Flora and Fauna

It is one week into spring and already the temperatures are pushing 90 degrees.  Flora and fauna alike are growing fast.  Here are some spring moments captured on camera.

Winston, the Jack Russell, after barking at everything including his shadow for nearly 8 years finally treed something – a groundhog known in these parts as a woodchuck.  This was right off the back deck which slopes down quite steeply.  At first it looked like a beaver until you realize this thing is about 30 feet up a tree.

While on the subject of dogs, Jessie (whose thyroid problem makes her look like a black version of Moby Dick) is taking some stick in these next pics.

 Here is a moment of natural pest control with a spider eating some bug on a plum tree.

The new crop of baby chicks finally went outside.  These included the Buff Orpingtons hatched from eggs along with some White Leghorns (as in Foghorn Leghorn - "Ah say, ah say, boy, that girl's like the road between Fort Worth and Dallas..... No curves!"  or "Ah say, boy, that girl reminds me of Paul Revere's ride - a little light in the belfry!" or "That boy's so dumb he thinks the Mexican border pays rent!") and Rhode Island Reds bought as day old chicks.

The first Aylesbury duck egg.  Notice how the natural dirt markings resemble the letter “A”.  This omen clearly means Alabama will be National Champions again in 2012.

 

The following is an example of companion planting.  This is based on the Native American technique known as the three sisters.  On a raised mound of earth four stalks of corn are planted.  Once the corn is about 6" high alternating bean and squash seeds are planted around the edge of the mound.  As the three plants grow the corn stalk provides a natural pole to support the beans while the Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the root nodes of the beans provide valuable Nitrogen for the corn.  The squash plants radiate over the mound acting as a living mulch to suppress weeds and decrease soil water loss through evaporation.  Different combinations are being tried this year to see what works the best.  One of the combinations includes pumpkins instead of squash.

 

St. Patrick's Day

What is the connection to the patron saint of Ireland and a farm in the southeast United States named after one of the last free Anglo-Saxons in England?  

Many are familiar with the legend of St. Patrick – he is accredited with bringing Christianity to Ireland and ridding the country of snakes.  We know that St. Patrick was actually born, Maewyn Succat, in 415 AD in what was then the Roman province of Britannia.  His father was a Christian Deacon.  At 16 years of age he was captured by Irish pagan raiders attacking his father’s estate and he spent six miserable years in Ireland.  Most likely becoming deeply religious during his captivity, he was guided by a voice to leave Ireland (funny enough I had the same experience when I was working in Belfast).  Escaping to France he went on to become a priest and took the name Patricius (or Patrick) from the Latin for father-figure.  A second revelation told him to return to Ireland as a missionary.  Being familiar with the Irish language and culture he chose to incorporate traditional Irish beliefs and customs into his teachings.  He used bonfires to celebrate Easter and superimposed the Sun, an important Irish symbol, onto the cross creating what is known today as the Celtic cross.  He also used the three-leafed shamrock to illustrate the Holy Trinity.  St. Patrick died around 460 AD on March 17^th.

Legacy

The Irish enthusiastically adopted Christianity with a passion and monasteries were built across the country.  It was from these monasteries that Irish monks such as St. Gallen, St. Columkille and St. Columbanus later left Ireland to re-introduce Christianity to Europe during the so called Dark Ages.   As the movement for separation of Ireland from Britain grew during the 18^th century, it is perhaps this wave of Irish nationalism that popularized symbols of their ancient identity with St. Patrick being an obvious icon.  As the Irish emigrated around the world, particularly after the Great Famine of 1847, they clung to this powerful symbol of their national identity.

Irish in America

In 2008, 11.9% of the total population of the United States reported having some Irish ancestry.  Another 1.2% reported to be specifically Scotts-Irish (those emanating from the Irish province of Ulster and descendants of the English and Scottish tenant farmers settled in Ireland by the British government).  With the exception of German-Americans, there are more self-reported Americans of Irish ancestry than any other group.  Eight Irish-Americans signed the Declaration of Independence.  Of the 189 men who defended the Alamo, 12 were born in Ireland with a large number of those American born having surnames suggesting Irish heritage.  Remarkably  22 Presidents of the United States (that’s half of them!) have documented Irish ancestry, including Jackson, Polk, Grant, Roosevelt, Wilson, Truman, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, the Bushes, Clinton, and Obama (maybe it should be O'Bama?). 

Hereward Farm Connection

The early Scotts-Irish immigrants settled mainly in what was referred to as the “colonial backwater” of the Appalachian Mountain region and became responsible for the unique culture that developed.  Appalachia went on to influence mainstream American culture with things like folk music, country music and stock car racing (NASCAR).  Hereward Farm is located at the geographic terminus of the Appalachian Mountains outside of a town called McCalla.  The name McCalla is associated with both the Scotts and the Irish.  On this St. Patrick’s Day it is fascinating to reflect how Scotts-Irish immigrants and their descendants likely farmed this very land that I was digging in today.  Many of the varieties of seeds and breeds of livestock common back then are some of the same heirloom varieties and breeds we are working to establish at Hereward Farm.  The basic premise - if it grew here before the advent of modern unsustainable farming methods it can grow here again! Our American Guinea Hogs, for instance, are the type of hogs used to be found on homesteads across Appalachia, and unlike their commercial breed counterparts, are still able to forage for their own food.   

