Ladybugs

One of my favorite parts of life in the country is finding splashes of color amidst all the green --- and usually when I least expect it. The ladybugs always surprise me with their rich deep red color and perfect polka dots. This little gal was quite the acrobat too. I had vertigo just watching her climb.

Turtles

Eastern Box Turtle

..Eastern Slider

The farm appears to also be great place for turtles. I often see the Eastern Sliders basking on logs in the pond --- and after all of the recent rain, there appear to be even more of them. It may be that the pond is just bigger these days and so are the turtles, so they are easier to see. The Eastern Box Turtle at the top was "galloping" across my field toward the woods (moving at a very rapid turtle pace), but froze like a supermodel when I arrived with my camera. I love all the polka dots on his legs.

Flowers

In a burst of enthusiasm, I finished planting flowers in all of my containers yesterday. Most of the pots were here last summer --- and lots of the foundation plants (ivy, vinca, pansies, Dusty Miller, etc) were still going strong even after the winter months. Some were not doing well though and the pots needed attention badly. Weeded, dead-headed, trimmed and filled in with new flowers as needed. Everything looks colorful and healthy for now --- and my fingers are crossed that they stay that way. The bees were out in great numbers, so they are certainly going to do their part to keep everything blooming.

Very Happy Vegetables

Romaine

Arugula

Basil

Herbs

Parsley

Thyme

Lettuce and Spinach

Wow. What a difference a few weeks makes. As you can see, my lettuce has gone crazy --- and tomatoes and herbs look very happy too. Lost two small basil plants (probably due to lots of rain), but everything else looks great. I think there are a lot of salads in my future. :-)

Vegetables

The Earthboxes are back. This year I have planted even more vegetables than last year --- and have great plans to enjoy lots of fresh lettuce and spinach soon. The tomatoes will take a bit longer, but they did SO well last year that I am willing to wait. Planted everything on two recent weekends and (alas) did so in very cold and rainy conditions. The little plants all looked a bit forlorn after the transplant process, so I am hoping for some warmer/sunnier weather soon to help them perk back up. Stay tuned for updates.

Here is what I planted:

• Spinach
• Romaine lettuce
• Head lettuce
• Boston lettuce
• Arugula
• Basil --- two varieties
• Tomatoes --- four varieties
• Kentucky Mint
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Sage
• Chives
• Italian oregano

Earthboxes are nifty containers that allow the plants to use just as much water as they need. I love them and had GREAT success using them last year. They are available from amazon.com and elsewhere --- but you can check the www.earthbox.com web site for more information.

Rabbits

To say that there are rabbits at my farm would be an understatement indeed. There are zillions of them --- and they are visible every morning and evening, munching away on grass and other delicacies in all of the fields. In the spirit of the holidays, I left a large pile of carrots for them before Christmas --- and ALL of those carrots were still there when I returned after New Year's Day. Very odd. Either rabbits don't eat carrots as happily as Bugs Bunny would have had us believe --- or my particular rabbits are very finicky. In any case, they seem to be thriving on something around here --- and love to torment my dogs by eating grass just 20 feet beyond the apartment yard fence. It is apparent from the last photograph just why they are called "cotton tails". .

P.S. Interestingly, I have only seen one squirrel in the four years I have been here. I'm guessing maybe all the bunnies scared them off.

Sarah's Bird Report

I have become a bit obsessed with all of the birds at my feeder and decided they merited a blog of their own. This should make it easier for me to add new varieties as I see and identify them --- and to add better photographs as I take them. Enjoy.

http://sarahsbirdreport.blogspot.com/

Apple Tree

Before Cleanup
(note brambles twisted high into the top of the tree)

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After Cleanup

.Two Weeks Later --- In Full Bloom

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Two weeks back, I decided to make an attempt to clean up the fruit trees on the farm before spring really got rolling --- and well before the arrival of leaves, buds, blooms, and fruit. As anyone who knows me can tell you, apples (yuck) are not my thing, but I was hopeful that I could make the tree look healthier at least. I do love how it looks when all the branches are colorful --- and I think I have friends who will take and enjoy most of the apples. Tray (who works on the farm most Saturdays) did the lion's share of the work, removing a full pickup truck bed's worth of brush and bramble from around the base and up into the middle of the tree. Thank you Tray! I have pounded in a few tree fertilizer stakes as well, so with any luck this tree will be better in 2008 than ever before. So far, it looks like that will indeed be the case. There is also a pear tree nearby, so I am optimistic that there will be an abundance of fruit this year. And I do like pears. :-) Fingers crossed.

Bird Watching

Bluejay

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Mourning Dove

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Common Grackle

. Female Cardinal

..Male Cardinal

. Red-Bellied Woodpecker

. American Robin

.European Starling

.Eastern Bluebird

Spring has arrived and the birds are visiting my bird feeders in record numbers. I continue to be amazed at the variety of birds that come --- and only wish I had more time to photograph. For now I will enjoy their vivid colors and remarkable range of sounds. There is one who sounds exactly like "sweet sweet sweet" (over and over and over), which I gather is the sound of a Yellow Warbler. I have yet to see one at my feeder though. Stay tuned. I will add new birds as I meet them.

Happy Birthday Crosby

Twelve years ago this month a stray dog wandered up to my house on Church Hill. He became my “rehoming project” and then (pretty quickly) a member of my small 3-horse, 2-cat family. I did not own a dog at that time and hadn’t had one in many years. Short version of a long story is that “Crosby” changed most everything about my life and most of the things I have done since then have involved him in some way or another: dog training student, agility student, agility competitor, agility instructor, graduate student in animal behavior, graduate of the SF SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers, director of Education & Training at the Richmond SPCA, farm owner, etc. I can’t even begin to count all the people I have met as a result of this one stray dog and if you are reading this, you may be among them. Anyway, as you can see, Crosby is alive and well and enjoying life. Since he was about 1 year old when I found him, he celebrated his 13th birthday on 3/5/08 with an extra long romp in the field and some really good marrow bones. Keep your eyes out for the animal that will change your life forever. You never know when you he or she might come along.

Daisy

Little Miss Daisy is just shy of 10 months old now and doing great. In case I failed to mention it earlier, she is officially staying and has quickly made herself part of the family. All of you who predicted I would keep her (when I suggested she was only temporary) were of course right, and she has grown into a lovely dog, both in structure and temperament. She runs like the wind when we get out in the field, but seems to have found an "off switch" for at least some of her indoor time. I am thankful for this quality, as off switches do not come standard on border collies. She knows SIT and DOWN and has started to learn RIGHT and LEFT, which will help with future agility courses. If you see me, ask how her training is going. I fear I need a bit of a push to make time for puppy training amidst everything else. Daisy learns everything oh-so-very-quickly --- so I really do owe it to her to make sure she is learning the right stuff. Wish me luck.

Birds in Flight

Big entertainment for my dogs this week has been racing toward the enormous flocks of birds that seem to have adopted my front field in the early evening. Of course the birds don't seem that concerned and simply take off into the sky in huge numbers, moving in perfect synchronization. Beautiful to watch as they swoop and drop with the changing wind currents and them head on toward somewhere else. Haven't been able to get close enough to identify the specific type of bird yet, but I plan to do a little research and see what I can find.

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Okay --- google saves the day. Looks like these birds are probably crows, who apparently gather this time of year to spend the night in very large communal roosts containing hundreds or even thousands of birds. An hour or so before dusk, the crows head back toward these roosts, stopping along the way in "staging areas" like my field. One web site suggested that staging areas are usually cemetaries or other open areas surrounded by lots of trees, which of course makes my field nearly perfect. Who knew? Well I guess the crows did. :-)