Squeak watch as Bubble hatches..."Dude! Look at the claws on that thing! Maybe if we hide behind this egg it won't see us! What IS that thing, anyway?!"

Two more chicks hatched on the 24th, a Welsummer and an Ameraucana. A 6th egg (Ameraucana) pipped and was mostly hatched by nightfall, but it wasn't very lively and ended up dying overnight.

Another Ameraucana egg hatched on the 25th.

Ameraucana egg hatching

Two more eggs piped in the morning of the 26th, both Welsummers. One of those ended up dying before it could hatch, and the last one eventually hatched by evening. I must say this last one had, and still has, me worried. It worked so hard to get out of that shell, and took such a long time that I was afraid it would end up like the little one that died overnight. It was also beginning to dry out. So I must confess that I helped it out of the shell a little, something that you're actually NOT suppose to do. Chicks need that "struggle" to get them going, and generally if they can't get out it means there's something wrong with them. I couldn't just not do something and watch this little squeaker die in its shell...it was trying so hard.

One of the Welsummer eggs had begun to ooze a stinky fluid on the 23rd, so I discarded that one. Bad eggs do smell horrible!

I raised 36 peeps in a brooder in an upstairs bedroom last year, and really had no desire to do that again. I was, after all, hoping Speck would do all that work for me! The same folks that advised me to place the eggs in a box with a heat lamp also suggested that once the eggs hatched, Speck would probably accept the chicks if I placed them under her after dark while she was sleeping. She'd just wake up and voila! Her babies had arrived and all would be cool. I decided to try this, but didn't want to just stick them under her without being able to observe her reaction in case I needed to intervene. Solution: I threw a tarp over her nesting box and placed 2 chicks under her late in the day on the 24th. I watched her as best I could and was amazed to see that she didn't attack and eat the peeps...she did seem mildly concerned though, but accepting. I went to bed later thinking I'd find nothing left of the peeps in the morning, but amazingly they were alive and looking fine.

Pip (left) and Squeak peeking out from under Speck, who is turning out to be a good mommy after all.

BY the following night, on the 25th, I had a total of 6 chicks under Speck. That last chick, Zoe, hadn't even hatched yet. She came along on the 26th, and since she was so weak I held her in the brooder until the 27th. She went out to be with the rest of her siblings on the 27th and so far is doing well, though she is so tiny compared to the rest. It also appears that she has some kind of slight limp. I think Speck stepped on her 2 days ago because her limp was very severe then. Today it's not so bad and I actually saw her running, so I'm hoping that's a good sign. She tends to tire easily and isn't as active as the rest of the crew, but she's eating more recently so hopefully she'll get some energy and grow, grow, grow!

Now I've got a second hen gone broody, a Welsummer. I placed 8 eggs under her on the 23rd. I discovered that one of the eggs had broken (she was in the process of cleaning up the mess when I discovered this) on the 25th. All the remaining eggs were covered in egg goop, so I ended up replacing them all on the 26th with 9 fresh ones. I'd been advised that sometimes when this happens that bacteria can get into an egg through the shell and ruin any chances of them hatching, but then I'd also been told by someone else that they had this happen and the eggs hatched fine.

Wouldn't you know it, a couple days later one of the new eggs broke and gooped up the rest. Sigh. I cleaned up the mess but left the eggs in there, taking my chances that they'll hatch. I could just see me replacing eggs every few days when one would happen to get broken and none would ever hatch. We'll see what happens. Her eggs are due to hatch on the 16th of May.

So Far Behind!

2010-05-03T18:55:00.004-04:00

Royal Paulonia Blooms

I can't believe I've gotten so far behind in this blog! So much is going on and I just haven't taken the time to write updates. Garden, chicks, etc. etc. are in full swing and I've got lots of catching up to do.

I noticed a couple days ago that the Royal Paulonia tree that I planted about five years ago has finally bloomed! It's got gorgeous purple flowers that smell amazing. I've never seen another Royal Paulonia growing anywhere, so really had no idea what to expect. Just when the Eastern Redbud is losing its buds, the Royal Paulonia is taking over. Nice.

And I just realized yesterday that when rhubarb goes to seed, it smells just like mushrooms! I was weeding or watering around the rhubarb and I kept smelling mushrooms. So, hoping I might find some morels growing nearby (!!), I looked around and of course found none. But I did happen to take a whiff of the rhubarb seed stalk and wowzers! Mushroom scent!

Here is Zoe, the last of 7 peeps to hatch last week. She's had a rough start, with a hurt leg and she's so much smaller than the other 6. Such a dear!

I've got seven new little peeps which hatched out last week! They are amazingly cute (aren't they all?!) I'll fill you in on the details soon, but for now Speck, a Speckled Sussex is their "mommy" and is doing a wonderful job raising them, even though she's not really their mommy at all.

Something's Peekin'!

2010-03-09T12:10:00.006-05:00

Daffodils peeking through the snow

I'm slightly miffed because I just finished this entry, and Blogger somehow lost the entire thing, so now I must re-write it all!

Anyway, I took my camera out for a walk around the property to capture images of all things spring-like. We still have patches of snow here and there, but that doesn't stop my intrepid daffodils from peeking up through the frozen white stuff. I've said it many times before: daffodils are my favorite flower! I love the way they look, and I love the fact that they are harbingers of spring. You just can't look at a daffodil without thinking "SPRING!"

Fortunately we haven't had much flooding with all the rapidly melting snow. Our little front yard stream, barely visible in this photo, is behaving itself nicely...with daffodils looking on, of course.

Sunbathing Biddys

A couple of the hens managed to escape the chicken run and find a suitable spot to dust bathe...in one of my strawberry patches, little stinkers! The Ameraucana hen on the right looks mildly perturbed at this paparazzi for snapping a photo of their private moment.

Venus lays an egg....finally! This was found in her outdoor "run" made from straw bales

Close-up of Venus's egg

And perhaps the biggest news so far this spring...Venus has begun to lay eggs!! As you may recall, Venus is my crippled Welsummer hen. She's been lame/crippled since she was about 2 months old, and just in the past week she's finally begun to lay. I've also noticed her scratching and pecking like a "real" chicken, somethinig I've never seen her do before, probably because she just couldn't use her feet/legs like that. She seems to be enjoying life now, and what better time to grab life by the horns than spring? Go Venus! Bring it on!

Cookie Tin Water Heater

2010-03-08T13:13:00.003-05:00

Once the weather turned cold and the chicken waterers began freezing up, I was about to pull my hair out. How many times a day can one person be expected to tromp up to the chicken coop, get the frozen chicken water, bring it back to the house and thaw everything out in warm water, refill the waterer, haul it back to the coop? Once is plenty, thank-you!

Fortunately, I'd been sent a link for a homemade water heater, that, as it turns out, is very effective and inexpensive to make. This thing saved my sanity this winter. All that is needed is a cookie tin, some electrical stuff and a low watt light bulb; the instructions call for a 25 watt bulb, but I think we're using something lower than that. The bulb is placed inside the cookie tin, and the chicken water sits on top of the tin. The bulb, of course, keeps the water warm enough that it doesn't freeze. Amazingly simple! The ONLY problem I had with this set-up is, the chickens occasionally knocked the waterer off the heater. We simply need to rig something up that will prevent that, otherwise this works like a charm.

From Scratch

2010-03-04T13:27:00.005-05:00

My niece, Sarah, has a charming blog over at 8 Muddy Boots. She's been doing a weekly "From Scratch" series, of which I'm envious. SO, since I've been so lax in writing in MY blog, perhaps you can enjoy hers while I try to find the time/energy to update my own!!

An Abundance of Eggs

2009-10-22T20:40:00.005-04:00

Silicone muffin pans make an excellent "mold" for freezing individual eggs

So, what does one do when there is an abundance of eggs? I'm getting anywhere from 12-18 eggs a day from my 26 girls...at least this is how many I'm finding. Little stinkers like to lay all over the place, which makes daily egg gathering something of a daily Easter egg hunt.

My husband and I can only use so many eggs; the rest I'm trying to sell, and that's hard to do here in the country when so many of my neighbors have eggs for sale or are giving them away for free.

A friend suggested freezing eggs in silicone muffin pans. Brilliant! I'd been cracking the eggs open and freezing them in containers, intending to use them for scrambled eggs or omelets. Freezing individual eggs in each cup of the silicone muffin pan enables me to place these frozen eggs in a plastic bag and freeze that. Then, when I need a single egg, or a certain number of eggs, I can just open the bag and count out how many eggs I need. And unless I let the eggs thaw a bit then re-freeze, they don't stick together.

Bag of individually frozen eggs

A single large egg, frozen and freshly popped out of the silicone muffin pan

The silicone muffin pan is wonderful for freezing eggs for several reasons. They're just the right size for large and jumbo-size eggs. I suppose one could use very large ice cube trays for smaller eggs; I seem to recall reading that someone had done this, but haven't tried it myself. Silicone is supposedly a food-safe material and won't leech dangerous chemicals into your food. Getting the eggs out of the muffin pan couldn't be simpler....just turn it inside-out and the eggs pop right out. Clean-up is easy.

