Front Porch Nest Update

All four baby birds in the front porch nest are doing well.  Mama stays busy, bringing home bugs all day.

Waiting for Mom.

Their fuzzy little heads make me smile every time I pass by them.

This is what they looked like just last week.

Battle of the Carrots: Mokum Vs. Scartlet Nantes

I planted Scartlet Nantes and Mokum carrots last spring.  I have been growing Scarlet Nantes for several seasons now, and I wanted to find out if we'd like other varieties better.  I decided to start out by trying Mokum because they are supposed to be particularly sweet.

I planted both varieties on the same day in March in roughly the same amount of space along the fence

line.  Each bed was prepared with well-rotted manure, compost, fallen leave and grass clippings last fall.

I used my broadfork to dig them up last week, and I found that there was a significant difference between the Scarlet Nantes and Mokum in yield, flavor, and size.

This well-used broadfork is a great tool.  It helps me dig up my root vegetables without stabbing into them.

I pulled up 21 pounds of Scarlet Nantes and only 5 pounds of Mokum.  The Scarlet Nantes seeds were from 2009, and the Mokum were new this year.  So, the freshness of the seed does not seem to be the issue at all here.  I ordered both carrots from Johnny's.
I think that there's a possibility that the rabbits assaulted the Mokums a bit, but I don't think they did very much damage.

 A bunch of Scarlet Nantes carrots.

Furthermore, Johnny's lists the Scartlet Nantes as maturing at 65 days, and the Mokum at 54 days.  Both varieties were in the ground for over 90 days, so they had more than enough time to fully mature.

This is the 10 gallon bucket  filled with my Scarlet Nantes harvest.  It reaches the line.

 This is the same size bucket with my Mokum harvest.  It tops out way below the line.

Scarlet Nantes won in both yield and size.  Most of the Mokum were barely larger than my middle finger.  What Mokum lacks in size, it attempts to make up in flavor.  Mokum were noticeably sweeter. 

At left is an average example of a Scarlet Nantes, and at right is the Mokum.

Scarlet Nantes beat Mokum in both yield and size.  Mokum is slightly superior in flavor.  I'm sure there are a million things I could have done differently to get better results with the Mokum, but I don't think I'll bother with them again.  I'll be planting Scarlet Nantes in this fall's garden.

I've Taken Holiday

Ben has a four-day weekend, and it's been great.  He works so hard all week outside the home and around the farm, and he really needed the break.  He's so sweet that he decided to do all my normal chores today, so I have the day completely off.  Thanks to Ben, I won't be doing any of the following today:

Get out of bed early to let the dogs out

Walk the dogs

Feed the dogs

Let the chickens out

Put the chickens up

Wash the dishes

Water the garden

Water the greenhouse

Water the high tunnel

Stuff I just don't feel like doing!!!

So, I will also not be weeding, cleaning, or weed-eating.  Ben is even mowing the blueberry orchard at this very moment.  Woo hooo!

It's actually harder for me not to do all of these things than it is for me to just try to get everything done.  If I don't get things done as needed, they just pile up and make the next day even harder.  My daily personal life is completely enmeshed with all the farm work.  I love it all; from turning the compost pile to setting up a makeshift chicken infirmary (I'll update you on that within the next few posts).  But, when one's work bleeds into one's vacation, life can feel exhausting.

Today has been great so far.  I had told Ben last night that I'd make breakfast and dinner today.  I was really excited to use some eggs that we got from a friend at farmers' market last Friday, and I'm going to make fish tacos tonight.  He didn't want me to do anything at all, but he has allowed me to cook ( not the biggest surprise).

I've been enjoying the garden and haven't allowed myself to pull one weed at all:

 I'm super happy about the gorgeous pie pumpkins...

 ...and the butternut squash.

My one, prized, eggplant so far. 

Hot Portugal pepper, the hottest pepper I've ever tasted.

The day-neutral Seascape strawberries are fruiting now.

Sugar Pearl sweet corn

True Gold sweet corn

Some views of my little paradise:

 We decided to have "Mexican" food for our Fourth of July celebration (we're doing it today so that Ben can recover tomorrow before going back to work).  I'm going to grill some mahi mahi that I marinated with lime, cilantro, and hot peppers yesterday for our fish tacos.  We'll be washing it down with Negra Modelo because there was a great sale on it at the grocery store.  Maybe I'll even sit in my hammock chair and read a little after dinner...

Drowning in Asparagus and Loving It!

The 2010 asparagus is enormous.   I guess we have the manure to thank for that.  It's taller than me and has beautiful, thick stalks.  I'm so excited about the first harvest next year!

The 2011 asparagus is growing strong.  It won't be harvested until 2013.  I still have to finish mulching between the rows, and I have a lot of weeding to do in there.

Also growing in the asparagus field, we have our sweet potatoes.  I put in 200 slips, and they look great so far.  Sweet potatoes are a staple in this house, and harvest day is a true celebration.  So, we're impatiently waiting for October to come.

 The top of the row is freshly mulched.

I mulched the bottom of the row weeks ago.

We'll store the roots in the basement.  They did very well in there last year.  We only planted 100 slips last year, and we ran out of potatoes several months ago.  I hope 200 will be enough.  If not, we'll go for 300 next spring. We are so fortunate to have the space to accommodate our obsession.

Do I Hear Something Chirping?

There are several nests around the farm that are full of tiny little miracles.  Pictured below are two of the nests that are low enough to look into.  

This bunch is living in an apple tree.  The tree is young and protected by a wire cage.  It makes a very safe home for the family.

Mama bird did not like me getting so close to her babes.  She swooped down and knocked into my rear end with such huge force that I yelped and ran away.  What a great mother!

This nest is a masterpiece made mostly of moss.  The builder also incorporated a good amount of dog hair (long, white dog hair that obviously came from Miles and Thurgood).  It sits on top of our porch light.  It is well sheltered from the elements.  The light bulb went out months ago, and we rarely use the front door, so the birdies have found themselves a very peaceful spot. 

Giant eyes, giant beaks!  Can you see the St. Bernard fur in the nest?

I wish I could identify these sweet creatures for you, but I have very little ability in that department.  I can tell you what they aren't.  Neither nest is of robin, bluebird, blue jay, cardinal, crow, or oriole.  Beyond that, I haven't a clue.  

I hope all the hatchlings survive.  I'm so excited to get to watch them grow.  I amazes me that day-old chickens can walk around and basically take care of themselves while these guys are helpless without their mothers.  

I'll try to get more photos as they grow, if the mothers let me.  I'm not sure I want another thwop on the butt!