May Daze

This is my favorite time of year!!  It is exhausting and overwhelming, but all the green and growing and spring fragrances make me so happy. I wish computers were in smell-o-rama so you could get a whiff of this magnolia.

This summer we are hosting a series of WWOOFers  who already are making me feel more like we may actually be able to handle the demands of this little farm this summer.  Jessica is our first WOOFer/intern, who plans to work with us four days a week the entire summer. She is an accomplished baker (bonus for us!) and eager to learn the ins and outs of farm animals, dairying and gardening. Already she has been invaluable in helping us bake breads and pastries for the Farmers Market.  Here she is, putting a pizza into the wood-fired oven--our traditional supper on Friday bread-baking night.

Sourdough loaves rising.

Jessica’s reflection beams in the  bakery case at Saturday’s market. We sold out two weeks ago at the first market of the summer season, so  increased our production significantly last weekend and still sold out early. So, if you want one of these delicious goodies, better come to market before 10 a.m.!

Yesterday, Mother’s Day, Rog made a wonderful farm breakfast - farm eggs scrambled with garden asparagus and chives, bacon, Rog's sourdough bread, toasted, with Jessica’s  strawberry rhubarb jam, and rhubarb coffeecake.
A great power breakfast for a hard-working Sunday!

Rog hauled in several loads of topsoil to fill in bare areas and bumps in the farmyard, then fenced out the poultry and overseeded with grass. This is where weekend concerts happen and we especially want it to be green and lush for Laurel and Darin’s farm wedding at the end of June.

While Rog worked on the lawn, I transplanted three boxes of Lily of the Valley and Hosta roots my friend Jonya had  thinned from her garden and kindly given to me. Daughter Cadence and I weeded a large section of the greenhouse. And I shoveled many hundreds of pounds of muddy hay and manure from the incredibly deep,  muddy cow feeding area. (Will it ever dry out so we can get some equipment in there?!)

I strung temporary fence in the front yard and moved LaFonda and Jitterbug there all afternoon to mow the grass. Little did they know, the fence was not connected so had no zap to it. Happily, they did not test it.

Probably they just appreciated being in fresh, delicious grass and out of the mud and did not feel the need to go anywhere else.

The bees were busy  hauling in pollen and nectar. You can see the big yellow pollen packs on the back legs of a couple of these bees.

Dandelions and violets have finally popped out, giving the bees plenty of food sources.

Last year, I discovered a nearby ditch totally carpeted in  one of my favorite spring flowers, bloodroot. They are in bloom now, and I dug up some for my wildflower patches. (I hope it is not illegal, but my wildlife expert friend assures me it is not a bad idea to establish new populations.) I only took a few plants and did not make a dent in the ditch flowers.

The nice thing about the gray, rainy weather is that it makes for painless transplanting and prolonged blooming. The bloodroots seem very happy in their new homes. I hope they eventually expand into large drifts.

It has taken six years for the  Virginia bluebells to begin to expand, but now they are beginning to form a carpet of blue in my back yard, just as I hoped.  So many new baby plants, although most won’t bloom this year.  The blossoms should open any day now.

Birds are nesting all over the place! I love seeing the birds flying around carrying nesting materials, grass and twigs trailing behind them. We have wrens in the bluebird house, robin nests on the barn and house, and yesterday I discovered a cardinal nest in the honeysuckle vine that climbs the windmill.  There are two eggs in the cardinal nest so far, blue with brown speckles.

I haven’t found any of their nests yet, but we have a bunch of orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks and hummingbirds frequenting the feeders.

Such a glorious time of year!!

Wren Rescue

Rescue
Yesterday I found an adorable, tiny wren floundering on the steps of the  farm store. I presume he had flown into the glass of the door.  I scooped him up so Zinnie or a cat wouldn't get him.

Recovery
Nothing seemed broken, but he  didn't attempt to fly away, so I was worried about a possible internal injury.  I carried him around on my hand for almost half an hour.

Release
Finally, after perching on my little finger for a while, he flitted off into the trees. I think he will be ok.

Little Birds

Monday night when I went out to do the evening chores I heard a familiar, sweet sound --the peeping of new chicks, But it was faint and took me a while to find the nest, tucked away up in the loft of the barn. A hen had  laid her eggs in an an old tub we had used for mixing concrete. About 15 chicks had just hatched out, nestled in a little pile but not under the hen (it was about 105 degree heat index that day!) and she was still sitting on a few more eggs.
I evaluated the situation and decided this was my best opportunity to move the nest --in another day or two the chicks would be out and about and difficult to catch in the loft with so many hiding places.And if the hen decided to lead them outside, the only way for them to get out would be to tumbled down to the ground. I covered  the  tub with another big tub and carefully  carried it down the ladder (I was wearing a big skirt and had a flashback of the last time I wore a big skirt on ladder and tipped over, breaking four bones - so I was extremely careful.)

I moved them to the stall I use for a  milking parlor, where I could close the door to protect them from cats, dogs and other chickens. There are 17 chicks now - a pretty big family for one hen to keep track of. Last year we only had a few chicks survive to adulthood - most were lost to a feral cat and a raccoon. I hope these chicks make it. This morning the hen was leading her brood around the stall and showing them how to scratch for food.

