Because Izzy asked

I know it has been some time since I have published anything. April to be exact. I could say I just got busy and that would be true. But the truth is I was struggling with a lack of desire to garden or do anything else on this small "farm". As a result almost everything in the garden got planted late. Potatoes, peas, onions, pumpkins, zucchini, you name it. Except the corn. I managed to start that in pots and transfer it to prepared beds and that worked great.  My good friend K asked me if I was perhaps depressed and I guess I was/am. More so then than now. I also felt like blogging was just a waste of what little time and ambition I was able to muster. I hate the feeling that I am pushing off my stories onto friends and family. I have had not one person ask why I am not blogging so I think it must be true. Except Izzy. So Izzy, this one's for you.

Most of you know we had 18 Sebastopol goslings hatch this last spring. All four adults were perfect parents, there was tons of excitement, and the babies all healthy........except one. It became evident that one of the babies was not able to quite keep up with the rest. She would try but would soon just give up and sit down panting and it was apparent that her little heart was having a hard time keeping up with her. Sometimes I would walk out to where she was sitting and carry her to her family so she wasn't alone. She soon ended up in the house with us and my daughter named her Holly Go Lightly after the character in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Holly for short. I knew she couldn't possibly live very long and actually expected her to not last more than a couple weeks but I was determined to give her a happy life while she was here.

Holly had the best personality perhaps because she was raised with more human interaction. She gave great goose hugs and could talk up a storm and would call to us from her box in the bathroom that was in the laundry/mudroom just outside the kitchen door. Of course once she got someone's attention she would beg to be let out of that box. As a result we ended up carrying her around in a baby sling fashioned from a long scarf tied around our necks or watching TV at night snuggled up in someones lap. Even the man was pressed into babysitting. Nestled in a big towel Holly would watch the news with him on the computer. Sometimes she was allowed to wander around the kitchen but she didn't like the dogs much so that didn't happen as much as she would have liked. During the day after it warmed up and the grass dried off I would take her out to be with her family. I also made sure she was always fed separately and would hand pick dandelion leaves for her. She loved those. Being the smallest she was pushed away from the communal food.

To make a long story short Holly became my baby. Always looking for me to come out in the yard and telling me when she was ready for breakfast or dinner.  It took her longer to grow up. She was late getting feathers, didn't try swimming for a good month plus after her siblings and had to put up with some bullying but handled it pretty well. She had a favorite brother that she would cuddle with and follow around too. Here are pictures. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

For awhile the other babies had to take turns keeping Holly
company in the house. 

Holly riding around in her scarf. 

in

The family at play

He was her favorite sleeping partner

Holly loved her brother and he didn't seem to mind

Holly is the little yellow one. What a difference. 

Holly admiring herself in the mirror....

and yelling for company from her bathroom basket.
This always got my attention. 

Holly was a happy little thing and made me smile every day. Her siblings grew so fast, became beautiful fully feathered beauties that were sold to good homes. Holly was never going to another home. It was still evident that she had a defective heart and I couldn't have sold her in good conscience nor did I want to. She did eventually get her beautiful feathers although not as many as her siblings and I could tell the effort of growing was taking its toll on her. One day in July Holly asked to be put in the chicken coop. This was usually her way of asking for her dinner and it was late afternoon. We had been out in the yard working all day so I fed and watered her and went in to take a shower and start dinner. When I came back out less than an hour later Holly had died. She was 3 1/2 months old and had lived much longer than I thought she would however I was still devastated. I still miss her funny little self around here.

But life goes on. We have added 5 Lavender Orpington chicks to our flock and after my late start in the garden I have been a woman on a mission. I have been putting in raised beds for vegetables (I got sick of fighting our sandy soil) and renovating the landscaping around the house. Right now the man and I are replacing the rotting decks (plural) on our house and I am harvesting and canning out of the garden. Our weather has been unseasonably hot and dry this summer so I am actually getting red tomatoes! and corn! The new lavenders are sweet as can be and growing fast. We will see how they do with the rest of the flock.

