New Year's and Chickens

I decided to clean the refrigerator today. I think that is one of those can’t miss New Year’s activities. You can get rid of all those old Christmas leftovers, free up a bunch of plastic containers, and make the chickens really happy. The latter was definitely a priority today, because the flock met me at the door when I got up this morning.

It got pretty warm around Christmas and I decided the chickens needed a break from their run, so I opened the door of the coop and stuck a cement block in front of it to keep it open. Toward evening a cold front blew through and we got some pretty strong wind gusts. When I went out to close the coop door for the night, I noticed it was already closed and had a cement block-sized hole at the bottom corner. The chickens were delighted to have a new hen-sized opening in the door and have been letting themselves in and out ever since.

When my daughter, Linnea, was about six, my parents gave her six chicks which were supposed to be Polish Crested hens, but turned out to be three Barred Rocks and three Black Cochin bantams. Not only that, but one of the bantams was a rooster. Linnea named him Beauregard and he became her special friend. Whenever he could get out of the chicken yard, which seemed to be most mornings, he would wait at the door for Linnea to come out and play. Beau’s been gone for quite a while now, but he apparently passed on his secret. One bold biddy even made it in the house the other day. I heard a tapping sound in a corner of the kitchen and when I went to investigate, I found a red hen scratching next to the wood stove. She must have followed a cat in through the cat door. I quickly ushered her out again.

So now I have a clean fridge, lots of containers for packing my lunch and a flock of satisfied chickens who are happily scratching through a pile of browned lettuce, gummy stuffing and stale Christmas cookies. And while they aren’t looking, maybe I can patch that hole in the door.

Toad Sex and it's Aftermath

About two weeks ago-- Sunday, May 4th, as it happens--Emily and I discovered two toads mating in a deep puddle near our farm pond. She said, "Mom, I see a frog." I went over and looked, and I saw a "frog," too, but then I realized there were two of them and that they were not frogs, but toads. This was a perfect opportunity to add to my seven-year-old's growing store of knowledge about sex--try to avoid it on a farm--and we stood there for about half an hour, discussing reproduction and admiring the long string of tiny, black eggs covered in a gelatinous egg case. We went back several hours later to find what looked like miles of intestines looping through the puddle. It was truly amazing!

From the description on Robyn's Toad Page (http://www.fishpondinfo.com/toad), I'm pretty sure they were bufo americanus, the most common variety of toad found in North America. I found the photo on that site, as well as lots of information about caring for toads. We've never used chemicals in our garden, so we have a pretty healthy population of toads around here. They often take refuge from the summer heat in the basement and they like to congregate around the washing machine, so you have to be careful where you walk while carrying overflowing baskets of dirty clothes.

Emily checked on the eggs several times a day and yesterday she noticed that they had hatched and there were millions of little, black tadpoles--or toadpoles as Robyn likes to call them--swimming in the puddle. She immediately grabbed a jar and caught about half a dozen of them, which she put into a spare goldfish bowl. I usually make her put wild things back after observing them for a while, but I think we will try to raise these guys. It's fun to watch their legs grow and toads are such gregarious creatures. If they make it to adulthood, we will release them into the garden where they will find plenty of "toad houses" to move into.

But having removed these guys from their habitat, we had to figure out what to feed them. On http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/, we found out that they like lettuce, so we are giving them little pieces of slimy, frozen lettuce and a few flakes of goldfish food. The only unfortunate thing about having tadpoles is that we will have to take them with us when we go camping over Memorial Day weekend. A couple of years ago, we left Dad at home to do chores with strict instructions to feed the goldfish, but he forgot and they were history by the time we came home. Emily has declared that this time we are purchasing a couple of those small, plastic habitats, and the fish and the tadpoles are coming along. I guess we could try a couple of canning jars on a rope around her neck (from What About Bob? In my opinion, Bill Murray's best movie).

In an unusual twist of synchronicity, it happens that my older daughter, Linnea, who is a biology student at Helsinki University in Finland, also saw a pair of toads mating on the very same day. Dodododododododo (Twilight Zone music for you youngsters). It's kind of weird, but it's nice that the girls can share something even though they are separated by so many miles!

Happy Birthday, Velcro!

Velcro, that substance beloved by parents of toddlers and costume makers everywhere, is 50
years old today. According to velcro.com, George de Mestral, a Swiss inventor, got the
idea for the unique fastening system after pulling burrs off of his dog. He noticed that
the burrs were so difficult to remove from the dog's fur, because each end contained a tiny
hook. De Mestral designed the two-part fastening system with a loop side and a hook side
and apparel history was made. The Velcro company is sponsoring a Student Design Challenge to celebrate their 50 anniversary. Check out http://www.velcro.com/50years/ for more information.

This useful product is not without drawbacks, however. One of the problems with Velcro has been the annoyingly loud ripping sound it makes when you pull the pieces apart. It is impossible to detach the pieces quietly. Vermont architect Leonard Duffy received a PopSci Invention Award in 2007 for his Slidingly Engaging Fastener, a redesign of the original hook and loop system. PopSci.com states that Duffy was trying to reinvent the zipper when his sister-in-law broke her arm. She was given a cast with Velcro closures and complained about the noise, the skin irritation and the smell when the fabric absorbed sweat and moisture. Duffy created a plastic cast with his new fasteners which worked much better. So happy birthday, Velcro, and thank you to all those creative, curious individuals who come up with new things to make our lives easier.

Milker Passes Muster

I used the electric milker last night for the first time and everything went well. It wasn't as complicated as I had feared (I am NOT a machine person) and the goats didn't seem to mind too much. They were much more upset when I rearranged the furniture!

I hope to finish planting the storage onions today and move on to carrots, turnips and rutabagas. If I have a chance, I will get to peas, lettuce and spinach. I think I'll leave the broccoli and bok choi in the greenhouse for a little while longer. They are calling for rain the rest of the week and beyond. I certainly hope that changes. We are soggy enough!

Gardens and Goats

Well, here goes! I am officially taking the plunge into the blogosphere!

I am off for the month of May from my job teaching Oral and Written Expression at Thiel College in Greenville, Pa. I hope to be back in June teaching summer school, but so far only one student has signed up for my class. In the meantime, I am trying to get the garden in.

I spent the day in the greenhouse. A few days ago, I transplanted tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, broccoli, and bok choi . Today I started squashes, melons and cucumbers. Emily and I will start some flowers this weekend.

On Tuesday, I spent the day rearranging the milking area so we can start using the electric milking machine we purchased recently. My husband has arthritis and he can't milk be hand anymore, so we bought a milker on ebay. Before we can use it we needed to put in a cabinet to hold it. This meant moving the milking stand.

I never realized how conservative goats can be. Bonnie, usually the first in line to be milked, absolutely refused to go anywhere near the milking stand in its new location. She dug in her heels and wouldn't go near it. Sarah didn't have any problem that day, but Bonnie still refused on Wednesday morning and then Sarah wouldn't get in either.

By Wednesday night, Bonnie was in agony and we managed to lift her bodily into the milking stand. After that, she's hopped right up, but I think I will wait a couple of days before springing the electric milker on her. If she doesn't like it when I move the milking stand three feet, the milker is really going to weird her out!