Farm Friday, July 8th, 2022
RIP Teresa, the chicken who loved to be picked up by children
I think of this week as one of the make-or-break weeks for the garden season. In early July, we need to turn the corner on the weeds and tie up tomatoes, while also planting many crops that will be harvested in the fall. This week we added some stress because it was a short week (with the holiday on the 4th), it was super hot and dry, and we also had to pick innumerable potato beetles. We also hosted family friends for three days and took walks, cooked food, and did craft projects with them, when not farming.
I’m tired, but I feel like the farm is in a good place, after all that work and play. Except this morning we discovered that our beloved chicken, Teresa, had been taken by a predator in the night.
Teresa was a “city chicken” who had been raised by a child from our school at her house in Minneapolis. At some point last year, the family asked if we could be a new home for her four chickens, and we adopted them into the flock. Teresa was so used to people that she thought she was a person. She would walk up to children and demand to be picked up and petted. This was a joy for so many children, including the girl of the family we hosted this week. This morning, she went out to “hold Teresa” and she couldn’t find her. That was odd, given how omnipresent this chicken is for people in the barnyard. So we initiated a search and found a trail of Teresa-colored feathers, heading out behind the white barn. It looks like instead of going to the coop last night, she hunkered down under an apple tree, which made her vulnerable. The prime culprit would be a raccoon, but we can’t rule out a fox. RIP Teresa.
Precious, our llama, is in the routine of standing up when her people come to help her. She seems to be holding steady, but not improving. It was a hot week and there were flies in the barn this week. We put up flypaper and almost instantly it was coated with flies.
We got another delivery of hay this week. It was so hot and humid. When we finished stacking it in the barn, I was covered in sweat! The hay elevator is my favorite tool on the farm!
We did a lot of weeding this week, most of it with the tractor. Our little Allis-G was busy running up and down the rows of crops. With the tractor, we can kill all the weeds between the rows. Then we have to hoe between the plants. On places where we can’t use the tractor, we have the “wheel-hoe” to get between the rows. Since we haven’t had much rain, the weed pressure has been low, but I don’t fool myself. You have to stay on top of them!
We also started growing carrots, beets, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, and green onions for the fall harvest, as well as transplanting the last of the sweet corn and watermelons. A big week for planting!
The three sisters garden has taken off in the summer heat. I worry that we planted the hills too close together and there won’t be enough light for the squash plants. Oh well, we will get what we get and learn from the experience. I think having too much lush growth is not that bad of a problem to have!
We took a hike with our guests and I noticed the bee yard is in full bloom with many types of flowers. Of course, these bees range a lot farther than just their yard. They can range up to a mile. They specialize on the best and most abundant flowers. Scout bees will forage and then return to the nest to describe the location of what they found. They do a little dance to tell their hive mates where to find the food. This week the basswood (linden) trees were flowering in profusion. When the basswood is in flower, the bees focus on that almost exclusively and the subsequent honey is light in color and flowery in flavor and can be sold for a premium.
I have been loving the macro lens on my iPhone and have been getting close to a lot of flowers, both wild and cultivated.
In writing news, I entered another Vocal Media contest. This one was to make a scary story with their prompt as the first sentence. I hope it isn’t too scary for you.
For the 4th, we had a cookout with neighbors. Our neighbor made a red, white, and blue trifle. Yum! Hours of good conversation, good food, and friendship.
