Thursday, May 17, 2012

Chickens, sister, spring harvest

We have chickens!  But no photos.  Must remedy.  Even though they've lived in cages all their lives, the four have learned how to do all sorts of chicken-y things in the past five days.  They can drink from a bowl of water, scratch the ground, perch on a roost, eat slugs, and--up until yesterday--fly.  I clipped their wings however, when I realized they'd begun experimenting with this new ability.
I think between them they've laid around two or three eggs per day since they've come to us (don't panic--that's candle wax in the egg carton).   Partner's begun naming them, and Franklin calls them "bok-boks."


My middle sister is over for a visit and Franklin loves her.  I've never seen him like this with anyone.  I may have to take advantage of her good nature and get her to babysit one night for us.  I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity--he never willingly spends time with strangers, even when I'm present.  And he was friends with her the very first day!

In the garden, I've harvested broccoli for the past few weeks.  When I go to it, I pick all spears close to flowering--encouraging it to continue producing.  Sometimes there's more than we can eat, so I freeze the excess.  Another new crop:  baby spinach.  And so far, one asparagus spear.  I had such high hopes when I planted them five years ago.  Franklin and I shared it between us, raw.  After all, one's better than none.

Pictured: a random forget-me-not.  It somehow insinuated itself into my turnip patch.

2 comments:

Kim Zuch said...

Very cool that you're raising chickens! I bet Franklin loves it.

Gilbrides said...

How fun to have your sister visiting, and how fantastic that Franklin is so taken with her. I hope you took advantage of the help and were able to go out for the night!