Mid-Summer Farm Update

Lots of ups and downs with the fruits, vegetables and animals this summer. Our gardens and fruit trees started off very strong this year then just as things were ripening all manner of bugs, slugs and critters found the bounty. We've dealt with caterpillars, hornworms, slugs, squirrels, rodents, deer, bear and more raiding our vegetable gardens and fruit trees. We don't use pesticides so resorted to natural treatments with some success. Still the creatures have certainly taken their share and continue to do so. The town mowers overstepped their bounds in my opinion and chopped down our best high bush blueberry plants, nice tall ones that have been around forever, that was a sad day.  We are getting regular tomatoes, summer squash, greens, beans and a slow trickle of fruit such as plums, nectarines and early peaches. Hoping the later ripening peach trees give us more and the wildlife less fruit!

A large patch of corn is coming along and we look set to have our first truly successful corn crop. Root vegetables are coming along well too with turnip, carrots and beets all starting to be ready for picking. raspberries and blackberries are ripening daily.

It's been up and down with the birds too. The ducks have been fine though we have had a couple wanting to go broody this year. That had never happened before and since we don't need any more ducks we haven't let them hatch a clutch. One of our sweet little silkies that we added (by accident they were supposed to be Marans) died after a good try to fight off an illness/injury/birth defect. She/he never grew well compared to her hatchmate and seemed to have a leg problem. She eventually became a house chicken and had various treatments and spoiling and love but she (or he) passed peacefully one afternoon. The other chickens while mostly healthy have had a mystery illness strike a couple. We researched and found that the culprit might be coccidiosis and so we have treated the whole flock for that. Only a couple showed signs and one bird suddenly and unexpectedly died we didn't want to take chances. The protozoa that cause coccidiosis is present in the soil of most places with animals but doesn't usually pose a problem. The hot, humid and very wet month we've been having is prime conditions for the birds to pick up a high load of cocci and the treatment is simple so we have gone that route. All birds are fit and well now as far as I can tell. Rabbits, cats, dogs and lizards all doing well.

On the upside Snow White has been a wonderful mama hen, her three little chicks are thriving and she takes them out among the flock now with no trouble. Snow White is the most aggressive mama hen I've seen and strikes fear into her flockmates should they even look at her chicks wrong!

And of course KitKat is always on the job.

Except when he's not! He does pick some funny places to sleep.