Starting the Garden

I have taken a couple of days off work and since today and tomorrow are supposed to be optimal days for planting root crops I hoped to get some good garden time in.  Yesterday was so warm and sunny here that I began preparing the garden bed and the pots on the deck for planting.   A little Wren came by to perch on the deck rail and watch me for a while.

Most of the garden was covered with this - Dead Nettle.  I pulled and dug - it's surprisingly tenacious.  The rake and hoe didn't remove it.   I found a couple of leftover beets and onions from last year, and some Chervil had reseeded.  Today, I got some more beets in before it started to rain. 

I'm hoping it will stop raining so I can put in white turnips, carrots and several kinds of radishes, but in the meantime, I'm starting seeds indoors.  Here is how I do mine.  At Wren Cottage I repurpose things almost as often as I recycle.  The cat litter I use comes in big plastic jugs. 

Not very 'green' but they don't like the kinds that come in bags.   I recycle most of them, but they also are very useful in the garden.  When I'm ready to start seeds, cut the top off:        

Then slit the corners down about 2 inches, like so, so the top will push back onto the bottom  ...... and use the bottom of the jug to start seeds.

I happened to have some "Jiffy' seed starting disks on hand, but you could also fill the bottom part of the jug with seed starting mix.  

I soaked the disks in warm water to expand them, then - because they are waterlogged - I allowed them to drain.    Add the seeds to the expanded disks, then return them to the jug. 

The top keeps the cats out, and with the cap off, extra moisture can escape. A tip sheet from a seed supplier I bought from said to sprinkle cinnamon on the soil to battle or prevent 'damping off' - the biggest threat to seeds started indoors.

By cutting bottom off of the jugs instead of the top, they make great cloches for covering seedlings freshly set in the garden.  I have a lot of trouble with Robins in the Spring, biting off or pulling out my seedlings, but these really do the job at allowing the seedlings to grow large enough for the birds to leave them alone.  

Not all things need to be started.  These strawberries never completely died back, and now are growing back like gangbusters.

There are some advantages...

...to living in a townhouse.   1) I never have to mow the grass, and   2) when it's time to replace the roof, I don't have to bother with arranging that, it's just done for me.

The view out my kitchen window

Of course it's pretty noisy, with people walking on the roof, the scraping and then the nailing.  At the first unusual sound, all of the cats disappeared into whatever hidey-hole they have found for themselves.   The bunnies are unconcerned.  The chickens did a little frantic "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" skittering around, but settled down quickly and are now ignoring it. As for me, I'm going to escape to a CLUCK meeting for a few hours this afternoon.  A guest speaker is going to talk about feather condition and how it relates to overall health in chickens.     

Abigail is done with the mom thing.   Don't get me wrong, she is still a good mom to the chicks, she just isn't single-mindedly dedicated to them anymore.   One evening when the chicks were screaming and jumping all over her, I thought I detected that familiar harried look one sees on the faces of mothers of youngsters from time to time.  I took her out of the coop and put her on her favorite perch by the window, and could almost hear her sigh with relief. Those perch sessions have become more frequent, and she doesn't act all that eager to go back in with the young'uns. 

Abigail also started laying again this week.  While I wasn't getting eggs, I bought Chelsey's Eggs  at Good Foods.  After viewing a video (which I will NOT be posting here) of a commercial hatchery, I don't think I can ever eat grocery store eggs again.  These come from pastured chickens in Pleasureville, KY.  They are good and very big.  Sometimes the carton will hardly close.   Here is Abigail's egg next to one of the Chelsey ones - 

Store-bought egg on the left - Abigail's egg on the right

Not bad for a bantam, huh!

I split up the little family today.  There was a bit too much sparring going on, and one of the chicks looked like it was having some feathers picked out.   The coop is also getting a little crowded, since the chicks are nearly half the size of the hen now. I split up the two I think are boys, and put one in with Dolley.  After a couple of sharp pecks to let it know who's boss, she seemed to like the change.  Chickens are flock animals, and she has wanted to join the family all along.   This week Abigail actually let her join them in their cage for a little while!  That's how much she has mellowed out.