I'm assuming my girls will slow down their egg production over the winter months, which is when I'll dive into the frozen eggs. These eggs won't be suitable for making fried eggs (sunny-side up type), but should be perfect for baking, scrambled eggs or omelets.

**NOTE. I hadn't used these frozen eggs at the time I wrote the above. Since someone had asked me how they were after being thawed, I thawed a couple to see what they would be like. Interestingly, the yolk becomes somewhat solid, so I'm thinking I'll try stirring the white and yolk together before freezing to see if that makes a difference. Taste is fine. More updates to come...

They Stink. They Bite. They Swarm.

2009-10-20T20:28:00.007-04:00

Close-up of a Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle that landed on my jeans

And today is the day they invaded the earth...or so it seems. My sister-in-law in Indiana told me they saw their fist invaders today. People here in Central Pennsylvania have been telling me they've noticed the invasion today for the first time this fall.

What are they? They're often mistakenly called ladybugs, but these are no ordinary "ladybird beetles", though they do look similar. These are the "Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles", or Harmonia axyridis. H. axyridis was introduced to the United States in the late 1970's as a biological control agent, and feeds on such pests as aphids and scales. You can read more about these beetles here, or do an internet search and find a plethora of sites on the subject.

View of the house from our garage...you can see the air is filled with swarming beetles!

One article that I read dealing with these beetles stated that the beetles do not bite or sting. Huh? Either I've got a different kind of beetle swarming here, or the person writing that article hasn't been under siege by these beetles. If what I'm feeling isn't a bite, I'd sure like to know what on earth that sensation is!

Part of the garage being overrun by beetles

Today while doing chores, I felt like I was living in a horror film. The beetles were swarming all over the garage and chicken coop, and when I'd get near those areas, I'd be instantly covered with beetles. They have a peculiar smell, and they crawl all over the place, including under my clothes where I'd often be on the receiving end of a bite (or whatever that is!). The chickens didn't seem to be interested in ingesting any of these creatures, sadly.

I can only hope that they do indeed annihilate aphids, scales and psyllids, because anything this annoying certainly must have some special purpose in life.

Old Habits Die Hard

2009-10-16T13:27:00.002-04:00

Welsummer egg in a hidden snow nest

It's been quite a long time since I've written anything here....so much catching up to do!

Let me jump right into things, then play catch up later. My chickens began laying on August 20, first one egg and now we're up to well over a dozen eggs a day. The record so far is 20 eggs in one day from my 26 girls.

Harriet is one of my Welsummer girls, named after Harry Houdini because she constantly escapes from the chicken run. I discovered that, once Harriet started laying, she began laying in a hidden nest in a patch of beans that I'd been letting go to seed. She's laid an egg in there nearly every day since I discovered the nest a couple weeks ago. Her eggs are a nice dark brown, but not quite as dark as I'd expect from a Welsummer.

Harriet, my Welsummer hen named after Harry Houdini. She's a renegade chicken that marches to a different drummer.

Yesterday we got the first snow of the season, which is quite early for Pennsylvania. It's still snowing today. But, old habits die hard, and Harriet braved the snow and made her way to her "hidden" nest and promptly deposited a nice brown egg. I'd placed a golf ball in her nest to encourage her to return to the same spot rather than lay all over creation, which, of course, would mean I'd have to hunt and hunt and hunt to find eggs.

I'm not sure what goes on in a chicken's brain, but she prefers this spot out in the open to the nesting boxes I have set up in the chicken run. Silly girl.

Just When I Think I've Got Them All...

2009-08-06T11:19:00.010-04:00

Blackberries in their prime

I've been picking fresh berries of one sort or another on a daily basis since late May/early June, starting with strawberries. Following closely on the heals of the strawberries were the red and black raspberries, and before they were finished, the blueberries began ripening. The blueberries are still going strong, and now the blackberries are producing in full swing.

A typical breakfast for me consists mainly of fruit (berries!), yogurt and walnuts

What can I say? I love berries. I love picking them every morning for my breakfast of berries/fresh yogurt/walnuts. I'm considering a vegan lifestyle, but I'm not sure I could give up my yogurt...

Toodie, my blue merle Australian Shepherd posing as "Blueberry Muffin" in the blueberry bushes

Anyway, I have lots of help when it comes to picking the berries. Toodie (Australian Shepherd) runs to the blueberry bushes when I ask her if she wants to help Mom pick blueberries. She hovers beneath the bushes, waiting for a handout, or methodically eating the fallen blueberries that she's able to find. Tristan, on the other hand, swaggers out to the blueberry bushes and stands beneath them, eating the berries straight off the bushes like a black bear. Naughty dog! I wonder how many quarts he's eaten this year?

I've learned to be careful when picking blueberries...careful not to pick them before they're entirely ripe. If there's a hint of purple/pink on them, they'll not be nearly as sweet as if they're nearly black, or at least a deep, dark blue.

The amazing new wonder plant that (1) produces beautiful imaptiens flowers, (2) blueberries, and (3) small amounts of silk in the blossom-end of the blueberry!!

I've also learned to examine each berry for impurities, mainly of the bug variety. Some have tiny holes in them, and inside will be a nice juicy worm. Or, the blossom end of the berry will sport a web of sorts...it looks like it's been stuffed with cotton. I'm not sure what lurks beneath that, but I sure don't want to eat it!

Close-up of the web in the blossom-end of the blueberry. Placed in an impatiens flower for lack of a better background.

The blackberries are in their prime at the moment. Again, I've learned to not pick them before their time. It's tempting to pick anything that appears black, but I've learned to not pick them until (1) they simply fall off the canes with the slightest touch, (2) they're soft and squishy, not firm, and (3) they're entirely black with not the least bit of red showing. The best way to determine this is to view them in bright sunlight, preferably slightly backlit. If you should happen to put them in the freezer, the slightly under ripe ones will turn red, while the black ones remain black.

Blackberries in different stages of ripeness...green, pink, red, mostly black, and black

And it never ceases to amaze me how, when I'm picking berries, I think I've got them all, then I'll stoop down or move a bit and look at the patch from a different angle and see dozens that I've missed. Sneaky guys.

And Just Who Did Patty Frolic With Last Year?!

2009-08-06T10:57:00.007-04:00

The Squash Thing

Last year the garden just went to pot after I suspected I had lymphoma in September, then had it confirmed in October. Things just didn't get cleaned up and I left a lot of debris lying about the place.

One of the garden leavings was a squash plant, an open pollinated, heirloom "patty pan" squash. I've got two nice, robust squash plants growing in the bed where last year's patty pan grew. Lots of tomatoes were also left, and as a result I'm happy to have a plethora of tomato plants springing up all over the place and producing nicely. And there's the occasional volunteer potato here and there; I just can't bring myself to rip any of these out of the garden when they show up, so obviously wanting to live and be productive members of society.

The other day I had a hankerin' for some fresh squash, so went to check on the "patty pan" since I'd seen blossoms there for quite some time. I spied one infant squash...but wait! That's no patty pan! It's round. How'd that happen? I just couldn't figure out what the squash had crossed with last year as I'd had no other squash, or even cucumbers in the garden. Then I remembered I DID have a muskmelon (cantaloup)...but I've recently been informed that patty pan squash and melons can't cross, so I guess that's not a possibility. Perhaps a nearby (as in 1/2 mile away being the nearest) garden holds the culprit of Patty's cross pollination?

So, I'm watching the bastard child of Patty and Whatever and am wondering what it will be like when it's ripe. And for that matter, how will I know when it's ripe? Do I cook it, or eat it raw?

Next door to this Squash Thing a cucumber plant has been in bloom, and already I'm wondering what's been going on when no one's looking...

Spuds

2009-07-30T20:57:00.004-04:00

Russian Banana fingerling potatoes from just one plant!

I'm bad. Has it really been over a month since I last updated my blog?! I won't launch into a bunch of excuses...they all apply!

Today, besides picking blueberries and blackberries, I dug a few more potatoes. This year I planted 5 varieties: French Fingerling, Russian Banana (also a fingerling), Red Gold, Shepody, and Yukon Gold. They were all from seed potatoes which I saved from last year.

In recent years I've been planting my potatoes a little later than most people do because I've found that I don't have the problem with Colorado potato beetles that I do when they're planted early. For some odd reason, probably over-exuberance, I planted my potatoes all on April 23rd this year, about a month earlier than I have been. And of course my plants were covered with CPBs. I was a bit dismayed to find that my new chickens don't seem to find CPBs as tasty as I was expecting them to. They rather acted like a child being force-fed chopped liver.

At any rate, the potatoes all survived and the earlier varieties are now in the process of dying back, indicating that they're ready to be dug. Several days ago I dug a few Yukon Gold and all the Red Gold. Harvest was pretty decent, but never quite what I expect, or rather, hope.

Today I noticed one of my Russian Banana potatoes had died back, so dug that one. Russian Bananas have tan skin and a yellow, waxy flesh, and like most fingerlings, are considered a "gourmet" treat. I was pleasantly surprised when I dug into that "nest" of fingerlings; I've never seen so many from one plant! I planted one average-size Russian Banana and ended up with 48 (not counting the very tiny ones) fingerlings. Quite a haul!

