Those of you who follow this may remember my ranting and raving earlier this spring about being unable to calibrate our incubator. Well, nature surprised me and our turkeys started getting broody. As it turned out our "first time" mom's hadn't the patience to sit out the full 28+/- days that are required. Maybe ADHD runs across species! The hens that were sitting would make it up to the last week and then would abandon the nest.
The last several weeks have been absolutely frenetic around here. With job changes and endless rain, three kids, invasion of the army of foxes, flooding basements and trying to make farming work, we really hadn't had a lot of time to think excessively about many of the critters.
The end result of the great fox invasion was that we put the surviving chickens in the turkey paddock to protect them. Maybe that was an error. . .
Yesterday when i went out to water the birds i found the delicate little remains of two baby turkeys in the paddock. It made me sad. . . and excited. Those wacky birds are brooding again, and this time, they are following through. Maybe it is less ADHD and more a matter of climate change. With the wet spring, maybe the hens knew something that we didn't, and they waited till the weather was improving before deciding to brood.
The end result was more my fault than theirs. Had i known that they were brooding (they do this UNDER the coop of all places) i would have either separated them somehow. my suspicion is that they wee littl' ones were trampled by the other big clumsy birds. Lesson learned, and now we are watching very intently the two birds that are burrowed underneath the coop!!!!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Creative pause
Things around the pharm (and the farm) have been absolutely frenetic! The world is spinning at twice the speed of normal and it has no intention of reversing to let us relive moments past.
Did you notice that the peepers have long past? What about the fireflies? They are out. The rain has stopped and the stars are in their full glory again.
When we were at Bellvale one of the most sound pieces of advise was, "Don't forget to take moments of creative pause."
Moments to be floored by nature, to watch the children play, listen to yourself breathe. It seems harder and harder these days. . .
Think about that for awhile. . .
Did you notice that the peepers have long past? What about the fireflies? They are out. The rain has stopped and the stars are in their full glory again.
When we were at Bellvale one of the most sound pieces of advise was, "Don't forget to take moments of creative pause."
Moments to be floored by nature, to watch the children play, listen to yourself breathe. It seems harder and harder these days. . .
Think about that for awhile. . .
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Blogger ate my posts. . .
Okay, weird!! i have been searching and searching. . . i have posted twice since the photo bit. Oddly, there are no signs of the posts after that anywhere.
Well. . . we went to Bellvale and were absolutely recharged and inspired, possibly more than ever before. It was our first summer visit, and was everything more than we could have imagined! Beautiful and warm (yes, with sun too). One of the many highlights of our stay was our visit with our imaginary friends and their beautiful allegedly new infant. But due to their participation in the International Witness Protection Program, we can not actually confirm that they really exist. It might be that they are just voices in my head!!
Here on the farm everything seems to have survived but the house. Sadly, it hasn't burned down yet, but there is water in the basement, the plumbing wants to quit, the furnace is acting up (yup, it governs the hot water too), and the sheep have no interest in staying in their enclosure. But everything is alive and well. In fact my weedy excuse for a garden is flourishing, while we struggle with blight, stunting and flooding on Pearson's Town.
Pictures to follow. . . except for non-governmentally sanctioned photos of things like Aliens, Bigfoot, Elvis, and our imaginary friends!!!!
Maine. . . the way life should be.
Well. . . we went to Bellvale and were absolutely recharged and inspired, possibly more than ever before. It was our first summer visit, and was everything more than we could have imagined! Beautiful and warm (yes, with sun too). One of the many highlights of our stay was our visit with our imaginary friends and their beautiful allegedly new infant. But due to their participation in the International Witness Protection Program, we can not actually confirm that they really exist. It might be that they are just voices in my head!!
Here on the farm everything seems to have survived but the house. Sadly, it hasn't burned down yet, but there is water in the basement, the plumbing wants to quit, the furnace is acting up (yup, it governs the hot water too), and the sheep have no interest in staying in their enclosure. But everything is alive and well. In fact my weedy excuse for a garden is flourishing, while we struggle with blight, stunting and flooding on Pearson's Town.
Pictures to follow. . . except for non-governmentally sanctioned photos of things like Aliens, Bigfoot, Elvis, and our imaginary friends!!!!
Maine. . . the way life should be.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Everything i ever learned about compost was a lie!!
Okay, not entirely. But there are some household composting rules that have good history, but simply aren't true. How do i know this??