( I like the big round eyes on the Cochins)

The little one had some periods of peeping and pacing, but also settled down sometimes to scratch and peck in the litter.  I'm less sure this week that it's a cockerel than I was last week.  The comb  isn't growing and the wattles are barely there.  But then I look at the "girl," and she looks very different than the other two.......  See why I haven't named anyone yet?  I am so convinced of the girl though that I have been running through First Lady names, to see if one fits. There haven't been any takers on the feelers I've put out on the other two though.  I hope I have some time to find homes for them before one or both starts crowing or .........you know.

My fall crops have really liked the rain and cool temps we had this week. It was perfect for germinating the seeds.  I haven't had anything to harvest for a while though - no tomatoes in over a week.  I had some San Marzanos I picked last week I hadn't done anything with yet, so I made a pan of these.  When I first the tasted them, the skins were very apparent, and I thought I might try to skin them first if I made them again.  I put them in a jar in the fridge rather than the freezer, since I didn't have that many, and this morning tossed some in the pan with my breakfast eggs.  Yum!!  Skins had softened and they just needed a bit of time to meld the flavors.  Today I made a batch of this.  It filled a quart jar with a little left over.  She's right.  It's so good I wanted to just sit down with a spoon and dig in.  I'm planning upcoming meals with this in mind as a topping.     

This Week at Wren Cottage

Is it just me, or is it starting to seem like Fall?  It's still hot, but my garden is definitely looking fall-ish.

This week, out came the broken-down pole beans.  In went turnips, beets, and radishes. I still need to find a spot for lettuce.  I salvaged enough beans for a couple of servings, so not bad.   I tore off the ratty foliage remaining on the chard, and hope cool weather will bring another flush of leaves later.   The replacement basil and eggplant, and the bok choy are doing nicely.

This is one of the Comfrey plants, allowed to flower.

In real life, the little bell-like flowers look exactly the same shade as the Petunias planted beneath them



The "roma" tomatoes are slowing down.  I've been calling them Roma all this time, but I looked at the packet and they are "San Marzano."  Still a paste-type tomato.  I've got enough to fill the dehydrator again today.  I've already got lots dried for making "sun-dried" tomatoes.   This is one recipe  I want to try with them.  

The German Pinks are ripening and I LOVE them.  I hadn't tasted a tomato that tasted like the ones I had when I was young, since I left Ohio.  I thought it had something to do with the minerals in the soil - and it might - but this one really takes me back.   The plants don't produce many fruits, but the ones that are there are really big - 1 to 2 pounds.  Meaty, not many seeds, with tender skin - they are yummy!   I think I'll enjoy all of these fresh, and if there are leftover green ones at the end of the season, I found a recipe for a green tomato relish here .  I like that it is salty and tangy - the way tomatoes should be. 

I know I am in the minority on this subject, but two things that should never be said in the same breath, much less put in the same recipe are tomatoes, and sugar.  I know your Momma put just a teaspoon in her spagetti sauce "to take the acid out,"  but I'm sure every Nonna in Italy would blanch at the idea.  Tomatoes are meant to be tangy.  Ragu spagetti sauce (and others like it)  must be the most disgusting things ever put in a jar.  One of the primary ingredients is .....high fructose corn syrup.  blech!  (stepping down from soapbox and changing subject.....) 

Before I had to have a new muffler installed on my car  (which really needed to be done, but didn't fix the problem.  Now I'm thinking tune up / points and plugs)  I bought some more silk from Wooliebullie on Etsy. (and since she gave me a 20% off coupon when she sent my previous order)  The hankies are called "Veggie Tales," which is funny but true, since they are exactly those colors.  I'm not afraid of the really intense colors, because once they are drafted thin and/or mixed with something, it tones them down.

The roving at the top is called "Maple" and is spectacular. I want to just sit and look at it.  I have some brown Corriedale I can mix with Truffle's beige fiber, and either spin this separately and ply it, or card it in.  It would go a lot farther if I did the latter, but there's really a lot there for only weighing 2 oz.

Lastly, on the bottom right is .....something about Titania and Midsummer's Night's Dream... I can't remember the name exactly, taken from a painting the artist saw.   I wouldn't have thought to use those colors together (I rarely mix 'cool' and 'warm' colors) but I really like it.  That might go with my black Angoras - which produce mostly gray wool. 



Whatever I do, I will be sure to save some shreds in case we have someone doing a wet felting class at KSFF next Spring.  Now to figure out how to have my rabbit booth and take a class?

