a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

  • 立春 – Risshun – The Start of Spring

    SpringSunrise

    Yesterday, February 4, was Risshun – 立春, the start of spring according to the seasonal calendar used in Japan. Yesterday’s sunrise, with clouds burning brightly, was fitting for the first day of spring

    A sure sign of spring are the nine dozen eggs I took to Tweets this morning. The hens are producing twice as many eggs as just a few weeks ago. It’s time for soufflés and omelettes and raw egg on hot rice.

    EggDelivery
    MaggieOnNest

    Maggie, tucked in her dark nest, and Special, on her bed of straw and hay, laid their eggs early this morning. Special reminds me of an art lesson I learned as a child, that red and gray go well together. She also has a distinctive voice. When she belts out, her loud cry makes you jump and yell, “What the hell was that!” Her voice sounds like a peacock on LSD. Her eggs are unusual too. They are slender and pointed. She tossed convention out the window when she was born. “I gotta be me! I gotta be me!” I think that’s what she’s saying when she yells.

    SpecialOnNest
    MaggieAndSpecialsEggs

    See, Special’s pointed egg is nothing like Maggie’s round one. If you get a pointed egg, put your ear next to it and see if you can hear a special chicken’s cry.

  • Helping Feet

    FebruarySnow

    Just because it’s cold and the snow lies heavy on the hills doesn’t mean that I can stay indoors and not tend to the compost. All of January I’ve been collecting the bedding from under the roosts and setting it aside in a covered spot for a substantial compost pile. With the change of the months, it’s time to stir it all up and get it wet so that it can start to cook. Fortunately, I have plenty of feet wanting to give a hand. How people compost without chickens is beyond me. They are indispensable when it comes to stirring and mixing and turning compost piles. They get to all the bits you and your pitchfork don’t. If you look closely at a chicken’s feet, they look like small pitchforks. It wouldn’t surprise me if the first pitchforks were designed after chicken feet.

    HelpingHands

  • You’re Never Too Old to Do It Better

    BetterBreadA

    Better, this bread is better than before. I made a loaf following the instructions I found in an article, Bread for Success on bon appétit’s website. I deviated from the article a bit, as the size of loaf that article made was twice the size I wanted to make. They were using nearly three pounds of flour, and I like to keep my loaves at one pound or less.

    The other difference is that they use mostly regular flour whereas I use all whole wheat flour. They also used a machine to mix the dough, whereas I do the mixing by hand. I think the dough prefers to feel my hand mixing it versus a cold, steel hook. Wouldn’t you? Instead of moaning, “Ow! Ow! Ow!” the dough says, “Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!” when you use your hand. When cooking, it’s important to think from the stand point of the food you are handling. How would that food like to be handled? Does it prefer to be held this way or that? Touched this way or that? You want it to thank you for being kind and gentle. After all, it’s going to become part of you.

    But, wow! The bread came out so well with a nice, crunchy crust, and soft, springy inside. Which goes to show, you’re never to old to do it better.

    BetterBreadB

    The process takes three days,

  • Too Beautiful to Eat

    SpottedEgg

    Sometimes the eggs I gather are too beautiful to eat, especially the spotted ones. Large, commercial egg producers consider speckled and spotted eggs to be defaults. They want every egg to be the same. Perhaps the reasoning is that if everything is the same, you don’t have to make a choice. That carton of eggs is the same as every other carton of eggs, so you can shop without having to think.

    EggsSix

    Even these hens know that you can’t go through life without thinking and making choices. They know that one worm isn’t the same as every other worm, and that some roosters are better than others.

    HensWaitingForSun

  • The Trees Are Afire

    BurnBurnBurn

    The low winter sun sets the trees afire. It looks like the whole woods is aflame. The alders face off as if insane, waving their branches and twigs every which way, twisting themselves into untangable knots.

    DaffodilAlmostInBloom

    The cool, drizzly weather keeps the dandelions buds closed tight. They are one sunbeam away from exploding open.