Raw Dog food

Oooooh!!! Is that the food dish I hear rattling?!?!

I started making dog food about eight years ago. Dusk was my inspiration. We had him for about three months and by then I had done considerable research on his breed mix/type and the results were not good. Dogs of Dusk's origin, breeding and size don't live much past five years old and many do not get to three. I was feeding him a quality dog food that cost twice as much as the regular stuff but a serving was about a third of what I had to give compared to the grocery store brand so it wasn't as expensive as it looks at first glance. He got lots of socialization and excercise. So I was doing what I could and Dusk seemed happy and healthy.

At nine months Dusk started kind of favouring his hind quarters. He did a lot of 'bunny hopping' instead of running and sometimes had trouble getting up after a nap. Oh-oh. The vet said it looked like signs of hip displasia. Not good. She gave me some massage techniques to use with him and told me to limit the ball chasing/retrieval games since the stopping short wasn't good for H.D. My vet also suggested either home-cooking or raw food. She is a holistic vet, most vets are dead set against raw food for dogs. So I started looking into it. I did a lot of research but still it terrified me. I knew nothing about making a diet for my beloved pet that was going to be nutritious and healthy. A friend of mine and I were discussing this one day and I said I should really change Dusk to a homemade diet but I was pretty sure I'd end up killing him. She outright dismissed me, "You're not going to kill your dog". Here, go get this book, read and follow it and you'll be fine. And she was right. I was still halfway terrified and measured/weighed everything for well over two years. But after feeding this way for eight years and seeing Dusk approach his ninth birthday in good health, ( his back end gets a little stiff now and then) I'm glad I made the switch. I remember about a year after starting him on the diet watching all 130 pounds of him thunder across a field with a grace and strength he simply didn't have before. I couldn't help but marvel at the change in him.

Of course, food can only do so much. A really, really sick dog may not get better just because you change his food. But I do believe that a non-processed diet is just better for any living being. I suppose humans could live on nothing but cereal their entire lives, but who'd want to and how healthy would they ultimately be? Are there dangers to feeding raw food to dogs? Sure there are. I never leave the pets alone if they're having bones in case of choking. I use the same cleaning/preparation methods for their food as I do for cooking for the family. Other than green tripe, all the dogs food is human grade, so it's basically the same as ours (except it's the parts we don't eat). Green tripe is the stomach/intestines of cow, lamb or other herbivore. It's just gross, smells like a over-crowded barnyard that hasn't been cleaned in 50 years. I open the pack real fast and the dogs eat it outside. Horrid as it is, it's great for dogs and they absolutely go bonkers for it. So in short,I am aware there is risk but I believe the advantages outweigh it. Besides, the store bought dog food can be dangerous, too; remember all those recalls a couple of years ago?

A big bowl of veggie mush! I'll freeze this in little packages for the dogs' meals. A meal is mainly meat or meat and bones but a bit of veggies or fruit does seem to be required for my dogs. Dusk gets about 10% in his meal where Angel does well with 20 - 30%. I try to give the dogs as much variety as I can. Meats include chicken, rabbit, turkey necks, fish, beef, pork and on occasion goat and lamb and whatever else I can snag. Veggies are usually in a three or four combo mix and include dark, leafy vegetables and a little carrot or yam.

Mmmmm, garlic, ginger and parsley! When the dogs have veggies, I add this mix. Again, I make a load of it and then freeze it in single servings (I'm all about the easy and the convenient). I find it helps with digestion and my dogs breath/smell is not offensive at all. They do get other supplements, too; organic apple cider vinegar with their meat and bones meals, kelp/alfalfa with their meat meals, some oils like like wild salmon fish oil and early evening primrose oil though mind you, since now most of their meat is pasture fed, not grain fed they don't need as much. Dusk gets Vit. C to help when his hip displasia makes him stiff. They get raw organic ground pumpkin seed in the summer months to help prevent worms and fleas. I've never had an issue with either, yet.

Another important part of the meal is offal, the organs of whatever animal I happen to have, usually it's beef. This mix is heart, kidney, liver and tongue. They don't need much of it, but they do need it. We buy half a side of local, grass feed beef. I always ask for the organs and the trim that is usually thrown out and use it for the dogs. Of course, they have rabbit and chicken organs as well.

A nice, nutritious training/snack treat, dehydrated beef heart! The butcher usually throws in a couple of beef hearts along with the one that comes with my cow so I slice them thinly and dry them out in the oven. That plate is a whole beef heart dehydrated.

OK, it's not part of the diet Per Se but my dogs love their liver brownie treats! They also get eggs and yogurt and assorted other foods may not be 'classified' as raw but it works for for them.

Obviously, research and learning is tantamount in the success of a non-processed diet. Here is the book and the email group that helped me the most.

Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats The Ultimate Diet

by Kymythy R. Schultze.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Nutrition/

Smart Move, Cat

I've got to admit, when my cat dreams, she dreams BIG. That blob to the right of the picture is Whisk. Crouching under the trees that hold my bird feeders is a favorite hang out for her. She hasn't quite figured out if she stays there the birds will not come. But no matter, she lies there, patiently in wait of some unsuspecting little birdie that never shows up. I think now she just goes there out of force of habit more than anything else.

So there she was, reposing under the tree, half asleep wondering where all the birds were when the two wild geese returned! They wandered unconcerned around the bird feeders, gobbling up any errant seed left behind by the squabbling birds. Well, as far as Whisk was concerned, this was a gift from the gods! So she stalked and crouched and whipped her tail back an forth as she waited for the perfect opportunity to spring on her unsuspecting prey. She waited for close to an hour. Then she changed her mind and walked away, offhandedly as if it really didn't matter. She must of thought better of trying to pouncing on something that was at least twice as big as her. Though I'm pretty sure she'd never admit it.

View from the Porch, 7:20 A.M.

Almost 7:30 in the morning and sunrise isn't even thinking of breaking. Not so long ago the sun was greeting me at 5...A.M....in the morning.

But today is the Winter Solstice, shortest day of the year. I know a lot of people think this is wonderful because the days will start getting longer and the worst is over. But I know the coldest weather is yet to come and I won't notice the lengthening days for another month or so, I'm sure. It's like the Summer Solstice, the days start getting shorter but no-one notices and the sun is really just starting to warm up.

But never mind. Winter Solstice has a charm and a comfort all its own. It is a holiday of little fanfare and even smaller commercialism, and that's the way I like 'em!