No real news about the chicks this week. Looking more and more like dinosaurs. I'm pretty convinced I only have 1 pullet and 2 roos.  If I'm right, anyone want a bantam buff Orpington rooster?  They are said to have nice, laid-back personalities......

Until next time, from Wren Cottage .......     

Victories and Disappointments - A Mid-Summer Review

I candled Abigail's eggs today for the second time, since I couldn't resist candling them the day I got them for a baseline.   Two of the eggs definitely have veins and a chick embryo - one of the Cochin eggs marked "MF"  (Mille Fleur?  Whoo-Hoo!) and one of the buff Orpingtons.    There is no guarantee either will make it to full gestation.  Often eggs, just quit in mid-incubation.  The other Cochin egg looks like a dud - infertile, nothing at all going on in there.   The rest - 4 Orpingtons - I'm not at all sure what I'm seeing.  Either the shell is too dense,  my mini-LED flashlight isn't bright enough, or I have no idea what I'm doing.  It could be any of the above, but I'm leaning heavily on the last one.   I put all the eggs back under Abigail because she was getting agitated, even though I took them out 2 at a time so she wouldn't miss them.  I also think she can count, because she didn't settle down until all 7 were back under her.

There don't seem to be any absolutes to hatching and candling eggs.  As I read Backyard Chicken Forum and other sources, some say don't think about touching the eggs for at least 10 days.  Others say by that time the indicators of a fertile, growing chick can't be seen any more.  I am concerned that the dud  - or the four I  am unsure of - will really go bad, break open under Abigail, and contaminate them all. (that really does happen, under hens and in incubators) I have a question posted on BYC, and I'm waiting for answers. 

On to the garden:
I am still harvesting something nearly every day, but in dribs and drabs.  The  Roma tomatoes are loaded with fruit, but no ripe ones yet. The German Pink tomatoes are big, have had to be tied up, with lots of blossoms, but I don't see 'maters.  There are two volunteer tomato plants that I am waiting to see what variety they turn out to be.  One of the advantages of not using hybrids, is they will 'breed true.'   They will be something I have grown before.

Roma tomatoes

There are lots of peppers on the Jalapeno and Cayenne plants too.  I've dried about a dozen Jalapenos, and plan to grind them to powder - to use like Cayenne powder, when I want a little 'kick,' but not as hot.  The kale and chard, that I thought would bolt or go bitter when hot and/or dry weather came, have not, and are still giving me meal after meal.   I have gotten two generous servings of white potatoes, and one of red from my pots.  It is so much fun to dig around in the pots, pull out a few potatoes, go inside, wash them and put them on to cook!  There is a difference in flavor! 

I don't see any blossoms on the beans yet, but they did go in awfully late.  The pattypan squash at their feet is huge, but I haven't got any squash from it yet.  Some of those leaves are as long as the length of my forearm, from elbow to fingertip!  A little too much nitrogen from the bunny poo - giving lots of foliage but no fruit? 

The oregano is growing a third crop, but I think I will let this one go to seed.  I have plenty, and don't want to stress the plant too much.  The Chervil plant from earlier in the Spring, has been done for a while, but has reseeded itself already, and 2 small plants have come up. 

The squash in pots are a failure, I'm afraid. After losing two or three tries to squash bug last year, this year's squash in pots have had it already.  Too wet, too dry, roots too crowded, who knows, but they are going limp and kicking the bucket after only giving one or two squash each.  I won't repeat this.  Darn!  I really like squash, and would really rather grow it than buy it!   

I'm also bummed at reading that the heat and air flow while dehydrating kale destroys  the Vitamin A and C - the reason kale is such a powerhouse in the first place!  I've been drying it like crazy for a couple of weeks. I'm thinking I may have to plant an autumn garden this year - something I have never done, except garlic - to keep the fresh food coming as long as possible    

 I'm not giving up on dehydrating though, because some nutritional compromises are made no matter what form of preservation is used.  I read Mary Bell's Dehydrator Cookbook  recently.  I liked it, but it kind of showed it's age.  It was written nearly 20 years ago, and a lot of the content had a 'quaint' feel to it - and no photos!    Still, it gave me some ideas for things I would not have thought of dehydrating - shrimp, pickles, watermelon?!?   I tried the shrimp, which turned out great, the pickles were way salty, and I haven't tried the watermelon yet.  She has another book "Food Drying with an Attitude," that seems to be the same text, only with photos added.  (?)  

