We're only a few days into April, and already it seems as though spring is full upon us. Over a week of unseasonably warm weather, with lots of sunshine has put most of the plants and animals on our farm "in the mood"! Our silver maple and pussy willows are the first to burst buds, and hang out flowers and catkins, putting pollen in the air. We just noticed today that as you look out over the east part of the pasture, it is suddenly purple with hundreds of violets in full bloom.
Some unknown force has upped our turkey hen's normal fertility; she has been producing an egg every day, instead of the regular every other day turkey egg-laying cycle. And over the past few days she has been spending mo
re and more time with her eggs, sitting on them, and re-arranging the straw around her, getting that glassy eyed, broodiness look about her, equal parts intense concentration, dreaminess, and fierceness. She has set up in an old plastic dog house we put out in the pasture, and our only problem with her nesting location is how much all the other birds like to walk into the little building, and check out what's going on. Her turkey consort, Thomas, has yet to quite understand that his courtship days for this spring are over, and continues to strut his stuff, even though his fair maid is now completely ignoring him to care for her eggs and spend the occasional moment foraging for grass and bugs.
re and more time with her eggs, sitting on them, and re-arranging the straw around her, getting that glassy eyed, broodiness look about her, equal parts intense concentration, dreaminess, and fierceness. She has set up in an old plastic dog house we put out in the pasture, and our only problem with her nesting location is how much all the other birds like to walk into the little building, and check out what's going on. Her turkey consort, Thomas, has yet to quite understand that his courtship days for this spring are over, and continues to strut his stuff, even though his fair maid is now completely ignoring him to care for her eggs and spend the occasional moment foraging for grass and bugs. As we hoped, Good Friday found us working in the garden, praising the good weather that
allowed us to hill in too many potatoes, the first of our onions, and direct seed peas, broccoli, cauliflower, mesclun mix, radishes, kohlrabi, and Brussels sprouts. We may have over planted a bit, but the good weather and a cheerful trip to our local fruit / seeds / a little bit of everything store had inspired us. And then just our good luck that it rained a nice bit the next day to give the little boost of moisture to give our seeds a good start. Today we found that a little squirrel had danced through our onion row and dug up a couple, but then found that they evidently didn't suit his taste.
allowed us to hill in too many potatoes, the first of our onions, and direct seed peas, broccoli, cauliflower, mesclun mix, radishes, kohlrabi, and Brussels sprouts. We may have over planted a bit, but the good weather and a cheerful trip to our local fruit / seeds / a little bit of everything store had inspired us. And then just our good luck that it rained a nice bit the next day to give the little boost of moisture to give our seeds a good start. Today we found that a little squirrel had danced through our onion row and dug up a couple, but then found that they evidently didn't suit his taste. Otherwise, we spend time scouting the land for signs of things sprouting, flowering, and fruiting, everything in its season. Strawberries and rhubarb, the favored spring "fruit" combination, are looking good, both green and sprouting on or ahead of schedule.