Lessons Learned from Geese?

It's Sunday and so far there is no movement from the last 3 eggs in the goose nest which means we have 15 goslings divided between two nest. The boys had not left the gate all day yesterday and last night when I let them into the pen I stood and watched to make sure all would be well. I've done the goose thing before so I didn't expect any trouble from them and I was right.

They immediately went to the nest to check it out. Both girls stood up straddling the goslings tucked in their cozy nests. The boys stuck their heads in to check out those babies and actually pushed some of the babies further under the moms. When the moms finally settled back down one gander snugged up to the outside of one nest while the other stood guard in front. They stayed that way all night.

 Morning came and unfortunately I needed to check on the remaining eggs and knowing I would have to argue that point with the boys I took my mini leaf rake and broom with a half handle into the run with me to coax them both out the gate.  The guard gander immediately started protesting while the other attempted to climb into the nest with the babies. I had to literally lift him off with the plastic leaf rake and move them both out through the gate.

The moms were fine with me messing around but much to my disappointment the last three eggs were still intact. Mom on the right seemed to be having a harder time covering her babies which may be why daddy was in there so I moved two over to the other nest.

The great thing about these guys is that they seem to be practicing cooperative parenting. They also did this last year when the eggs were not fertile. Last year I only had one nest with one sitter but when she got off the other mom got on and kept them warm. When mom #1 came back the other would get off and stand guard with the boys until she was needed again.

This year I only saw one gander breeding with one goose. That was Alphy and Mimi. Sebastian and Bella just seemed to hang around lending assistance and support. Apparently the alphas are the breeders with this breed.  When Mimi was ready to sit on 19 eggs I divided them into the two nest boxes and both geese started sitting even though I am pretty sure Bella had not contributed many if any to the nest. I removed 1 egg a few days later because there was no growth when I candled them.

My point is this family group of geese seem to be raising these babies together. So far there is no fighting. All four seem to have only one purpose and that is to raise these babies.

Earlier today just before I was heading out to a neighborhood meeting I went to check on them one more time. All the parents were in one nest box! My first thought was cold half dead babies so taking my life in my hands I entered the run and physically carried each male out the gate one at a time so I could see what was going on without getting eaten. They didn't like it but they also didn't bite me. Dressed in my Sunday go to (neighborhood) meeting clothes I crawled into the empty nest box to rescue the orphaned babies. NO BABIES! What the heck! All the babies and both moms were in the next box over. Now I don't think geese pick their babies up like kittens and these guys aren't old enough yet to have their running legs so the only thing I can think of is that the boys pushed them there so the whole family unit could be together. Never seen anything like that before but everyone of them were in that box. I quickly readjusted the empty nest to be deeper and wider and added straw around the edges to create a deep berm, added half the babies to it and got a mom over there. That lasted about 6 hours when I let the boys back in and went in to start dinner.

Those boys are determined to keep the family together so I give up. They must know what they are doing. The girls are both in one nest with all the babies and the boys are the front guys. Again.

Then some of the babes decided to go out and meet daddy. 

Guess that answers the question as to how they all got in the same nest. 

Lessons learned from Geese?

Leave them alone. They know more about family and cooperation than most humans. 

OMG!!!!!! THERE COMING!!!!!

CAN YOU TELL I'M EXCITED!!!! Earlier today when I got these girls off the nests for their bath and to get a drink I checked the eggs. One looked like it MIGHT have a crack but other than that things were pretty quiet. It is 7 pm and I just checked again. This time I didn't make the moms leave and go out to the pasture. I just moved them off the nest while I checked so I was eyeball to eyeball with a mom that was giving me the "what the f... do you think you are doing" hairy eyeball. I am always surprised at how calm these girls are with me. So while mom was staring at me I started picking up each egg and OMG! Cracks and holes and peeps! OH MY! I kept hearing a really loud one but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. So I moved over to the next nest (on the right) got moma off and started to look. As soon as I did an egg started screaming at me! Has to be one of Mimi's because she is a screamer too. That's why the name. Screaming Mimi. The man named her. So while moms are staring at me but being calm the boys are at the gate wanting to rip me a new one. Literally.