Now, if I could just figure out how to get the rest of my potatoes to produce on that scale! Can you imagine digging up 48 of ANY kind of potatoes from one plant?

Peas

2009-06-28T18:37:00.007-04:00

Peas growing up the fence around our backyard

We've been enjoying fresh peas for the past week. I adore fresh peas! And it seems like there's never enough peas, no matter how much I plant. Fresh peas are an entirely different breed of cat than those nasty, mushy, canned things we were served frequently in the school cafeteria. If those are the only peas a person has ever had, it's no wonder folks hate peas!

A small portion of the peas I just picked

Years ago (close to 30!) when we were first married and living in Anderson, Indiana, our little neighbor boy, who was three years old at the time, would often come over to visit us from across the street. One day I was working in my garden behind the house, and I asked him if he liked peas. "NO!" was his answer. I told him my peas tasted like candy and talked him into trying one, fresh-picked and raw. He loved them! I was told by his folks years later, that he still talks about his introduction to fresh peas, and still eats fresh peas.

I've got several beds of peas growing this year. I planted a long row of them along the fence that keeps the dogs in our backyard. These peas are looking wonderful, and amazingly, they haven't been touched by the resident groundhogs. The peas that are growing closer to the groundhog hole seem to disappear at an alarming rate, yet I'm still able to get a few peas from those beds.

Dwarf gray sugar snap peas that I planted for sprouts

Something I've been doing the last few years is to grow peas for sprouts, which make a delicious addition to salads and stir fries. I read somewhere that the best peas for sprouts were "dwarf gray sugar snap" peas. I've been planting these the past few years and the sprouts are very tasty. I plant a row of peas fairly close together, and when they're a couple inches high I take the scissors to them and cut them off, leaving about a half inch of stem. They re-grow, at which time you can cut them off again. You can continue doing this, (also called "cut and come again"), or you can let them grow and produce peas after a few cuttings.

Fresh Pea Soup

One of my favorite ways to fix peas is to make fresh pea soup. So very easy, and so tasty. It can be harty fare, or it can be very elegant, all decked out with cute little flowers for a garnish.

One of My Many "Latest Projects"

2009-06-10T12:47:00.006-04:00

A work in progress...variable-height future herb planters lining a flower bed

For years I've been contemplating what I can do with these tiles that I found on our property years ago when we moved here (about 17 years ago!). And for years I've had an idea of what I wanted to do, but just never got my rear in gear and DID it. Well, I take that back. One year I actually did make a sort of "sculpture" with them and planted some stuff in them. This year I've decided to edge a flower bed with them and plant herbs in them.

I've been keeping myself busy the last few days. Yesterday was a major mulch day, and I finally got most of the front yard flower beds mulched. There are still a few areas that need it out front. Today I've been getting a few more things planted in the Secret Garden, plus a bit more mulching done out there.

What else needs to be done here at Cairnwood Cottage? Dead heading rhododendrons, roses, and hanging baskets. Mulching the berry patch. Finishing the vineyard. Planting the millions of seed packets that cover my dining room table. Getting more raised beds ready to plant. Weeding. Plant two azaleas that I've got sitting in pots. Turning the compost. The list is endless...

Peeps--Two Months Later

2009-06-08T20:22:00.002-04:00

Welsummer cockerel--Dumpling

Gone are the fuzzy little fluff balls that I picked up at the post office two months ago, and in their place are fine looking young chickens, all grown up looking but still very much just teenagers. It will be a while yet before we see any eggs from the girls, and I have no idea when the boys will attempt their first crow.

I had ordered six Welsummer pullets and six Welsummer "straight run", which means they just grab a hand full of chicks and I get whatever sex happens to be in the mix. Turns out eleven of the twelve were pullets, and I've got one handsome Welsummer cockerel, named Dumpling at the moment. He could end up with a more majestic name later on.

I also had ordered six Specked Sussex pullets, but turns out one of them is a little fella named Noodle. He's a sweet little roo and likes to hang around me when I'm out there tending the flock, but he's becoming aggressive towards the other chickies and I think he's trying to, uh, do the nasty with the hens already. I didn't really want a Sussex roo, so I think I'll be finding a home for Noodle. I can't bear the idea of turning him into Chicken & Noodles, if ya know what I mean. He is a beautiful bird, though.

Noodle, a Speckled Sussex rooster

And last but not least, I had ordered 6 Ameraucana pullets and six straight run Ameraucanas. I still have no idea how many cockerels and pullets I've got, but I think I've got two roosters and the remaining eight (I gave two pullets to Marlenah, my son's girlfriend) I'm thinking are pullets. I'm guessing about the two roosters simply because their combs are bigger and redder than the others, and they themselves are much larger than the others. Time will tell.

Ameraucana pullet

Besides the mail order chickies, I've also got four Golden Sexlink pullets that I got from our local Tractor Supply store the same day I picked up my post office peeps. These four girls are sweet and friendly, though they can look fierce, as the following photo demonstrates.

Who needs gargoyles when you've got chickens?! This is a Golden Sexlink pullet, trying her best to scare off predators and other nasties

Now that the chickens are all grown up, or so they think, they've been spending lots of time in the baths...dust baths. They're loads of fun to watch, but they just make me laugh when they're bathing, which involves much fluffing of feathers, rolling about, shooting dirt out from beneath them (as the photo below shows) and just enjoying what most kids like to do...getting covered in dirt.

Dust bathing chickies...Ameraucana on the left is shooting dirt out from beneath her as the other Ameraucana and the Speckled Sussex relax

We were away all day Saturday, and when we got home I found one of the Welsummer girls with a lame leg. I have no idea what happened to her, but she's very gimpy and hobbles about when she does try to get somewhere, which isn't very often; she spends most of her time sitting. It was suggested that perhaps the Sussex roo was trying uh, mate, with her already and she just didn't have the strength to support that much weight. I'm thinking this is very possible, because yesterday when I went out to check them in the a.m., I saw the Sussex roo, Noodle, just pounce on her, poor little thing. So, I've removed this girl from the flock and put her in a dog crate. I put another Welsummer hen in there with her for company, and they seem happy. I chose this particular hen as a "nurse maid" because she seemed very concerned when I removed the injured girl, and made attempts to follow me. I'd like to think that they're buddies and that this chicken really was concerned about her comrade.

Injured Welsummer pullet in foreground, with her "nurse maid" in back

Here's hoping my little Welly girl heals and gets better soon!

Wild Strawberries

2009-06-04T11:25:00.004-04:00

Yes, these are WILD strawberries! HUGE, aren't they?

For years I've battled wild strawberries growing in my garden. Weeds. I've been pulling them out, hoeing them, mulching over them, but whatever I do, they just come back. This year I'm behind in a lot of gardenly things, and around the edges of the section of garden where my raised beds are, the wild strawberries are flourishing. In fact, some of the rows between the raised beds have some wild strawberries growing in them. I just can't get rid of them.

The other day I noticed that many of the wild strawberries are producing berries. Massive berries, for wild strawberries. Most wild strawberries that I've encountered are tiny little things, about the size of my little fingernail, if that. These babies are the size of many domestic strawberries. And their flavor? Superb! They have that wild strawberry flavor with the size of domestics. How can that combination be beat?

This morning I picked a bowl full of these wild strawberries to enjoy with my homemade yogurt for breakfast. Divine. Now I'm wondering...why on earth am I going to all the trouble to start an official strawberry bed of domestic strawberries that need to be pampered, when I could just graze off the ones growing around my garden?

Honestly, I'm thinking I'll propagate the wild strawberry plants that seem to be producing the largest berries and start a large patch of very big wild strawberries.

I'm so glad my husband isn't a fan of strawberries....

First Rose of Summer

2009-05-26T11:45:00.000-04:00

The first rose to bloom at Cairnwood Cottage is this one, a descendant from my grandparents' rose bush

I suppose that should really be the first rose of spring, since summer is technically a month away yet. Actually I noticed the first roses starting to bloom last week. The rose bush these particular roses are growing on is a bush that has descended from a rose bush that grew on my grandparents' farm in northern Indiana. My parents got a start from it and have it growing on their property, just 1/2 mile away from the original farmhouse rose. Then I got a start from my parents' rose. It's nice to know that this rose growing here in central Pennsylvania, has roots in Indiana. And whenever I see this rose, I think of my now-deceased grandparents.

Rain drop-laden rose

I can almost SMELL the sweet rose aroma!

Today is rainy, and I'm feeling quite lazy. I should be taking advantage of this forced hiatus from outdoor work by getting the laundry, dishes and house cleaning done, but I quite simply don't feel like it! So here I sit instead, and will probably take a nap a bit later.

Rain drops clinging to wild cherry blossoms, creating strings of "jewels"

Close-up of wild cherry "jewels"

Several days ago we had rain as well, and I took advantage of the unique beauty that only rainy days offer, and grabbed some photos. I was struck by the unusual jewel-like beauty of the wild cherry blossoms that hung over our driveway, and the velvety soft appearance of the roses covered with rain drops. How can I ever complain about rain?!

