Evening Primrose
Dianthus
Roses
Creeping Thyme
Salvia
Iris
Peony
Roses
Chives
Our Prayer Garden
Wild Roses
This spring I have been seeing a bluebird around the farm a lot. I really don’t know if I am always seeing the same one or there are more than one, because I have only seen one at a time. This afternoon I was able to capture a picture of it in the oak tree at our picnic area. Not the clearest picture but I think you can tell it’s a bluebird.
Thanks for joining me and have a great weekend.
In April, when I published this post about toad mating day, one of my readers asked what a nest of toad eggs looks like. I was able to describe them and send a link of a website that had pictures, but I never saw any nests of toad eggs to get pictures of.
Two weekends ago, May 6th and 7th, what I thought were frogs were loudly and proudly singing their mating song.
I wandered the edge of the pond until I found the “party”.
It was a two-day event.
I took some pictures on Saturday and more on Sunday.
On Monday the frogs were quiet. I went to the area of the pond where the “party” had taken place and discovered eggs. It wasn’t until I did a little research on the internet that I realized that these are toad eggs. The difference being that frog eggs are laid in a large cluster while toad eggs are in strings like beads. What I thought were frogs were really toads.
They may be a bit difficult to see in the photos but the eggs look like black strings under the water.
Closer up they look like tiny black beads enclosed in a clear gel-like tube.
I couldn’t even begin to guess how many toads laid all these eggs or how many tadpoles would emerge from them. It’s my understanding that these eggs could take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks to hatch. It largely depends on the temperature of the water.
It was Friday, May 12, when they hatched.
These are probably the tiniest tadpoles I have ever seen. (Can you make out some of the tadpoles in the picture?) They were making their way to the beach area where the water is shallow and thus warmer.
It will now be two to three months before these little wigglers grow legs and lose their tales. That is when they will leave the pond and spend most of their lives on land.
Thanks for visiting.
Last week we had, what my husband referred to as, the soft opening. He had completed fencing the perimeter of our property. The only thing left to do was put up the gate across the driveway. Until he could get that done, he made a makeshift gate by using a piece of the fencing to extend across the driveway and clamping it closed.
Putting up the grate took a few days. First my husband rented a post hole digger to make the holes for the wooden posts. Then he had to measure the depth of the holes while putting the posts in and filling in around them with quickcrete (cement). On top of the quickcrete he put stone then topped it with soil. He used a level to assure that the posts were straight. Once they were in place he left them for a few days to let the cement set up. On May 2 he attached the gate to the posts and the project was complete.
All of the rain that we have had in the past week has the ground saturated. We now have pooling water everywhere.
We have a bumper crop of dandelions this year.
Even though we have been wishing for the temperature to hurry and warm up there are some good things about the cooler temperatures.
The apple trees have not blossomed yet thus reducing the likelihood that they will suffer damage from heavy frost or freeze when in bloom.
The forsythias have enjoyed a long bloom time because of the cooler temperatures,
as have the daffodils.
For years my primrose plants have struggled just to survive. Last fall, after learning that primrose like wet soil, I decided to move my plants to a lower area in the prayer garden.
Already this spring they are thriving.
Our old chicken coop is still standing. Tearing it down is on our to-do list but has not yet become a priority. My husband had leaned the old gate from the chicken yard up againt the front of the old coop.
Earlier this week he noticed that a bird, most likely a robin, has built a nest on top of the gate.
I couldn’t see inside the nest while standing on the ground, but I was able to get a look inside by holding my camera up above the nest and taking a picture. This was two days ago, maybe I’ll take another picture today.
On April 23 our bees arrived. We had lost all three of our hives over the winter. We decided to start just one new hive this year.
They have been very busy this week – enjoying the dandelions.
Our old hens are enjoying springtime. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that at least six of the nine are laying eggs. I really only expected that four were still of laying age, but somedays we find six eggs. 🙂
Here’s a cute story: last week while working in the barn my husband found, in a dark corner, a nest with seven eggs in it. One of our black hens has been sneaking in there and laying her eggs. Apparently, she was getting ready to brood some chicks. Sadly, he had to get rid of the eggs because we haven’t had a rooster since last November, so none would be fertile. Perhaps next year, when our new roosters are mature, she will try again.