Christmas Goats

She sat on Santa's lap and mugged for the camera as prodded by her mama. After the picture was taken Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas.

"A goat," she said as her blue eyes sparkled in the reflection of the tinsel. "A little grey goat with white, floppy ears." A little goat who is so happy he's gotta bounce. "

After the little girl left with a shy smile and a wave. Santa mused to himself. "A goat. What an unusual request."

Not really, Santa; not at all. Click here

Turkey Behavior or How I'm Loosing Faith in Books

Turkeys are seasonal layers. That means they lay in the Spring/Summer. I know this because the books and goodness knows how many websites tells me so. So how does the books explain this picture? In short, they don't. The four top eggs in the basket are turkey eggs. The other three are various chicken eggs. I put them in so the difference in turkey eggs is more obvious. Turkey eggs are off-white and speckled. They're also much pointier on one end.

`

I really don't know why my turkeys are laying now. I phoned a turkey lady I know and she is clueless as well. But she did say she was impressed that I was getting eggs from my turkeys. I don't know if I'm all that impressed, I think I'm more worried. Is it good for turkeys to lay off-season? Does it hurt them? Does it make them weaker? Will they lay in season? The turkey lady hazard a guess that they may be laying because I have lights in the coop. But other than that, she had no other information.

`

Poking around the Internet did get me some interesting heritage turkey facts. Did you know heritage turkeys lack the broad-breast gene that all commercial turkeys have? And that has something to do with why heritage turkeys can breed naturally while commercial turkeys can't. I'm not quite sure, though, how those two things get connected.

`

I am going to keep looking and see what I can find out. For the time being, I'm hoping the turkeys are ok and are not hurting themselves laying. May-be they're just confused...like me.

Late Hatch

Last September, Caribou, a Buff Orpington hen decided to go broody. ~Incidentally, just in case you're wondering, I don't name all my chickens! With thirty plus birds and some of them almost identical it would be impossible. But when one stands out with a certain feature or personality, a name invariably pops into my head and the chicken is christened. Caribou came by her name because her comb was missing a couple of spikes, nothing happened to her, she hatched that way. Anyhow the resulting comb looks like the antler on a caribou and so she was named.~

I thought Caribou's timing was a bit off. September is not a great time for little chicks but she was not going to get off that nest for love, money or chicken feed so I put her in a broody area with ten eggs. While the time for raising chicks was not good, the timing to extend her lifespan was impeccable. Caribou was destined for the freezer with all the other year and a half old hens. So she dodged that bullet (or axe, whatever the case may be).

On October 14, nine of the eggs hatched. I was pretty impressed with the hatch rate, especially when I considered some of the frosty nights Caribou had to keep those eggs warm through. All nine thrived, I didn't loose one. Cariboo is an excellent mother, and this was her first time at it. Gotta love a Buff Orpington's natural instinct! The chicks are about nine weeks old now and the cockerels are trying to crow and end up strangling on the noise. I put Caribou back in the main coop and she seems be doing just fine. Sometimes I find her on top of a straw bale looking at her chicks but she doesn't seem upset that she's not with them.

So my first fall hatch turned out very well, I think. When it comes time for broodiness, the hens know much more about it and I think I'm going to trust their judgement.

Roosting just like big chickens!

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

There's no snow but the trees are bare. The temperature is in the single digits (C) but not to the freezing point. The squirrels scamper through the yard with their cheeks bulging but the call of the Canadian Geese are silenced, they have packed up and headed south. The colours are washed out, like a favorite pair of jeans that you hang on to even though they are thin and ragged. Winter's coming, he's just dawdling. It's not like Winter to be so sneaky. I suppose he's having way too much fun in other parts of the country to make his way here yet.

New Turkey

As it turns out, my two turkeys are both females. I really wanted a trio because I'm hoping to raise turkeys for the freezer next spring. So I contacted the lady who gave me the turkey eggs. I knew she raised them to sell at Christmas time. I asked her if she would sell me a tom just not butchered, I needed it live. She was happy to oblige me and so now I have my trio of Beltsville Small White Turkeys. I had no idea what to call them. P, teenage son, came up with Snap, Crackle and Pop. That works well.

Introductions were a little difficult. I had the tom separated for a week or so. He could see everybody and everybody could see him. I was hoping that they'd get familiar and comfortable with each other so there wouldn't be any problems. False hope on my part. I put him in the main coop. The chickens couldn't have cared less. The smaller turkey was fine with him. The larger hen was not. She went over and started yanking on his wattle with her beak. So I separated him back to his quarantine area. Then I decided to put the hens with him so there wouldn't be the territorial thing going on. That worked much better. She grabbed him by the wattle, he grabbed hers then they both quit it. In five minutes everybody were buddies. After a few days, I put the three turkeys back in the main coop with no problems at all.

I think the world would be a better place if its leaders had to pull each others' wattles for five minutes and then decide whether the argument was really worth the effort.

Pop showing off!

Visitors of a Feathered Variety

A while back, I glimpsed out the window just in time to see two unfamiliar birds land just outside the chicken pen. I had no idea what kind of bird they were. Going out to investigate and taking my trusty camera with me, I heard both of them calling to my chickens and turkeys, "Arp, arp, arp." Now that's a familiar sound! That's just like the sound my turkey hens make. OK, so now I know they are turkeys of some sort. They didn't like me getting too close, but I did manage to get a good look at their heads and necks. Yup, definitely female turkeys. After a little research, I think these two girls are Eastern Wild Turkeys. I have no idea if they are wild in the true sense or if someone is missing a couple of them from their farm. I called around but nobody knew of anyone who raises turkeys, except for me. That fact was pointed out to me by everyone I talked to about this. Well, yes; I know I grow turkeys.

The next day the two hens managed to figure out how to get into the chicken pen. I didn't know if that was a good idea or not. I have no clue if they, being wild, could have diseases they could pass on to my birds. These two certainly looked healthy enough and my birds didn't seem to mind them hanging around.

So I figured I'd just let them hang out and may-be they'd stay and become part of my flock. The next day they were gone and I haven't seen them since. I think I'm a little disappointed.

Empty Nest Box Syndrome

I started with rabbits four years ago. Having had a pet rabbit, I knew the basics of rabbit care. But I knew nothing of raising meat rabbits. I read a lot, joined groups and asked a lot of experienced breeders a lot of questions. Armed with a bit of knowledge, a bit of support and a lot of nervousness I began my journey. Beginner's jitters, I told myself, it will pass as you figure it out. And so it has. Litters come and go here with little fanfare and a lot of "ooohs" "aawws" and "so cuuuuute". But still after four years things happen that are just real strange and convince me that rabbits have a sense of humour that is far more advanced than their place in the evolutionary scheme of things would dictate. Not only is is their humour well developed, it can be cunning and rather sneaky, in short it has a touch of evil.