OK, reflecting on the Irish and Scotts-Irish influence on America and Appalachia may not be the traditional way of spending St. Patrick’s Day.  However, after a long day working outside in unseasonably warm temperatures, the typical night out - wearing a “Kiss me I’m Irish” T-shirt, drinking a rake of green beer, choking down some corned beef and cabbage with soda bread, and wrapping things up by slurring the words to, Oh Danny Boy - does not have its usual appeal this year.  

Building a Rustic Gate

Having fenced around the orchard it was time to replace the temporary gate with something more permanent.  The temporary gate (if you can call it that) was two pieces of 4x2 wire attached together and hooked onto the gate posts.  While it looked pretty secure from a distance and apparently fooled the dogs and chickens, every time it was moved there was a risk it would touch the electric fence and give you a shock.  As I have discovered with farm projects, I have a tendency to apply the get-80%-done-100%-fast-philosophy.   This approach means you end up with something functioning when you need it with some component being left to finish at a later date.  Alas, the temporary component has a nasty habit of becoming permanent.  So now it was time to build a more permanent gate.

Looking at the options, a metal farm gate would not fit in with the rustic coop and building a traditional gate out of wood would take time and skill I do not have.  I was thinking about using a pallet as another temporary (albeit upgraded) option when I came across a photo of a rustic gate in this month’s GRIT magazine.  It was a replica of a gate used on a 150-year-old barn.  Most importantly, it looked simple to build; highly utilitarian and the materials could also be re-purposed at a later date. 

It is difficult to see the wires of the electric fence in this pic and thus gives an impression of being a gate to nowhere.  The gate “opens” by sliding out the wooden rails.  Removing the top rail is enough to comfortably step over the gate.  Removing all of the rails (a bit of a pain) is required to completely open this gate but this is something that is rarely required.  Another feature of this gate is that it appears to be relatively pig proof.  This is important since the American Guinea Hogs will graze in the orchard.  While this gate was made out of store-bought materials that were lying around (approx. $40 retail cost), this style of gate could be constructed out of natural (and thus free!) resources found on the property giving an even more rustic look.

Barn Yard Happenings

When I was a boy I had a hamster or two, the odd gerbil, a couple of ferrets, a canary and a tortoise that ran off.  My Grandma used to complain that the house was like a ménage à trois.  I think she meant a menagerie (a collection of wild or unusual animals)!  This leads me to the post today - more animals at the farm.  

New members to Hereward Farm this week include Charles and Camilla, a pair of Aylesbury ducks.  This breed originated from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire just north of London.  By the 18^th century raising white ducks in Aylesbury had become popular due to the demand for white feathers as a filler for quilts.  Over the 19^th century selective breeding led to the Aylesbury duck.  The ducks were bred on farms in the surrounding countryside and local residents would obtain fertilized eggs and raise the ducks in their home as a source of extra income.  In 1873 the Pekin duck (the “Aflac duck”) was introduced to England and this marked the decline of the Aylesbury.  Even though the Pekin was thought to have a poorer flavor than the Aylesbury, the Pekin was hardier and cheaper to raise.

The Aylesbury was one of the first domestic ducks introduced into America from Europe.  It is considered a superior meat breed.  It has a white skin where most other ducks have yellow skin.  Hens lay 35-125 white or tinted green eggs annually.  The Aylesbury is considered “slow moving and exceptionally tame”.   The Pekin duck did the same for the Aylesbury in the United States as it did in England.  Like our American Guinea Hogs, the Aylesbury is listed as “Critical” by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC).  In 2000 the ALBC census of domestic waterfowl found only two primary breeding flocks with 50 or more breeding birds existed. 

Cats - Lazy or Smart?                                  

Believing that the cats are being over-fed their feed ration has been reduced.  The hope was they would take the initiative and kill more rodents.  Unfortunately, the cats are either smarter or lazier than they were given credit for (or both).  The cats now simply walk into the pig pen and help themselves to the pigs’ feed.

This pig can't be that hungry - only two feet in the trough!

If there is one place I would not want to find myself it's standing between a hog and it's feed.  This cat has perhaps found an even less desirable position.  Brave or stupid?  The pigs don't seem to mind them being in their paddock but they will chase them away from their food.
 

Baby Rabbits

The amazingly fast growth of the baby rabbits is captured in the following photos.  After only two weeks the babies are almost as big as those being sold at the feed store. These are New Zealand / Californian crosses.

