It’s Coming Together
Last year I added pathways to the small potager behind the house. I added a small circular bed to the middle with pathways that crossed diagonally. Only the circular bed got lined with rocks, I didn’t have enough time to line the pathways as well.
Last summer had I trouble with the mulch from the pathways ending up in my garden beds and the compost from my garden beds in my pathways. I decided to line them with rocks to help with the problem. Eventually the paths will be paved with stones or bricks, but until then this will do.
It took me a long time to find enough stones, but I’m just about finished. Now I need to get out my chipper to make mulch for the pathways. This little garden is the one I’m expanding this year, I mentioned that last week.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this garden progresses over the season. Last year it was a veritable jungle.
Do you have any garden changes planned this year?
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Loaves and Fishes (or Guineas and Ducks)
I’ve been keeping a keen eye on the guinea fowl trying to figure out where they’re laying their eggs. They don’t like to lay in the coop, preferring to find a secluded spot in the brush somewhere, generally somewhere completely inconvenient and perfect for predators to get them.
I had a chicken that was laying eggs in a pile of pine boughs that came down during the big ice storm this past winter. Two days ago I found 2 guinea eggs in the nest. The next day there were 9 guinea eggs in the nest, yesterday there were 18 eggs in the nest. We also had a hen that hatched out 15 keets that we brooded ourselves, these are members of our current flock. With 7-9 guinea hens laying eggs, this nest will fill up very quickly. I’ll collect some of the eggs but leave most of them hoping to have them sit on this nest which I can keep an eye on. Guinea eggs are delicious, the yolks are very big so I’ll probable use them to make custard or ice cream.
Last fall we had a guinea hatch out a few keets, though none of them made it. Guineas are notoriously bad mothers. I’m planning on letting nature take it’s course with these, though I have lots of people interested in purchasing keets so I might try to steal some to sell. I also have four muscovy hens sitting on nests right now. These birds are multiplying to Biblical proportions – never a dull moment around here!
What’s the craziest kind of egg you have eaten?
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Safety
Yesterday we were gone all day long. I had to shoot some product photos and Brian was working for a client. We then had dinner with friends in the evening and didn’t get home until very late. Generally, days like today meant that we left the animals all cooped up during the day, locked up tightly against predators, but now we have Tara.
She’s our Anatolian Shepherd Dog (ASD for short) that watches over our flock. It’s amazing to watch her work, her natural instincts are to protect the flock and she acts much differently than Lucy, our older lab mix dog. You can tell that everything she does is to keep predators away. She leaves her scent around the property and is on constant lookout for things that are out of the normal. You’ll see her sniffing the air frequently, trying to catch the scent of someone out of place.
As a result, we returned home to all the feathered members safely in their open door coops. We counted everyone and closed all the doors and headed in to bed ourselves. We’re certainly happy that she is here helping us. It’s so much more efficient to use animals and their natural instincts to do jobs around the house and gardens. There’s no way we could be watching all the time, thankfully Tara does that for us.
Do you know of any local farms using dogs to protect their animals?
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Almost Finished
This year we’re a little late getting our firewood in. Of course we’re trying to get ahead so we’re putting up a little more than we need. We still have about a quarter of a winters worth leftover from this past winter and we’re hoping to at least get a half year extra done this spring.
Looks like we’ll be staying warm and frying our eggs over wood heat this coming winter.
Do you have any big yearly chores you’ve been working on?
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Back Again
My solar dryer is back in service, it’s so nice to have sun dried clothes once again! Yesterday was the first warm sunny day we’ve had this spring. Other days have been sunny, but not nearly warm or long enough to dry a load of clothes. Yesterday was PERFECT!
There’s nothing quite like things that have been freshest by the power on the sun. I especially love my line dried sheets, I’ll be pulling them off the bed on the next sunny day we have. It’s certainly nice to be able to hang things on the line again.
Do you ever dry your clothes outside?