Flare, a perky, friendly little doe two years of age was bred a while back. I like Flare, she's the granddaughter of my beloved Sunfire and loves to follow me around doing the 'Bunny 500' (rabbits, when they're really happy will do things to show their feelings; "Binkies" are when they kind of flip in the air, "Floppies", that's pretty self descriptive, they flop down in a contented heap, the "Bunny 500" is a curious activity involving the rabbit running furious circles around a persons' feet). Unfortunately, for all her charm, Flare's birthing record is less than perfect. She's great when she does become a mama, medium sized litters all healthy kits with no runts. But Flare misses more times than most which means no litter at all.

Last summer I bred her and marked the calender with her due date, August 26. About ten days before she was due, I noticed she was digging around in a corner so I put in her nest box. Usually they recommend you don't put the nest box in until two or three days before delivery date otherwise the rabbit will use it as a potty station. I haven't found that the case in the colonies at all. First of all, the nest boxes are much, much bigger that the standard ones used in cages. Secondly, I designed them (Don built them) very long to resemble a burrow more. I also designed them very high so newborns would not fall out, chill and die. Moms just don't use these boxes to toliet in. When the babies are about two and a half to three weeks old, the mama will start building a ramp-like mound out of woodchips and straw in front of the nest box. Then the kits can get back in when they venture out.

`

Flare happily jumped into the nest box and went to work, chewing up the straw and making everything comfy and homey. Her due date came and went and no kits showed up. I waited a couple of days, but no little hairless squigglelies in the box. Ah, well that happens. I was meaning to take the nest box out but that task kept on getting bumped to the bottom of my list.

`

A week after she was due, I found Flare had been very busy lining the box with her own fur. In the rabbit world this usually means babies are putting in an appearance in the very near future, anywhere from 20 minutes to two days. I had rabbits go past due date by a day or two and I've heard they'll be up to five days late. I have never heard a rabbit going a week. Now I'm getting a little worried. I'm hoping I just got my dates mixed up. But there is a chance she has only one kit and it's grown to a humongous size, which happens sometimes when there's no competition for room space and nutrition. So I watch her carefully. She's perky, she's happy. She eating, eliminating fine. Everything's rosy in Flare's world. I wait two more days then I take the nest box away. Flare is unconcerned, studiously washing her left ear. As I leave, I'm pretty sure I caught her winking at her colony mate. Rotten little rabbit.

A beautifully made complete with fur-lined bowl nest and nary a kit in sight.

Pumpkins on a Gate

The title sounds like something on the menu of one of those restaurants where the "ambiance" costs more than the food. You know, the type of restaurants that spring up in touristy areas promoting down home, old fashioned cooking (usually with imported food). But I have to admit, the pumpkined gate gives off an ambiance all of its own without any hype or spin. It's quaint, old-fashioned and charming. It's also totally unplanned and truly did spring up on its own.

A long, long time ago (last spring), Don made new pen for the baby chicks from the three broody hens. He bought a very large and deep storage shelf from work so he turned it on its side, stuck doors on it, made a few air vents and ta-dah! a chook coop! Worked well, too. We kept 24 chooks in that thing. Of course, they were only in it at night, but still it was roomy and airy and sooooo easy to keep clean. Don even put a window in one of the doors for the chicks so they could look out in rainy weather. The only problem was the afternoon sun. Except for right behind the coop, there was no shade at all. So I made a little strip of a lasagna garden by the fence to cut the sun's blistering heat and create some shade. I planted snow peas, sunflowers, corn and nasturtiums. The snow peas and sunflowers never stood a chance. They were planted right by the fence and the chicks ate the young plants as soon as the little plants poked out of the ground. The corn is ragged, having their lower leaves torn and shredded by little curious beaks, but the corn is tall and strong and their yield is good. I suppose there are a couple of nasturtiums in there somewhere, overshadowed by the broad pumpkin leaves.

I never planted pumpkins; they were pop ups from the compost I used. I'm used to having pop ups now. I enjoy them, actually; it's like Nature is adding her own special touch when I plant gardens. Pop ups confirm the co-operation between myself and Nature. So when I noticed the pumpkin plants, I thought, "Oh, that's cute, kind of like a miniature Three Sisters Garden." Pumpkin plants by nature are a curious lot, always exploring. They grow and stretch and stretch. These found a gate that was beside the pen and started growing through and up and over it. The gate is sturdy and strong and I knew the pumpkins wouldn't wreck it, well not much anyhow. I think it looks really interesting. I can't wait to see what it looks like once the pumpkins turn orange.

Standard Rex Rabbits

I have two new rabbits. I don't 'need' two new rabbits but that's besides the point. They are both young does about 3 months old. I had to have these two rabbits because they are Standard Rex and have just amazing fur. You can't really tell in the picture but the fur is the softest soft, the plushest plush, the velvetyest velvet and is beyond thick. Their fur is that way because their guard hairs are very fine, straight and the same length as the under hairs. If I ever get into tanning the hides, Rexes make the best pelts. While Mini Rexes abound, the Standard Rex are hard to find. In fact, I got these two from New Brunswick. The Standards are considered a good meat rabbit. They weigh about 7 pounds, like the Creme D'Agents I have. Most meat rabbits are bigger, but I like this size, still enough for a meal and easier to pick up.

The one on the left is a chocolate otter colour. She's a dark brown with a triangle of light brown on her neck just behind her ears. It also looks like she is wearing light brown eye liner. Her tummy is light brown going to white at the center. The other one's colour is Lilac. They're both considered solid colour rabbits. Rexes do come in 'broken' colours which simply means they're white with spots that can be black, brown or whatever. I like the solid colours better, I think.

They are in an isolation cage right now, just as a precaution. The barn were they came from was immaculately clean and it's obvious these rabbits were well taken care off. Other than "This One" and "That One", they still have no names. I was thinking of using names from old rock ballads like Ruby Tuesday and Maggie May. That way, if I ever do get a buck, I could call him Rebel, Rebel. But these names don't suit these rabbits at all; old rocker types they ain't. And the two girls are from different lines so they need to have different theme names. I'm kind of leaning towards calling the brown otter after a tree. She's dark and earthy and has a presence of calm sturdiness. The lilac one is a lighter in colour and personality so I'm thinking either moon names or mist names.