Until next time from Wren Cottage ...... 

Smarter? .......redux

Just now in the cafeteria lunch line at the hospital where I work:

visitor:  Succotash?   What is succotash?   I don't even know what that is!

me:   It's a mixture of corn and lima beans 

visitor:  Oh.  I thought it was some kind of vegetable.

me:  It is.  Corn.......and ......lima beans 

visitor:  Oh.  I meant a vegetable that grows on a plant or something.    

I had to walk away.........

Not kidding.  Verbatim.  Again, middle-aged, well-dressed woman.


Humor aside, WHEN did the American public become SO disconnected from their food supply?

It is heartening that many are waking up, and backyard gardens / urban farming are booming.  For most people though, they seem perfectly content to feed themselves and their children an increasingly narrow choice of chemical-laden, GMO foods that are shipped from who-knows-where.  AND they never consider those foods may not always be there, in any variety, at any time they want them.  (pale, hard 'fresh' tomatoes in winter? Ick)

Today I harvested an armload of oregano (my 2nd harvest of that) and of basil (1st harvest of that).

oregano (this is a pretty big basket)

basil before......

.....and after.  

Still plenty to eat fresh, and  what I cut today will be dried.   I prefer to dry my herbs naturally, but ended up today having more green stuff than places to hang or lay it out to dry.   So, out came the dehydrator for a wash, then I fired it up for the first time this season and have the oregano drying in there now. 

OOPS!   That ruffled green 'spaceship' tells me that I got my seedlings mixed up.  I have 2 Patty Pan squash (aka scalloped squash - is there a difference?)  and 0 zucchini.  Oh well, as prolific as that is, I'm sure someone will have some they want to give away.  If not.....Farmer's Market! 

I have green tomatoes on the Roma plants, but the German Pink got a later start, and as I remember last year, they were late-season producers. 

All the Angora bunnies have had their Spring/Summer haircuts and mani/pedis now. 

Niko enjoying his new 'do,' while playing with Mom in her bedroom.  He can hold his ears up if he wants to, but one is lazy. I think it's adorable.

He's much lighter than he appears in this photo.  His body wool is very white with taupe points. 

  

And Abigail is laying like clockwork again.  Nothing from Dolley yet, but I'm thinking it could be soon.  I'm not sure how old she was when I got her, but I think it was 10-12 weeks, and that was three months ago.    

Breakfast last week.  As soon as this photo was taken, I broke those yolks and thoroughly cooked them.  I don't like runny yolks.  They're raw!  Ick.  

It's great getting food, seasonings/medicine and fiber that can be made into garments from your own home! 

Until next time, from Wren Cottage...    

June is Bustin' Out All Over.......

Overall, I am very pleased with my garden so far this year.   We got about an inch of much-needed rain today.  As wet as the Spring was, it had been weeks without a drop, and that meant brown, crispy lawns and having to water the garden.

As promised, I worked on a way to water more efficiently. I punched holes in the bottom of several plastic juice bottles and placed them next to the plant I wanted to water. My first attempt was a total failure. The holes were small, but there were way too many, and I watched my bottles empty in seconds, when they were supposed to seep water to the roots of the plants. That a pot could swallow 1/2 gallon of water that quickly told me how much I was pouring on my plants, too. I'm saving up more bottles and next time will only put one or two small holes in each.  In extremis, I could also save 'gray water,' (stopper up the tub while showering, then scoop it out with a bucket) and use that to water.  I've done it in the past, but it hasn't come to that.  

There are those who will tell you not to water your plants at night, due to the risk of fungal diseases. They have a point of course, but I compromise.  I go out about 7-ish, when the heat of the day is past its peak, and the sun has dipped lower, and water then.  I water at the base of the plant, and try to avoid wetting the leaves.  That way the plants have a while to dry off if they did get wet, and all night to soak up the water, minimizing evaporation loss.  If  you water during the day it will 'burn' off much of your water through evaporation, and droplets on leaves can act as a prism, allowing the sun to burn holes in your foliage!

True, water soaker hoses are a good solution, but pricey, and not very do-able in pots.

I've been harvesting all Spring, mostly herbs.

But some of the bigger stuff is coming on now too. 

