Finally - pictures!


That and regular internet access make me a happy woman! We're off in a few minutes to see about buying quite a few more hens - wish us luck (I'll update you on how we did, of course :) The garden is starting to burst, the peas are drowning in flowers (we'll be selling snow peas next week) and we're having some snap peas, chard, spinach, and scallions for dinner tonight with friends. Now that the rain stopped we can throw some last minute additions into the the ground over the next few days - new starts, winter squash seeds, and anything else left in the seed box that's a summer crop. The broccoli is finally coming through on its spring promises, with baby broccoli buds emerging.....

And I know we're doing something right, because the whole farm is crawling with a million native species...some we only see dead, as the wide parade of rodents Roo and Runner kill - Rooster is VERY fond of giving them to his friends the chickens. Protein, I guess (and you should see those hens go - ick!), but the rest are all alive and well this time of year, the toads, the frogs, the mockingbirds dueling it out on the fenceline, the lone cottontail who's FINALLY given up on the corn now that it's over a foot high, and tonight, a first for me - A Baltimore Oriole, with a nest full to the brim with very loud babies. I couldn't believe the whole little family was there- right under the limb we pull our cars past each day, and had to rush in to check my field guide just to be sure, but yup, they are happily ensconced up there in their woven nest. Too cool.

Here's one of the millions of ladybug residents...must be a good year for aphids!


Along with the ladybugs that are positively everywhere, the monarch caterpillars are making cocoons on the lower cabbage leaves - when I harves those, I'm going to make sure to save the chrysalis so we can watch them emerge ....I've never seen a monarch emerge before. Swallowtails are much more common around these parts. And last but not least, our Genovese and Puprle Opal basil - whatever insn't purchased as seedlings this weekend will find a home in our herb garden for cutting later in the season. The Puprple Opal is such a slow poke comapred tothe Genovese, but oh so pretty.

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Posted: Thu - June 8, 2006 at 07:41 PM        

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