When Zinnie suddenly trotted up behind me, the hen puffed up to twice her normal size and chased poor Zinnie all the way out of the barn.

The hummingbirds are now bringing their kids to the feeder. The babies are so tiny and adorable. Although I already had five feeders hanging, they only really drank out of this classic-style feeder, so I bought another one and filled it and hung it this morning. While I was hanging it the hummers were zipping around my head, whirring past my ears, sometimes hovering right in front of my nose looking me straight in the eye. It was so much fun, I was laughing out loud.

Here is a snippet of the hummers in action around the new feeder. 

Just What We Needed!

We are getting rain!  Ordinarily that would make me happy but the ground is so saturated already. Will it ever dry up enough to plant??

The worst is the pasture between the  barn and loafing shed, the sacrifice yard where the cows trample the grass to death all winter. By yesterday it was drying off enough that I didn't sink up to my knees when feeding the cows, but today it is back to deep muck in the heavy clay soil. With all the  deep  muck-boot- and hoof-print-potholes, it never drains. Maybe we should haul in a huge load of sand.

The ducks and goose are the only ones enjoying it. This is precisely the area I had plans for putting my raised beds for squashes and long beans growing on arched trellises!

The cows pretty much hang out inside the shed or on an island of spilt hay by their feeder.  They may be  wasting hay intentionally to enlarge their island. I wouldn't entirely blame them but at $6 a bale, it is a pricey island.

There is now a small pond between the loafing shed and the big compost pile.  The ducks and goose LOVE it.

Yesterday afternoon was so lovely I decided to do the chicken coop spring-cleaning. However, I was not able to push the wheelbarrow full of old bedding through the  mud (it wasn't nearly as muddy as today) to the compost pile, so that job  is postponed.

Despite the rain, I decided to take Zinnie for a walk through the prairie this morning and see what's growing. There is a moat around the big rock.

Some of the bloodroot I transplanted from a roadside ditch last spring is  coming up.

I planted one marsh marigold a couple years ago I got at the  Quarry Hill native plant sale, even though we don't really have a marsh, but do have sort of ephemeral wetlands. This year it must be very happy! It has buds already.

The mowed  path through the prairie is lush and green.  This is the  path of the future sculpture walk --we hope to start installing sculptures this summer.

Looks very lush, even though the buds haven't popped open yet. Once they do, you can't see the prairie for the  grass and bushes.

Walking through raindrop diamonds.

Meanwhile, back at the bird food court, dozens of impossibly yellow goldfinches.

I am especially happy that mourning doves have returned.  I realize now they disappeared the year of the great-horned owl family.  Maybe it is safe now that the owls have moved on (cross  your fingers.)

We have a beautiful new bird this summer -  rose-breasted grosbeaks! this morning they were at the feeders, but I wasn't able to get my camera in time for a good shot. The male has been serenading us with a sweet song.

The Harbingers Have Arrived!

They are here!! They just arrived this evening!  Redwinged  blackbirds singing their okalee song and our first robin sighting, all in one tree!

Cannot describe how happy this makes me!

The Bird Food Court

Chores were accomplished a bit early today because it is so cold out. As I came in, I noticed 12 cardinals at the birdefeeders, their evening visit, but there wasn't enough light for a photo. However, I took a bunch of bird shots this morning through the window, plastic and all, including this cardinal on the garden bench.

The  female cardinal is even prettier than the male, I think, if not so flashy.

On the west side of the house I have a bird food court set up with 16 assorted feeders (four hang right next to the windows for closeup viewing.) It is a pretty good feeder spot, with lots of large deciduous trees and a lilac hedge to the north for shelter, but when the fierce Canadian winter wind blows in from the northwest, it blasts right through here.
Yesterday we had one of those crazy days where it was unseasonably warm, 48 degrees(!) until  about 3 p.m. Then the arctic wind blew in and the temperature began to plummet. I had spent the warm afternoon preparing for the impending cold spell--cleaning up cowpies in the cow-feeding area and dog poops in the yard because I knew they would soon be frozen fast to the ground. I had chipped the ice out of the wading pool and filed it with clean water so the ducks and goose could take a rare midwinter bath. I secured a window in the coop that had blown loose and cleared away branches that had blown from trees and would be menacing if it snowed and we unwittingly snowblew over them. By the time I got to refilling all the birdfeeders,  the wind was blasting at over 40 mph and it was bitterly cold. I felt sorry for the poor songbirds, who could scarcely navigate in the wind, so I created a makeshift lean-to shelter between the feeders so they could access the food and easily take shelter. This morning I was pleased to see they were making use of it.

Chickadee at the window feeder.

Chickadees are so fast, flitting in to  snatch a seed and flying off to  eat it elsewhere.

Bluejay.

Sparrows in the feeder on the east  side of the house.

I suspect these are some of the small flock of sparrows that have taken up residence in the chicken coop...

between the chicken feed and the birdfeeders they are extremely well-nourished.

Nuthatch --not the greatest shot, but one of my favorite  feeder frequenters.

I'm also very fond of the roly poly  little juncos--they are mostly ground feeders and are only here in winter.

We often see five different  kinds of woodpeckers in our yard; this is the downy, pecking at the suet feeder by the window where we sit to drink our morning coffee and watch the show.