So I'm up to eight permanent rabbits, a far cry from the four I started with. That's it, no more rabbits, none. Doesn't matter what breed they are (Harlequins and Chinchillas would be nice), how cute they are or how perfect they would be. No. More. Rabbits... probably.

Earl Was a Fizzle

A little rain, a little wind, I've seen worse. And that's fine by me. I'd rather be over-prepared than under-prepared. From what the forecasters say, Earl moved eastward so we were spared the worse.

Waiting for Earl

For about a week now there's been a lot of talk and reports about Hurricane Earl. It's been tracked meticulously by weather and news stations constantly. As the week and the hurricane progressed so has the warnings. It is actually predicted that good ol' Earl has a fifty-fifty chance of hitting Nova Scotia as a category 1 tomorrow, but that might change. It seems to change on an hourly basis. I tend to look at weather reports with askance. In my opinion, they're wrong more than they are right. And my neighbour thinks they're making more out of this than there really is. He's 86 and he's seen more weather than these young hot-shots on the tube with their images and computers and cool colour mapping of Earl. But you never know. I learned my lesson about that being on the island less than a month with a blizzard I didn't really take seriously.

In the time I've been here, I've seen remnants of tropical storms and they can be very destructive but they will likely pale beside an hurricane, no matter what category it is. So I'm going to hope for the best and prepare for the worse. As I do so, a little niggling worry rattles around in my heart. I can clear the veranda of loose items - needed to be done anyhow. Don can make sure the generator is gassed up in in top working order. I can take in all my gardening tools and make sure the tomato teepees are sturdy and anchored well. I can take a good look around the chicken coop and make sure the windows are in tonight and that the lights are working. I'll do head count and re-do it just to be on the safe side, I'll make sure the Coop Cat is in. I can make sure there's lots of food and water - it's harvest season, we have oodles of food. But there are some things I cannot protect, there's only so much one can do. The corn and my beloved trees are on their own. I'm glad we topped the trees earlier this summer, that should help them stay resolute against winds that are predicted to top 120 k/h.

Hopefully it won't be as bad as they say but if it is at least I won't be looking for my wheelbarrow in the next county when it's done. Be safe, my neighbours, my trees, chickens and garden.

Basil Garlic Pickled Green Beans

Well, the beans are done! I have pulled the plants and the freezer has bags and bags of green and yellow beans. So I decided to make Basil Garlic Pickled Green Beans. It might sound less than appetizing but they do taste wonderful and the beans stay crunchy. I hate mushy pickles of any sort.

It's a very simple recipe but like most pickles, it is time consuming. I need about 25 beans per jar, 2 - 3 garlic cloves, basil leaves and peppercorns. The peppercorns are quick, open the jar, pour 'em out. Everything else needs to be picked, washed, chopped and/or peeled. The brine is simple and fast. The recipe says not to use softened water so I always buy a jug of water to make the pickled beans. I'm not crazy about bottled water but buying one jug once a year is something I can live with. I have tried to find out why I can't use softened water but can't find any info on it.

So I prepare the jars and put the flavours in the bottom. While I'm doing that, I get the water going in the canner and the water for the lids. It's taken me a couple of canning sessions to figure out when to get the water bath canner going. At first I started it way too late and was waiting forever for the water to boil while my jars sat on the counter. A propane stove would probably heat the water much faster, come to think of it. I do four jars at a time so the bottles stay hot.

After putting the garlic, basil and peppercorns in, I stuff 'em full of green beans. The beans need to be upright and cut to fit. I find it's easier to put the first half of the beans in with the jar on its side. After the jar is stuffed with beans, I pour the hot brine into the jars and put on the lids and rings. Then it's into the water canner for a bit.


Hot from the canner, I put them on a towel to cool completely. As the jars seal, I hear a satisfying 'pop'. If the lid is curved downward in the middle, the seal is good. Once they are cooled completely, I'll check the seal and store them. They need about four weeks for the flavours to blend and deepen. After that, it's great snack food with crackers and cheese or to serve with meals.

Baby Corn!!!

Wow, that was fast! The baby corn was planted in the middle - late June and some of it's ready now. They're a little bit bigger than I expected, certainly bigger than the ones in the can or frozen from the store. The seed package said to pick the ears when the corn silk turned brown. But I'm thinking if I want smaller corns, I shouldn't wait that long. They're tasty though and very easy to freeze.

I did find out that sometimes on regular corn stalks you can find one or two baby corn growing with the big ear of corn, just at the base. I have never seen that here but I wasn't looking for it, either. I will keep an eye out for when the regular corn is ready.

One thing I won't do again is transplant baby corn in with the regular corn. It's a bit of a challenge to figure out what is what. The baby corn stalks are just as tall and robust as the regular ones. I knew the baby corns for sure were the ones with the brown corn silk but that's not going to help much if I want to start picking it before it turns brown. I only transplanted the baby corns because the second seeding of regular corn was rather erratic and there were lots of empty spaces in the rows. The baby corn I had planted in front of the chick run to provide some shade for them was thick and over-crowded so I figured it'd be a good idea to move some. I've read corn doesn't do well when transplanted but this stuff did great.

I am going to save a few cobs for seeds. I hope they will sprout but they may not if this corn is hybrid and is unable to re-produce itself. For the time being, I'll just enjoy what I have!

Freezers, Pros and Cons

When we moved here, we brought with us a little, 4 foot long freezer. I am a 'sale' shopper so a freezer was handy for that. The previous owners of our house left a humongous freezer behind, one those ones where I'm pretty sure I can lie flat in (not that I would because I wouldn't want to give anybody any ideas around here). The freezer ran fine and came in handy when the garden started really producing. The nice thing about it is it's in the cold room and doesn't really turn on too much in the winter. Most people can't fill one freezer but last Autumn, both were jammed packed. Sometimes going down to get a roast was a foray that had me emptying half the freezer then leaning over head first, teetering on my toes and hoping I don't fall in. And if I did fall in, praying that the lid wouldn't slam shut on me as I lay unconsious having whacked my head on a frozen roast. Of course, if that did happen, it would be kind of poetic justice for the cow whose leg part I was looking for. So when Don mentioned that a fellow at work had a bunch of chicken stuff for sale and a freezer we went for a look. Ended up with all sorts of stuff, an incubator, a bunch of waterers and chick feeders and another four foot long freezer. What family needs three freezers!?!?! As it turns out, one who grows most of their own food and buys 1/2 an organic, pastured local cow twice a year. As well, feeds two large dogs a modified biologically appropriate raw food diet (and yes, I am aware that the acronym for that is B.A.R.F.)

