a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Month: November 2014

Crimson Surprise

The bed of saffron I planted at the beginning of October is already blooming. I wasn’t expecting any blossoms until next fall. The three crimson stigmas are brilliant. A number of other saffron are setting flower buds, so I may be able to collect enough saffron to use early next year.

Initially, I was thinking of plucking these stigmas to flavor something this evening, but then I read that saffron stigmas have no flavor when they are picked fresh. They need to dry for two months before they get their full flavor.

November 19, 2014
Mom Digs, We Eat

“Mom digs, we eat” it’s a basic rule little chicks live by. And whatever she digs up, they will gobble down. I’ve seen chicks swallow earthworms as long as they are. Imagine a baby slurping down a two foot long snake. The entire time they are pecking through the dirt Mom digs up, the little ones are chirping away. The need to say something isn’t unique to humans. Keep your ears open and you’ll hear all kinds of animals speaking their mind. If they all had Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat accounts, would they crash the internet?

With their heads poking around in the dirt much of the time, what you see of little chicks most of the time are their fuzzy little butts. It’s a good opportunity to see if any have pasty butt. It can be a problem with chicks from hatcheries. Occasionally a dropping will get stuck on their vent holes and clog them up; chicken constipation if you will. It can be fatal on a little chick. I’ve only seen it a few times on the chicks hatched by hens. Fortunately, it’s very easy to treat with a little warm water and gentle washing.

November 18, 2014
Even Ditches Can Be Art Museums

Bicycling up the hill on the way home from the post office, the sight of this sculpted wing of ice caught my eye. It was hanging delicately over a rushing cascade. As I looked around, there was one enchanting ice sculpture after another. In a day or two, with warmer weather and rain moving in, they will all be gone.

November 17, 2014
Going Places … Or Not

Lucky and her chicks hitch a ride on a wheelbarrow. What are they doing? Resting, or waiting patiently for me to come along and push them where they want to go?

November 17, 2014
The Right to Grow Food

On September 26, 2014, Governor Brown of California, signed into law,
Assembly Bill No. 2561 – Chapter 584, which gives homeowners and renters the right to grow their own food. The purpose for passing this bill, was to encourage people to grow food instead of lawns. It targets landlords and homeowners associations, prohibiting them from preventing renters and homeowners from growing food.

The entire bill is short and easy to understand, so click on the link above to read it. I’ve quoted two paragraphs which describe the bill’s two main objectives:

This bill would require a landlord to permit a tenant to participate in personal agriculture in portable containers approved by the landlord in the tenant’s private area, as defined, if certain conditions are met.

This bill would make void any provision of a governing document of a common interest development that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a homeowner’s backyard for personal agriculture.

With all the hoopla about the right to bear arms, it would be nice if people were just as concerned about the right to grow food. You can eat a carrot. You can’t eat a gun.

Hopefully, there will be many who have been prohibited from growing vegetables, who will now enjoy looking at the beauty of, and savoring the sublime taste of fresh vegetables, picked just before eating.

After a hard, stressful day at work, coming home to a lush vegetable patch, and being able to cover your cutting board with just picked produce, will melt the stress away and make you smile all evening long.

November 16, 2014