A dwarf in the garden & a giant in the house

There is a Dwarf wandering in my Asparagus bed!!

Nibbler is still tiny. All 4 ducks were hatched out in the same 24 hour time frame. All are, with no chance of otherwise, pure bred Welsh Harlequins. Nibbler by day 2 began growing in white feathers while the others stayed yellow fluff. She was full adult feathered by 3 weeks of age. The others were beginning their junior white fluff, the stage between yellow fluff and adult feathering. She has remained 1/3 the size in comparison to her crew. For those unaware, this is NOT normal growth & feathering patterns.

 Since our 16 days in a row of rain and final bravo of flooding everywhere, I let them out to dig in their normal stomping ground of my Asparagus bed. The old sled serves as their water play/duck bill cleaner. The green water is thanks to the constant rain.

 As you can see above, she is tiny next to the others. In person, her size seems even smaller then she appears in photos. I do fear for the time Zoidburg discovers "mating". The size difference may squish her to death. the breeder I bought them from was not worried about her odd growth pattern when I contacted her 4 weeks ago, declaring they breed for a smaller size. But this?! This is Dwarf. My next contact with her will hopefully let me know if this is what she bred for OR this is something smaller then they had in mind.

As for Moose... Well, I put a cover on the couch cushions and gave in to his furniture lounging. I have yet to find a dog bed for his size that does not over take my living room. Hardwood floors are not comfortable and he seems to pacify on the folded comforters I put down for a temporary bed. For now, I caved. Obviously, it only works when 1 person is on there... You should see him the car or truck! No room!

And yes. Yes that is an E-collar. Long story short, his Black mouth Cur father shared enough hunting dog drive, that combined with his St. Bernard mother's size producied a situation where my dog weighs 25 lbs less then I do and obedience was moody. He was already big when we got him as well as never being on a leash. The training of control in chasing wild life began to take a toll on my body. That E-collar saved me AND him from harm.

I plan to share a post on e-collar introduction & use. it's not like others seem to fear or spread. In 10 minutes of first use, after reading & watching training info, things finally "clicked" and Moose just got "awesomer".. My dog knew he was stronger then me and my patience after 8 months of constant whip lash & shoulder jerks had their toll.

More on which one we use {more like he just wears} and how by day 3 Moose discovered the world he wants to explore is his to roam as long as he stays in bounds, comes when called and checks in every few minutes. Moose is far happier with his new found freedom and it shows!

Till next time,

Sweetest Dreams,

~Tammie

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Ramblings, Heirloom asparagus & more Apron Love

Things have really burst into life here. Making me far busier {and happily so} with this early onset of warmth. The Weeping Cherry tree's bloomed especially vibrant this year. Over the last few days it has become the norm in seeing at least 2 cars stopping in front of our home to snap pictures of them in bloom. I can not blame them. They are such an amazing sight so early in the year.

I have let the chickens out to free roam everyday being there is not much they could destroy this early. Except maybe {hopefully} put a huge dent on the bug population.

I am picking up our second hive next month. Without a colony. As you can see below the pollen count is very high this early which having Carinilian Bee's as we do means they will produce even more then normal amount of workers. Which in turn means restricting their hive space with growth and in hand possiby cause a swarming. I need the second hive for splitting just in case. I have still not received a Honey extractor. The enduring of Flaky people for second hand extractors plus the use /borrowing of one, not too mention the email & phone encounter of a scarey movie waiting to happen has me empty handed. {one of those where a woman emails to tell me she has one I can borrow so I send her the number for contact. Then a man calls here from an out of state number upon which I am told he is her "boyfriend" {she wrote to tell me her "boyfriend" will be calling me since it is his equipment only AFTER I sent her the number}.. Somehow the conversation became even more red flag with him saying I need to bring my frames to his place and all his extracting equipment is in the basement plus it is going to take a few hours to get all the frames done... dun dun dun......}

Back to the bee's, the weeping Cherry blooms have been the hot spot of our yard making much in ease for their close inspection.