 I have 2 yellow squash plants in this pot, and two squash that will be ready to eat this weekend.   As the plant grows, I hope to use the deck railing as a trellis.  (we'll see how that goes :)

I also have 1 zucchini in a pot and 1  Patty Pan Squash that was in a third pot, but got transplanted into the garden under the pole bean tee-pee.  I finally gave up in the battle with the robins pulling up all my seedlings, and put a more grown-up plant there. The advantage of having the potted ones "up close and personal" on the deck is maybe I can keep a closer eye on them and avoid baseball-bat sized zucchini. 

I had Kale with dinner last night

and Chard the night before.  I am not one for 'long-cooked with a ham hock, pot liquor and cornbread' style greens - although I love the cornbread part.  Just not slimey greens.  (It must be my Yankee genes)  I gave them a quick saute - long  enough to wilt them, season and eat.  Yum!  

The Roma tomatoes (from purchased plants) are well up and setting fruit

The 'German Pink' tomatoes, started from saved seed well after the Romas, are coming along - interplanted with Opal Basil, Nasturtium (said to repel Tomato Hornworm - we'll see) and Marigold - to repel nematodes.

My 'potatoes-in-a-pot' are huge.  A few blossoms, but not the real thing yet.  These are the white potatoes, and I have a pot of reds at the top of the steps.  If I had something to go around those plants, and then added soil or straw, I cold have potatoes growing the whole length of those stems :(   I didn't get one potato last year though, so I guess I should wait to see if I get any before I complain.     

The Basil is ready to be cut and preserved!  

Last year I bought a dehydrator, and preserved lots of things that way, besides freezing a few more in my tiny above-the-fridge freezer space.  It's hard to remember to use them though!  I could blame it on being  someone who doesn't cook all that much at home, but I've read a bunch of  'family' blogs this season that are saying the same thing.   

Earier this week I pulled out a jar of store-bought baby Portobello mushrooms that I dehydrated and saved last year.  I put some warm water on them to rehydrate them, and they were great - but there was an unexpected bonus..... 

This lovely bit of mushroom broth that could be added to stock. 

I'm going to use it tonight to make Mediterranean Couscous .  I got the recipe from Homestead Revival,  and I make it a lot. It is one of those go-to recipes that can be added to or altered, depending what you have on hand.   I sub canned white or cannelonni beans for the garbanzos, because I like them better, and use regular, not whole wheat couscous.  She calls it a side, but with added veggies, mushrooms or greens, I eat it as a vegetarian main dish.  

The animals are fine, Abigail is back to an egg-every-other-day laying schedule, and Ivy now has solid black peachfuzz-fur on her backside.  Niko is the only one who still needs his summer haircut, and if I would ever get up from this computer.........

Until next time from Wren Cottage.... 

        

Don't Hate Me Because .......

I've gone "commercial."  I've added a widget on the bottom of the right column, linking to Amazon, recommending books having to do with urban farming / sustainable living, etc. I am a reader.  I love information, and 'read up' on things (usually) before I begin a new venture. I own and have read each one of the books shown on the list. (Amazon does not have free rein to show anything they want)  I have liked some more than others, but like all of them well enough to recommend them.

FULL DISCLOSURE:  If someone links to a book through my blog, then buys it, I get a small 'finder's fee' from Amazon.  I use Amazon, have recommended Amazon here on this blog, and we have a large distribution center here, so for me, it is form of 'buying local' and keeping local people employed.

There.  Done.  Unless I add something new and especially want to recommend it, I hope that is the last you hear from me about it.

If my 'hit' counter is to be believed, a LOT of people read this blog - or have at least taken a look at it once. (But don't leave comments?  Go figure)  That tells me a lot of folks are interested in some of the same things I am.  Yesterday, Mike at Backyard Farming displayed this graphic:

Home Gardening

I don't think it will enlarge by clicking (I don't know how to do that) but if you click on the link, it should  take you there. It is interesting in many ways - the most grown foods, the financial return, a 7 million person increase in gardening in one year, but most of all that its women over 45 leading the way for home gardening!  Woo-hoo!  

Next time from Wren Cottage - water conservation.

Derby Day in the Garden

 There is no rain (yet), but it is overcast and the temp is mild.  A great day for working in the garden!

I created two new small planting places this morning:

This place at the foot of the deck stairs has always been soggy.   The downspout is on that side of the house, and the way the yard drains, water would always run this way and some would collect here.   I've read that Comfrey likes the wet, so one or two plants will go in here.   Today is rabbit pan clean-out day, so I will just dump buckets of poo there.   

