Simple Things

I have the belief that things can be improved through small, simple steps. Our newest small step has been to add a clothesline and limit use of the dryer. We serendipitously received the posts from a friend (I had been searching for months) and Charlie installed the line over the long weekend. Monkey even likes to help fold the clothes. We are constantly doing loads of laundry, so without doing any scientific research, I'm sure we'll save on electricity (and give a tiny little back to the environment).

We're already thinking of our next little step to make our home a better place to live.

Only three more days of school. I really can't wait.

I got the blues

This little bluebird house has been empty for 3 years. It sits on a post on the edge of the garden. Each spring birds come and check it out, get my hopes up, and never move in. This year they have. And last night, while thinning carrots I heard little peeps. Below is mother bird waiting for me to get myself out of her way so she can deliver the goods to the kids inside.

Just a short hiatus

Things are hectic with the end of school and all. The garden and chicks are growing. The ducks and geese are practically grown. And tomorrow is the Monkey's fifth birthday. We'll be back in full swing soon. Only 15 more school days and I'm a free woman! I'll be back soon.

A weekend of accomplishments, but don't thank the goats

This was a weekend of projects. Lots of projects were completed, and my aching back is proof. The garden is tidy. Tidy rows of seeds have been planted. The potato rows have been covered in layers of straw and dirt. The aisles have been weeded and mulched. Plants that weathered our last freeze (and most did it quite well) have been mulched and fed. The survivors of the great greenhouse destruction are lined out in a sheltered spot hardening off. Bare spots in the yard have been seeded.

While I struggled to bring order to the garden, Charlie wielded hammer and saw to build a second small pen for the poultry (that makes two) and build two new small houses. We now have room for the ducklings, goslings and the chicks. Everyone except the keets and Lazarus are now outside.

The goats tried to help, but really just got in Charlie's way. Charlie cursed. A word of advice - don't try to build with goats. Dulcinea was fascinated by the tape measure and managed to pull it out and drag it around. Her attention then focused on power cords. Agatha helped Charlie by picking up nails and tools, and knocking down boards. She took to hanging out inside the new houses. The goats were grounded. The girls ended up cloistered in their pen for a while, which meant they got in my way while I cleaned out the winter's deep litter in their shed. We finished up yesterday tired and dirty and smelling of goat. Good times, good times.

OK, now it's spring

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is now spring. We spent the past weekend camping in Georgia. While the nights were chilly, the weather was warmer (and the pollen much worse).

While the cat's away, the mice (or in our case, chickens) will play. Several of the uppity chickens have been jumping over a section of fence into the garden and munched on the cabbage and radishes. I'm not too happy. There's going to be a lot of wing clipping this weekend and a second little pen built along that lower section of fence to block all entry to the garden.

What are they? And why are they so messy???

The ducklings and goslings have outgrown their brooder, so yesterday they went to live in their own pen. Agatha Grunker and Dulcinea were intrigued by them. The nights are finally warm enough for them. Soon the chicks will move out to the second little pen and I'll have my studio to myself again.

Oh, and in a sure sign of spring ~ the asparagus is poking out of the ground!

Goats do smile!

Agatha Grunker and everyone else seems to have weathered the storm much better than the greenhouse (we're checking with the manufacturer and insurance to see what we can do to replace it). A few branches are down in the pasture and one metal panel was peeled back from the chicken house roof like a banana, but no one seems worse for the weather.

I let the girls out of their shed after the winds died down yesterday evening and they had a nice frolic. They are getting daily brushings to remove their winter shags and have had a spring hoof trim. Vaccinations are next week (they love that...). I think I can hold off on worming, but will keep an eye out as the weather gets warmer.

We may add an additional goat this spring. Nubian or Alpine? Kid or doe? Too many options really. As long as Agatha remains boss, I don't think she'll mind.

Go ahead, rub some more salt in my wounds

Spring continues to be exceptionally cruel. Yesterday wind gusts of up to 6o miles an hour ripped the greenhouse off of its foundation. Miraculously, no baby plants were destroyed. The wind literally lifted the greenhouse up and over all the plants. And then to add insult to injury, it started to snow. I hauled all 140 tomato plants, 30 peppers and various other seedling and tender plants into the garage. Charlie and the Monkey had gone swimming so it was up to me to save the gardens future...

The winds continued through the night. We could hear limbs cracking and trees groaning all around. All furniture on the back porch was pushed up against the house. We lost power once for a minute or two and I was sure I would have to bring all the ducklings, goslings and chicks inside to keep warm. Luckily it stayed on. It's now getting light enough to see if there is any further damage, so I'm off to check things out before I go to school. Ugh.

Heartbreak

The freezing temperatures over Easter weekend wreaked havoc around here. I think our blueberry crop is a complete loss. All the blossoms turned brown overnight. Our apples may be a wash too. I stopped pitying myself when I realized that my livelihood didn't rely on the success or failure of our little crop. Growers throughout the region are facing total devastation of their apple, peach and strawberry crops. Crop insurance will not cover much; and I hate to think of all the workers who will be without work at harvest time.