Approx. 1 day old

1 week old

2 weeks old

Off Topic Post - St. David's Day and the Welsh in America

Yesterday, March 1^st, was St. David’s Day - the Patron Saint of Wales.  This is an important day for all those who celebrate their Welsh heritage.  This post veers a little off topic in recognition of the Welsh influence on North America.

The word Welsh actually came from the Anglo-Saxon word Wealhas meaning foreign, stranger, not of Saxon origin.  To the Anglo-Saxons the Welsh were indeed foreign.  The Welsh were descendents of the Celts, a tribal culture occupying Britannia before the Roman invasion.  The Romans never settled in Wales and thus the people remained relatively unchanged compared to the Romano-Britons living in the areas that what would eventually become England.  The Welsh language is considered Indo-European and is in the same family as Cornish, Breton (northwestern part of France), Manx, Irish and Scottish Gaelic.  This is a polite way of saying Welsh is incomprehensible to most of us.  If you find yourself in Wales and the person talking to you sounds like they are attempting to clear a fish-bone caught in their throat, chances are they are speaking Welsh.  More than 20% of the Welsh population speak their native language.

According to legend, the first Welsh in North America were led by Prince Madog.  Madog and his followers fled fighting in their homeland and sailed West in two ships in 1169 and found Mobile Bay in Alabama.  Madog returned to Wales and in 1170 set sail in 10 ships to return to whence he came.  He and his followers were never to be heard from again.  Stories of tall, fair-haired Indians speaking a language similar to Welsh have fueled the legend that the Welsh may have been the first pre-Columbus European settlers (after the Vikings of course).  One of the first documented Welsh settlers in North America was Howell Powell who left Brecon for Virginia in 1642.  After Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, the wave of religious intolerance sent Welsh Quakers to what would become Pennsylvania.  Today there are more people in Pennsylvania claiming Welsh heritage than in the United Kingdom.

For a small country, and a relatively small number of immigrants compared to other nations, the Welsh have had a remarkable influence on the emergence of modern North America.  Sixteen (approximately one fourth) of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Welsh descent, as were Presidents George Washington, James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, Calvin Coolidge and Richard Nixon.  Elihu Yale was the son of Welsh immigrants who founded the prestigious university that still bears his name.  Morgan Edwards, the joint founder of Brown University of Rhode Island, came from Pontypool, Wales.  While March 17^th is widely celebrated as St. Patrick’s Day (the Patron Saint of Ireland), particularly in Ireland and North America, St. David’s Day is little known outside of Pennsylvania and Wales.

The only link with between Hereward Farm and St. David’s Day is the one remaining daffodil looking a little worse for wear and a row of leeks.  Both of these are Welsh National Emblems.  Clearly, the Irish Shamrock and the English Rose are easier to wear in the lapel of one’s jacket.

The Spring Equinox and Easter are Fast Approaching

Today is the first day of March and the winter is quickly coming to an end.  Soon it will be spring and then Easter.  The Christian festival of Easter has its roots in pagan traditions.  For the tribes of Scandinavia Eostre was the goddess of dawn.  Her name derived from the word “East” which is the direction of the rising sun.  Eostre’s special festival was the spring equinox – the dawn of the sun’s reign in the northern hemisphere.  A human victim was selected as the “Year King” and was sacrificed as winter turned into spring.  His body was buried in the fields which would come to life again with the rising grain.  By eating the bread made from the grain, everyone would share in the miracle of the rebirth.

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, this year spring begins in the northern hemisphere on March 20th at 1:14 A.M. (EDT).  This is a time of longer days, warmer temperatures, and rebirth.  As spring and Easter approach, here are some photos of Hereward farm emerging from the long but mild winter.

Baby rabbits in the nest box.  The doe  pulled out her own fur to add to the shredded newspaper to make a warm nest for her kits.  Unlike other animals, rabbits do not sit on the nest in the wild.  Compared to a conspicuous doe sitting atop a nest, leaving the kits to burrow down and hide in relative comfort avoids drawing unwanted attention.  An earlier litter was kindled on a cold night. With no heat from the mother they sadly all died.  With this litter the nest box has been brought inside on the few cold nights since they were kindled.  The doe does not seem to mind and feeds her kits in the morning.  The kits in this photo are just a day or two old and already growing fur (and reading the Financial Times).

Modern icons of Easter - eggs and chicks.  Just hatched Buff Orpington chicks in the incubator and then a few hours later.

Even though it is only the first day of March, the plum trees are already flowering.

The beavers emerge from winter and begin to eat the cambium of living trees.

When regular just won't do - Super-Size!  When this tree falls it will definitely make a sound in the forest.

Even the cats appear to be casting off their winter depression.  This is the first actual evidence that one of the cats has actually caught a live mouse.  Of course, there is the story about a blind squirrel finding nuts occasionally.