But it's making me think. Three freezers, even though they don't run all the time are still consuming energy. And then there's all that plastic. Freezer bags are re-usable and I do tend to use other plastic bags as well. But I wonder just how environmentally sound all that plastic is. I probably wouldn't have given this a thought before moving here but the lifestyle does make one very environmentally conscious. And that awareness leads to one small change after another until I want to actually figure out a better way than having freezers multiplying like rabbits, so to speak.

I have a water bath canner so I do can tomatoes and pickles. I have looked into getting a pressure canner so I can do veggies too. The jars are re-usable and so are the rings. The lids can't be re-used and there's that pesky BPA thing with them too. But apparently there are solutions to that on the horizon from what I read. In any case, it's probably better than all the plastic and electricity 3 freezers need. But every pressure canner I looked at says do not use it on a glass top stove and guess what I have? I use my pressure cooker on the glass top with no problem but I guess it's different for canners. I think what I might start looking for is a used propane stove. Something I could set up in the fall on a temporary basis just to can. It's something I can think about and look through the classifieds, Used PEI, Kijiji... and may-be I can find a better way.

The Butterfly Garden Changes Once Again

This has been a year for weird things around here. No fireflies but lots of mosquitoes; carrots won't grow but potato plants are popping up from peelings, etc. And then there is the butterfly garden which has it's own weirdness going on.
`

I planted lavender in the garden the year it was made. While I worried it wouldn't come back, every spring it did! Over the last five years I lost only one plant out of the six. Last winter was very mild in comparison to others so I didn't really worry about the lavender. I mean if it could make it through the harsh winters, it should be fine, right? Wrong. Not one plant re-newed itself this spring. Weird.

The butterfly garden is a changing thing, that's one of the things I like about it. The only real constant in it is the old wooden wagon wheel I found on the property when we moved in. It has changed places in the garden but in the garden it remains, may-be a little more worn, a couple more missing spokes and few more loose ones but it's still there, hearkening back to days long since past. The paths are completely gone now. The little white rocks buried under new compost and soil. The back of the garden where I once placed rocks and tree logs for the butterflies to rest and sun on are totally overgrown by vegetation now. I transplanted all the perennials to the back of the garden to make it a little bit maintenance free. Lambs ear, sage, lovage, asterbees, bee balm, comfrey and common lilac all are doing well under the shade of the crabapple and snowball trees.

In the front part, which is much sunnier, only the lupins are perennials. I've had different annuals over the years. I tried something different this year. I remember my dear Mom (Eileen) collecting cosmos seeds and successfully planting them the next year. So last fall, I collected cosmo seeds and the seeds from the brown and white daisys that spring up in different places around here. This spring I planted them in the butterfly garden along with the calendula seeds. Before I planted the seeds, I dotted the garden with the stepping stones an other whimsy objects collected over the years via Christmas and Mother's Day gifts. I thought the mix of plants and the whimsical would look really nice. I imagined a sea of tall, slender plants swaying gently in the winds and cresting with white, gold, pink and purple. Only the sturdy, stubby Calendula plants came up. Weird.

I stopped re-filling the humming bird feeder I had because I couldn't do it regularly and I know the sugar/water mixture will go mouldy and that's not good for hummingbirds. I originally put the feeder up because I noticed one or two hummingbirds last year. This year, with no feeder to attract them, I have bunches of them hanging around. Weird.

I'm not sure these things are all that weird, really. I'm pretty sure if I researched and poked around a bit I could find reasonable explanations for all these things. But things are very busy around here now so the "Gee, it's been a weird year around here." will have suffice for a while longer. At least next winter, when everything huddles and closes in on itself, I'll have time to go through my books and find out what I did wrong. Unless, of course, we have a weird winter that keeps me hopping.

Sigh, Rooster Problems

Sometimes life on The DaM Farm is just not all rosy and picture-perfect. One of the things I hate the most is when my inexperience causes pain to my animals. I don't mind paying for my own mistakes (well, actually I do, kind of; but that's besides the point) but I loathe when someone else pays for me. Even if it's "just a chicken".

This happened about a month ago. It all started when I noticed a change in attitude in Chandler. Chandler is the #2 rooster. He basically plays second fiddle to Captain Morgan. They don't fight but Captain Morgan would get in Chandler's face if he felt Chandler was getting a little too close. Chandler would always run away, he never challenged Captain Morgan. But those incidents were rare, mostly the two just ignored each other. They both had their own little harem of hens and basically co-existed in harmony. Then the attitude change, Chandler started challenging me! The first time, he went for my legs. I just chased him around, caught him and held him down letting him know that was totally unacceptable behavior. But he did it again within the week. Now, if I had any brains in my head at this time, I would have separated him or, more practically, sent him to the freezer. But I didn't because he's a Partridge Chantecler rooster and I only have 2 P.C. hens. I wanted more. Unfortunately, the two hens went broody last spring before I could separate them with Chandler and collect the eggs. So my plan was to wait until the hens were finished raising their clutches and have a late summer breeding. I also reasoned that he was just challenging me, he still ran away from Captain Morgan so there wouldn't be an issue there. Nothing more than what I wanted and my inexperience made the decision. And it was is direct contrast to what I always said I'd do; I would never keep a rooster who was viscous. Small as roosters are, they can be dangerous, especially for children. But there were no grandkids visiting and wouldn't be so, just this once, I'd keep the rooster until I got more eggs from his hens. In short, I was just being stupid.

Just to be on the safe side, I started carrying a rake with me when I had to be anywhere near Chandler. He always backed off when he saw the rake and life went on. Then I walked into the Coop and found Captain Morgan and Chandler going at it. Obviously Chandler decided the time had come not to run away which I would have seen coming had I the experience to pay attention to the warning signs. It was horrible. Both were bloody and panting. I separated them using the rake. I cleaned both up. Chandler fought me tooth and nail, but Captain Morgan snuggled and let me attend to his wounds. Neither was mortally wounded. In fact all wounds were superficial and were all situated around the head area. They hadn't used their spurs on each other. Captain Morgan did get the worse of it, though and I'm pretty sure he would have lost the fight.