It wasn't just the plants around here that were breaking my heart. The little guinea keet didn't make it. I'm not sure what went wrong. It just never really thrived. There are still eight eggs under a very broody Australorp hen in the coop, so maybe we will get lucky with a few eggs. Marie, who had been patiently sitting on ten eggs of her own, mysteriously left them when the cold snap hit. So, no turkeys this year either. We've had a bummer of a time here at Little Creek Farm.

One bright spot occured Easter morning. Charlie came back from the chicken house with a perfect, fluffy, little black chick. She's very cute and her story a little miracle. Her story deserves an entry all by itself. So tune in tomorrow. As a teaser I'll tell you that we've named her Lazarus.

It's beginning to look a lot like Easter!

Eggs,

Cupcakes,

Obligatory morning snow storm,

and Agatha Grunker enjoys her new pasture!

One more day...

And it will be Spring Break. I'll have a whole week to hang out with this little guy - the only guinea hen that hatched in our school incubation project. He's very cute and very tiny.

As promised

Here are the first photos of the new chicks. They aren't even a day old yet. I've got some funny combos going and am going to have to credit Number Two, of the Great Rooster Swap, with adding a little something to the gene pool. He's been a very busy rooster by the look of things.

I'm worried about the effect of such fuzziness on the minds of our staff at school. One assistant proclaimed she wanted to marry the first chick. The other started crying when she first saw the wet, rather wretched looking thing in the incubator and said she hoped she loved her baby as much as she loved that chick. In her defense, she is 6 months pregnant with raging hormones.

I'm keeping them in my office until Friday when they can come home and join the writhing pit of free rooster chicks in my studio.

The dirt won't come out from under the fingernails

We spent the whole of the weekend in the garden. A second round of peas has been planted. All the rows are ready for seeds to be sown. Cabbage and brocolli plants have been set and are surrounded by radishes of several varieties - Cherry Belle, French Breakfast and the intriguing Purple Plum. Lettuce has been planted along the garlic. Beets and carrots also went in. I've still got shallots to set (and I'm trying some from seed). The leeks are ready to be set. Our new apples, plum and peach have all gone in the ground. Busy. Busy. Busy.

I spent a good part of a very hot afternoon in the greenhouse potting up all the tomato and pepper plants. They'll be ready to plant in the garden in a couple of weeks. No need to rush them when they have room and a warm spot to grow. I've also got fennel, basil and a bunch of flowers started. It all looks like so much.

As soon as school is out, I'll be able to concentrate on things around here. Chef Boots wants me to grow things for him and then there's the new tailgate market a mile from our house at the community center/fire station. I'm very excited about that. We had a formation meeting last week and that is going to be a fun way to spend my Saturday mornings. Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to fit everything in the garden and read the "egg laws" and try to anticipate what will sell well and drink more coffee...

Keep your fingers crossed for the eggs in the incubator. Today is the day they should start hatching and many eager children are counting on me to bring baby chicks to life (You probably didn't realize I had that super power...). If it should fail, I do have 10 chicks in the brooder already. Do you think they would notice??? I mean, how would they know those weren't the eggs??? No, I wouldn't do that - I promise. I know all won't hatch, but by the laws of probability, some should hatch. This whole hatching and brooding thing is such a fragile process. And the little things are so, well, little; you just don't know what went wrong when something goes wrong. We did lose one of the goslings the day they arrived. When that happens I always lose confidence in my ability to raise the little guys. So seriously, keep fingers crossed until I post a picture of fluffy little chicks that aren't all yellow and all roosters (Anyone need a Salmon Faverolle rooster chick? I have ten...).

New arrivals

5:54 a.m. - "Maggie, this is the post office. Your baby birds are here."

Three Tufted Roman Geese, Four Buff Ducks, and a dozen feather-footed mystery chicks are in the brooder. Spring has officially arrived at Little Creek Farm!

What's goin' on

Let's see...
Potatoes are in the ground - Green Mountain, Russian Banana Fingerling, and All-Blue
Peas are coming up
Garlic is growing
Shallots are growing
Green Onions are coming up
Slicing Onion sets have been planted
Snow peas in the greenhouse are almost up to the roof!
We've been munching on radishes, lettuce and spinach from the greenhouse (so has the goose - I spoil her!)

The goats escaped on Sunday, but ran up to the car like a couple of labradors when we pulled in the driveway. They crawled under the eight foot fence that surrounds their pen. The breach has been stopped and they seem content (for the moment) to be back where they belong. Soon, they will have a nice little pasture to share with the poultry and our garden and flower beds will be safe.

The eggs in the school incubator project have 5 more days to go. Only 3 out of 24 didn't develop (we call those yolkers!) We are waiting to see how many hatch. The guinea eggs will have one extra week to go.

