a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Author: theMan

  • Supper Is Served – Very Slowly

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    Slow food, we read about it often. This is what slow food looks like. First it takes five to six months for the rooster to grow. You won’t find chicken like this in any store. As this is a bird which spent every day of its life outdoors, running around and exercising, it needs to be cooked slowly … very slowly … at a low temperature. 225ºF (105ºC) is a good temperature. After five hours, it will be so tender the meat will fall off the bones.

    Take your time enjoying it.

    It’s odd how so many people are in such a rush. Running around faster won’t bring them any closer to being happy. A restaurant chain in Florida is guaranteeing to fill your order in 60 seconds. That’s all the time people can wait for their meal to be served. Eating is not a race.

  • A Mother and Her 12 Day Old Chicks

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    There is nothing a mother hen won’t do for her chicks. While she takes them around, they are in constant communication with each other. Her chicks chirp often, letting her know where they are and what they are feeling. She talks to them all day long, warning them when there is danger, and telling them when she finds something good to eat. And at the end of a long day, she provides a safe place for them to sleep under her feathers.

    While they were developing in their eggs, they heard her heartbeat all day long. At night, when they sleep under her warm body, they sleep listening to her heartbeat too.

    I often hear people say that chickens are so stupid. Maybe the reason they seem stupid is that people are trying to raise them in environments they aren’t designed for. Give them plenty of space to roam, interesting things to do, the opportunity to mate, for hens to hatch and rear their young, and you get to see how complex and wonderful these birds are.

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  • Thousands? Why Not Millions, or Billions?

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    Biking to the post office this afternoon, I noticed that a row of thistles had gone to seed. Just a week ago, they were in full bloom with lovely purple flowers. “I should stop and take some pictures,” I thought back then. But today when I went past them, they had turned into ghostly forms, as if overnight, a million spiders had spun webs all over them.

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    When it comes to procreation, nature is prolific to a fault. Why stop at a thousand seeds? Might as well make a million or even a billion seeds.

  • The Color of Growing Food

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    Many plants display a kaleidoscope of colors as they grow. I’m fascinated by the purple of these bean vines. They are starting to bloom so it will be interesting to see what color their flowers are. The pods are supposed to be purple, and I’m waiting to see how intense a purple they will be. The one disappointing thing about purple bean pods is that they turn green when cooked.

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    Few vegetables have as spectacular flowers as squash. A squash vine will blossom for months. Plant a squash seed and not only will you get a good harvest of squash at the end of summer, you’ll enjoy brilliant flowers all summer long.

  • Chickens Love Tomatoes

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    Chickens love tomatoes. Toss a few ripe ones and they will come running. Chickens are quite the omnivores. Their tastes range from grass to seeds to bugs to worms to field mice. But, they go nuts over ripe tomatoes and ripe fruits like berries, grapes, and melons. Give them half a watermelon and within a short time the only thing that will be left is a paper thin watermelon shell.

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