Battle scarred Captain Morgan. He's all healed now and feeling fine.

I have decided that from now on, the coop is one rooster only. I don't care how well two roosters seem to be getting along, I don't ever want a fight like that again. I will stay with Buff Orpingtons because that is what my rooster is. The two Chantecler hens that go broody at a drop of a hat (I have one who's broody again after just raising a clutch) will not be butchered this fall. They can stay and be as broody as they want for as long as they want. Hopefully some crossbreeds of these two will be good broody hens too.

Captain Morgan, the reigning (and only) rooster.

Beans Finally!!!

I knew the beans would be late because I was so late in planting.Yesterday I finally collected my first green and yellow beans and are they nice! They're a great colour, great shape, great texture and you guessed it, they taste great, too. They're the best size I've seen. I'm wondering if that is because I've been picking off leaves all summer long to give to the rabbits. We enjoyed some of the yellow beans with supper last night. Today I'm going to freeze the rest.

While I was out collecting the beans, I noticed a few more carrot tops. Looks like I may have twenty carrots instead of five or six. Plus the little row I put in of the baby carrots when I realized my first planting was a no-show. The baby carrots are thin, but they are there. Hopefully they'll get to a decent size before October.

On the plus side, both my cucumbers and tomatoes seem to be ahead of the game. We've been eating the cukes for a couple of weeks now. This summer was just perfect for cukes, they like it hot and muggy. The tomato plants are laden with fruit and I think I'm seeing just the faintest blush of red on the biggest ones.

Everything else is coming along. The corn are getting some tassels and the snow peas are straggling behind. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the only person around who will have fresh snow peas in September.

One thing I have noticed is a lot less bugs in the garden. That war simply wasn't waged this growing season. If I saw three of those miserable potato bugs that love the cuke and tomato plants, I'd be surprised. I'm wondering if planting this late kept the bugs away. I think that is wishful thinking but until proven otherwise, I'll go with it. I always try to find some redeeming quality to procrastination, 52 years old and I'm still looking.

Curious Skunk

If they didn't smell like something leftover from the Apocalypse, I'd probably not mind skunks at all. Generally speaking, I'm pretty neutral about them. Both dogs, on separate occasions have been skunk-bombed. Both times happened, of course, at last bathroom break before going to bed and so extending my day by a couple of hours as I hunt around for the peroxide, baking soda and soap all the while reminding myself to look into getting a gas mask. When that happens, I am not neutral at all, not towards skunks, not towards dogs, not towards the world in general.

After building the chicken coop, a skunk or two moved in underneath. We had put chicken wire around the coop to prevent such a thing but we ran out before we got around the whole coop. It was just a couple feet and it was by the door so the chickens wouldn't be able to get under the coop and it didn't seem worthwhile to get another whole roll of wire for just a couple of feet and the skunks wouldn't likely find that little, tiny hole anyway so we figured we'd wait until we needed more fencing to complete the job. You know how they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions? Well the shoulders and all the road signs are there via the excuses one uses not to do something.

That summer, on occasion, I get a faint whiff of skunk but nothing overwhelming and it only happened in the early morning. They never bothered the chickens. So I figured live and let live. Besides several people told me with a skunk underneath the coop, I wouldn't have any issues with rats. Seemed like a good trade off to me. The skunk never tried to get into the coop to eat the eggs so, again, live and let live. On occasion, I'd see the skunk in the early evening, bouncing unconcerned through the chicken pen, ignoring the chickens and the chickens returning the favour.

I hadn't seen any skunks this year and hadn't smelled them either so I figured they had moved on. They hadn't. A couple of weeks ago, I was out closing up the coop for the night. I was a little later than usual, having some minor crisis in the house or something (the something being another cup of tea with that great cake and conversation). Anyhow while I was in the chick pen, I heard scratching and rustling. "Oh great, a chick got out," think I. Nope. About two feet away from the chicken coop door, the door incidentally I had to go through in a couple of minutes to get to the hose to change the water, was a skunk happily digging through some weeds. I went into the coop and started talking softly, gently and very kindly. The words were anything but, however. They were something like, " I need to go out there, ****** skunk, so don't get ******* startled. Don't ******* spray me or I shall ******* kill you in a ******* long, ****** drawn out manner and visit all ****** kinds of ****** wreck and ***** ruin on your ******** decedents for generations to come." Still speaking gently of mass murder and atrocities and throwing in the occasional ******, I gingerly went outside where the skunk was. He looked up, gave me a casual look and went back to grubbing around for bugs. I passed him and continued on to the hose. Since I had five waterers, I had to make three trips. On the second trip, the skunk decided to follow un-nerved me to see what I was doing. It was sort of like a little kid pestering an adult, "Whatcha doing, huh, huh? What's that, eh? Can I help, huh? Huh? Huh? Can I, can I?" While he was way too close for my comfort, he did stay a respectful distance away from me. On the third trip, he was waiting for me and followed me to the hose once again. When I left the coop he had either wandered off or went under the coop again. I guess I bored him after a while.

I haven't seen him since but I do talk softly if I'm out there early evening now. I think if I don't startle him, I'll be OK. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get very ****** un-neutral about skunks again.

Two Months Old and Going Strong!

My little turkeys are almost two months old now. They're finally catching up to the chickens in size. At first, the turkeys chicks were much smaller than the chicken chicks. As they developed, they showed a different body type, longer and narrower (and that famous turkey neck thing going on). Now they are about the same size as the chooks and I'm thinking the two will start outgrowing their coop-mates shortly.

Not surprisingly, I have no idea if they are toms or hens. They both look identical so I'm thinking they might be the same sex. The lady I got the eggs from told me to look for differences in the head, neck and tails. Male turkey heads are a little pinker than females. Right now both my turkeys have beige - light brown heads. Male turkey necks will have a little more hanging skin. I'm not noticing that yet. But they are small and it's hard to see under their necks. If I'm holding them, they are more interested in cuddling or talking up a storm than obligingly stretching out their necks in an upside down position so I'm not even trying. The biggest 'tell' apparently is the males will start fanning their tails while females never do this. No fanning yet that I've seen. So I'm thinking, may-be, perhaps, there is a chance, that these two are hens. Which would be the best case scenario because I might be able to get a tom this fall from the seller. So I would have my trio for over-winter.