I have a theory.... a couple of rains wash any urine out of the poo, and (I think) also kills weeds and grass underneath.  Call it the lazy-girl's method of 'lasagna' or compost gardening.   I have also read this spring that some folks don't like the cardboard base that one is supposed to start the lasagna layering with.  They say it doesn't break down fast enough.  My 'big' bed is doing well with the dump-and-leave-it method, so I'm going to see how it does here. That is a very pretty pink-flowering geranium you see under the steps.  If it starts to look like it is being shaded out or overwhelmed by the Comfrey, I'll move it.

This is the corner where I planted my German Pink tomatoes last summer, and they loved it there.  This year, instead of them having to fight for space between the rose and the compost pile, I moved the pile over a couple of feet, and will plant in the compost left behind.  The cement edging used to go all the way around the big bed, but I thought it was ugly, and changed that to fieldstone.  Frugality is winning out this year, so I hauled it out again and made some practical and weed-wacker proof, if not attractive edging for the new planting areas.     

These have to go - out of the big bed anyway, but they are just too pretty to get rid of, so I think I can fit them in on the other side of the rose from the tomatoes.  When you are an urban farmer, it's all about using all the space you have, no matter how tiny! 

This nice low-growing shrub that I can't remember the name of, has the sweetest white flowers.  It roots anywhere the branches touch the ground, so I have it several places, including the bed across the front of the house.   I like the way it adds to the potager feel, so it will stay.   You can't see it on the rose in the background here, but they are crammed with buds, as are all three of my roses in the backyard. Some are ready to burst open: 

As for the vegetables and herbs, I added a couple more chard plants.  I like it better than spinach, and they  can be used interchangeably.    I planted the Roma tomatoes and jalapenos, cut back the Feverfew by about half and harvested an armload of Lemon Balm to dry.  The Feverfew isn't good dried, but always used fresh, so it just went to the compost pile. With all the rain though, it was about to take over the garden. 

I need to get another stake, then I will plant a pole-bean tee-pee (is tipi pc now?) with eggplants at the base. There hasn't been one big planting orgy this year.  Everything has sort of trickled in.  But it's only early May and there should be plenty of time.   The oregano could be harvested.  It's higher than it looks here - about 2 feet.  It needs to be clipped before it flowers.  I might be able to get 2 (or more?) harvests this year.     

                    

Well it's off to Tractor Supply for some feed and bedding for the chickies.....I want to get back in time to watch the 137th running of the Derby!  I picked a couple of 20-1 shots in the office pool this year, and with no outstanding favorite, I'll just cheer for the winner, whoever it is!  

Waiting, just waiting......

For Spring to truly come, although today is pretty nice - sunny, if cool and windy.   My radishes are coming up gangbusters, and I see germination on everything else I planted too, even with the snow we've had and a heavy, icy frost yesterday.  Only 3 out of a dozen of the strawberry plants show any sign of life.  I can't blame Walmart, where I bought them, because I bought at a long-established seed store last year, and got 0% growth. 

I got tired of Abigail moping around the coop, and doing nothing but sit in the nest box. She not broody anymore, because she will waddle out of the box with some enthusiasm if I throw down a handfull of scratch grain.  She adores scratch, but I will only give her a little every few days so as not to throw her balanced feed out of balance. 

I took her out of her coop and plopped her on the 4x4 inch carpeted pad on top of the cat's scratching post.  That livened her up!  She looked outside and cackled loudly.  Thinking she wanted out, I took her out on the deck, but it was cold and damp, and all she would do was crouch and shiver.  I put her on my lap and wrapped her up in my arms, and I think she would have stayed there until dark, just looking around. 

oooooooooh, what do you see, Abigail?   

I've been taking her out pretty regularly to roost and watch the outdoors and she seems to love it.  She makes those purr/chirp noises that seem to mean that.  Believe it or not, the 'step-up'  thing is not working out too badly.  Like all of my animals,  she hates being taken out of  her coop/cage, but if I put my arm in and tell her to step up (I usually have to help and tap her bottom a bit)  she will perch on my arm, come out without a fuss, and is content to ride on my  arm like a parrot.