 They have spent most of their time sitting by the gate waiting, or, when I do get the girls off for their daily bath and drink they run up and down the outside of the fence screaming at them. Get back on! Get back on! You're killing my babies! This is why we don't let ganders' into the delivery room. So we should have babies tomorrow.

You may wonder why I am so excited. Metzer farms where I bought these lovelies said this on their web site;

Fertility seems to be a problem with most Sebastopols, along with lower than normal egg production. Fertility is adequate early in the season (and they do seem to come into production earlier than most breeds) but quickly drops off. Oftentimes we will have no fertile eggs the last three weeks of production in the spring. In 2005 we tried artificial insemination with our Sebastopol but with discouraging results. We hope to try it again in the future but with some basic changes in our methods and materials

  and last year all the eggs were a big fat ZERO so I was not expecting anything this year. In fact both girls together only laid a total of 22 eggs. Three went in the fridge for easter and one was not fertil so I tossed it after candling. The remaining 18 eggs were full of baby so pessimistic me was just wondering how many would die in the egg. I can't wait to tell John Metzer. Maybe he needs a few tips! hahaha

I will keep you up to date when they get here. If they get here. So far they sound really robust. Here's a shout out to Chuck. You're gonna be a grampa!

Sebastapols and ducks at Metzer Farms

The Unintentional Farmer

What Are You Doing In There?

This was the year I wasn't going to get new babies. No chickens, no ducks, and the geese are suppose to be difficult to get goslings from. Well I have a silkie sitting on 4 duck eggs (to go to someone else) and the geese laid a total of 22 eggs three of which are in the fridge waiting to become blown out Easter eggs the rest are sitting under the two moms. They have been setting since the  beginning of March and of course I didn't mark it down since I assumed that like last year it would come to naught. My plan was to let them set for awhile then candle the eggs just to make sure and then toss them. Today I was able to candle the eggs while the moms were out stretching their legs and taking a bath. I think I am going to have to re-think that no baby plan. Out of 19 eggs 18 seem to be well on the way to being babies. The one egg that looked, well, like an egg was just that. I cracked it open and tossed it in the garbage.









I have 4 Sebastapol geese. Two ganders and two geese. The funny part is that only one gander has mated with the one female but both females are sitting on the eggs. They seem to be getting along but I had the man build two separate nest boxes for them with a wall between so they can't see each other. However the four of them talk to each other constantly. I call them the screecher creatures. I gave the non-laying goose 9 of the eggs and they are both being very good moms.

So good in fact that when neither of them had been off the nest for food or water for 4 or 5 days I finally went in and picked them up off the nest setting them near a food and water dish. They were absolutely joyful about the reprieve. They were also a little wobbly on their feet so after a good drink and a short bath they both got back on the nest. Guess I will have to do this every day.

The boys are also working in tandem. Both of them guarding those girls. My family has dubbed them "the evil geese" but they really aren't that bad with me. Compared to other breeds of geese that I have had these guys are a piece of cake. They can be pretty scary though when you don't know them and that is the point after all.  Here they are hissing at me through the fence. I am inside with the girls and they don't like that at all!

Will keep you updated on our progress.

Happy Easter.....Eggs and Nesting Goose Update.

I finally got access to the goose nest and was able to candle those eggs. No babies inside. So I took the eggs into the house. This didn't set well with the geese. The girls went out yelling at the boys and they all walked around for awhile being very noisy talking about it. The girls eventually went back in looking for their eggs. Although I had pulled all the nesting material out of  the dog crate they were using (there were two) one of them went back inside, sat down and started pulling all the stuff back in. After sitting on the empty nest for a day  I decided I better go empty the nesting material out of the dog crate they were using and remove it. That didn't stop them. It just upset them. This morning and for the last two days they have been sitting in the nesting material together out in the open where the chickens can see them. They are determined.......and I feel bad for them. Although I haven't seen the ducks doing the tango lately I went ahead and placed two fresh duck eggs in front of the geese which they promptly tucked under their downy breast. Guess I will candle them in a couple days.

