a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Month: October 2017


  • Yesterday was the last regular market for the season at Mt. Vernon Farmers Market. Thank you for making this summer’s market such a great one. It was a wonderful summer. If you need any tofu, soy milk, okara, or fresh bread this fall and winter, feel free to contact me. The Anacortes Food Coop is carrying my tofu and soy milk, and I deliver to them every week too. 配達もしますのでご気楽に連絡してください。豆腐や豆乳を前日注文すれば当日配達出来ます。一丁でもよろしいです。


    Without markets to prepare for, it’s time to relax and enjoy the growing chicks. Grow produce and raise animals, and you appreciate that food is all about life.







  • The Bags Have It


    Back in June, I mentioned using fruit ripening bags from Japan for our nashi 梨, Asian pears. You use them by covering the developing fruit with them when they are still small. The bags protect the fruit as they develop, and help them ripen. The results are in, and they work.



    This pear which I picked this evening weighed 450 grams, almost a pound, 15.9 ounces. And it was juicy and sweet. I bagged half the fruit on the tree, and left the other half unbagged to see if there was a difference. The bagged fruit are larger and sweeter. We will be picking them tomorrow for Saturday’s Mt. Vernon Farmers Market, the last market for the season. It’s nice when simple things work.

  • Golden Fall Day


    How many people get to pedal past scenery like this on their way to the post office? Chuckanut Mountain is so serene on a day like this.


    Maples along the way are on fire. Trees have it all figured out. They know it’s pointless to go to all the effort of making leaves that last forever. Nothing lasts forever. Spring for a new set every year at least, and when this year’s set is wore out, let the wind drop them to the ground.



    Back home, Claire and her ducklings are helping me plant garlic. Actually, I’m doing all the work. They’re just waiting for me to uncover some insect morsel for them to savor. Though it is a mystery what it is they are often eating. They see things my eyes, don’t, and when they spot it, it’s in their bill or down their beak before I’ve had a chance to see it.

    I did see a duckling sample a garlic glove. After squeezing it between it’s bill a few times, it decided there are better things to eat, which means I probably don’t have to worry about the ducklings eating the garlic. I’ll sleep well tonight knowing that.

  • It’s a Good Day in October


    It’s a good day in October that starts with fluffy clouds drifting across a blue sky, and ducklings who come scurrying out of the hoop house to greet you when you open their door.



    The compost pile is breakfast for Claire and her ducklings. They bury their heads in the pile to gorge themselves on what they find.



    It’s a good day in October with the beginnings of yellow maple leaves high in the trees.


    For Claire and her ducklings, it’s a good day in October when I give them a generous helping of okara to gorge. It’s manners out the window for the ducklings. They use their bills to gobble so well, to dig in the earth, to slurp when they drink. It makes me want a duck bill. Humans would be so much more interesting if we all had duck bills. We could make so much more noise when we eat.



    It’s good day in October that ends with a cool swim. The ducklings are making the most of their new pool. It’s long enough to paddle across, deep enough to go diving, and for ducklings, hours of fun.

  • Tread Lightly


    Not having a Thursday farmers market to prepare for gives me time to start work on neglected forest trails. There is always something fascinating to see in the woods, like these mushrooms, squeezed between two logs. The chickens have taken chunks out of them, and lived. Is that a sign I can eat them too?


    Out in the woods, Russel and hens are inspecting my work. Normally we hear his high pitched warning cries frequently, but this morning, he was so quiet, I wondered if something had gotten him. But there he was, deep in the woods, guarding the Silver Laced Wyandottes and young Buff Orpington who have taken a liking to him. In the deep brush, the chickens can eat all day, hidden from hawks and eagles flying over head. It’s easy to see that their ancestors were jungle fowl.



    Back in the garden I do see that ducklings eat more than slugs and bugs. They aren’t against taking bit bites out of kohlrabi leaves, snacking on arugula, or foraging through sorrel beds. Everything comes with a price. If losing some greens to slug-gorging ducks is what it costs to have these predators of gastropods, so be it. It’s better than chickens who shred garden beds to smithereens with their feet and leave the slugs alone. In comparison, webbed feet tread lightly over garden greens.