The ducklings and goslings should be arriving today or tomorrow. Keep on the lookout for overly cute pictures soon!

Oh, and there's more good news, but I'll have to wait. I'm being naughty and writing from my "prison", OOPS! I mean "office."

Strolling around the farm

Today's walk found trout lilies beginning to bloom. I imagine if we get the rain that is forcasted more will start poking up all around. Normally around this time, the ground is covered with them by the creek. I also noticed maples, the slippery elm and spicebush are blooming. I love spring (even if it's not yet sprung).

Things are a popping

What's growing under lights:

• Sweet Dakota Rose Watermelon (that's it up there)


• Sugar Baby Watermelon


• Lots of Tomatoes (I've listed those)


• Long Island Brussel Sprouts


• Cheddar Cauliflower


• Florence Fennel


• Sweet Basil


• Candytuft (a nice groundcover perennial)

Then there's all the stuff I did on Saturday at the Organic Grower's School in the propagation workshop. Rhododendren, Azalea, Ninebark, Ivy, Buckeye, and Dogwood are all in flats or pots. I thought the propagation class would be on vegetables, but it dealt with woody ornamentals for the most part. That's fine, but that's what I know - trees and shrubs... My experience is mostly with tropical trees from my Peace Corps days, so it was a nice refresher course on propagation techniques. My afternoon class was on landscaping with edibles. I now have a giant list of proven varieties to plant. I was sad to hear that cherries are difficult to grow in our mountain climate, but not impossible. Luckily, it seems I innadvertently planted the varieties that do best here. How's that for dumb luck?

In the garden:

The garlic is thriving and the peas are starting to poke up. This week the cabbage and broccoli starts will go in the garden. Now I've got to head off to work. I'm counting down the days until my contract ends - May 31. I feel a little like a graduating senior... Soon I'll have all summer to spend in the garden (and blog).

Arrr! I'm a pirate

Marie goes from lap turkey to parrot...

Please ignore my pastiness. It's March and I've been under the weather for the last couple of weeks... Of course, while I've been sick and otherwise overwhelmed with work, discord has been brewing in the barnyard.

"That damn turkey gets all the attention!"

"We find it best just to ignore her, honking only encourages her..."

Actually no poultry feelings were hurt in the creating of this entry. We were all just enjoying a rather chilly, but sunny Sunday afternoon.

Anticipation

Today we are loading the incubator with two dozen eggs. In 21 days, hopefully, we'll have a new batch of chicks! A few days after that, the guinea keets (there are only a few eggs) will hatch. Keep your fingers crossed.

It's time to get growing

March 1st is the magic date for peas to go into the ground around here. Today Charlie put the first row of Wando peas in the ground. He also finally removed the tomato stakes and put them in new rows. We tossed some onion sets into the ground yesterday for green onions. I would have helped more outside today, but I'm a little under the weather with a respitory evil.

We also started flats of leeks - Giant Musselburgh, and tomatoes - Black Prince, Cherokee Purple, Kentucky Beefsteak, Principe Borghese, Roma, Spears Tennessee Green and Stupice, and peppers - Alma Paprika, Ancho/Poblano San Luis and Golden Marconi.

In the ground and growing already are winter-overed shallots and garlic.

I'm counting down the days until our last frost date.

Catching my breath

I've been up to my armpits with work (feeling under the weather hasn't helped either) and I'm sorry if you've been looking for farm updates or other things of interest. I've just been too overwhelmed with life in general to write a word.

In the middle of re-enrollments, faculty contracts, state inspections, testing, new student recruitment and all the other fun things that have been coming my way (like interviews for new jobs where I'm not the boss of everything...) I've had one excessively odd and fun job - the hunt for Sandy the Hamster. I'm not sure if I've mentioned Sandy before. She is Monkey's class hamster. She comes to stay at our house every school holiday and we are very fond of the fat little rodent.

Sandy has developed a rather annoying habit of late. She's become a successful escape artist. On past occasions it's been easy to track her. She leaves gaudy little piles of beads and seeds behind toilets or shelves. On her last escape at school (she doesn't escape at our house) I found her dozing behind a toilet plunger with a hoard of dried beans she pilfered from one of the pre-school rooms.

Sandy's latest escape has left us a little dumbfounded and frustrated. The teachers and students have been looking for her daily. She's managed to elude our searches. She escaped last Tuesday and we are saddened (no really, there has been weeping from the 4 year old quarter) that she's still on the loose. At first we found her normal piles of beads and a few marbles, not to mention hamster poop... But the trail grew cold last week and we thought all was lost. In our search for Sandy we've found lots of things we thought lost and gone forever, but no fat hamster.

On a more cheerful note, today I found a sign that she's been hanging out in one of the preschool rooms (a nice tidy pile of hamster poop and colored rice behind the math shelf). So my search continues with new zest; a welcome change from being chained to my desk. I am the official Montessori Hamster Hunter. I'll keep you posted.