dog days

We had above average rainfall for the first half of summer 2013, the black pearl soybeans grew lushly. We also had a seemingly above average number of insects, the pesky kind like Japanese beetles, web-worms and other leaf eating caterpillars. Particularly unpleasant was the number of leaf munching insects found on the berry bushes, we hope it is not sign of things to come as temps and CO2 climbs.

A pleasant surprise to find a swarm settling in the swarm trap! We used a pheromone lure and voila---success. I wonder how far away they can detect the pheromone. There is a possibility that it may have been from one of our own hives or that it may be from the bee yard of a fellow about a mile or so away. Regardless, it’s pretty cool and fascinating to see. Having been up close and personal to swarms it’s quite interesting to see how they work as one to protect the queen and how calm and focused they are to their task. However unnerving, you can get crazily close without danger. What truth might there be in this old English poem?
A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July is hardly worth a fly.

Paw paw flower! End of May, will try to remember to note if we actually get pawpaws. We've had below freezing temps the past few days, I know the cherries have been lost again this year, We're holding on to hope for apples. In truth the paw paw flower nods its head and does not reveal  its unusual beauty. The color is deep and it's not particularly showy in the sense that other flowers are, but you can see it's quite amazing. Everything about the pawpaw is extraordinary, I'm happy about the anticancer compounds found within its twigs; there has been success in fighting some drug-resistant cancers and there is quite a bit of research out there about its anticancer potential. It's native to Pennsylvania although  have you ever seen one growing wild? If memory serves, this is a Pennsylvania Golden variety.

Kestrels have been nesting on the farm for 29 years or more. At first they used the fortunate portal in the cornice in front of the house. Some years they fledged two broods of 3 to 5. We are always excited when they announce their arrival in March and have grown accustomed to seeing them carrying snakes, rodents and what not to feed their young. When they were in the house we could lie on the attic floor and peek between the floorboards to see their fluffy white hatchlings. One year we found the male dead on the front porch and felt a great loss, we were quite astonished, delighted and relieved to see the female arrive with a new mate the following spring.

 In the last decade they have moved to a nesting box in front of the barn, this was not the deliberate choice of ours or of the kestrels. At one time we had kestrels and starlings using the same entrance at the same time for raising their young. There was a rafter that served as a divide in their condo and it was rather interesting that they tolerated each other. In addition to them we had starlings at each corner of the house, and as you might be able to infer, it was time for cornice repair, thus the move to the barn. If they had not been so obliging in adopting the nest box, we would have gone out of our way to undo the cornice repair.

 The kestrels don’t seem to mind our activity, and we’re fortunate to be hosts to their summer homes, it’s a rhythm of nature that we hope we are lucky enough to be a part of for many more years.

Christmas day 2012 we seem to be still here or at least parts of us.

We have had a light frost already. The maples are starting to turn, leaves falling, bees buzzing on the last of the fall asters and golden rod. Goldfinches are working hard on seed pods of coneflower and heavy hanging sunflower heads. It’s sweater weather again and the dastardly bane of existence those loathsome ticks are making their appearance, hungry for blood before the ground freezes.

Harvesting carrots, potatoes, cabbage, beans, tomatoes, squash, etc. Saving seeds from sunflowers, soybeans, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, radish and perhaps some things not coming to mind. Making sauce and juice and pickling tomatoes; freezing beans and corn. Pictures are of the rich colors, note the black knight carrot. We didn’t have a great harvest of that particular carrot type, sadly. Some carrots missed from last year are going to supply us some seed this year.

Seeds Unsown Needed For a Long Owl fraught Winter’s Eating, Rally the Songbirds

New kids on the (chopping) block - 31 broilers, Cornish Rock giants (and a new little pup to keep Fiona company). So far so good except for a curious skunk on several nights. We have never yet lost a chicken to predators, the dogs definitely can take the credit for that. We did lose 2 ducks though one time to the neighbor’s dog, that dog wasn’t long for this earth as he got hit on the road not long after his crime. The broilers are eating machines for sure and have heard that they can suffer from heart attacks from overeating, we have not experienced this..knock on wood.

Oops- kittens, well all we have to say is that they’re a lot of great fun, it’s an experience that is pert near all joy.

Passing through a portal to home and a restful evening...

We have some new laying hens this year. The coloring of the Golden-laced Wyandotte is so striking and lovely. It’s not quite a new breed for us as we do have older Silver-laced Wyandottes. The new breed is the Black Astrolorp. Read somewhere that the Astrolorps are not heavy scratchers so we thought that they might make a good free range bird. An Astrolorp set world records for egg laying, one hen laying 364 eggs in a year! Purportedly, they are great brooders and are friendly and calm. The golden laced Wyandotte also have a reputation as being a docile bird. The colorings of the two breeds coordinate so well together, with the Astolorp being jet black with black feet and beak and the Wyanadotte as you see pictured.

Sunset news

One of the greatest joys and lucks we have on the farm is a clear view to the west. We are so thankful to have this never ending source of beauty and wonder in the form of sunsets. In our family, early on, one of the young ones called the unobstructed view "the sunset news." Only from the mouth of babes. So now we can often report that the sunset news is... beautiful. This is an older picture from when Finnegan was still alive- there have been countless glorious sunsets since but this is still one of my favorite pictures. The thought that this view could easily be obstructed by intensive industrial development is a sad and scary one.

Another beautiful nest in the berries, this one has a cowbird egg. The Brown-headed Cowbird is a brood parasite,and does not build their own nest, interestingly there are 220 different birds that they utilize to raise their young. They only lay one egg per nest but will lay up to 40 eggs a year. They have been known to chase the nest's egglayer off her nest to lay the egg and they usually pick species that have smaller eggs! Some of the bird hosts recognize the egg as unwelcome and will get rid of it or abandon the nest, but many do not and raise the baby cowbird as their own; this can sometimes be detrimental to the host's own fledgelings. Only 3 percent of cowbirds are fledged- successfully. Curious. I wonder if the diet for the young cowbird is of no consequence or are all baby birds fed an identical diet. Update.. at least two have fledged from the nest, just got a quick look so as not to disturb, not sure if one was the cowbird. By the way.. have learned that the chipping sparrow nest (which this was) is the most frequently parasitized nest.

We usually leave a wide berth around a bush that we know has a bird nest in it until the birds have fledged, but this nest seems to have been abandoned long before this picture for some reason. The nest had all manner of insects in it it and litter such as green berries that had fallen in. There is a Peterson field guide to bird nests don’t you know, but we were unable to identify, positively, the eggs in this nest It is only about 4-6 inches off the ground, and is lined with pine needles There are a few pines on the farm but not real close to the berries. I thought it looked very similar to the Rose- breasted Grosbeak, but the nest is too low to the ground. I even have a hard time trying to discern whether the eggs are splashed, blotched, dotted, spotted, overlaid or wreathed! There is a chance that they are Rufous- sided Towhee eggs, but these eggs look more heavily marked, and Dark-eyed Junco is a possibility but their nests are usually on the ground and the description does not mention pine needles in the nest. Oh well. We can usually identify the eggs by the panicked parent birds that get in a tizzy when you get too close. It will remain a mystery as to what kind of beautiful eggs these are and what happened to the parents.

Spending lots of time in the berries, weeding, mulching and fertilizing, scything and mowing, fretting and planning, all under the watchful eye of the seemingly lonely, lovely Fiona.