a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Author: theMan

  • Apple Harvest

    AppleHarvestA

    The woodpeckers and other birds are starting to feast on the apples. It’s time to harvest them.

    AppleHarvestBAppleHarvestC

    I cut up the damaged apples for the chickens, and they came running, even Lucky and her chicks. So did BB, one of our ferocious guard dogs. He doesn’t really like apples, but since the chickens are gorging on them, he has to have some.

    AppleHarvestD

    Sven, our Swedish Chicken rooster, is making the most of the gathering of hens. You can see him trying to court one in the background. See how he has lowered his wing? He is doing his love dance. A rooster’s love dance isn’t elaborate like a Bird of Paradise’s. It’s very simple. Basically they lower one wing and dance around a hen.

    AppleHarvestE
    AppleHarvestF

  • The Last Dahlia

    LastDahlia2014

    I picked the last Dahlia out of the garden today. The last of the summer flowers. And this afternoon, I found the first egg of a young hen. Every day is the last of something and the first of something else.

    FirstEgg

  • Potatoes Draw a Crowd

    ChickenAndPotatoesA

    While cleaning some freshly dug potatoes, I tossed a few handfuls of the rejects on the grass. It took just a few seconds to draw a crowd of chickens. Even Lucky and her little ones came running.

    ChickenAndPotatoesB
    ChickenAndPotatoesC

  • Duckweed Smörgåsbord

    LuckyAndDuckWeedA

    Lucky spotted me scooping duckweed out of the pond for the chickens. She’s come running to give her chicks a treat. All the chickens go nuts for fresh duckweed. Not only do they like the fresh green duckweed, they scratch through it to pick out all the bugs that live in the duckweed.

    I never tire watching the interaction between the chicks and their mother. All day long, the chicks are watching every move she makes. All day long, they are at her feet or scurrying close to her. When she finds something good to eat, their beaks are immediately next to hers. When she rests, they rest. Her chicks are now two weeks old.

    Sadly, on Saturday she lost one of her five chicks. I was in the kitchen looking out and saw her chase a Coopers hawk. I ran out to check on her. She was safe and so were four of her chicks. One was missing.

    Giving chicks as much freedom and space as I do has its consequences. It’s possible to protect them from land predators with adequate fencing, but it’s a challenge to keep them safe from hawks and eagles. The dogs do a pretty good job, chasing the bigger raptors away. It’s the smaller raptors that manage to sneak in and snatch the chicks. Maybe a fleet of heat seeking drones could detect hawks and eagles and automatically chase them away, or at least alert us ground animals to their presence.

    LuckyAndDuckWeedB
    LuckyAndDuckWeedC
    LuckyAndDuckWeedD
    LuckyAndDuckWeedH
    LuckyAndDuckWeedE
    LuckyAndDuckWeedF
    LuckyAndDuckWeedG
    LuckyAndDuckWeedI

  • Fall Harvest

    NashiOnTree

    This year, the Asian Pear tree is loaded with fruit. Peeled and sliced, I love how juicy and crunchy they are.

    NashiUnpeeled
    NashiCut
    RubyStreakBabies

    A fresh crop of Ruby Streaks are on their way. They love the cooler weather. The white Tennouji Kabura (turnips) are ready to be pulled. Left to overwinter, they will bloom in the spring.

    TennoujiKaburaInTheGround
    PotatoesOutOfTheGround

    Without soil, none of these wonderful foods would be possible. Every time I dig the soil, and harvesting potatoes requires digging, I encounter countless worms, bugs, spiders, and millions of organisms making a healthy soil possible. The complexity of life in the soil is amazing.

    Potatoeswashed