a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

  • Svenda

    SvendaA

    Svenda, a Swedish Flower Chicken hen, is over a year old now. He brother, Sven, is king of the flock. The two are such a wild mix of colors. Sven’s been a busy rooster this year, and many of the upcoming chicks definitely have Swedish Flower Chicken in them.

    SvendaB
    SvendaC

    Svenda has changed a lot since she hatched. As a mostly dark chick, there was no indication of the sophisticated coat she would wear as she matured. As soon as her feathers started appearing, her colors started to show.

    SvendaAsChick
    SvendaAtNearly2MonthsA
    SvendaAtNearly2MonthsB

    Take a close look at her feathers now, and then intensify the hue of their colors. You end up with a dazzling kaleidoscope of brilliant colors. Maybe that is how she would look if she went dancing in a disco.

    SvendaCloseUpA
    SvendaCloseUpB
    SvendaCloseUpC

  • Garlic Planting

    GarlicPlantingA

    It’s time to plant garlic. Breaking apart the garlic bulbs to separate the cloves, leaves behind a mountain of paper-like garlic skins. They are beautiful on their own. These are destined for the compost pile, but if you do some searching, you’ll find people doing a variety of things with garlic skins.

    By mid summer, these garlic cloves will have turned into fat, juicy garlic bulbs. As I stick these cloves into the moist soil, I see the wonderful scapes and bulbs these cloves will be next summer.

    GarlicPlantingB
    GarlicPlantingE

    On the way back from planting the garlic, I bring in some gleanings from the field. Looking at the healthy roots on these turnips and radishes, it’s easy to see how much we owe dirt for all our food.

    GarlicPlantingC
    GarlicPlantingD

  • Clustered Woodlover

    CuteMushroomsA

    It’s impossible to walk even a short distance in the woods without seeing something remarkable. I’m guessing these are clustered woodlovers (Hypholoma fasciculare), also known as sulpher tuft.

    As cute as they are, they aren’t edible. Evidently they are bitter and will cause vomiting, diarrhea and convulsions. The chickens somehow know this. Many of them walk by these adorable mushrooms every day, but they don’t peck at them.

    CuteMushroomsB
    CuteMushroomsC

  • Running with Mother

    RubyAndChick141012A

    Ruby’s two month old chick isn’t ready to leave her mother’s side. Ruby is done being a parent, but she doesn’t mind when her chick tags along. When Ruby is off on her own, the little chick panics and goes running around, peeping while she looks for her mother. The chick doesn’t feel secure being on her own yet.

    But when she is with Ruby, the chick loves racing through the grass by her mother’s side.

    RubyAndChick141012B
    RubyAndChick141012C

  • Out of the Garden Today – October 12, 2014

    OutOfTheGarden20141012A

    Some special things came out of the garden today: stinging nettles and shirohana-mame (white flower beans). The shirohana bean pods are starting to turn yellow, which means they can be harvested. I picked a handful to see how they turned out this year. The main harvest is still a few weeks away.

    The recent cool spell has invigorated the stinging nettles and they are sending out new shoots.

    OutOfTheGarden20141012B
    OutOfTheGarden20141012C

    The huge white beans are spectacular. I wish I had some extra to sell, but not this year. Don’t even ask. Most of this year’s harvest is for planting next year, the rest for our dinner table. Next fall I should be able to offer organic shirohana-mame. Try even looking for regular fresh shirohana-mame, let alone organically grown ones. Let me know if you find any place to buy them.

    OutOfTheGarden20141012D
    OutOfTheGarden20141012E

    And what is that above? The latest art installation at the Gugenheim? No, the stems of stinging nettles after the leaves have been cut off.

    OutOfTheGarden20141012F

    And below is a bowl of freshly cooked shirohana-mame. Are we the only ones in the whole country eating a bowl of just picked shirohana-mame for lunch today? It’s possible.

    OutOfTheGarden20141012G