Sturdy Chicks

It's amazing how much those little fluff balls have changed in less than two weeks. They've gone from looking like cottonballs on forks to sturdy little chicks. They feel quite substantial when I pick them up now, it's not like holding dandelion fluff anymore. They are all getting feathers and 'tude. Individual personalities are emerging. When they stretch their wings and necks, I can see the chickens they will become. The 'peeps' are turning into chirps and squawks and a pecking order seems to be emerging. One will budge another, the other might just move away or it might budge back. Then they stand tall, beak to beak, wings spread each daring the other to blink. Finally one wanders off pretending he'd rather find something to eat and the other one smirks. I find the Chanteclers are more timid than the Buff Orpingtons. There's one little Buff, I think a roo, that is always the first one investigating anything new and I'm pretty sure he's been practicing his strut because he's got it down pat. He walks around like he owns the brooder.

I lost one Chantecler two days after getting them to the famed pasty butt. I don't know why they call it 'pasty butt', 'granite butt' would be more appropriate. By the time I realized there was something wrong with him, his rear was stuck solid with poo. It looked like cement. I isolated him and cleaned his little bum by gently soaking his rear in warm water until the mess was soften enough to remove gently. I guess I was too late because he passed a little while later. I know there's an expected mortality rate with chicks but I do feel bad about it.

I put in a couple of sticks for them to practice roosting. I never knew how funny it is to watch a little chick fall on its butt. They get up and fluff themselves pretending it never happened. Yesterday, I put in a couple of bits of sod for them to investigate. They're going to be free-ranged so they might as well get used to it. At first, they all stayed away from it, then my little brave roo went over to check it out. He pecked at it a couple of times. When the other chicks saw that the sod wasn't going to eat him, some of them came over as well. They would look at it then quickly give it a swift peck and jump back. Soon they decided the sod was no threat at all and a game of peck and jump began. Then one genius in the bunch decided to grab it and run. All the other chicks wanted to try that too and started chasing the one with the sod. As I watched them, an old familiar saying came to mind, "Yeah, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye." I must admit, I spend more time than necessary watching their antics.

Worm Project

I started a new project today. I'm going to see if I can raise worms. At first, I never saw the point of raising worms. They naturally gravitate towards the rabbit manure pile and then I throw the manure in the garden complete with worms so why make extra work for myself? I've changed my mind because 1) rabbits make a lot of poo and rats like to nest in the hay so anything that can make the pile go down faster is good. 2) The finished product is apparently marvelous for the garden. 3) Chickens eat worms, since I'm trying to raise chickens as naturally as possible, worms seem like a good food supplement.

It does sound like a good idea, doesn't it? Unfortunately, I'm running into problems before I even start. Almost everything I've read says to get red wigglers. I'm not buying worms when the ground is crawling with them. Red wigglers are not native to where I live and I'm wary about introducing any new life form to an area. So right off the bat, I don't have the recommended 1 - 2 lbs of worms to start my project. The other thing that needs to be solved is actually finding info on raising worms in cold climates. There's oodles of information on raising worms in areas where the frost line is two feet or less. So may-be worms can't be raised in colder climates but doesn't really make sense. Worms live here so there must be a way to raise them here. Another thing is that apparently only red wigglers can be raised in bins - I don't understand that, either.

So armed with very little knowledge, I going to try vermiculture and hopefully not murder a bunch of innocent worms in the process. I am using a five gallon pail. I do have buckets that would work but the pail is narrow and tall, I don't know if worms would crawl out of a low bucket and I don't particularly want to find out. Finding a mass exodus of worms the in basement is not something I would enjoy though I'm sure M. Night Shyamalan could find movie inspiration in such a scenario. After washing the pail out, I put about 4 - 6 inches of brown leaves in the bottom and then a bunch of bunny manure. It's moist, like a damp sponge which is the recommended environment for worms. I covered the top with cardboard just in case the worms can slither out. I think I might punch a couple of holes in the top for ventilation. I will keep it in the basement firewood room where it's dark and stays cool even on the hottest days.

I'm going to get worms from the compost, manure and leaf piles I have. Whenever I'm out, turning the piles or putting it on the gardens, I'll snag whatever worms I find and put them in my bucket. If the worms don't do well, I'll let them go. If they do well, and multiply, I figure by next spring I'll have enough to start a worm pit. I have all winter to figure out how to make a cold climate pit with local worms. You'd think that would be enough time.

First Strawberry Flowers

At the top edge of the main vegetable garden, I have raspberry and strawberry plants. I was in them today weeding. Generally weeding is a fairly easy procedure; grab weed, loosen root with gardening gagget/tool/whatever, yank, grumble when root stays stubbornly in the ground. Unlike 'real' plants which will die if you yank their tops off, weeds just come back with a vengeance and they bring their all little weedy relatives. Weeding amoung the strawberries brings its own challenges. You have to be careful of the runners, making sure you don't cut through them. Dandelions especially seem to entwine themselves right through the plants and you have to carefully separate them so you don't make the plant a casualty of the weed war.

