Java. the end.

[Javamama]

Hey, I remembered that I have a journal I've never been good at keeping one, but I need to record a couple things now.

I just needed to memorialize the passing of my favorite hen, Panda. She was a Dominique. She has internal laying issues and I discovered she was grotesquely prolapsed last night. We put her down so she would not suffer longer than necessary.

I feel a little guilty because I have not paid much attention to them lately with the crappy weather going on. I could have caught her problem sooner and though it wouldn't have saved her, we could have put her down earlier. That saddens me. I am amazed that as of yesterday she was still getting around in spite of it all. She was a little more still than usual, but all the birds were due to the heat. ...Anyway...

Panda had a regal air about her - she loved to stand on the tallest object she could find just to be higher than everyone else. She did not run in that goofy linebacker fashion like all the other hens do - she kind of glided. She had a terrible singing voice. She always got the roost spot beside the door and would go in an hour before everyone else to make sure she got it. I hope I can find another like her someday.

 

[Javamama]

Note to future self - DO NOT bother with spring gardening! You have wasted too much time over the last few years trying to grow spring crops. It DOES NOT work out for you! The weather always wins.

This year I was so prepared. I had my seeds. I started some with winter sowing. I sowed the lettuce, the spinach, the kale, etc. Then we had a week of 80+ degree temps in mid April (? I think it was mid April?)
The kale and bak choi grew appox. 3 inches tall and bolted.
The lettuce and spinach stunted and never did anything. I picked almost enough to make a salad.
The broccoli took forever to take off and now it is forming heads and flowering all at once. And it tastes AWFUL! I have never had such pungent, almost rotten tasting broccoli.
Maybe it's due to all the rain? Such a waste of space.
Last year in spite of staggered sowing everything developed all at once and I had literally a 4x8 bed of lettuce! I could have fed the manatees at the zoo for a couple days :/


Summer crops are still a go, if it stops raining. Tomatoes, peppers and cukes are looking good hope they don't drown or get diseased from the soggy soil. I forgot to plant beans though and don't know if it's too late or not I also forgot the onions.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I'm sorry about your little hen. My Dominique hen passed from internal lay issues, too.

I gave up planting broccoli a looong time ago. It always tasted nasty when I picked it.

I wanna feed some manatees....

 

[Javamama]

Barbara Manatee...

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Sorry to hear about your hen, she sounds like an amazing bird.

My broccoli started bolting with tiny, smurf sized heads. The ones I got to before they flowered were tasty, just very, very small.

 

[TanksHill]

I have never had any luck with broccoli either. sorry about your hen.

gina

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

oh geez. sorry honey, thats a tough one. we had to put one of our hens down b/c of prolapse also.
:-(

spring gardening.. golly with all this rain i'm about to go into rice farming! the answer is in raised beds


and its totally not too late to start over. i've had the best luck starting all my seeds in trays and then transplanting.

hang in there!

 

[Javamama]

LOL, OFG I have raised beds I'm ditching them next year, we made some mistakes with them and they are more trouble than they are worth.

I started my broccoli in February in seed trays, I'm not sure why it took almost 4 months to finally get heads Wacky weather I guess.

I'm going to pull the broccoli out and try some pole beans.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

oh no!! hee hee hee well onward and upward!

dont forget that every "bad" veggie that comes out of your garden can go onto its reward as compost

 

[Javamama]

The county fair started yesterday. This is my favorite time of year, in spite of the ridiculous heat. My daughter entered 2 of our ducks and we are the only ones who have Welsh Harlequins. But there are only 10 pens of ducks total, Our fair is quite small, housing all but the dairy animals and the horses in one big barn. I kinda like it that way though, we get to see alot of interesting things. I could sit in the barn all day and people watch and answer questions. People are really curious and so far, very respectful of most of the animals. The poor turkeys across the way get most of the attention, good and bad. They are quite ugly - BBW's and not in very good condition in my opinion.
Maybe next year we will take some heritage turkeys. My 3 year old has been wishing for one She is a farmgirl at heart