Babies Galore!

2009-05-19T19:16:00.000-04:00

Baby Blues...future tasty blueberries

Spring is known for babies...chicks, baby birds, foals, calves, bunnies...you name it. Seems like there's a lot of new life in spring. Cairnwood Cottage has its share of new life as well.

The 19 asparagus crowns that I planted on April 6 are finally showing signs of life. Tiny little asparagus "seedlings' are poking up beside the stakes that mark the spot where I planted them. I had been getting a bit worried as I expected them to make an appearance long before this. Better late than never.

Newly planted asparagus is finally peeking!

The fruit trees are sporting tiny little fruits.

Baby pear

The blueberry bushes are loaded with baby blueberries...let's hope I get more than the birds do this season!

Asparagus beetles are hard at working trying to create another generation of beetles for me to battle and feed to the chickens. They just won't give up!

Who gets more of my asparagus...me or these beetles?!

My Miss Bateman clematis blossoms have opened further.

Miss Bateman cleamatis

Miss Bateman clematis...view from below

Baby birds are cheeping from their hidden nest under our front porch roof. The list goes on. Who can't love spring?

Before The Storm

2009-05-16T11:36:00.008-04:00

Ladybug enjoying the early morning

A beautiful morning greeted me when I crawled out of bed this morning. I've got lots on my to-do list as normal, but I decided to pause and wander around, camera in-hand, and take a few photos of some of God's wonderful creations before the predicted thunderstorms arrive. Some days it just feels so good to be alive...today is one of those days. We truly live on a magnificent planet.

Frog enjoying the cool, moist shade between a flower and a pot of seedlings in a flower bed

Frog eye up close

I noticed that my Miss Bateman clematis was blooming for the first time since I planted it last year. I've planted several clematis along the fence that keeps our dogs in the backyard/orchard. This is the first one to bloom of the clematis I planted last year. I counted 4 blooms on it this morning.

Miss Bateman Clematis--first bloom of the season

Miss Bateman Clematis up close

The fruit trees are mostly done blooming now, their once snow white blossoms now turning brown where they've fallen on the ground and the picnic table. My quince tree has a few blossoms left, but there is just one that I could find that was intact.

The last perfect quince blossom

My azaleas are a riot of color, and the rhododendron buds are beginning to pop open. The front yard is very colorful at the moment with the various flowering shrubs. Everything looks compressed in this photo, but there is a stream and another small yard area between that row of spent daffodils and the yellow shrub in the background. Yeah, we need to mow, weed, and put down mulch, but there always seems to be something more pressing to do.

Some of the azaleas in our front yard in full bloom. Rhododendrons are not far behind.

And I'm excited to report that of the 11 bamboo shoots that I transplanted, they all seem to be alive to some extent...I realize now that I didn't pick the best time to transplant them, so I'm hoping they all survive. I did notice this morning that one transplant has actually sent up a baby shoot.

Baby bamboo shoot

Now that I've enjoyed the outdoors, bring on the rain and thunderstorms! I've got plenty to do on the sadly neglected inside of the house.

Peep Treats

2009-05-15T10:33:00.006-04:00

Ameraucana (left) and Speckled Sussex (right) chicks snacking on chickweed

There's a reason they call it chickweed (Stellaria media). Chicks love the stuff. And it's not just chickens that love it. "Little birds in cadges (especially Linnets) are refreshed with the lesser Chickweed when they loath their meat whereupon it was called of some "Passerina"--John Gerard, in his 1597 English text on medicinal plants, Herbal or General History of Plants. Humans can also eat chickweed, but that's another entry altogether.

My little peepers come running lately when they see me approach the Peep House. They know I'll more than likely be giving them treats of chickweed, which they dive into and scarf down with wild abandon. If they were puppies, they'd be rolling in it.

One peep is almost always the first one to greet me. I call him/her Livingston because I think he/she looks a lot like a seagull (some may not be old enough to even have a clue what I'm talking about) with his/her gray head and dark eyeliner. Livingston is very friendly and likes to follow me around, or just hang out nearby if I happen to sit on the cement block I use as a chair while I do nothing but watch the peep antics. I'm not sure how long it will be before I know if Livingston is a he or a she. If it turns out to be a little pullet, I guess I'll change the name to Livvy.

Livingston, an Ameraucana chick

And I'm thankful to still have 31 peeps today! Yesterday Toodie sounded the alarm while she was outside in the dog yard. I could tell from her bark that an intruder was nearby. When I went to check the peeps, I discovered that the gate had blown open (Horrors! It was an extremely windy day and our latch failed), and there was a strange cat a few feet away from the pen. A very pretty long-haired cat, I think it was a female looking for love in all the wrong places, from the sounds of it. I did the pssssst noise at her and she ran off into the woods, but returned later and continued to hang around most of the day. Toodie was not amused, nor was I. I was very concerned, because a cat would have no problems getting into the peep pen, and the little peepers are still small enough that a cat could take one out with no trouble. I had a hard time counting the peeps yesterday because they move so fast, and with 31 to count, they're just all over the place. After a bit of a struggle, I did determine that all 31 are still healthy and happy. And that makes me and Toodie happy.

Minky Bean --Fearsome Killer

2009-05-13T15:19:00.005-04:00

Minky Bean looking all fearsome, rolling and meowing in our driveway, begging for a belly rub

We've got three cats: Minky Bean, Gypsy, and Little Kitten (AKA Fat *ss). The cats hadn't been introduced to my peeps until recently; I really didn't want the cats to develop a taste for peeps so thought I'd wait until the peeps had packed on a little weight and got a little bigger and didn't look quite so....tempting.

Once the peeps were outside in the Peep House and adjoining fenced run, we'd been keeping the cats indoors to prevent any sort of peep-cat altercation. The cats were getting antsy to go outside. I was getting tired of hearing their plaintive meows and cries, and I was also getting tired of cleaning out the cat box so frequently.

I took Minky Bean outside. Now, Minky Bean is a mighty hunter, which is one reason I was a bit worried for the peeps. She's brought down prey nearly as large as herself: fearsome bunnies, killer chipmunks, man-eating rodents of all sizes and deadly birds of all sorts. She even survived a coyote attack which left her with a broken jaw, permanently oozing wound on her lower jaw, broken teeth, and a horribly crooked face in a cute sort of way. I shudder to think what that poor coyote must have looked like after this encounter; obviously his dinner wasn't quite as wimpy as he was hoping.

So I carried Minky Bean up to the Peep House. Peeps were all out and running about, scratching and pecking and doing their Peeply Thing. Minky caught a glimpse of them and nearly tore my arm off in her frantic attempt to get away. Huh?!

I'm not sure what went through her head. Is she truly afraid of chickens? Was she pecked nearly to death by peeps as a kitten on the farm where I got her? Did she envision a herd of T-Rex babies on the attack?

Whether the sheer numbers frightened her (she's not stupid, she knows when she's outnumbered by a deadly foe) or she just didn't know what these creatures were is beyond me. It is a relief, however, to know we don't need to worry about Minky Bean dining on Peeps--meaty or marshmallow. Oh, and Gypsy reacted in exactly the same way as Minky Bean. Little Kitten never ventures outside...long story, that.

I've been in kind of a funky weird mood today, probably because I stayed up two hours past my bedtime last night reading. Shame on me! I took a nap when I got home from work in spite of the fact that it's a balmy 71 degrees F, sunny and perfect for gardening. I also have an appointment with my oncologist tomorrow to get the results of my recent blood work and PET scan. I'm sure this has some bearing on my mood as well.

So, I'm taking a day off (mostly) from work around here and decided to go mushroom hunting. Walked up the road to the property where morels have been known to thrive, and where the landowners have graciously granted me permission to hunt. I cast my mind back to my childhood to conjure up all the memories of a successful mushroom hunt and the equipment I'd need: a bag for the load of mushrooms I'd find, and the perfect stick, one that is just the right length and has a slight crook at the end for pushing lush foliage aside.

Forest floor where I searched for morels. Note the lush growth of ferns, wildflowers, pretty little stream, and....poison ivy (left).

Armed and confident in my abilities to find the mother lode of morels, I walked the 3/4 miles to the property on Boyscout Road. Wow, lots of poison ivy! Lots of gnats! Mosquitoes galore! My morel mojo left me many years ago I'm afraid; I haven't found a morel in more years than I care to count. Today was no different. Wait...several years ago I did find one dried, shriveled up pathetic little thing, and another that had been growing under one of our apple trees, also dried and shriveled. Does that count?

I think I had better luck finding mushrooms as a kid because (1) I was shorter and closer to my subject, (2) I wasn't allergic to poison ivy then and was oblivious to its location...now I spend most of my time watching for poison ivy instead of looking for mushrooms, and finally (3), I had much more time to "waste" as a child. I spent nearly an hour searching today and feel guilty, somewhat, that I wasn't doing something else more productive.

Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)...view from below.

The only things I found on my mushroom hunt today were some pretty plants, and the solitude and quiet of being in the woods, alone. On my entire 1.5 mile walk on the road I didn't see a single car or truck, or any sort of vehicle. On second thought, that wasn't a wasted hunt at all!

