Friday, May 25, 2012

It's Wild Freakin' Kingdom Out There

I got the dreaded call at work from the SB.  "I have some bad news"  Uh oh.  We had lost one of the ducks.  Apparently to drowning.  I have heard that this can happen when the males are mating and push the head of the female into the water.  Though the water in the creek isn't really that deep.  Plus the SB said he had to pull the duck's bill out of the water, it had gotten stuck somehow.

He called again about half an hour later.  There was a unknown factor.  The duck had a hole in its bill where something had penetrated.  That would be some force to get through a bill.  Not simply a snag.   The SB also saw some movement in the creek.  Some bubbles.  We had seen a relatively large water snake in the creek several weeks ago, but it wasn't the nasty sort.  We also have turtles.

I was on my way home since the Governor gave us a couple extra hours off.  When I got home the SB informed me that we had a pretty big snapping turtle in the creek.  We went out and excavated it from the creek and moved it down to the river.  The thing was indeed big.  Not the largest I have ever seen, but given the size of the creek, it was impressive.  And it was big enough to have held a duck's bill underwater for too long.  I buried her in the duck graveyard.


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Oh Yeah!

Today, the old and new ducks grazed in proximity to one another.  It felt like a GIANT win here at the Urban Farm.  The new ducks hung out on the banks while the old ducks swam.  It is all very high school around here right now.  It is going to get REALLY interesting when the new ducks get to breeding age.  There is precious little info out there on integrating duck flocks, so I really have no idea how this will turn out.  One flock would be ideal, but I still don't totally believe it is possible.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Tiny Window

This is the tiny window in weather garden etc that is precious.  The greens are going great guns, the summer pests haven't set in.  The mosquitoes are barely buzzing.  The rain is coming regularly.  There is much potential and promise.  Seeds planted.  Trellises constructed.  Mowing more or less under control.  Flowers blooming, etc, etc.

Oh!  Didn't I mention that the SB made trellises for the garden?  No?  You. Should. See. Them.  I feel totally rich.  They are simple, rabbit fencing with a bamboo pole woven through the top, hung on some posts.  We have two of these panels per bed.  We have the trellises around the outside of our 6 main beds, in a U shape.  When they grow in there will be a wee garden room springing up around you.  In my mind it is green and fruitful.

We'll see what happens when reality sets in.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Success!

Today the little ducks found the water.  They spend a good amount of time snorggling in the muddy banks and splashing about.  It does my heart good to see ducks in the water. 

The first of our strawberries should be ripe tomorrow.  Cross your fingers for us that something doesn't get them overnight.

We had soup of chicken stock, lambs quarters, mizuna and noodles this evening.  Yum.