a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

  • Baby Beans and Not So Baby Beans

    BabyBeansA

    Beans start out as babies too, cute, tiny, slightly fuzzy, green babies. You know how when you look at someone’s baby picture, you can see similarities between their adult faces and their baby faces? It’s probably the same between baby beans and adult beans. Once the bean pods are fully grown, they probably have uncanny resemblances to their baby bean pods.

    What about the order of beans in a pod? Are the first beans controlling, the second beans rebellious, and the last beans fun-loving? Has any scientist studied the characteristics of beans based on their order in a pod?

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    The bean pods below are way past their baby stage. These are the pods of the Shiro-hana Mame 白花豆 or White Flower Bean. They are so large, three to five beans make a meal.

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  • I Knew They Were Good

    GoodEggsA

    I knew my eggs were good, and today I received proof. Back in June, Mother Earth News organized nutrient testing for eggs so I sent in a dozen eggs to be tested. I received the results today, and the eggs my hens lay have more than three times the omega-3 fat that regular eggs have. A regular egg has 74 milligrams of omega-3 fat per 100 grams. My hens lay eggs with 250 milligrams of omega-3 fat per 100 grams, 338% more! The complete details are below.

    I attribute the high omega-3 fat content of my eggs due to all the fresh greens and bugs and other things my hens find to eat as they roam through the woods and brush and grasses. I also believe the amount of sunshine and exercise they get plays a part. Chickens can’t live without sunshine. They can’t live without dustbaths. They can’t live without room to run to their heart’s content. They can’t, they can’t, they can’t.

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  • Which Is More Beautiful?

    WhichIsMoreBeautifulA

    Which is more beautiful? Is it this flower? That flower? This plant? That plant? Maybe that one over there. It’s a good thing there’s no test. They can be all the most beautiful. You don’t have to settle for one.

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  • First Blush

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    The green plums are starting to blush. Every day I check to see if the deer have found them yet. Yesterday, instead of being greeted with plump green plums, I saw tinges of rose and purple. The first blush of ripening plums.

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  • Hazel Becomes a Mother

    HazelBecomesAMotherA

    You’ve got a reason to pop that champagne bottle open, the one you’ve been saving all these years, waiting for that special occasion. Hazel’s a mother. Her chicks started hatching yesterday. She’s two and a half years old and this is her first clutch. She’s a sweetheart. A chicken Dr. Seuss would draw. One of her chicks has a bare neck too. Cheers!

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