We {I } have been spending all my time cleaning up any weeds that continue to show face in the garden. I have been using a 2x4 to make a line mark as I make my way from one end to the other. It may seem silly but with the grass clippings & leaves mulched on top, it takes the wood color to make the weed greens pop out. Think of it as though it were a graph line. It makes for a great marker of where I leave off everyday as well.

. I am just now seeing life in the cool weather garden. The Fava's are just now poking through. I planted the Tall Telephone Garden peas in a zig zag along the bentwood trellis plus Sugar snaps along the side back of the fence. Frog & I have been busy whipping up & watering what green there is with our Comfrey composted tea. Thats her favorite part. The watering.

I am now adamant, concerning aprons, one has no realization how they really are one of the most useful pieces of one's { my } wardrobe. We all know most of my wardrobe consists of thrift store finds.Personally I rather enjoy paying less for almost new looking clothes then the availability of overpriced and far too dressy for my lifestyle. Just like that white sundress above. $4 and looked just as good as it had when new.

    I worked in the garden all day wearing that white dress. Not a bit of dirt was on it...I wore my apron which was just an inch past my hem, all day. Sold! Now when it comes to getting dirty, I am just as bad if not worse then my little country kids. From playing with chickens, climbing trees like monkeys, letting their imagination soar with play outdoors with the occasional imitating of a hen taking a dust bath... I kid not. I had asked what they were doing and that was the answer.... taking a dust bath... sigh. Just as bad as pulling in the driveway last night to discover Frog had hog tied her big brother with a jump rope... Now, I understood why the car which had slowed down in front of me was not about the weeping Cherry blooms as I have become accustomed. It was the odd sight of seeing a small child Hog Tied in the front yard with an even smaller child dancing around him as though she were doing a tribal victory dance...

But lets move on to the most amazing gift I received last evening. Mr. J had stopped in to inquire if I would like "some" asparagus plants he has thinned out from his patch. How.. nay WHY ,would I say no? So the Captain long after calls out "Hey, Mr. J is coming up the drive with a big box in a wheel barrow". I thought nothing of it. I mean, it could have been the only box he had & maybe he did not want to drop it coming across the road.... Turned out neither were the reason. That "some" turned into over 3 dozen crowns of the rare heirloom "Conover Colossal"  asparagus crowns!! My mind was reeling and I would not be surprised if that man has not come to the conclusion I am a complete airhead the way I fumble on my words. I could not believe they were all for me. Be still my heart.. Be still.

I was amazed he had grown these 2 year old crowns from seed. An impressive feat. After some research, I found out more on my Darlin' Octopus root gems. They became well known in the late 1800's. Touted as the best compared to all other varieties available. An old article pertaining to the beginning of it's popularity is at this link* which describes not only it's abundance per crown of averaging 35 stalks but that it is not from the soil which gives it such superiority. It is indeed the variety created in his {Conover's} asparagus farming.

I am overjoyed to finally have these green spears in the garden. I have had attempts in the past to grow asparagus from the nursery store stock, resulting in just the loss of time & money. I am ever so full of gratitude for a most wonderful gift an asparagus loving gardener can receive.

A few more picture highlights of the last few days. Less talking. More showing....

 The lady bugs are out & this lil one fell onto my apron as the willow greens swayed around me.

Ming has discovered my burdock Hypertuffa is the best place to lay & cool down while watching me work in the garden.

 Esmeralda is the low hen of the group and an incident of her exclusion from the communal dust bath had the children pampering her with worms fresh from the garden. Ming, of course, wanted inclusion. Liking the worm she was offered? not so much...

I think I may do some back road driving for some camera play. I have been inspired by some photography that was shown in the recent MaryJanes Farmgirls magazine, using old pieces of timber & hardware. Enhancing the presentation/feeling of the photograph. Not that it is a new concept but brought back the inspiration I needed due to being side tracked by the garden.

Sweetest Dreams,

~Tammie

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