Who Needs Sheep When You've Got Peeps?

2009-05-12T12:12:00.005-04:00

Toodie fancies herself a Peep Herder...forget sheep! Peeps are more of a challenge

OK, so they're not really "peeps" anymore, but to me they'll always be my peeps, even when they're laying eggs. Peeps is just such a cute word. I normally refer to them as my "chickapeeps" when talking to them, or about them.

Ameraucana teenager--looking (mostly) all grown up and just one month old today!

Australian shepherds are known as outstanding sheep herders. Toodie is, perhaps, the world's first peep herder. And it's far more fun than herding cats...peeps can fly! Toodie knows the word "peeps", and when I open the gate and tell her to "go check the peeps", she's on it like a scalded dog. She will do a perimeter check, and herd any peeps back in that have made an unexpected jail break. This fence isn't entirely peep-proof, though now that they're getting a little bigger they're having a harder time squeezing through the openings. I've been feeding them a lot hoping for just that.

Toodie watching over the flock

NEWS FLASH!! Pasty Butt is better! PB is back in the Peep House with his/her commrades and enjoying life. MY life is so much more enjoyable now that I don't have peeps in brooders upstairs as well as out in the Peep House.

I think we've finally solved the pecking problem. I started turning the heat lamp off at night so the peeps would have to sleep and not be awake, bored, pecking each other all night long. Problem is, the last few nights have been downright chilly to the tune of 37 degrees F., and my little peeplets are just a month old. Hubby Dean rigged up the Peep House to reduce the interior size by about half, and we hung a heating pad in the corner where the peeps normally sleep. We also lowered the interior roof (tarps are amazing things!) to keep the warmth low, and the peeps have made it through those chilly nights with no problems. It feels pretty toasty in there when I let them out in the mornings.

Camo Peeps investigating shrubs

Yesterday I mowed the dog yard/orchard and had three huge wheel barrows full of grass clippings to use as one of my compost ingredients. I love making compost! It's almost as much fun as baking bread or something. Anyway, we can't find our grass bagger for the lawnmower (since when could those things sprout legs and walk away?!), so I've had to rake all the grass clippings. Normally we don't mess around with the bagger or raking, but the dog yard is growing such lush grass, and at a phenomenal rate with all the rain, I can't let it go to waste. (Speaking of waste, I make sure no dog waste goes into the compost!) I've got two nice piles of compost cooking away; I just can't wait to use it in the gardens. There's never enough "black gold".

You can call yourself a true gardener when you break your hoe. Yesterday I was hoeing some weeds in my berry patch, and the hoe just broke. Snapped right off, broke the metal. I wonder, do I get a patch to wear on my jacket now? I really do need to get another hoe, and soon. The weeds, like the grass in the dog yard, are growing at a phenomenal rate since I don't have a good layer of mulch down in the berry patch yet. That's another to-do on my ever-growing list.

Speaking of berries, picking off blossoms from newly-planted blueberries and strawberries is one of the hardest things to do. Even knowing that it will help the plant thrive and produce more fruit next year, it's just....difficult! I pinched blossoms from the Sparkle strawberries that I planted near the patio. Several of my new blueberry bushes are growing like gangbusters and had popped out quite a few blossoms. Thankfully I've got 12 more blueberry bushes that produce a fair amount now.

On my way home from work this morning I stopped by our friends' house that had some black raspberry canes for me to dig up. Got those out of the ground and planted here at their new home. I'm not sure what variety they are, but hopefully they're not "Jewel", which is the type I planted last month. Even if they are, you can never have too many raspberries!

Thoughts on Mother's Day...and other things

2009-05-11T09:57:00.008-04:00

Happy Mother's Day! Photo taken in Ricketts Glen State Park

Belated Mother's Day to all mothers!

This morning on my way home from work I was listening to the radio as I often do. An add came on from a local jeweler trying to lure ladies to come into their shop and buy some sort of jewelry. And, as I often do, I shook my head in disbelief that people place so much "value" on sparkly things.

Now, I realize I'm not your typicall female. Maybe that's because I was raised with 3 brothers and did my share of the chores, but I honestly don't understand the desire to be bejeweled. I mean, what's the point? My husband knows I'd probably near-murder him if he were to buy me some outlandish big diamond for Mother's Day (or any other day for that matter) instead of getting me something really cool and useful such as the past gifts I've requested: weed whacker, wheel barrow, spade, reel lawn mower, etc. Now those are gifts I really appreciate!

I'll take a potted plant or a packet of seeds, or any one of hundreds of books I'd like, over diamonds any day. I'd be happy with some Mille Fleur chickens, too!

And ya know what? It's true, some of the best things in life are free. My favorite clothes...and this is no lie...I've found lying in the road! My absolute favorite shirt on the planet is a thermal (waffle knit) long-sleeve Old Navy shirt in confederate blue that I found in the ditch while taking a walk several years ago. Yeah, I brought it home and ran it through the wash several times with a bit of bleach to disinfect it. It fits perfectly and is incredibly comfy. I found another t-shirt many years ago, in the road, and I wore that until it became obscene and I had to toss it in the rag bag. I found a Nautica Competition t-shirt in our intersection a while back, too big for me, but Hubby Dean wears it all the time (I'm not sure if he knows I found it in the road...)

My favorite pair of pants for many, many years, was a pair of army pants that the previous owner had been left behind in our first house when we bought it 28 years ago. I'd kill to be able to find a pair of pants just like those, today. And in a rental house I found a left-behind sundress which I wear a lot, and a long-sleeve sweat shirt type thing that I've worn to work on chilly days for at least 20 years...this thing is made of iron! At the same house, I found my favorite frying pan in the "dump" out back of the house. I cleaned it up and voila! I use it constantly, and have for, again, 20 or more years. Bags of clothes that were given to us for the boys when they were growing up contained many pairs of jeans that I've taken over and don't ever want to part with.

I love finding things that are useful. "If it's free, it's for me" is my motto! Proud? Not me!

My Mother's Day this year was outstanding, as they usually are. Hubby Dean got my new Peep House made. I bought a new porch swing that was on sale (which will hang in my Secret Garden between two big oak trees). We went out for dinner Friday night at our favorite place, the Selinsgrove Brewing Company in Selinsgrove, PA. On Saturday we drove to Rickett's Glen, one of our favorite state

Hubby Dean and youngest son, Tyler, hiking in Ricketts Glen State Park

Another series of waterfalls in Ricketts Glen State Park

parks, and did a 6.8 mile hike (free!) and took millions of photos (also free since I use a digital camera). Sunday we pretty much chilled out after a wonderful dinner. Took a brief nap in our new hammock which is strung up between an apple and a pear tree in our backyard/orchard, then hopped on the motorcycle and did a bit of riding around with some of our friends. Came home, had a sip of wine before heading of to bed.

Simply enjoying nature (free!) is a perfect gift for me--these fiddleheads were photographed in Ricketts Glen State Park on Saturday

And on the subject of free, I'll be walking down the road soon to see if I can dig up a start from a dark purple lilac that I see growing in our neighbor's yard. Then perhaps a bit of morel mushroom hunting on another neighbor's property (I've already got their permission, of course). Sweet.

A Good Day

2009-05-08T16:07:00.011-04:00

View of Cairnwood Cottage from my Secret Garden--lots of work to do in those flower beds!

Today was very busy and very good. I woke up several hours earlier than I normally do when I'm on vacation, and went out to check the peeps first thing. They came charging out of The Peep House when I opened their little door, and immediately set about scratching, running, establishing the pecking order, flying about and doing all manner of peeply things. I was yet again dismayed to see that some pecking had occurred overnight...perhaps 8 peeps had bloodied tail feathers. I did leave the heat lamp on overnight, so perhaps that's part of the problem; they've got light all night long and are up and about getting bored all cooped up in their coop.

Here's a photo of the Duct tape solution that seems to work pretty well. Stylish, no?

Peep sporting its' Duct Tape Nether-Region-Protector!

Within 5 minutes of being let out of the coop, one little peeper found an earthworm and came running down from behind the coop just cheeping its little head off, carrying that worm which was so big it was dragging the ground. Of course this alerted all the other chicks to the tasty morsel and the chase was on! One of the golden sexlinks got the other end of the worm in its beak and a short tug-of-war ensued before the sexlink won out and ran off with the worm and a tasty breakfast. As cute as all this was, I still cringe at the thought of the poor earthworm being eaten alive...I like earthworms. I talk to them and apologize to them if I accidentally cut one in half when I'm digging a hole. I try not to run over them when they're crawling all over the road when it's raining. I still can't believe I used to impale them onto fishing hooks when I was a kid....shudder!

I checked the red raspberries that I transplanted into the berry patch. They were a bit droopy last night and I watered them in good before calling it a night. This morning they're all perky and look like they've been there for quite some time, so I think they'll all survive. I've got so many red raspberry shoots coming up all over the yard...I'd like to sell them for what they're selling for at some of the stores around here! I'd make a small fortune!

