Farm Report: January and February Egg Counts

We're letting three of the feathery-foot daughters of Turendot, our Cochin hen, have their own babies this year. So far I've counted 5, with #6 trying to hatch out yesterday. Here is a recent photo, with a bold blond chick. The others have a tendency to run and hide when I take out the camera. But not our little Lana Turner. She can't wait to be discovered.

We are having all kinds of flowers here on the farm, from the fruit trees (apples, plums) to the daffodils:







But we are still having night temperatures in the 30's. We could yet get some snow, but who knows? Rainfall this year has been below normal.

Pat has more photos on his blog: Spring at Robin's Wood


The EGG REPORT:

January: Bantams 49, Large Hens 37, for a total of 86.

February: Bantams 68, Large Hens 26, for a total of 94.

Current total this year: 180.

We would have had more eggs, but since we have three hens sitting and hatching, they stop laying eggs until they raise their chicks. We also lost a hen in a hawk attack a few weeks ago. A rooster, too. That's one of the things that prompted me to let the chickens start raising their babies early this year. We need replacements. That's the way it goes on the farm.

End of Farm Report.
     

Farm Report: Queen of The Night, Grape Arbor

We have a large "Queen of the Night" orchid on our back porch. It has large blooms that open during the night, but each bloom opens for only one night. Recently, it bloomed:



One bloom opened Friday night, then withered in the morning. There were four buds left, and they all opened Saturday night.


It had a strong perfume that filled the room, not unpleasant, but kind of strange, like Industrial Strength Celery. Sorta. It's hard to describe.


Pat did some blog posts about the blooms, the first bloom that opened Friday night, and the other four blooms that opened Saturday night. Follow his links for more photos, and a lot more information about the flowering plant, which is also known as "Dutchman's Pipe" and "Cactus Orchid".


Another garden happening on the farm this year is our grape arbor, which we planted last year. This year, the vines are finally taking off in a big way.

Below is a photo of the duck run, in the summer of 2007. We decided to build the grape trellis over the run, because that area is very warm in the summer:



Here is what the duck run with the trellis over it looks like now, summer 2009:



We built planter boxes with good soil on the ends of the trellis, and trained the vines to go over the duck run. It seems to be working spelendidly.

We took the pool out of the duck run, because it was making the ground constantly wet, and a bad smell developed because it wasn't draining. We moved the pool out to the edge of a small hill, were the drainage was better. Also, that way, when the ducks get out of the water when it's time to lock them up, the excess water drips off them by the time they get to their house, so the inside of the house stays dryer and cleaner, too.

End of Farm Report!
     

Farm Report 08-02-09; Flowers, July's Egg Count

I liked this rose dripping with dew the other morning, so I took photos:



We've had more summer rain and drizzle than usual this year.



It's been nice, because everything is still very green; the plants are loving it.



It's just starting to get dry now, and a bit dusty. That usually happens sooner, so the extra moisture was nice while it lasted. The water level in the well is dropping too, but slowly.



We've had plenty of flowers but the best is yet to come. I think we have more flowers in August than at any other time of the year. I always look forward to it.

Pat has more pictures of our summer flowers:

Blooms and bugs

Woolly pussies and other weeds and wildflowers

The Egg Count for July was as follows:

Pullets had 73 eggs, Bantams had 130, for a monthly total of 203. That's the same amount of eggs as last month. The yearly total is now 1,018.

End of Farm Report!
     

Our local Garden Tour, 2008

I've taken some video of the tour this year, but it's going to be a while till I get around to editing the footage and posting it here. So until then, here are some photos (14) taken by our friend Sheri:


This year's tour was all gardens of suburban houses.



In the background here in the photo below, you can see some cranes in the distance, on the ocean side of the bay. It's a large and expensive project to remove a shipwreck.




A couple of the homes were high up on hillsides, overlooking the bay and ocean.










The blooms of these Tiger flowers (Tigridia) in the photo below only last for one day:



This house had a balcony view of the bay in front, and a waterfall running down next to the steps on the side of the house, which led "up" to the backyard. See Pat's photos via the link below, to see the waterfall.







This last garden had an asian theme, I'll show more pics (stills from the video) when I get the video ready to post on-line.



This is just a sampling of what we saw. Pat has posted more photos from the tour here: 2008 Garden Club Tour. One of the gardens we saw had beautiful English-style hedges, follow Pat's link to see photos of those and more.

here is a link to last year's garden tour.
     

Our Local Garden Club Tour

Yesterday we went on a tour of six home gardens, sponsored by our local garden club. Here's a few pics:



Most of the homes were along the bay, or the sloughs that are connected to it. One house had access to the beach:


This little boat on the beach reminded me of many a summer's day from my childhood, when my family vacationed in Maine:




Here I am, standing next to a giant tree stump washed up on the beach:



Much of this tour focused on landscaping more than flowers. This garden was a work-in-progress; the owners are intending to put in a stream where the gravel path is. The gazebo was very elegant, with a gas fireplace in the center of it.



The last house we visited had several natural streams running through it. One was channeled through their garden into this beautiful waterfall...



... which was used to fill their serene Koi pond. Further downhill, it irrigated their fruit orchard. One of the things I love best about Western Oregon is the abundance of water. That, and the temperate climate!

Pat has some more photos from the tour on his blog, also some photos of our farm.

Farm Report 05/20/07

The "ladies" on bug patrol. They quite enjoy being free-range, but unfortunately have taken to laying half their eggs in the coup, and the other half outside in the brush. So practically every day there is an Easter Egg hunt at Robin's Wood.

In the background, the tall stick structure is a frame we've put around the cherry tree, to support netting to keep the Bluejays off. The squarish structure further back to the left is a pergola that Andy built for our Golden Kiwi vines.



Apple blossom time. This is the latest blooming branch of our Frankenstein apple tree (it has several different apple tree grafts on it, which bloom at different times, with different blooms).



Here are our Guinea fowl keets. We got them when they were just a few days old. I was going to take a picture of them when they were cute little chicks, but they grew up too fast. Here they are about 8 weeks old.



In the foreground, the blue flowering shrub is our Ceanothos, the blooms are already fading, I should have taken the picture a week earlier. In the background is our pergola. The vines are still too short to see.



All the leaves have unfolded by now; spring is sliding into summer.



The Calla lillies are adapting well to their new home on slope of our lawn. They don't seem to mind the clay soil.



Here is our blooming Columbine. The garden is singing, with the promise of many more blooms to come.



A Springtime cloud drama unfolding over the ocean as the sun sets. Another day at Robin's Wood comes to a close.