Abigail and her buddy (?) Ciaran sitting on their respective perches.  Notice how she has confiscated the big round cat tower top, and left him the 4x4 pad!   She doesn't really trust the cats, and I don't blame her.  They've never tried anything with her, but I'm always at arm's length when she is out. 

Her feathers aren't ruffled - she must have some 'frizzle' in her background , because she has some of each kind of feather.

Watching the world go by........

All this pampering hasn't caused her to start laying again (I think she's a young bird?) and tomorrow I'm going to go get her a friend or two.  Due to quarantine she won't get to meet them for a while.  I'm hoping she will be happier in a 'flock."  I'm working on a chicken tractor/playpen that will serve both the birds and the buns.  I've got one panel done (you can see it outside the door) but I'm waiting for warm weather to finish it. 

It's a start!

My 2011 garden is officially started.  Saturday and Sunday were unseasonably warm and lovely, so out came the trowels and seeds, and in went the beginnings of the garden.  I planted strawberries (with companion plant Borage), 2 kinds of lettuce, 2 kinds of radishes, shallots and chard in containers.  I have rainbow chard, and found I don't like to use the red, because it bleeds!  Everything I put it in turns out pink.  So I am using last year's seed in a container, then will transplant the white and yellow ones to the garden. I might still grow out the red ones and give them to the livestock.

I also planted garlic.  It is supposed to be planted in the fall, but we didn't really have a fall last year. It was hot, bone-dry and the soil like a rock, so I'll try some spring plantings and see what I get.  No need to buy anything special.  I found some huge heads of garlic at the grocery, and pulled off the biggest dozen cloves to plant.  Then I peeled the remaining cloves, ran them through my mini-chopper with some olive oil, froze them on a non-stick sheet in teaspoon sized lumps, then stored them in freezer, (double) zip-lock bagged.  Minced garlic at the ready that I won't have to chop at a moment's notice.  Only trouble is, now my kitchen reeks of garlic. 

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be just as warm as the weekend, so if it doesn't rain, I'll put some more cool-weather things in after work.   'Still don't have the potatoes in. I have dumped the soil out, but I need to scrub and bleach the container they were in last year before I plant them.   

I've got buds on my blueberry plant!  I wondered if it would over-winter, and it seems to have made it!

I need to get a quick pen made so I can put Abigail out in the garden to 'work it over' before I plant there.  Don't yell, but I think I can easily handle at least one more chicken.  I have one whole large cage/coop that I'm not even using.  I talked to a breeder about a bantam Cochin pullet (splash color) over the weekend.  She's got 5 or 6, anyone else want one?   They aren't the best layers, but they are calm and tolerate cooping well.  If I ever wanted to hatch out some eggs - I wouldn't need a brooder, because they supposedly go broody a LOT!   What I really wanted was blue, but they seem to be hard to come by.  The breeders don't want to let those go.  (I don't know if this photo is even the hatch the breeder is selling, but it is of her birds) 

Have I gone too far?

Yesterday I went to Tractor Supply to pick up rabbit feed.   These are 'chick days' at Tractor Supply, but the ones they got in last week were gone already, so there weren't any to watch and enjoy.  I mean it! Really!  I would have just looked!  While I was in that section, I saw a bag of  "freeze-dried mealworms."  They were cheap, so I picked up a bag to have as treats for Abigail.    Treats for the chicken.......too much?   

Actually, it's more like a bribe, since she hasn't started laying again yet.   I want to get her (and the bunnies, one at a time of course) outside in a pen if we have a nice day, but the grass isn't growing all that much yet in the backyard, and after two days of heavy rain this week, it could turn into a mud pit in a snap, so we're all staying off it. I think I'll throw down some grass seed this afternoon to help things along a little. 

Those mealworms are pretty gross. They aren't all shriveled up, but look exactly like the worms in the picture. I had read chickens love mealworms, but I don't know where they sell fish bait around here.  
Freeze-dried will have to do.  At least they're a little less disgusting.  I couldn't tell if Abigail liked them or not. I took her out of her coop last night and she was very content to sit in my lap and watch TV.  OK, maybe that's the point at which I went too far!  