Our young chicks are enjoying life at the farm as well.
We are experiencing a lovely day today as it seems like are warmer temperatures have finally arrived, so I’m heading outdoors to get some things done. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Thanks for visiting.
Over Easter weekend we had beautiful spring weather and throughout the week, that has followed, it seems that the weather has just gotten nicer each day.
On Easter Sunday, when we went out to the farm, I wore jeans and a jacket over my long-sleeved shirt, each day I have found it necessary to wear lighter clothing until yesterday, and again today, I have broken out my summer wardrobe and am wearing shorts with a tank top and enjoying soaking up that long-awaited sunshine.
Let’s take a look at what’s been happening at the farm this week.
For about the past three weeks my husband has been working on fencing in the entire farm. It’s a huge undertaking as the 7.6-acre farm measures 1000 ft (304.8 m) by 330 ft (100.5 m). When it is all done he will have pounded in more than 260 fence posts and strung more than 2600 feet (792.48 m) of fence.
The small fence posts in the above picture line the east side of our back field. He has the entire back field fenced at this point and is working diligently on completing the front of the property.
In the above picture the fence lines the front of our property on the west side. When this project is complete we will no longer have to worry about Ranger and Ruby and even the chickens wandering onto neighboring property or into the road. It will take a large load off our minds.
There seems to be an abundance of robins this spring. Some of them have even sat still for pictures.
The fence in the above picture which had enclosed the main garden area is also being removed.
The pond level is up from last fall but it has yet to overflow like it does most years in the spring.
Ruby did not hesitate to get her feet wet as she enjoyed a cool drink from the pond.
Things are beginning to green up. I’m sure the thunderstorms we had last week helped.
Tuesday the weather really warmed up so we were able to move the chicks to the farm.
My husband set up their chicken wire enclosure. He designed it so they have access to the coop through the small door with hopes that they will learn to go in the coop at night.
He also put up a divider inside to coop so they do not have access to the big door.
I bet you’re not surprised to see Ranger watching the babies.
Like robins, we have an abundance of red winged blackbirds.
Some of them posed for pictures as well.
I also got a rare picture of a kildeer that was hanging around near the beach before Ruby chased it off.
The garlic that we planted last fall is coming up nicely.
As I looked up to see if the maple trees were getting leaves yet I noticed what appears to be a Baltimore oriole nest. It seems too early to be a nest build this year, so I am assuming it was from last year or maybe even the year before.
I only say “the year before” because I noticed a second one in the same tree. I don’t know how likely it is that two pair of orioles would nest in the same tree.
Some of the chickens had wandered into the field next door. This won’t be a problem once the fence is complete and it really isn’t a problem now because that neighbor doesn’t mind.
But Ruby thought it was a problem
and took it upon herself to bring them all back home.
She really does have amazing herding instincts and skills. If you have ever tried herding chickens you understand how difficult it can be. It took her less than two minutes to round up eight hens and bring them back over to our farm.
The chicks are doing well at the farm, feathering out nicely, learning to forage
and maybe even learning to get back into the coop.
It was a great day to be in the pond, at least the dogs thought so.
Ruby discovered the (bullfrog) tadpoles and has now become obsessed with watching for them and trying to catch them. I suspect she will spend a lot of time there this summer.
Ranger just wanted to go for a swim to cool off.
When deciding to put up the fence my husband and I discussed the likelihood that the wildlife presence on our farm would be altered. Not necessarily a bad thing. While deer, fox, racoons and other animals can get over the fence it’s hard to say whether they will or not. I suppose it depends on what there is to motivate them to do so.
However, I never considered that the fence might be a problem for a pheasant. Pheasants can fly and could easily sail right over the fence.
This male ringed-neck pheasant was very confused and spent several hours trying to find an opening in the fence.
Eventually Ruby spotted him. I’m not sure if he flew or ran when she chased him but I think she did him a favor as he did clear out of the area. Hopefully he found a different route home.
