By returning the calves to their aunties and bonding the new layer chick flock with the old layers I have made a massive dent in my work day.
Four units have become two. I am very glad to finally get to this day in the plan.
The chicks have been moved in with the big chooks and are doing really well. The old layers sulked for the first day but are back laying well now.
We had more rain yesterday and last night. The humidity is super high.
As soon as the ground is dried again I am going to mow this whole new pig field. The weeds have overcome everything else. It is almost as though they were in the seeder. These weeds cannot be allowed to flower and re-seed so close to our organic corn fields. I don’t know how one weed could take over this whole space other than it was on one of the seed bags we bought in but if I mow there is a chance some of the other plants can come through. There are a lot of oats and wheat plants being choked under there.
I have never had one species take over like this before though. There is not one corner that germinated as expected.
All the cows are altogether again at last and the barn door is shut. No more poopy scooping every morning. That’s a relief!!
I do still clean under the trees though, to keep the flies down in the yards and the cows clean. After all that rain last night the flies are going to be hell today.
The sweet corn in the kitchens gardens are tasselling. Corn is self pollinating the tassels containing all it needs to germinate the cob below. 21 days to sweetcorn!
I will be weeding down these rows this morning while it is still cool. Weeds are easy to pull after rain.
I saw a school of 22 fish in the clear rain waters of the pond yesterday.
It was so difficult to get a picture for you with all the reflection in the pond. They look like they are swimming in a tree. A delightful natural optical illusion.
Turkeys. What can I say. They are very strange.
Good morning. BooBoo and I had better get up and into the day. It will be very hot and soggy with more rain rolling in tonight. A heat index of 105 – 110f with high humidity.
So I work hard and fast early with less to do. Yay!
Celi
PS Go here to read the TKG Sustainable Sunday newsletter. It is a great way to get up to date.
PS – This is a politic rhetoric free space. But I believe this one thing needs to be said.
It is estimated that over 200 men, women or children are shot a day in the USA – shot and wounded A DAY in the USA.
Not killed. Killed is another number.
Every day, more than 120 people in the United States are KILLED with firearms.
These are average numbers from a 2018 study. A while ago to be sure. And the stats are hard to find due to multiple states and police departments and hospitals that don’t talk to each other. So even this study was hard to find and verify. And the real numbers are almost definitely higher.
And in households where firearms are not responsibly stored they can be accessed by children.
People get shot all the time here in the USA and no one person is more precious than another. Yeah. I don’t think they are asking the right questions.
The Kitchen's Garden 
12 responses to “Blending the Flocks and Herds”
Those ducks are looking all grown up, but the turkeys still need some time. Those weeds are a real nuisance. I’ve got nasturtiums like that – they grow about 6 inches a day, but at least they look and taste good.
I put some nasturtium in this mix too. I love them. That peppery taste!
Me too! You can eat the leaves and flowers and they look so pretty. You can also make “capers” out of the seeds, after the flowers have died off. I will be looking to do that…
i love that you were now able to rejoin them and create multi-generational/breed packs, better for all. that’s awful about the invading plants and have at it!
such bad luck. I have mown half down today which takes out a lot of the good stuff too – with rain coming tonight we will very quickly see if the under layer recovers fast enough.
I used two different mixes for my pollinator beds. The first is dominated by wild radish and mustard. So much so that they blocked most of the growth of smaller plants. I have been strategically pulling these monsters as they appear. I have a wall of brassica now, the blooms are fading and the seed pods are spectacular. I don’t think I want them to pop so I have my eyes on them. I don’t want these plants to reseed themselves. I need more control next year. The other side is being taken over by sunflowers… I’m not so sure about these multi seed pouches that list 25 different varieties…they should say 1 dominate and 24 not so much!! This is a learning what not to do year I think.
The weather sounds miserable. Sorry about all those weeds. I used a pollinator blend when we first moved up here and started gardening. Big mistake! The white yarrow has completely taken over and is almost impossible to eradicate.
The turkeys are certainly strange-looking. We have wild ones here, and the babies are part of the flock. The male (fully feathered and aroused) attacked my car the other day as I was driving down our road.
I love your ‘flying fish’ swimming through the trees. I hope you are wearing a hat out in that heat and sun, your ‘flerd’ don’t need you with heatstroke.
The pond pics are beautiful! The turkeys ARE strange and YES I too think they are asking the wrong questions.
And – when you let the chickens out – well actually already your flock of ducks are mixing with the four legged creatures you will have yourself a FLERD!
We are definitely not asking the right questions. Thank you for raising the issue.
Ex-military here. Sometimes I wear one of my Army themed caps, and folks are always stopping to thank me for my service. My answer always is: “Don’t thank me, just try to be a citizen that it is worth people like me fighting and dying for”. Sadly, they are getting harder and harder to find, especially among the younger generations