Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Spectacular Spring: Flowers, Food, Herps & Chickens

We received 1.5 inches of rain after none for over a month and now the sun is out and the weather is fabulous. Life is good! We spend less time on the computer at this time of year, but there is so much we want to share. The beauty of spring and the productivity we find is intoxicating.


Wild Hyacinth in bloom. Oooooo, we love this plant and so do the bees!


Homemade rhubarb pies with our own rhubarb straight from the garden made us sit down, savor and listen to all the spring song. (Thanks to Emily Eby for the happiest rhubarb plants EVER.)


Spinach, peas (almost), cilantro, chard, and asparagus are all feeding us daily. What a gift to walk to our little vegetable garden and harvest nutrient dense, chemical free food and to recognize the true miracle of seeds.


Aster and Fern love to hang right outside our library/dining room door waiting for treats and they are so excited for....


their brand new aviary build mostly by Steve the superstar. You all know we nurture some serious wanderlust and this little gem will help facilitate more time getting out into the world.


Steve, again - THE superstar - dug a 12" trench around the whole shebang and buried the fence. This aviary is so safe and we are thrilled.





The girls love to free range, but will love their new protection when we are gone too.

Ivy:


Ivy, Eby, Aster:


Fern:

Steve is the snake man this spring, finding them everywhere and we completely lucked out when he found this mating ball of Garter Snakes. They no doubt overwintered in this rotting log and we found ourselves captivated by this whole process.


Our new vernal pool filled back up with this rain after two fill-ups with our well (that's how dry we are in north-central Ohio in May). This new rain prompted more amphibians to move and we are so excited to show you...


we have our first Gray Treefrog (most likely) or Spring Peeper eggs in this pool. YES! It worked friends! Refrog America! That's where it's at in our hearts right now. Deep, profound gratitude for this planet finds us daily. You?



6 comments:

  1. How wonderful! I am missing my yard right now I'll arrive home just in time for hot weather...happy you are rebuilding your flock, and a great idea to put wire below and above...my chickens were killed by Great Horned Owls! I had an 8 ft fence but forgot about aerial attacks.

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    1. Hi lady! You are such an adventurer...we love it! Our chicken girls are mighty happy and that makes us happy. :) Sorry about your girls!!

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  2. Gorgeous! we too went a month without rain and then we got a soak on Sunday afternoon that quickly turned into 8-10". Life in Houston. What's new?

    Love seeing spring as it arrives in northern climes!

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    1. Wow, that's so much rain in one event! We remain super dry here, but are hoping for more this week.

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  3. Hi, Jennifer. Spring Peepers attach their eggs individually to submerged vegetation. Your egg clusters look like those of the Gray Treefrog.

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    1. Hmmmm. Good thought! These are small clumps around underwater vegetation, but they are larger clumps than 2 or 3 so you might be right. The gray treefrogs just started calling here about a week ago because we've been terribly, terribly dry. I will monitor and see! Maybe we have both! :)

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