Wow! A lot has happened since the last time I got a chance to post. We are one week away from our first CSA day and I am incredibly pleased with what we will be able to offer so early in the season. I'm not going to ruin the surprise just yet and I don't want to jinx myself with locust plague either so you'll just have to wait a bit longer.
It's been almost 3 weeks since the chicks and ducklings arrived (pictures) and the Dorking laying hens are producing a steady half dozen eggs a day. (For on-farm sales only of course...) We have actually moved both the ducklings and the chicks outside. The breed of duckling Tyson choose are called "Indian Runner Ducks" and they are ridiculous to watch. To help maintain the proper posture for this particular breed it is recommended to place their food and water further and further away from each other in order to make them "run" back and forth. And run they do. I'd say they spend about 30 seconds and either their food or water before deciding to run to the other. I could easily spend hours watching this if we didn't have so much else to do. Three different heritage varieties of chicks are being raised to join the Dorkings chickens:
Wyandotte, these chickens are raised for their meat and eggs. These chickens lay tan to brown eggs.Golden Campine, this variety are a smaller breed originating in Belgium. They will provide us with rich white eggs. Easter Egger or Araucana, these birds will provide a variety of colorful eggs rainging from blue, green, and light blue. This chicken breed originated in chili known for tuffs of feathers coming off the sides of their faces.
The strawberry beds look great but Tyson and I have been discussing the benefits of pinching the blossoms the first year to allow better production and a longer lifespan of the plant, so no berries this year but next year look out! Irrigation should be in this week and I hope to have it all installed before the harvest this sunday. We've been pretty lucky with rain so far but i don't want to press me luck any further. Plus this way we can produce bigger better yields on more of a controlled system. All this heat allowed us to move all the warm weather germinators out of the apartment and into the green house. Not a moment to soon either, I think I saw one of the summer squash blooming....
