Try, try again...

Gardening can be a maddening venture.  I can’t figure out why some crops thrive and produce in abundance when others whither and die.  I feel like I’m doing everything I’m supposed to be doing!

This past week, after 2 weeks of not gardening, my father in law, Tom and I met up to weed, feed, water and, hopefully, harvest.  We got lucky and harvested a hefty bag of green beans; lettuce and I pulled a few beets to take to my son in Baltimore, whom I visited over the weekend. There are lots of little baby carrots and little baby peppers growing.  And the blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are heavy with fruit.

Unfortunately, we had to relocate the Sugar Bush Watermelon plants, as they seem to be stunted in their growth, we pulled 5 dead or dying tomato plants, and all the withered cress, too.  I bought new heirloom tomato plants at Pike’s and will plant them in a new space in the garden.  The pole beans are growing…no blooms yet.  The Okra looks miserable, so we planted a new crop and we’ll see what happens with the first crop. And, once again, I’m fighting the Mexican bean beetle on the eggplant.  I will spray them down with insecticidal soap and hopefully avert a take over!

The dogs were full of energy!  They ran.  They chased.  They dug…yes…dug.! Oscar, the mini wirehair dachshund was a mess.  His face was literally caked with earth.  I had to hose him off.  Lulu has suddenly decided my lemongrass is delicious and chewed on it off and on for an hour.  Felix spent the better part of the morning chasing rodents…real or imaginary.  And Hazel just hung out.  The rest of the afternoon the pups were passed out on the bench seat in my kitchen!

There are new bluebird eggs in both birdhouses!  We couldn’t believe that they reused the nests.  Usually, we have to clean the boxes out so they will build new nests and have a second family.  We did clean out the chickadee nest in the wren box, though.  So, in a few weeks we’ll be on the lookout for another crop of bluebird babies. 

Gardening is a labor of love and an exercise in patience.  If at first you don’t succeed…Try, try, again.

Unexpected Chickens

Today, a biathalon took place, partly, on the street we live on.  I had the chickens out front in their “tractor” grazing, like I do every day.  But today was different…Jeff, my son, was on the front porch, reading, while the race portion of the event took place.  I was out back cleaning the chicken coop.  He texted me that the chickens were a big hit with the runners.  I had to laugh, because they do draw a lot of attention.  As the runners ran by our yard, they would yell out “Chickens!”.  One group of girls actually stopped and watched them for a few minutes before resuming their run.

My husband ran into a former neighbor with his kids the other day and they asked about the chickens.  Michael ended up inviting them back to the house and the kids had a blast and even climbed into the tractor with the chickens.  Luckily, there were eggs in the coop so they had a “take home” from the visit. 

I think the draw of chickens is that they bring us closer to our food sources.  I’m not a loyal locavore, but I appreciate the fact that I know what my chickens eat and that they are well cared for.  (My husband would tell you they live at the Ritz-Carlton…) I know that the eggs they provide are the best quality and they are good for my family!

I suspect the draw also has something to do with the element of the unexpected…

Surrounded by highways and skyscrapers, in my little patch of country in the city, folks run by my house and see chickens in the yard.  “Chickens!”

Polish Babies

One week old and the new baby Polish chickens have grown…and they are flourishing!  We go check on them, my daughter and I, about 5 times a day to make sure the temperature is right (95 degrees the first week, 90 degrees the second week, and so on), that they have fresh water and food and that everyone is healthy.  Unfortunately, the fight or flight reflex, flight reflex, actually, is very much a part of their core existence.  It doesn’t matter that it has been the same faces peering at them repeatedly, or that we hold them often, they still leap to their little feet, peeping madly and scurry all over their little pen to get away from us. 

And, Boy, are they adorable… with little yellow “fros” on their heads…a clear indication that they are indeed Polish babies!

I decided pretty quickly after the chick’s arrival that I would not attempt to introduce them to “Anna”.  She wasn’t broody…meaning she wasn’t sitting on the ceramic eggs I put in her nest box.  In fact, she tried to roll them out on several occasions.  And at night, we found her roosting instead of keeping her “eggs” warm.  So, I thought it better to raise the babies in the shed under a heat lamp. 

I think it was a good decision.  I will introduce the new “girls” to “Anna”, their new mother hen, when they are older and she is less likely to peck them to death.

Good Neighbors

May was a whirlwind month for me…two horse shows, tons of family and friends in town to help us celebrate my daughter’s graduation from high school, dinner parties and arriving this week, new little chicks for “Anna”. 

I decided that Anna needed babies.  “Marge”, “Puck”, and “Pot Pie”, the Silver Wyandotte hens have been picking Anna’s head feathers off and leaving her a bloody mess.  I isolated her in an adjacent area of the pen so she could still see the other hens, but I feel bad for her.  Even though she looks tremendously better and her head feathers are growing back, she is all alone. So I ordered her three white crested “blue” Polish chicks that are due to arrive one day this week.  I’ve got a new separate coop and run all set up for them.