After breakfast I jumped right into digging up that rambling rose ("The Garland") growing beside the patio and transplanting it into my Secret Garden (more on the history of my Secret Garden in another post). Hubby Dean has always hated that rose being planted there because he was constantly getting tangled up in it and was constantly chopping it back with the loppers. I think he was secretly trying to kill it. When, during lunch, I mentioned that I hoped it would survive the transplant ordeal, Hubby Dean stated, and this is an exact quote, "that bush and the cockroaches will take over after the nuclear war."

While I was planting the rose into its new home, the UPS dude stopped and delivered a package (normally I bring packages home from work with me unless I'm on the motorcycle). My 3 clematis (Clematis Montana "Broughtan Star") and 1 "Chocolate Cosmos" (Cosmos astrosanguineus) have finally arrived! One of the clematis ended up being planted in the spot where the rambling rose once thrived...I wanted some sort of climbing thing there, and I figured Hubby Dean wouldn't complain about a clematis.

Look what the UPS man brought me! One "Chocolate Cosmos" and three "Broughton Star" clematis (yeah, those things that look like cigars!)

Besides the new clematis, which is a dusky rose color and will grow up to 20 feet, I also planted 5 Sparkle strawberry plants in that bed by the patio. I remember my grandfather growing Sparkle strawberries many, many years ago (at least 40!). They were amazing, at least in my memory. I ordered 5 plants via snail mail since I couldn't find them locally. I figured I could start new plants from these when they start doing that runner thing, thus enlarging my ever-growing number of strawberry plants. Plus these will be handy there by the back door. Pop open the back door and grab a handful!

Work in progress...5 Sparkle strawberries (one is hiding behind the far right pot) and a "Broughton Star" clematis will be planted in front of the trellis. Then the dirt will be swept up...

This past week I dug up some "wild" Pheasant Eye type daffodils that I'd seen growing along a little dirt road in the woods. I'm amazed they're still there because the road crew often goes through there and digs the ditch out, and they're growing in the ditch. I promised myself I'd "save" them at some point, but kept thinking of it too late. This year my timing was just right, and I dug up four pots worth of the little beauties. They'll get transplanted into my Secret Garden and my Woodland Garden. I love these little guys.

Three of four pots of the "Pheasant's Eye" daffodil that I dug up from a ditch

Close-up of the "Pheasant's Eye" type daffodil in the process of opening up

And finally, a NEWSFLASH! Pasty Butt has pooped! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you'll have to read my previous post. I went upstairs to the brooder to check on Pasty Butt. I was actually looking at the other chick in the brooder when out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw PB go pooh, but I wasn't 100% sure. There was a little pile of chick pooh there. How to tell if PB did the deed, or was that already there? Temperature. Yes folks, I reached in there and actually touched the pooh, and it was warm! I'm so happy!

And yes, I did wash my hands, multiple times in fact, afterwards.

CAIRNWOOD TIP OF THE DAY: I tried a little trick that I'd read about on my organic gardening list; lavender essential oil drops placed on my hat really does keep gnats from flying around in my face!

Plowing Through "The List"

2009-05-08T07:40:00.005-04:00

View from our roof overlooking the front yard and stream--we need to mow! Click the photo for an enlarged version and you can see the lamp post and bench in the front yard by the rhododendron. That's a bunch of daffodils snaking its way through the foreground, which actually sit atop a stone wall, which you can't see from this angle. The poor maple tree to the right needs to be cut down this year...it's mostly dead, thanks in part to the horrible way the road crew trimmed back all of its branches, I'm sure.

I'm a chronic list maker. Always have and probably always will be. I have so many things on my "to-do" list that it boggles the mind (at least it boggles my mind, thus the lists), so I dutifully write a list of things down that I think I can, or should, get accomplished on any given day. Normally a few items get checked off, but a good portion of them remain on the list, reminding me that I've failed once again to do everything I wanted to do.

Yesterday's list: 1. write the tripsheet (paperwork) for the EMS call I went on with the fire department. 2. finish filling the front window boxes. 3. transplant red raspberries, two rambling roses, and some iris. 4. plant more "stuff" in the garden. A small list by my standards, and easily do-able.

My problem...I get side-tracked. Big time. I'll begin one of my tasks, then see something that needs attention, and off I go to tend to whatever grabbed my attention, then I see something else I should do before I get the last thing done, and off I flit to another chore...and on it goes. I get stuff done, just not completely done a lot of the time.

What did I actually do yesterday (Thursday)??? I got three loads of laundry done--folded and put away (including sheets which were hung out on the line to dry since it was, finally, a sunny day). Made the bed with the fresh, clean sheets. Sat on the patio and had coffee with my dear sweet husband in the a.m. after breakfast. Watered my hanging baskets which do not benefit from the rains we get since they're hanging under overhangs. Pulled weeds. Watched the peeps play and chase bugs. Transplanted 10 red raspberry plants and watered them in (***an actual list task!) Helped Hubby Dean re-roof part of the house. Mowed the lawn around my garden and in the blueberry patch. Filled my window boxes (***another list task!). Went to the fire station and wrote my tripsheet (***yay! another lister!). Helped Hubby Dean stuff envelopes...he was talked into running for Township Supervisor and now needs to send out campaign materials. Fixed lunch and supper and did some dishes. Dealt with "Pasty Butt"....huh?!

One little peep that had its nether regions pecked to a bloody pulp the other day has developed the unfortunate condition known as "Pasty Butt". So now I'm spending the better part of each day with warm, wet paper towels cleaning stuck on pooh off the bum of this little peeper, and hoping and praying that it gets better soon. I hate to see little creatures in pain or suffering, or hurt...it just makes my heart ache. Apparently Pasty Butt can be fatal...it prevents the chick from going pooh because their "vent" gets crusted over with dried on...pooh. It's like the chick is constipated, but what I'm seeing is like something that looks like yogurt oozing out and drying on its little hiner. The chick is not pleased when I have to deal with it, but it does help him/her to go pooh, which he/she did yesterday (definately constipated!) while I was in the process of cleaning him/her. This made me happy because I knew he/she could at least go. I'd read that putting a bit of molasses in their drinking water can help as that acts as a laxative. So I did that as well as add some chick vitamins to the water. I'm keeping this little chick (one of the Welsummers) in an upstairs brooder with another Welsummer chick for company, until it gets better. I'm afraid that if this little chickie survies and thrives, that it will be forever known as Pasty Butt. Poor little peeper....

First Overnighter

2009-05-06T20:35:00.006-04:00

Two Ameraucana peeps survey the great outdoors after spending their first night in the Peep House

Last night was the first night the peeps stayed overnight somewhere other than an upstairs bedroom in our house. I was a bit concerned about them staying out in their new Peep House...what if some critter tried to eat them? What if they got too cold? You'd think I was their mother or something.

Not too worry...I kept a heat lamp on out there and they stayed warm enough, though, like teenagers at a slumber party, I'm sure they were up most of the night. And Dean made the Peep House pretty snug against marauding critters even if they did manage to get into their fenced Peep Yard.

I was a bit dismayed this morning when I went to check the peeps, to find that three more had been pecked badly through the night. Geesh, I think that makes 13 of the 31 peeps that have been pecked to the point of bleeding, which of course prompts more pecking. So nearly half the peeps were once again back in the house this morning.

We'd been doing a bit of internet research on what we could possibly do to stop the current pecking situation and prevent future outbursts. There are a multitude of possible reasons for pecking: crowding, boredom, lack of protein, and parasites to name a few. I know these peeps weren't crowded. I've been feeding them a proper chick starter feed so theoretically they should be getting the right amount of everything. I've not seen parasites of any sort on them (but I suppose that doesn't mean they're not there). If I were a betting person, my money would go on boredom. OR, there might be a bully chick in the group starting all the pecking, but if there is, I haven't been able to pick him/her out.

So, after reading that a good thing to do for a chick's bloody bum or wing or wherever...in our case it's the bum that's been pecked on 99% of the peeps...is to put none other than good ol' Duct Tape on the wound, I proceeded to tape the wounded nether regions of The Unfortunate 13. The tape doesn't stick to the skin, but will stick to the feathers, and will fall off within a couple weeks, all the while protecting the delicate rears from further pecking. I will definitely have to take a photo of our latest Peep Fashion here at Cairnwood. It's rather stunning. The peeps aren't too thrilled about having tape stuck across the tail feather region, but they soon get over it and act like it's not even there.

In an attempt to alleviate their boredom, we decided to go ahead and let the little peepers out into their fenced yard. It's not entirely chick-proof which is one reason I didn't let them out yesterday. Plus it's still chilly...in the 50's, and they're not quite a month old yet.

You go first! No, YOU go first!

I opened their little hatch, which caused quite a stir. Many of them came and stood on the threshold and looked out, but that was it.

Hey look! She's on the gangplank and hasn't been eaten yet! It must be safe!

Eventually a brave peep would walk down the temporary gangplank, then hustle back up into the Peep House.

Awesome!

Once one peep finally went all the way out and down to the feeders, they all decided it was OK. They were having a blast chasing bugs around, scratching, flapping their wings, getting "lost" behind the Peep House, doing "chicken fights" where they'd stretch their necks out and jump up and down in front of each other. Cute.