In the mean time in the house I scrubbed the goose eggs using soap and a plastic kitchen scrubby. They were so stained that they wouldn't come clean so I used a little vinegar with the scrubby and that took it off. My plan was to blow out the eggs, rinse them and then dye them with natural dyes made from stuff in the kitchen. I was afraid they would be stinky so I took precautions to empty the eggs into a zip lock back for disposal. To my surprise they weren't. So here is how I did it.

Cleaned and scrubbed eggs

Using a straw colored with ink I marked
a circle on both ends of the egg.

Using a dremmel I gently
drilled a hole in both ends the
same size as the straw. 

I used a bamboo skewer to break up
the yolk inside then using the straw
I blew out the insides into the bag.

Once the eggs were empty, rinsed and dried I started to color them. My favorite was the boiled onion skins which made a lovely orange. I also used curry and mustard mixed with water for yellow (I didn't have any turmeric but mustard has that in it) sweet cherry juice for a purple/blue, and beet juice for a pink. All mixed with water and a little white vinegar.










This morning my youngest (16)  informed me that she was expecting an Easter basket. I thought my girls were past that. Hmmmmm....but apparently not. She got down the Easter decorations and pulled out these eggs made some years ago when I lived on Lummi Island. They are made with tissue paper and a mixture of Elmer's glue and water. Kind of like paper mache' only on real eggs that were blown out.

Easy and fun project for the kids

I will keep you posted on the geese and their quest for a family. In the mean time have a great Easter!

Another Example of "It Takes A Village"

So call me crazy. Call me anthropomorphic. Maybe I am just reading too much into this but....

Bella, one of the female Sebastapol geese decided to set on eggs. Up to this point I have been collecting the eggs as they were laid because I read that if you got goslings the first year just count yourself as lucky since the boys are usually not up to the job. It just doesn't usually happen. It's not that they don't try. They're just not fertile yet which is probably true because I had two under a broody hen for 5 days and nothing was happening with them.  But Bella had two eggs and I had one that had not been refrigerated yet so I put that one in the nest too.

The two big ganders are standing guard just outside the gate when it's open and inside the run when they are locked up. Nothing too unusual about that other than the fact that they are working together to "kill" anything that comes near. The weird thing is that the other female, Mimi, seems to be helping Bella set on the eggs. She gets in the nest and sits then Bella gets off to go eat and walk around a bit. Sometimes for up to an hour. Then she goes back and Mimi gets off the nest and hangs with the boys or takes a bath in the pond.

This evening I went out to put the birds away for the night and feed them their usual rations. Normally they hog down the whole thing in 15 minutes. I tried to get Bella to come out and eat too but she would have non of that nonsense. About an hour later I happened to go out there and there was still food in the dishes. This alarmed me because to have food left usually means someone doesn't feel well. Then I looked in the nest. Mimi was on the nest again and Bella was eating while the boys watched. It was as if they saved it for her. Now, I know that geese have strong family ties and wild ones will cooperate when migrating by switching off flying the lead. A couple of geese will even leave a migrating flock to keep a sick or exhausted goose company until it either recovers or dies before migrating on and catching up with the pack. But this is really weird. Like I said call me crazy but this has been going on for two days so far. I don't think the eggs are viable and I would like to get in there to candle them but I will have to get past at least one of them (mom) to do that and although I have no doubt that I could but I would hate to disturb her and have her desert the nest if she had any good eggs. Guess I will just see if I get up the nerve. It would also help if it would quit raining so I didn't have to kneel in the mud!

(two days later)....
Yesterday Bella didn't leave the nest all day so when it was time to feed the geese I moved the feed dishes and water over to within about 5 feet of the nest to try and get her to come out and eat. The others ate but she stayed on the nest. She did stand up to check her eggs giving me the opportunity to see what was in there. She has 6 or 7 eggs that I can see!

