Ramping up

As Mrs. Fuzzy noted in the previous post, The Fuzzies have been derelict in their duties... at least as far as keeping both of the readers of this blog informed and perhaps, entertained.

A week ago today, Mr. Fuzzy, accompanied by his erstwhile canine companion, Rocky, went ramp hunting. It was a tough go as the briars have just exploded in size and numbers due tot he mild winter. They germinated months ago and are now mid-calf in height. Last year's briars are now waist high. Controlling this explosion is going to be difficult.

With more than a jigger of perseverance, Mr, Fuzzy and friend reached the major ramp patch with only a few holes torn in his shirt. The patch, too, had prospered through the mild winter and was both denser and encompassing a greater area than years before. It has been dry of recent (all here fear a repeat of last summer's drought) and the ground was so firm, even in the forest, that a trusty knife (made by Randy Wolfe of Bethel Forge) was required to extract the odoriferous bulbs.

They are now in Mrs. Fuzzy's hands awaiting utilization - and epicurean enjoyment.

Why, hello!

Long time no postie.

We have been alternately shivering by the fire due to seasonal weather and searching for the lightest weight tee shirts in the drawer because the mercury is much too high. As a result, we're a bit behind in getting anything interesting done.

My second planting of peas in the Lower Garden are just coming up thanks to regular supplemental watering and I had a lovely day yesterday planting two rows of heritage potatoes- All Blue and a pink fleshed variety called Mountain Rose. We've eaten both in recent months and are eager to grow our own as they are especially tasty spuds.

Our autumn sown lettuce and mustard are still providing fresh greens and the autumn chard is back in production too. Had we thought to plant these delicious vegetables in all our empty garden spaces we would truly be feasting. It is a lesson learned.

We also got one meal off the asparagus patch. I feel pretty good about that considering it was moved while the plants were dormant last summer and they sent up a good show of stalks with the onset of autumn's cool rains. They will get another load of composted manure next week to help them give us a good crop next spring.

And we leave you with a couple photographs of the greeting we occasionally get when we arrive home. The red hen jumped into the car as soon as the door was opened and the rooster came along behind to keep tabs on her. Mr. Fuzzy found it rather amusing to see the girl get right to work pecking at the dirt on the floorboard.

Chickens & Gardening

Were you to read the press, chickens are the best new thing in gardening. Don't believe them! What chickens are good for is moth & grub control, manure production, and utter destruction of plant matter.

Last weekend I started the chicks on a ten week mission to destroy the weeds currently growing in the walled garden. This mission also fulfilled the need to move them to a larger, more interesting, run. Despite being no larger than an American robin, they have already accomplished the task in their small pen and are ready to move on to the next level.

Next up will be a patch of Japanese iris that needs to be removed. These are a lovely plant if you want something that blooms to take over a degraded slope without need to water a lot. Unfortunately, they are poised to take over a quarter of this space. Japanese iris are also notoriously difficult to eradicate... But the hens are capable of the work!

As the girls complete the harder work, I will be following behind to dig up Dutch iris and daylillies that are not in appropriate locations. (Under bushes and trees, mostly.) These will be potted up or "heeled in" to a garden bed until we are ready to put them in their final locations... After we get a chicken / dog fence built.

As the babies move off one section and onto another I will be laying on the litter from the big girls' coop to feed the remaining trees and bushes to rebuild the soil, which is heavy and malnourished.

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In random order, the pictures are: the newly barren run, fast moving chicks, and the doomed iris bed.

Mack Mack Maaaakkk

Duckies are back on their proper pond. The flying drake was so happy to get into the pond he did a little dance and flew in just for fun.

Bye Bye Birdies

Tonight I gathered my boarders and crated them for returning to their proper human caretakers in the morning Makes me feel sad- I've grown inordinately fond of them all.

Rounding up the Duck Brigade was the hardest part as I had to use deception and be faster than a worried duck. If you've ever chased a duck then you know it's not a simple task. They will be returning to a better pond, most certainly one better suited to a duck who may be going broody, but who will be my daybreak alarm or demand feed by telling bad jokes until I give in to the demand?

I will miss the little red hen who joyfully joined the Daybreak Chicken Mafia- the hens who have figured out how to make their own pop hole and exit the coop at leisure. She is exceptionally friendly, the sort of bird who enjoys being held. Then there are the Orpington roosters who crow so sonorously. Both leaned toward aggressiveness when they arrived but were soon converted by feed bribery to console themselves with being aggressively hungry and friendly. Yellow Rooster still likes to give a ritual chase but he turns tale (back to the food) the moment I stop and smile at him. I'm glad to be able to live up to my promise that he'd reform his bad boy attitude before he left the farm.

So, dear, poultry-loving readers, by the time most of you read this missive some time tomorrow, I will be bereft of four funny white ducks, thirteen extraordinarily sociable hens, and two beautiful -and reformed- roosters.

Mushroom Season

The Fuzzys still don't feel confident enough to eat any wild mushroom less distinctive than a Morel but we sure are fascinated by the wide variety of fungi we have on the farm.

I was out at Mr. Fuzzy's garden the other day to harvest some of the last mustard greens when I spotted a new sort of mushroom on last year's compost pile. It seems to like that old chicken litter! Then, last night, I spotted the little brown one in the pots of baby perennials.

We have become increasingly interested in what fungi do in the environment- which is a lot more than simply breaking down dead plant material or providing tasty chunks of fat absorbing deliciousness. "Exospores" bind to plant roots and break down mineral nutrients for their hosts, "endospores" move into plant tissues and neutralize poisons for the plant. When isolated, some species are even capable of metabolizing PVC or neutralizing lead by turning it into beautiful (chloro)pyromorphite crystals.

As before, I'm writing with a handicap so let's see what the fairies do with the pictures. AsI'm not able to embed links either, here are ones to the PVC discovery: http://www.psfk.com/2012/03/plastic-eating-fungi.html
and to the lead story:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112134318.htm

Bowls Runneth Over

It is the end of March which means it must be time for our annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser post. This community soupfest is probably our favorite annual local event.

For those who do not remember, this is a charity lunch where local potters (there are dozens) make bowls (hundreds and hundreds), local soup masters (a few dozen) make a pot of soup each, and people from near and far come to raise money for hungry kids by giving $15 for their choice of bowl and tasty soup.

We now know to arrive early to get the best choice of both. The line was out the door ten minutes after our arrival and remained that way until some time after we left, an hour and a half later.

The money all goes to provide county kids who are likely to go hungry over the weekend a backpack full of ready-to-eat foodstuffs each week of the school year (There should be a photo following the text.) Each child can be fed for a meager $150 each year.

We won't know the final take until the paper arrives on Thursday but they raised $5,000 in the first ninety minutes. Not too shabby for a place with about 15,000 residents.

[Editorial Note: Mrs. Fuzzy is reduced to writing via telephone at present so the photos appear in an order determined by the App Fairies.]