According to folks who know, it is best to put the chicks in an isolation container with a heat lamp for a day or so next to Anna so she can hear them peeping.  Then, in the dark of night, slip them under her so when she wakes up in the morning she thinks she hatched her eggs!  I’m thinking Anna probably can’t count, but just to make sure there is no opportunity for argument, I’ve put three “fake” eggs into her nest box that will remain there until the chicks take their place.

My letter carrier has been alerted and is on the look out!  I think he’s as excited as I am for their arrival!

And a funny thing happened over the weekend.  While I was in Kentucky with my daughter and our horses, my neighbor drilled a hole in my wooden fence about 4 or 5 inches in diameter, about 4 feet off the ground, so that he (and his grandkids) could spy on the chickens!  I wish he had asked first, but I’m not one to get myself too worked up about my neighbor enjoying my chickens!  I ran into him in the grocery this morning and he fessed up…to “borrowing” three eggs, too!  I’m thrilled!

I’m thinking about having a little reception for the new baby girls next week.  Maybe the rest of the neighbors would enjoy a peek at the little peeps!

surprises in the garden

Sunny skies, cloudy skies, wind, rain, sunny skies….sometimes the weather just needs to make up its mind!  In spite of the indecision on the part of the weather, my father-in-law, Tom, and I persevered in the veggie patch this morning.  We weeded, mulched, admired, planted a little, harvested lettuce and admired some more! 

Tom is particularly proud of the asparagus…it is really thriving! I’ve decided it is doing so well it likes all the attention Tom lavishes on it each time he is in the veggie patch!  And our newly acquired “Papa’s Rhubarb” plants, hand carried from Lancaster, Pennsylvania by Aunt BJ and Uncle Tom are sprouting new leaves and seem to be liking life in Atlanta!

For my part, I was particularly thrilled to find bluebirds sitting on a nest in the new bluebird box, a chickadee nest with eggs in the wren box and either a bluebird or robin nest in the artsy metal bird house my son, Jeff, got me for Christmas!

Perhaps the most unexpected discovery was a baby snake in the wheat mulch I was distributing (without gloves on!) around the strawberries and pepper plants.  After some discussion, we decided the baby snake was not poisonous…and relocated him to the garlic bed.  Hopefully, he won’t grow up to be a copperhead!

But, what really thrilled me today…what MADE my day…were the seven, yes, I counted them…SEVEN white tail deer in my forest…including a beautiful big buck, as surprised to see me, as I was to see them!

A Heathlhy Addiction

I’m really addicted to the high I get from my garden! 

This time of year finds me implementing the new strategies I agonized over this long, cold winter.  And, I’m pretty pleased with some of the changes I’ve made.

First of all, I’m using wheat straw as mulch instead of shredded hardwood mulch.  And, I’ve tried something new with some of my raised beds.  A thin layer of straw went down on the over-turned soil from last season to which I added 2 bags of organic planting soil.  Bush watermelons, poblano peppers and red bell peppers are being grown this way. I also am trying fabric “bags” that are planted like pots.  They are porous bags that allow drainage and better air circulation around the roots.  In these pots are planted two types of winter squash, cantaloupe and 3 bags of fingerling potatoes!  I did not put these “bags” inside the confines of my fenced veggie patch, however, but outside in the lower fenced pasture.  The vining plants are positioned near the fence in hopes that I may be able to tie them to the fencing and train the vines off the ground.   

The asparagus is growing….and growing!  I can’t believe how well the bed is looking already and both Tom, my father-in-law, and I are confident that the site we chose was perfect.

Our method of “casting” seed has been a brilliant experiment with the radishes, lettuces, and spinach.  And our rows of beets and carrots are doing well, too, although with the next crop we may try casting these seeds, as well.  Why not?

 And, the tomatoes are planted…on time!  One whole bed of three varieties including a tiny cutie named ‘red currant tomato’ with tomatoes the size of your pinky fingernail….sweet and delicious.  I can’t wait!

I try not to answer my phone or respond to text messages when I’m in my garden.  It’s my sanctuary, my gym, and, as I’ve said before, my therapist’s sofa.  Life couldn’t be better on the days I spent any amount of time amidst the plants, birds, butterflies and bugs…

Something tells me this addiction is a pretty healthy one! 

One of these eggs is not like the other...

One of these eggs is not like the other is an understatement.  One of them is HUGE!  I would have been shocked this afternoon when I collected the eggs from the hen house had this not happened previously.  Yep!  That biggun is a double-yolker!  There are actually two yolks in a single egg.  And, interestingly, the size of the eggs compensates for the two yolks!

From the information I have been able to garner, this rarity occurs one time in every thousand eggs laid.  And even though my hens are 8 plus months old, it usually happens in older laying hens or brand new layers whose mechanisms are still working out the egg producing process.

Laying double yolk eggs is not normal for chickens.  It is a miscommunication in their reproductive tract…probably, in my case, for the chicken laying infrequently whose system is “still figuring it all out”.

So now I’m really interested in buying one of those outdoor cameras that takes a photo, like, every 15 seconds.  I’d like to try to catch one of the hens laying that double yolker!

Now the thing I can’t stop laughing about is what they call a no yoke egg…

It is sometimes referred to as a “wind” egg, but more commonly, as a “fart” egg.   

And I guess I’ll just leave it at that!