As of today i am a certified compost site operator. i went, i saw, i composted!!!!
i had the grand pleasure of spending a week with 25 other people from all over the world learning how to make some mighty fine soil amendments!! It was fabulous. There were of course people from the states, but also a fella from the Philippines, a fella from Chad (Africa) and bloke from the Galapagos. . . he was really from Germany, but works for the WWF on the islands. Lucky dog!
So what about some of these "myths" that should be reconsidered by every person in America:
1) Compost can't be made from human biosolids (poop).
Wrong! Actually some of the finest, and safest to use on your home garden, compost is made from human biosolids. If you see it in the store it is more than safe. This doesn't, of course, mean that you should (or even can legally) make it in your home composter. . . unless you have a composting toilet.
2) Compost stinks.
False. If managed correctly a compost pile won't smell at all!!
3) You can't compost meat.
Wrong again. In fact no too many years ago the Maine compost team composted a full sized pilot whale. Total time from whale to dirt with a few knuckle bones - 12 weeks.
In 8 weeks you can make chickens into dirt. In 12 a cow is nothing more than a skeleton, wait another year or so (or buy a grinder) and even the bones break down!!!
Pretty cool eh?!?! Why be afraid of the things your food eats. After all, it is what we will all become eventually anyway!!
Pictures to follow!!
As of today i am a certified compost site operator. i went, i saw, i composted!!!!
i had the grand pleasure of spending a week with 25 other people from all over the world learning how to make some mighty fine soil amendments!! It was fabulous. There were of course people from the states, but also a fella from the Philippines, a fella from Chad (Africa) and bloke from the Galapagos. . . he was really from Germany, but works for the WWF on the islands. Lucky dog!
So what about some of these "myths" that should be reconsidered by every person in America:
1) Compost can't be made from human biosolids (poop).
Wrong! Actually some of the finest, and safest to use on your home garden, compost is made from human biosolids. If you see it in the store it is more than safe. This doesn't, of course, mean that you should (or even can legally) make it in your home composter. . . unless you have a composting toilet.
2) Compost stinks.
False. If managed correctly a compost pile won't smell at all!!
3) You can't compost meat.
Wrong again. In fact no too many years ago the Maine compost team composted a full sized pilot whale. Total time from whale to dirt with a few knuckle bones - 12 weeks.
In 8 weeks you can make chickens into dirt. In 12 a cow is nothing more than a skeleton, wait another year or so (or buy a grinder) and even the bones break down!!!
Pretty cool eh?!?! Why be afraid of the things your food eats. After all, it is what we will all become eventually anyway!!
Pictures to follow!!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Like sand through the hour glass. . .
Hmmm. . . this blog, like so many other things in my "old" life seems so foreign.
The branch is not pure white like the albinos that i am familiar with, but rather a golden color. i don't know what to make of it. Like so many other things on the pharm. . . its weird!
The demands of the family, Pearson's town, and that other place i work have been overwhelming. Alas, things on the pharm are moving forward (at a dizzying pace). This is not that latest that i have ever tried to get a garden in, but we are creeping up on it.
Addy, Owie, and i spent yesterday planting gourds, melons and the like. before the weeks out the corn, tomatoes, and peppers will be in (along with, Lord willing, everything else).
Addy, Owie, and i spent yesterday planting gourds, melons and the like. before the weeks out the corn, tomatoes, and peppers will be in (along with, Lord willing, everything else).
In the tree department, we had an issue with a band of rabid Pygmy beavers. Our front yard is largely denuded. . . except that the trees are still there. Just. . . well. . . sideways.
Speaking of trees - back in the old days, at a place called Pico Blanco, we used to wander the forest in search of albino redwood trees, which yes, there are!!! Well, there is another magic tree that is close to my heart. The Monterey Cyprus only grow naturally on the Monterey peninsula in California. Well, in a moment of nostalgia, after having lived here for far too long, i found some seeds online. So of course i bought them, planted them, and they grew.
A couple of weeks ago, just after having moved my prized tree outside for the summer i noticed something amiss. One of the branches was oddly colored. At first i thought that it was dead, but then it grew, and grew some more. i have never known a dead branch to grow before.
The branch is not pure white like the albinos that i am familiar with, but rather a golden color. i don't know what to make of it. Like so many other things on the pharm. . . its weird!
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