I’ll leave you with a slide show of flowers that are blossoming at the farm. Among them are daffodils, forsythia (beginning to open), and primrose.
Thanks for visiting.
With temperatures near or at 50 degrees Tuesday I decided it was a good day to get out to the farm for a couple of hours. I grabbed my camera as I headed out with my husband and the kids dogs.
These first three photos were taken two weeks ago as our biggest snowstorm of the season (so far) blanketed our world with 7 inches of snow.
That snow was mostly melted by Tuesday. Looking at our forecast for the next week it seems as if Woody the Woodchuck, Puxatony Phil’s Michigan counterpart, was correct when she predicted an early Spring.
When we arrived at the farm I noticed most of the chickens just inside the barn. Since it was nice outside, I thought this a bit odd until I realized that they were dust bathing. The ground outside was still frozen so the limestone floor of the barn was their best option for dusting themselves.
Ranger went right to work. His mission – to find a bunny.
While Ruby found a ball (or two).
My husband has had several winter projects that he’s worked on at the farm this winter.
The first one is building up our firewood supply. Some of the trees he harvested were on our property while other were dead trees that had fallen on neighbors’ properties. Not everyone in our area burns firewood so fallen trees are often left to rot. Several of the neighbors were happy to let my husband come in and remove the dead trees.
These oak logs on the trailer were from a live tree that was cut by the power company. Again, these neighbors were happy to have my husband remove the logs from their yard. These logs will need to season for a year or more before they are ready to burn.
He has built some piles of tree branches in the woods. These piles serve as wildlife habitat and eventually we might cut some of the dead sticks to use as kindling when we start our fires.
While some of the branches in those piles are from trees he cut down some are from another project. He spent hours picking up fallen branches in the woods. For most of the winter there was no snow on the ground so it was possible for him to go into the woods and pick up fallen branches and sticks – something that I’ve always thought should be done but has never been a priority.
This makes walking through the woods so much easier.
The third project that he spent a lot of time on and I greatly appreciate is mulching the trails.
In previous years this trail was either flooded over or muck and mud this time of year and we just avoided that area until things dried up.
The electric company has had crews trimming trees in our area for the last few months. My husband stopped and asked the workmen if they would drop off some of the mulch at the farm. I think we ended up having 4 or 5 loads of free mulch delivered. One time my husband let the crew park one of their large trucks at the farm for the weekend in exchange for the mulch. It was a win-win.
If it wasn’t for the free mulch the trail through the woods would remain impassable for several months.
While Ranger was still off looking for bunnies,
Ruby spent most of her time hanging out with my husband and I, bringing us a ball and then retrieving it once one of us threw it.
The garden looks so barren and the warm weather has us itchin’ to grow things.
Since we generally don’t start planting in the ground until May it’s even a bit soon to start seeds indoors.
The pond level is extremely low. The 7-inch snowfall brought it up some, but we need a lot more precipitation to bring it up to where it should be.
We did get some of that much needed rain yesterday.
Despite the warmer temperature we didn’t see any bee activity.
That is a bit disheartening, but we are not totally sure that the bees didn’t make it yet.
Little birds like to hang out near the chicken yard where there tends to be food available.
They normally scatter when we approach but I was able to get a couple pictures using my zoom.
The one squirrel nest that we have on our property is nestled in this tree high above the chicken yard. I’m not certain if anyone is home.
Ruby is a master a retrieving the ball but sometimes she doesn’t like to give it up. LOL!
I had to shoo the chickens out of the barn so my husband could put the tractor in.
They seemed very happy when they discovered green grass in front of the barn.
Spotting these green shoots emerging from the ground made me happy.
Daffodils! 🙂 I think this is the earliest I have ever seen them coming up.
Also, in the foreground of this picture are some Iris shoots beginning to sprout up.
I’m fairly certain winter weather will return before spring is here to stay, but if Woody’s prediction is correct, I would be one happy camper gardener.
Thanks for joining me> i hope you enjoyed our walk. Are you seeing signs of spring in your area?