Today, I was rewarded for my diligence to weed, I found the first pale flowers on the strawberries. I like strawberry flowers, they are very unique. I like how the bright yellow centers and white petals deepen the shade of the green leaves. The flower forms a delicate bowl, petals curving up just enough to hold one drop of dew. A perfect spa for the fairy who wants to indulge herself. I don't think anything says "Spring is here" more clearly than strawberry flowers.

The Laughable Greenhouse

Some day, when I'm a big girl, I'll have a real greenhouse. Right now I have a rather pathetic version, it's like going to get a mountain bike and ending up with a tricycle. I always thought that a greenhouse was a basic thing to have if you had a large garden. I really looked forward to having a greenhouse. I love being around green, growing things, if you don't count that stuff that occasionally shows up in the fridge on some forgotten baloney sandwich.

But The DaM Farm didn't have a greenhouse and we just casually assumed it would be one of our first projects. But then we went through our first winter and insulation and good windows shoved the greenhouse right off the list of things to do soon. It fell with a plunk to the bottom of the discarded wish pit and sits there still. Because, sure enough, every summer, something else need to be done first, a leaky roof, the chicken coop, wood furnace replacement and so forth and so on until I will be too old to plant anything anyway.

So I, in true homesteading spirit, decided to 'make do'. I looked at making cold frames from old windows and wood. I considered getting big old tires, stuffing 'em with straw and covering them with plastic. Then a local hardware store was selling these 'mini greenhouses' for less than 1/2 price - probably because no-one in their right mind would buy one unless they could get it for practically free. We brought it home 'ready to be assembled' and P, pre-teen son at the time, and I went about assembling it. It may have been ready to be assembled but we were far from being ready to assemble it. A couple of caught fingers, a few snagged zippers, a dozen ill fitting parts and a whole lot of muttered curses under my breath later it was done. P looked at it and said "Man, that's embarrassing." And it was. Well, the neighbours would get a good giggle anyway. Hopefully, none of them would drive off the road as they howled with laughter.

Much to my surprise, it does the job beautifully. I started plants in it just at the beginning of May. Even though we had some really cold nights, a touch of frost even, that little greenhouse wannabe kept everything warm and alive. As well, it is absolutely surprising how much that glorified plastic bag can hold. Right now I have twelve tomato plants in 6 inch pots and at least 6 large flats holding herbs, cukes and squashes not to mention a whole bunch of containers salvaged from the grocery store growing plants as well. There's six green peppers in there, too. It's all I need to get my garden off to a good start. After everything is planted in the garden, I have found it makes a great drying rack for my herbs. And I have giggling neighbours, what more could a person want?

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is basically using the healing properties of plants in a very concentrated form. I got into Aromatherapy about 8 years ago. I basically got tired of buying medical or health products containing unpronounceable ingredients. I absolutely had no idea what these ingredients side effects were. I could find out if I wanted to spend hours and hours of research ferreting out the info. I'd rather spend the time learning how to make things myself. I know what's in them, I have absolute quality control and I don't have to worry about tampering.

I've gone from making very simple remedies and room diffusers to making my own creams, salves, sunblock and insect repellent, etc. Some are a lot more successful than others and I'm still on quite the learning curve. But I enjoy it and not only do we all seem to be going to the doctor less, we seem to be getting less illnesses altogether. My interest in Aromatherapy has naturally lead to Herbals and Flower Remedies. The herbals are getting be central to my remedies and recipes because I can grow and dry them myself now.

I started very slowly and gingerly; I knew just because something was 'natural' didn't mean it was automatically safe. All the aromatherapy I had could fit into a shoe box with lots of room left over. Now it's all over the place. I have two shelves in one closet devoted to the oils themselves, an old refinished kitchen cupboard holds books, bases oils, salts, etc. And a baker's rack stuffed with essential oil diffusers. I can't seem to get an interest without it turning into another collection of something or another. In this case, unique or interesting oil burners as the ones in the picture.

Something New In the Vegetable Garden

Every now and then, I get to feeling that I actually know something about gardening and can consider myself no longer a newbie without a clue but a somewhat experienced gardener. Then the garden pulls a fast one on me and I realize that four growing seasons under my belt is nothing compared to the eons Nature's been growing things. A newbie I am and a newbie I shall remain, I respectfully bow my head to Nature and will try to recognize the patterns and cycles she shows me and learn.

The picture is of part of my vegetable garden. The last few weeks, I have been working in it, spreading compost and raking; generally looking very busy without really accomplishing all that much. I had noticed a couple of rows of what is either kale or chard looking rather green and alive amid the lifeless garden. "Hmm," I think to myself, "It must have frozen that way." Some instinct tells me to leave it alone and see what happens - probably Nature's gentle whisper even though she had every right to howl, "LEAVE it ALONE, you fool! I KNOW what I'm doing which makes ONE us". Sure enough, it is growing new leaves and making a bare, brown strip of ground realize all it can be.

I never knew chard or kale came back every year. I thought it was like lettuce, it dies off in the fall and you replant it in the spring. I wonder if it is like rhubarb and will eventually take over my garden? It'd serve me right for being such a brainless wonder not to know it was a perennial. Right now though, I'm pretty temped to think myself an accomplished gardener. I mean I'm growing things way before they should have even been planted. Hmm, that's strange; I thought I just heard a long, aggravated, exasperated howl from the garden...