Once it warmed up into the 60's outside, I turned their heat lamp off. It stayed nice and warm in The House so they could go back inside if they got too chilly while out exploring.

Now it's evening and they're all cooped up for the night. Keeping my fingers crossed there will be no more pecking tonight!

What a Day!

2009-05-05T21:34:00.005-04:00

Today started out awesomely, then just got progessively worse....

As you know, if you read my previous post, I got the peeps moved into their new Peep House first thing this morning. Within 10 minutes of moving all 31 peeps into their new roomy abode, the pecking started. Huh?! Here's what's really weird; I noticed them pecking each other every single time I took them out of the house and out into the outdoors where they had more room to roam, grass and bugs to keep them happy. They never pecked each other while inside in their brooders, under a heat lamp and in tighter quarters than outside. As soon as they entered natural light, blam! They started pecking each other and making their little bums bleed. I'd take the wounded peeps back into the house and they'd be fine.

Today's first pecking victim I took back into one of the indoor brooders with another peep for company. They were fine. So I went about my chores...burning trash, taking out compost, pulling some weeds, then lunch.

After lunch I drove over to the place with the bamboo, and dug up 11 clumps of bamboo. If I'd have been counting, I would have dug up one more just to make it an even dozen. When I returned home, I unloaded the bamboo, then checked the peeps.

ARGH! They were at it again! More peeps with bloody bums and being chased around and being pecked by other peeps! What the heck?! I'd catch the main peep being chased by the others, and by the time I got back from taking that one back inside, another one was being terrorized. Then things would calm down, and I had time to plant a couple bamboo plants, then have to rescue more peeps, then I had a chance to start supper (BBQ ribs for Hubby Dean), then rescue more peeps, then plant some more bamboo, then dash off to a 911 call for chest pains less than a mile up the road.

When I got back from the 911 call, I had to rescue a couple more peeps and continue working on supper. I did eventually finish planting the bamboo, but by now supper was just a little over-cooked. Drats!

The peeps I've been bringing inside have been placed back into their old brooders with a red light burning instead of their normal heat lamp. Supposedly red lights help prevent them from pecking each other. But what I find really weird is the fact that they started pecking each other as soon as they got outside. More room. Fresh air. Bugs. Grass and weeds. What more could a peep want?

Now it's almost 10 p.m., we just finished supper about an hour ago. I got some of the dishes done...the rest can wait until tomorrow! Right now I think I need a big glass of wine. Or, maybe I should give the wine to the peeps...perhaps that would calm them down a bit!

New Digs for the Peeps!

2009-05-05T11:18:00.009-04:00

Dean adding the Plexiglas windows to the new Peep House

Moving day for the peeps! We pretty much finished the new little Peep House last night. It needs paint and a few minor additions to finish it up, but it's habitable now. I'm even going to hang two hanging baskets of flowers from the front corner overhangs...I'm sure the peeps will be proud to live in such a stylish abode.

Dean working on the new Peep House

The peeps were overjoyed to be in such roomy quarters! I'm overjoyed to get them out of the house and out of five separate brooders from one of the upstairs bedrooms. What a pain it's been to clean five brooders, clean and fill five waterers, and clean and fill five feeders.

Check out all this room in our new digs!!

Angled view of the inside of the Peep House showing their snazzy windows, which will let in winter sun. The overhang will shade them from the sun in summer

When I first released the peeps into the Peep House, they ran and flew and jumped and just went nuts! It was fun to watch them have such a blast and explore their new digs.

Dudes! There's someone peekin' into our house!

What are you lookin' at!?

I got the old brooders cleaned out and the contents (lots of poop, some wood shavings and newspaper plus bits of chick feed) deposited into one of my black plastic compost bins. Liberal quantities of weeds were added, stirred, and now I'll sit back and wait for the magic to happen. I love compost.

On the agenda for today, which is still overcast and threatens rain: dig up some bamboo from a family a couple miles away who have a lovely stand of it. Yeah, I know...it can be invasive. This will form a barrier between us and the neighbors and will hopefully replace our thinning, aging Douglas Fir row that is now our privacy fence...well, mostly private but rapidly declining to the point of screaming out, "hey everybody, look over here and see what's going on in this yard!" The plus side of using bamboo: I'll have lots of bamboo poles to use in the garden! It's also nice knowing I'm getting some bamboo that thrives in our area....and it's free!

Raindrops this morning on a newly planted strawberry plant

Assuming that keeping my fingers crossed will indeed hold the rain at bay, I'm also planning to dig up some black raspberry canes from a friend and plant those in the berry patch. I want to fill the kitchen window boxes and prepare those for planting, gather some leaves from the ditch just down the road to use as mulch and compost ingredients, plant more lettuce, peas, spinach, etc. etc. The list goes on and on and on...maybe I could clone myself?

Rainy Day Chores

2009-05-04T20:56:00.005-04:00

Rain on the redbud tree

Today was a chilly 54 degrees F., drizzly and overcast most of the day. I felt like I was back in Ireland, which is not a bad thing at all. The first thing I did when I got up this a.m. (I'm off work for the week), was to tackle Mount Washmore...I had several loads of laundry to get done and folded, and was happy to check that off my to-do list.

After breakfast and coffee, I potted up 30 strawberry plants, utilizing the dining room table covered with newspapers. I had planned to use the picnic table out under the apple trees, but the drizzle was a bit heavy at the time. These pots are temporary arrangements for the berries until I can finish the strawberry bed where they will go; I just didn't want the poor little dears to languish and die while they waited on me--I can be slow sometimes at getting plants in the ground.

Apple blossoms covering the picnic table and trays of seedlings

The drizzle continued, but was light at times, and that is when Hubby Dean and I went out to work on what Dean calls "the chicken box"...a glorified brooder. It's not quite a chicken coop, but far larger than what they've got at the moment.

Toodie waiting at the patio gate with her ball, oblivious to the rain that came down all day today

Next came lunch of stuffed mushrooms and some leftover vegetarian chili. After lunch it was back out to work on the "chicken box". Hopefully this will be finished by this evening so I can move the peeps out there tomorrow and get them out of the house!

Wet plants in my Secret Garden, loving today's rain

Once the rain started coming down in buckets, we decided to call it quits on the construction project. Dean ran into town to grab a few things at the store, and I planted some late arriving seeds into peat pellets and finished making two kinds of yogurt. Well, the yogurt isn't actually finished, I just got it mixed up and it should be ready by tomorrow after "brewing" overnight.

Now it's dark and getting late, the "chicken box" is mostly finished, the peeps have been bedded down for the night and I'm ready to sit and veg. It's nice to know that, in spite of the rain, we can still get quite a bit accomplished around here!

Asparagus Beetles Revisited

2009-05-02T12:45:00.008-04:00

Back to the topic of asparagus beetles, the above photo shows what I found on several of the spears that I cut for lunch today: a multitude of eggs and obvious snacking damage. I garden organically, so there are only so many options for me to pursue in eradicating these vile creatures. My peeps just aren't to the point yet of letting them free-range about the asparagus patch, but beetles beware when they reach that stage!

For now I hand pick all the beetles I can find. Before I had the peeps I'd drop the beetles into a cup of soapy water. Now, I can feed the peeps a snack of beetles. Litter clean-up in the fall is important so the beetles don't overwinter in great numbers, and I must admit, I'm guilty of not cleaning up the asparagus patch like I should.

I've read that planting petunias within the asparagus patch will help deter asparagus beetles, as will planting tomatoes nearby. In the past I've tried the petunia idea, and it seemed to work for a while, but then the beetles appeared. At least the asparagus patch was pretty, all decked out with flowers. This year I'll have to give the tomato idea a whirl.

Close-up of Asparagus Beetle Eggs

Asparagus beetle eggs are disgusting sticking all over the spears, but at least they can be scraped off of what is otherwise a perfectly good spear. I'm going to have to do some homework on raising organic asparagus and see if I can't conquer the beetles! Surely there is something besides hand picking that really works. In the meantime, I'm still enjoying daily meals of nothing but asparagus!

Mmmmm, Morels!

2009-04-30T14:32:00.005-04:00

Morel Mushrooms--northern Indiana in my brother's back yard

Morels. I consider them to be the earth's most perfect food, and fondly refer to them as "those elusive darlings of the forest floor". Thankfully my husband hates mushrooms, so any that I find are all mine, especially now that my mushroom-loving sons are no longer in the nest here at Cairnwood.

Growing up in northern Indiana, I have fond memories of "mushroom hunting back in the woods". We'd find just enough morels to whet our appetites, but never enough to satisfy our craving for them.

Well folks, it's that time of year again when mushroom hunters will be out in force scouring the woodlands for these nuggets. If you're wondering whether the morels are ready for the pickin' in your neck of the woods, check out this sightings map.

My parents, who still live in northern Indiana, state they spoke with a knowledgeable person recently who claims that this should be a banner year for morels due to certain weather conditions last year. I sure hope so because I've got quite the hankering for morels right now! And if you're new to morels, there are several good websites that deal with morels, including this one.