While I was out, I bought a few more packs of seeds - yellow squash, zucchini (which I plan to grow on a trellis), Cilantro, regular curled Parsley, and lemon cucumber.   I would need a garden the size of a football field to grow everything I have seeds for.   Often I only grow one plant, though.  I haven't had the greatest success growing seeds either ( see  Boulderneigh  post for today) except those that go straight into pots or the ground.  If I could get a handle on growing healthy starts, it crossed my mind to put up a sign out front with the seedlings - maybe for fifty cents or a dollar.  If anyone paid any attention, I might get to know some of my neighbors better, but more importantly, encourage others in the neighborhood to garden too!   

Poor Truffle ....

He has an eye infection.   I hoped it was a scratch or other irritation like a piece of hay chaff caught, but after a couple of days of trying to doctor him myself, it wasn't any worse, but it wasn't any better, either, so we went off to the Vet last night.   He says it is pasteurella.   Given all the things it could have been, some involving surgery, that doesn't seem so bad.   The Vet checked him all over for abscesses, blocked tear ducts, runny nose, everything, but the goopy red eye seems to be the only thing he has.   We went home with an oral antibiotic (hmmmmm...how does one "pill' a rabbit, exactly?) and another antibiotic ointment to put in his eye.   They were all very impressed at the office, having never seen a French Angora (except the Vet) at how beautiful they are.  Truffle accepted the gushing with modesty.

Truffle wasn't up to having a new picture taken for this post, but otherwise has been a trouper.  He has been very good for me, and so good at the Vet's while we mess about with his eye.  He seems to know I'm helping him, and acts relieved when I soak the stuff off his eye and flush it with sterile saline.   One good thing about working in a hospital is they drill hygiene into you.  I'm practically washing my hands off  before and after I touch Truffle, and I'm keeping an eye on the other animals.  I think I read somewhere cats can get this too?

Another thing I have been appreciating, especially with this unusually tough winter we've been having, is how glad I am that all my animals are inside the house!  It's not only a relief for me not to have to 'suit up' to go out in the cold and ice, but I can monitor them better and no frozen water or dropping pans!    This urban farming thing has a few advantages!

What's New at Wren Cottage

I have been SO busy in the last week, it may take more than one post to get it all in.  My little hen has gotten a name.  She will be Abigail, or Abby, after Abigail Adams.  (although I can't imagine anyone calling Mrs. Adams, Abby).  IF I get any more chickens - and that may have to wait until / unless I truly find myself in the country - I will use a First Lady theme to name them.  Only the earlier ones though, no Michelles, Hillarys, or Nancys.

Abigail

Not to worry, this is just a travel cage.  Abigail's repurposed rabbit cage is several times larger.  In the Spring, she will get outside time in a covered pen, so she can scratch the dirt and eat bugs and worms like other chickens.     

Saturday morning, I got up long before dawn to head to Shepherdsville for a rabbit show.  There I met up with Jessica Redelman of Redelman's Rabbitry, to pick up a blue Mini Rex buck from her.  She was terrific, and very patient with my questions.  She had lots of rabbits there to show, but took time out to set up my new bun, give me a quick lesson in how to assess Mini Rex conformation, and honestly describe his stronger and weaker points. She is a Nationals winner, and is far, far ahead of everyone else in youth sweepstakes points this year, so I think she knows what she's talking about.   Lovely girl, and studying to be a Vet. 

Jessica watching Judge Wade Burkhalter judging one of her rabbits.  She won just about everything, with her "leftovers" as she called them,  (her Nationals Team stayed home) even with LOTS of other Mini Rex there. 

Rabbit shows are organized chaos, with many different tables judging different breeds, all at the same time.  

My new bunny, Redelman's R581.  He has to keep that as his 'official' name if he's shown, but as usual, I haven't come up with a name yet to call him at home. He's a good bit darker than this, and really does have a blue cast to his coat.  He's very well socialized, lets me pick him up and cuddle him, and is as inquisitive as any little boy.   I really like this guy!  

Isn't he cute?   He's just over 3 months old, and about half the size of my does.  

Ciaran says "hey, buddy!  What do you think you're doing on MY cat tower?" 

I've tried to get new photos of my Angoras, to show those who have asked what they look like with their wool cut off, but they aren't good about staying put.  That and the delay on my camera shutter got me photos of only heads turned away and rear ends.  I'll keep trying.  

The cats couldn't be less concerned about all this 'livestock.'  The only thing that seems to bother them is another cat coming into the house, but that's not going to happen .........I promise! 

Next time, "Hug a Sheep Day" at Equinox Farm.