every day is a good day
The White Flower Bean 白花豆 vines started blooming today. This is the first flower to open. Now you see why they’re called White Flower Beans.
And these pole beans which have purple beans, also have bright purple vines. Many vegetables are beautiful while they grow. They are worth growing just for their charm. On the plus side, you get to eat them too.
Carrot flowers look like fireworks. The next time you’re gazing up at a night sky, watching fireworks explode, you can exclaim, “That looks just like a carrot flower!”
The last of the chicks hatched during the night. This morning I moved the mother and her chicks into a nursery. Some chicks don’t move much the first few days. These chicks are ready to explore. They are going to be handful for her to raise.
Most people when they hear the word “potato” will think of mashed potatoes, french fries, potato salad, and will see images of potatoes in their mind. But flowers? Do images of beautiful, fragrant flowers come to mind?
It’s a cool, cloudy, windy day. Standing next to a large potato field in full bloom with the wind blowing off the field, the wind has a pleasant, sweet carnation-rose fragrance. The wind makes a rustling sound as it shakes the potato leaves and blossoms.
Fort Fairfield in Maine hosts the annual Maine Potato Blossom Festival mid-July each year when the potato blossoms are in full bloom. This 9 day festival features fun for the entire family. This event is one of the oldest and most established festivals in Maine. There is also a Potato Blossom Festival going on right now in O’Leary, Prince Edward Island.
Potato blossoms come in a variety of colors: white, pink, purple, almost blue. Planting a row of potatoes in your garden is worth it just for the blossoms.
Born just a few hours ago, this chick looks up at me, trying to make sense out of what she is seeing. Snuggled next to her mother, safe in a soft, straw bed, she has it made. Only a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of the 25 million chicks born in the USA today were born under the warmth of their mother’s body. A world of fun and adventure is awaiting her and her siblings. With a mother to look out over her, she should have a great childhood.
Hens on their nests can have piercing eyes. Kuma-hime 熊姫 (Bear Princess) glares at me with eagle eyes. Hens usually stay perfectly still until you get too close. Then they erupt, squawking and batting their wings, making a fuss and sometimes running away.
Curious Becky wonders who approaches. I find it amusing that chickens will cock their heads just like people when they are trying to figure out something. It points to a behavior we inherited from a very distant common ancestor. If so, it means that animals have been cocking their heads for hundreds of millions of years.