Mmmmmm, morels....

Take That, You Asparagus Beetles!!

2009-04-29T14:25:00.000-04:00

I was feeling all smug recently because I hadn't seen any asparagus beetles on my oh-so-delicious asparagus yet this spring. I've been eating fresh asparagus nearly every day since April 21, but lo! When I went to the garden a couple days ago to cut some asparagus for supper, what did I find? ASPARAGUS BEETLES nonchalantly laying eggs all over my asparagus and in general having a gorge-fest on the succulent young spears.

Enter The Peeps. Ah, they may be too young to lay eggs for me just yet, but they're wicked deadly to asparagus beetles. I grabbed a handful of the said beetles and tossed them into the crate where the peeps had been enjoying the recent warm weather. A few beetles managed to fly away, but the slower of the lot became peep snacks. Yes! They're definitely going to earn their keep.

Are These My Babies?

2009-04-27T19:53:00.003-04:00

Are you my mother?!

Toodie, my Australian Shepherd, is such a little mother. She's adopted my peeps, and I think she believes she needs to mother them. I took the peeps outside again today to enjoy the gorgeous 90 degree day while I planted some Tribute strawberries. Toodie had to be as close to the peeps as she could get; she planted herself in front of the peep crate and didn't move for at least 1/2 hour, intently watching their every move. She only left their side when I made her go back into the fenced dog yard.

I must admit that I was happy to see that she wasn't drooling while she was watching the peeps...she does eat a "raw, meaty bones" diet, which consists mainly of....chicken!

A fascinated Toodie watches her "babies"

Early Morning Stroll Around Cairnwood

2009-04-27T12:34:00.010-04:00

Backlit azalea in the early morning light of my Woodland Garden

Yesterday morning I got up and took my camera out into the gardens to see what I could find. I love early mornings in spring...they hold so much promise. Promise for the day, and promise for the gardening season. This day was particularly beautiful, even though it turned into a hot, summer-like day (90 degrees F here in Central Pennsylvania is pretty darned warm for April!)

The spinach seeds I sowed on April 13 are sending up some nice little green leaves, as are the Thomas Laxton peas I pre-sprouted and planted on April 7. Interestingly, the Thomas Laxton peas are really not much further along than the Alaska peas which I soaked for a few hours, then planted on April 13. Perhaps I planted the Thomas Laxtons just a wee bit too early?

Spinach Seedlings--gotta love that stony Pennsylvania soil!

My Woodland Garden is coming alive...the azaleas are beginning to bloom and the rhododendrons are about to pop open. The "Pheasant's Eye" daffodils, Narcissus poeticus, are blooming...they're one of my favorite daffodils and I have fond childhood memories of picking bouquets of these for my mom.

Pheasant's Eye Daffodil (Narcissus poeticus), gazing at the sky

Pheasant's Eye Daffodil looking all perky by the bench in my Woodland Garden

My Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia pensylvanica) are unfurling, though I see a few spots where there should be fern fronds poking up, and there are none. I'm hoping they're just slow and won't be no-shows.

Osterich Fern (Matteuccia pensylvanica)

I discovered that the Bleeding Heart (Dicentra) in my Secret Garden has burst into bloom, yet the Bleeding Heart just off our patio is several days away from blooming.

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra)

I've placed my trays of seedlings outside on the picnic table since it's been so warm and I really don't have room in our house for seedlings (where's my greenhouse?!). They seem to be coming along well, though I'll soon need to pinch out the extra seedlings that have come up in the peat pellets.

Tomato seedlings enjoying the early morning sun

The 3 Concord and 4 Niagara grapevines that I got last week from the Conservation District have been potted up until I can get the vineyard ready for them. Hope they don't mind their tight, temporary quarters!

Grapevines waiting to be planted

Later in the day the weather was so nice that I HAD to take my little peeps out to enjoy the weather! They loved their first venture into the great outdoors! I put them in a dog crate since we don't have a "chicken tractor" or suitable outdoor holdings for them just yet. They had a blast scratching, pecking, catching bugs and eating violets. I see many more of these outings in the future....

They're right! The grass IS greener on the other side!

Spring Marches On

2009-04-25T22:45:00.009-04:00

I've been so busy working in the garden lately that I haven't had the time to sit my rear end down and update my gardening progress. Well, that's not entirely true, because one day last week it rained and I made an entry here with tons of photos. Then, the power went out and apparently the"auto save" that occurs didn't work because none of it was saved. So there I sat with a blank screen.

I'm uploading the photos again. Of course now everything looks different because that's the way of spring...it changes faster than those little peeps I got on the 15th.

Ameraucana peep roosting on the food trough

Welsummer pullets roosting on the food trough

Speaking of the peeps, they're growing and changing fast! The one little Welsummer pullet that had been acting sickly did eventually die, sadly, though she is the only one I lost. The rest seem to be thriving. They're at that awkward stage now where they're sporting feathers but still have a lot of their "fuzz". They take turns flying off the top of the feed trough; they remind me of kids on a playground lining up to go down the slide, one after the other in swift succession. Zoom, zoom, zoom, off they go flying into the crowd below which causes an uproar of chirping from the ones that just got crashed into. I could watch them for hours.

The forsythia have been in bloom for the past three weeks, as have the daffodils. The dogwoods in the woods began blooming this past week, and just in the last two or three days the pear tree has burst into bloom. The little apricot tree that I planted two weeks ago is sporting about a half dozen blooms. The redbud is on the verge of blooming. Redbud flowers are edible, and I can't wait to add those to a salad...imagine how gorgeous that will be!

Redbuds preparing to bloom

I picked up my order from the Conservation District on April 22. From them I received 4 Niagara grape vines, 3 Concord grape vines, 6 blueberry bushes (3 Blueray and 3 Bluecrop), 5 Black Satin thornless blackberries, 25 Tribute (everbearing) strawberry plants, 25 Cavendish strawberry plants, and a rain barrel. I got the blueberries and blackberries planted the same day I picked them up. The grapes I've potted up until I get the vineyard prepared properly, and the strawberries are still languishing in their little bags. I need more time.....

On Thursday the 23rd I planted my potatoes. One raised bed was planted with Yukon Gold, approx 25 hills. Another raised bed is home to 8 hills of Shepody, 12 hills of Russian Banana, and 7 hills of Red Gold potatoes. A third raised bed is half full of 12 hills of French Fingerlings.

The Alaska peas I planted on the 13th are beginning to break through the soil and reach for the sky. I can't wait for those guys to reach the edible stage! And I've been enjoying fresh asparagus since the 21st when I harvested my first spears of the season.

On that happy note, I will leave you with a few more photos of Springtime at Cairnwood....

Crested Iris emerging

Happy little tulips by our patio

I love daffodils! Can you see the spider?

In case you couldn't see the spider....

More of my favorite flowers

Peeps Arrive at Cairnwood!

2009-04-15T16:45:00.005-04:00

Ameraucana pullet--Miss Chubby Cheeks

Gold Sex-link pullet

First meal--Wellsummers, Speckled Sussex, Ameraucanas, and Gold Sex-links

Peeps have arrived at Cairnwood Cottage! I placed my order with Welp Hatchery in Iowa in early March for 30 peeps: 6 Welsummer pullets, 6 Welsummer straight run, 6 Speckled Sussex pullets, 6 Ameraucana pullets, and 6 Ameraucana straight run. All arrived in good shape, are lively and healthy looking, with the exception of one...

I got the phone call from the post office at 8:30 a.m. while I was still at work (at UPS). I was getting off work in about 15 minutes, and couldn't wait to get to the post office. Upon arrival at the post office, I was handed a fiercely cheeping box about 10" x 12", stuffed with peeps. I opened it in front of the postal worker so there would be confirmation of any losses, but thankfully that hadn't occured.

Our local Tractor Supply was getting an order of peeps in today as well, and I stopped by there to see what they had available. I stopped last week, but was too late that day...I was told they'd received 150 chicks that a.m., and by the time I got there in the evening, every single one had been sold! Today they had Gold Sex-links, one of the varieties I'd wanted to get, so I bought 6 to join the already peeping masses in my car. Both boxes were placed on the floor and the heater turned on to keep the little guys warm, and off we went to their new home.

I had their little brooder all set up and ready...heat lamp on for 24 hours to get things warmed up to approximately 95 degrees, sugar water set out for them and warmed to room temp. Crushed corncob bedding in place. Sugar water is recommended by the hatchery for the first 24 hours....1/4 cup sugar to one gallon of water. Let the peeps drink this for one hour prior to giving them any food.

So far my future slug slayers all seem to be doing well with the exception of one little Welsummer pullet. She's very lethargic and her breathing is labored...not sure if this is due to shipping stress or what, but I fear the worst for her. I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I realize some losses happen when dealing with peeps, especially ones that get shipped like this, but that doesn't make dealing with their demise any easier.

All morbid thoughts aside, I could spend hours sitting there beside the brooder watching these little critters run about, fall asleep mid-stride, fall asleep with their heads inside the little food trough, run over the tops of each other, stretch their legs, etc. Go you little beetle-munchers! Grow strong!