Author: Richard

toad in the mulch

The heat of the past week is lifting and a breeze and distant thunder decided me to mulch some apple trees.  The trees are on a gradual slope and with  a mattock I create a half circle mound on the lower side and flare the ends of the mound away from the tree so as to ensnare as much running rainwater as possible.  The mattock makes quick work of the weeds and larger stemmed growth and because it is lightweight (I am learning, in the past I would have purchased the heaviest sturdiest implement) Read more [...]

sharing an apple

One of the advantages of keeping chicken is their nutrient supply in the form of poop.  Twice a week I gather their extrudences (new word?) in a 5 gallon bucket and head to the apple orchard to gift a lucky tree.  This morning, as I was about to upturn the bucket at the base of my favorite apple tree (it provides the best apples), I noticed a little fellow (sex assumed) hard at work on a fallen delicacy.  There were a couple of wasps also participating at the meal but they flew off as I neared Read more [...]

a little pond

When I purchased the woods I had dreams of a 1/4 acre lake/dam and invested time identifying a locale and internally promoting the feasibility.  After all, what can be more satisfying than a sheltered expanse of water nurturing fish, a watering hole for the wildlife, a solace for the stresses of life.  And so on.  But, apart from a good watershed which flowed plentifully during heavy storms, which we get over here,  there was no ongoing supply of water such as a spring.  And then I heard of Read more [...]

summer time and tomato

Real summer for me is when the tomato plants begin producing.  In the past this was well before July 4th.  This year I planted my tomato plants early but an unexpected frost devastated them and this set me back several weeks.  So, it was only on July 4th that I was able to pick ripe tomatoes. For the first time in several years I have been able to grow squash.  In past years the squash plants appeared to flourish and bore flowers and began producing little squash and then overnight were Read more [...]

“Paradise Lost”?

So, some time has passed since my last post and that's because my focus has been distracted.  Reality has a way of intruding on the cocoon we build around us.  It may be sudden severe ill health.  Or, as in my case, an intrusion. In my "battle of wits" post last month I mentioned the advent of the fox which seized my favorite chicken.  A predator from the outside.  Well, a few weeks ago, another predator surfaced - the human kind, and one evening, when I was away from the property, they broke Read more [...]

wanting to trust – concerns about honey

We think of honey as nutritious and pure, but it ain't necessarily so.  Most of us want to trust others, and then we get burned and keep our guards up and become cynical.   Recently my emotions oscillated back and forth and I still don't know where I come out. I produced just under 5 gallons of honey last year, which should have been sufficient to carry me through the winter and spring until my next honey harvesting sessions.  But it tasted so good and so many wanted a bottle that I ran out Read more [...]

battle of wits with a chicken predator

Matching wits with a chicken predator is not a contest I chose.  But I have no option but to contend, as best I can. Some 3 weeks ago on a Saturday evening as I readied to close up the chicken coop I did my count and noticed that Goldie 2 was missing.  We searched the three paddocks and then the perimeter zone without result.  It was only when I went 50 yards into the woods that I noticed one of her feathers.  Golden Comets have distinctive gold colored feathers.  Goldie 2 was my favorite Read more [...]

a lucky save – rescuing my bobcat

Luck shouldn't factor into daily events - maybe it has a role in investing, or coincidental meetings, but surely not when it comes to my tracked Takeuchi bobcat.  The way I am feeling right now is lucky and this is probably because I acted carelessly and was able to extricate myself from a sticky jam, actually muddy patch, without much loss. I mentioned previously a trail I cut through the woods which ran close to a spring.  The spring fills a small pool from which it saunters down the hill, Read more [...]

an improvised bug dispatcher, growing squash and figs

I have never had much luck with squash.   A clan of squash vine borers benignly observe my squash growing efforts and, just when the squash begins its dash for the finish line, they take up residence in the base of the stem of the squash plant, chew away, and the vine keels over.  In previous years I noticed mating stink bugs in the vicinity of the squash plants before their demise and, guilt by association, when I spotted them this morning, I quickly fashioned by bug dispatcher.  My bug dispatcher Read more [...]

trail through the woods

The past few weeks I have been preoccupied with cutting a new trail through the woods.  The northwest part of the property slopes down a hill and its face is creased with contour ditches and berms installed I know not by whom or when.  There is a small spring which forms a stream which slides off the property.  My new trail is designed to give me access to the spring and to meander among the fast growing tulip poplars.  Since this is the north facing slope, which is sheltered from the sun and Read more [...]