I went back in to the house to continue making dinner and about 10 minutes later noticed that Bella was walking around the pen. So I went out to see where Mimi was and as I suspected she was on the nest. Ten minutes or so later Bella went back to the nest and Mimi was out with the boys again. I swear they are all doing the tag team parenting thing. This morning I noticed Mimi has made herself a sitting area just outside the nest box and is sitting with Bella. Gotta kinda wonder if she has eggs under there. I'll keep ya posted. Who knows maybe we will end up with baby Sebastapols!

Update on the baby ducks. They are growing so fast. Mother hen still fusses with them and bosses them around but they are at least as big as she is now. She finally gave up trying to get them to perch and she just perches next to the box where they spend the night. Because it is still pretty cold here I have been bringing the ducklings into the house for swimming lessons. (Alright, someone has to do it) They seem to take to it like a duck to water. Oh ya.....they are ducks. I gave my oldest the job of making sure they were good and dry before taking them back out to the coop.

Lucy was very interested in the bathing ducks

                                     

Duck, Duck, Goose.... and One Trick Chicken

The big day has arrived and all eight birds (4 geese and 4 ducks) made it in one piece which in itself always amazes me. All it would take is one postal or fed ex employee to drop the box or be a little careless. Much to their credit I have never had a dead bird show up in the mail. These little guys came from Metzer Farms in California and shipped from San Francisco or Oakland which can sometimes be kinda cold but the babies were packed with a heating pad and a container of Gro gel which was empty when they got here. Since it was loose in the box its hard to say if they ate it or dumped it over. As usual I got the call from the Post office at 6am which was fine since I hadn't slept much for two days. I was so sure something awful was going to happen to this batch of birds. It's been 5 years since I had Sebastapol geese and I was a little anxious to get them. The man stayed in bed this time while I went to get them and when I got back I woke up each of the girls by putting the peeping box next to their sleeping heads. Needless to say there was a stampede coming down the stairs to the kitchen where I was trying to give them their first drink of water. I had lots of help and the man decided there wasn't any sense in trying to sleep through that. They are beautiful birds and already I think I have picked out one of the male Sebastapols.

Many hands, light and happy work.

Remember the chicken with the broken, bleeding toenail that ended up in the house watching TV with The Man? Her name is Sadie Hawk-ins (She has a predatory look a lot like an eagle). She is at it again. This time with a little trick she learned all on her own. It's really kinda cute and she seems to love doing it. If I raise my arm up and pat it with my other hand she jumps up and sits there like some overgrown parrot. After checking out my clothes for any little crumbs that may be lingering there she actually settles down and perches. She likes to ride around the place like that and if I am not walking she will fall asleep. She is quite comfortable and it's her only trick....so far. She is way too smart for a chicken so I have to wonder what's up with that.

My last blog I wrote about trying to grow sweet potatoes this year. I made the assumption that sweet potatoes have very long vines that need to grow up something. However I can't find a thing on the web saying that is so. So if some of you southern sweet potato growers have that information drop me a line. Maybe the vines aren't as long as I thought. I will be trying Georgia Jets because of the shorter season. In the mean time I am in the midst of setting up my regular potato "pots" and growing three kinds. A purple potato called "purple majesty" a red "Chieftain" and my favorite "Yukon Gold". I will be growing a lot more of them this year not just because they taste better but also because I know there are no chemicals on them. Potatoes are on the list of one of the 10 dirtiest foods you can buy (unless its organic). No pun intended. You can also cook them so many ways that they never get boring.

Here is a question for you readers out there. Lately in view of recent events and with the specter of a food shortage, higher prices etc., (which I have already been noticing)  I have been wondering, what do other people store up in their pantries for that rainy day? Living on an island you have to sort of think about what you would do in the event of a catastrophe. You could be cut off from supplies for a while. And that includes animal food. Click on the comments button at the bottom of this page and shoot me a list of your favorites. Flour, rice, and beans seem to always be on that list. The Man suggested stocking up on lids for my canning jars. I thought that was a good idea. They are sometimes harder to get during canning season. So what good suggestions do you have?