They're both still are sweet and personable. If they are not grooming themselves, they are grooming the chickens, especially the Delawares. They get along with the other birds. In fact, one little turkey managed to get out of the chick area and spend the night with the adult chickens. I found him there in the morning, fitting in like a dirty shirt. I was thinking of just putting the two in the main coop since they'd get along with everybody but I really want the turkeys to be on grower crumbles for the next three months or so. They still run over to me, usually blabbing away in that unique semi-musical chirp they have. You can always tell when there's a turkey around, their voice is one-of-a-kind.


Ever curious, a turkey will stop whatever he's doing to see what I am doing (that or he's just mugging for the camera). The Delaware chicken, on the other hand, couldn't care less and continues to eat.

Well, no tail fanning, no hanging neck skin and no pinker head, indicating a hen. But what do I know? (not much according to the chickens).

Something's Missing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To Ten Million Fireflies

I'm Weird 'Cause I Hate Goodbyes

I Got Misty Eyes As They Said Farewell

"Fireflies" by Owl City, 2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

`

At my Grandparents farm (Hilda and Bernard) or going camping, I marvelled at the firefly. As a little kid chasing the magical pale green flash there was an excitement. As an adult sitting on my porch watching the fireflies green beacon float intermittently over my lawn there's a sense of calm the accompanies childhood memories. As a grandma I pointed out fireflies to my grandkids and watched them light up with amazement as the fireflies put on their early evening show.

`

In the last two years, I haven't seen one firefly. Not one. And I've been looking. Apparently fireflies are disappearing worldwide. There's even a Firefly Watch program. The usual culprit is to blame - Man. I have learned that loss of habitat and light pollution is likely to blame for the declining numbers. I miss the fireflies and I'm going to try to see if there's anything I can do to help them make a comeback in my little part of the world. I hope that sweet, peppy innocent song I quoted at the top isn't sadly prophetic.

Bonkers for Basil

Nothing like a big bowl of freshly picked basil, it positively defines "fragrant".

My basil is growing wonderfully this year. I could say it's growing like weeds but after six years of gardening, this particular saying has lost all its appeal for me. I selected a seed pack that had a variety of basil types; regular, Thai, Vietnamese and a few others. Some look like little bushes and have smaller leaves, some are purple, all are tasty and scented beautifully. The great thing about having rabbits is that the basil never gets a chance to flower; I'm always taking the tops off to add to the rabbit greens. The plants thrive and become sturdy and bushy. The basil with the smaller leaves are perfect for the rabbits because they love to eat the stems as well as the leaves.

`

A few youngsters and a Mama enjoying basil. Mama is insisting they share.

A couple of days I ago, I figured I better harvest some for the humans before the rabbits ate it all. I love using fresh basil and it's a simple task to preserve it. I do so much drying that drying space is at a premium around here. I could freeze it on cookie sheets then bag it for later use. But I have to freeze it whole and use it whole but usually I don't want whole leaves in my sauces and stews. Thawed out whole basil no appeal at all, it fact, it's downright yucky... and slightly slimy so chopping it is not anything I want to do. I could mince it all up, add a little water and freeze it in ice cube trays. That works fine but it tends to spit and spittle when added to a hot pan. Luckily I came across an idea in one of my herb books that takes this method one step further and the result is just perfect for me. I mince up the basil in the food processor and then drizzle in olive oil as the basil spins. I add enough oil to make a runny paste. Then I freeze it in ice cube trays for a couple of days then transfer the cubes (freed from the cold confines of the trays) to a freezer bag, label it and I'm done lke dinner. When I'm frying or making sauces, stews, etc., I throw in a frozen cube for instant flavour in the pan! Tasty and simple make such a nice pairing, especially over spaghetti!

Fragrant memories of summer in the making! An ice cube tray of basiled oil ready for the freezer.

Chicken Management or ARRRGGG!!!!!!

I've never had so many issues with chooks before. Last year, I raised a bunch, stuck 'em in the main coop when they got old enough and come fall, ate the roosters and had more laying hens. With the exception of the Timbits Drama, everything was honky-dory. This year, nobody is co-operating with me. I swear, they get together in little groups brainstorming how to make my life miserable, I can just hear them...."OK, you two will get out and hide in the corn. You over there, act like a hen and then when she's sure you're female, CROW! Hahaha, cackle, cackle, cackle, gafaw, gafaw, gafaw."

Here they are, plotting against me, I'm sure the two with their heads down are in cahoots!

I got a few different types of birds this year and may-be that is what is adding to the challenges but I don't see why. I mean a chicken is a chicken, right? Apparently not. I tried to get breeds that are very mellow and calm but I guess personality trumps genetics every now and then.

I really like having green eggs so I got six Americauna eggs plus two day old chicks and three or four Americauna mixes from my own Leah. And out of the twelve, I might have two females! Arrrggg!

I'm pretty sure this little Americauna cross is a female. (please, please, please!!!)

I decided to get other laying hens, too so I ordered six from the feed store. Good thing I did, considering the male Americana fiasco. I think these hens are hybrids. They will lay brown eggs. They're very mellow and not shy at all. While they are smaller than the dual purpose chickens, they get along famously with everybody. And the best thing about them, I know they're hens because that's what I ordered.

`

`

`

`

`

`

`

`

The laying hens colouring differs by shade of brown and the amount of white. It is kind of nice, adds a little pizazz to the coop. `

`

Another breed new this year is Delaware. They're a duel purpose bird, said to be very mellow and sweet. Ha!!! Not when compared to my wonderful Partridge Chanticlers and Buff Orpingtons. A couple of the roos have real attitude. They are a pretty bird, though; white with black speckles on the tail and around the neck.

`

Here's one doing his early morning calisthenics. Don't ask me why, I don't have a clue.

Some Delawares have lots of black speckles. I think this one is a female...may-be...perhaps.

Others barely have any speckles. But they're still growing so that might change.

The big issue right now is the cockerels being jerks. Last year they just hung together being jerks only when the opportunity arose. This year, they're constantly at each other and chasing the hens relentlessly. No-one has gotten seriously injured yet but I think it's coming and that is something I want to avoid at all costs. So I'm trying to separate these teenagers according to sex but it's difficult for me still. I think someone is a male, stick him with the other males and then it's obvious he's a she, put her back with the pullets and ~voila~ she turns back into a he. They're doing it on purpose, I'm sure of it.

Here's two Ameriacaunas and one Americauna cross (the brown one). I'm pretty sure the two very impressive and pretty silver/black ones are males. The cross looks like a male when it is with the ladies, it struts and chases them. But next to males, it looks kind of heny.

So I spent the better part of a morning re-arranging the chooks again. I don't think it's perfect but it seems to be very much improved. Almost no squabbling and the pullets are much more relaxed and happy. I put the biggest, toughest teenage roos in the big coop where the adults will keep them in line. They are adjusting to life in the 'big house' well so far. So it's just a matter of watching closely and continue to be on the alert for chickens changing sex just for the amusement of seeing me go insane.

I can't tell you what sex either of these two are but I'm pretty sure the one on the left is a cat.

Chicken Coop Cat

I really wish people would neuter/spay their pets. More than that, I wish people would clean up their own irresponsible mess instead of dumping it in my chicken coop. Ticks me off. OK, enough of the belly aching, besides ranting rarely helps anything (just ask Mel Gibson).

A couple of weeks ago I went into the coop and found this little guy asleep with the baby chickens. I have no idea how he'd get in there. Both people doors were closed, the only way in would be through the chicken door which would lead him to the main coop, not the baby chick area. And he would have had another door to contend with, not to mention a gate and fence to get to the area I found him in. Irregardless of how he got there, there he was. The chicks were perfectly fine with him there, not bothered at all.

While the kids and I were discussing what to do, he woke up. I went to reach for him and got attitude all wrapped up in hisses, teeth and claws. He was small and probably couldn't do much damage but wimpy me went and got yard gloves anyhow. When this little cat realized I was reaching for him, he tried to get away. He stood up, wavered, took a couple of unsteady steps and fell over. Picking him up was like picking up a small fur covered wire hanger, my hand swallowed him up. I made a little box for him on our front porch. I fed him wet cat food, I thought he was too young for it but I had nothing else. He ate it and had a nice long nap. For the next week or so he didn't do much but eat and sleep ... and hate me.

And hate me he did. Ran away every time and I had to catch him to feed him. He'd spit and hiss when I finally cornered him and I'm pretty sure he used swear words when I picked him up. After a few days, he would make himself known to me, meowing and coming out of hiding but would still run when I went to pick up. But he wouldn't run far and would allow himself to be picked up. I started petting him as he ate so he'd get used to it. He purrs now when I pick him up and likes to be petted. But I can still see him fight the urge to scamper away when he sees me coming and sometimes the urge still wins.

I can't have another indoor cat. Whisk hates all cats and has chased this one already. I am trying to find him a good home but that is not likely. I won't give him to anyone not willing to have him altered. He's obviously feral and is never going to be a cute and cuddly pet. So far, no-one would bother to have a barn cat altered. I'd be lucky to find someone who'd actually feed a barn cat on a regular basis. But I'll keep looking.

In the short while he's been here, he's improved immensely. He has a little kitty-cat round tummy now. He's doubled in size and barely fits into my cupped hands. He's learned the basics of keeping his face and paws (and hopefully other areas) clean. I thought he was about 2 weeks old when we found him but he might have been older; maybe he was just really small because he was starved.

Two days ago, I started feeding him in the chicken coop storage area. I left the door open so he could leave when he wanted to. But he didn't leave. He's very happy in the coop. Whisk won't go near the coop and that solves the dueling kitty problem. So that's where he'll live. If he's still around when he's older (and a lot tamer), I'll take him to the vets for shots and ultimately get him fixed. I really don't want another cat but it looks like I have one.

Garden Update 2010

What a difference a month makes! Dolly is now surrounded by lush green growing things while a scant month ago she was surrounded by dull brown earth. Side Note:Funny thing about Dolly, everyone loves her! My neighbours all have made a point to tell me wonderful she is and I've had more that one tourist stop and take pictures of her!

Back to the garden topic. Unfortunately, it isn't as good as I made it sound. My garden was very late into the ground and that is only one of the issues. I'd say in the five or six years I've had a garden here, this is the worst one yet. Which is surprising because last year, it was terrific! There's so many problems that I have to make a list:

• Carrots. By far the biggest disappointment. I planted them in the area I let go fallow last year. This area was totally built up with compost, rabbit manure and worm castings so I was expecting great things. I planted 6 packets of seeds and the result may-be 10 carrot tops in the whole area. I have no idea why. By the time I figured my carrots were a no-show (I kept hoping they'd pop up), it was practically mid-July. So I re-planted in another area of the garden. I decided to get baby carrot seeds because their grow time to maturity is faster. They took their sweet time but they are growing now. I was talking to my neighbours about this and some of them have wonderful carrots and others have the same problem I did. One woman actually had to re-plant three times. Next year I'll put the carrot/bean combo in the lasagna garden. The beans I planted with the carrots, while a little sporadic (something likes to eat the occasional bean plant right down to the nub when they are very, very young seedlings) are doing fine.
• Corn. As already mentioned in a previous post, the corn seeds were raided. When I replanted them, I sowed very heavily and I planted the seeds deeper than usual. They did come up, again sporadically, and much less than expected considering how many were planted. I ended up transplanting some of the baby corns I had planted for shade in front of the chick run. I think the corn will be late but I should get some.
• Snow Peas. They're just plain late because of the corn. I do the three sisters method of planting snow peas with the corn. The corn stalks provide natural trellises for the snow peas to grow on and, in return, the snow peas attach nitrogen to their roots to give the corn extra nutrients. But I have to wait until the corn is about 4 - 6 inches high before planting the peas. So while everyone else is picking the fresh tender pods off their plants, I just look at my stubby 4 - 6 inch plants and sigh.

But all is not all wreck and ruin in the garden. My cucumbers are almost ready to be picked. The lettuce and beets are lovely. All my herbs; dill, basil, parsley and cilantro, are great. The onions are robust and the tomato plants have green tomatoes all over the place. I'm going to put the tomato/basil combo in the built up area next year and see what happens. I also have my 'pop ups' all over the place, a little dill and tomatoes in the most unlikely places. Believe it or not, I even have some potatoes springing up, from what I believe to be potato peels and didn't compost fast enough. Whether or not I get potatoes from them is yet to be seen. All my pumpkins this year, except for the naked pumpkin, are from pop ups. I didn't plant zucs because I still have a load frozen from last year. My raspberry crop was terrific!

Speaking of compost, that might have been pushed a little faster that usual because I was so late. I won't do that again. Another thing is that the garden never got its boost of comfrey tea because the barrel I use is being used elsewhere this year.

Things to do for next year:

• Row covers for the corn and may-be the beans.
• Barrel for comfrey.
• Get Dolly up before planting the corn.
• Get off my butt and plant earlier.
• Keep the faith.