A Week Off

Last week I was home on vacation and I spent many hours in the garden. We now have our tomatoes in the ground and some peppers, spinach, garlic, sugar snaps, lettuce, jalapeños, asparagus, collard greens, beets, and fava beans. We plant the favas in winter to add nitrogen back into the soil. I found out a trick that I will implement next year. Just cut the tops off of the plants, leaving the roots in tact. Chop up the greens and flowers and mix them into the soil. Then as you plant your vegetable starts, their roots will follow the same path as the fava roots and the nitrogen release will be slower. We kept some favas alive for eating too. They take a little bit of work but are so good for you.

Naturally, while out in the garden, it is a good time to bring DeDe out to play. I had made her a cardboard clubhouse for indoors but she would have nothing to do with it in the house. After sticking it outside in one of her favorite spots, she started going into it. There is a bed of hay and openings on two sides. She also likes to use the ducks' nest box as a observation station. One day, my son, Brenden took a piece of wood and carved a little sign for the side of the nest box. It reads, 'Quiet, BUN AT WORK' It's quite cute and I could not resist taking my video camera with me to film her 'at work'. The ducks were curious too and the above video is the result of 10 minutes of filming. While getting the shot of her nose twitching, she charged me and bit my arm! Me thinks she is getting rather familiar with her territory and would like to defend it. Now I know that she disapproves of me and has always been plotting an attack. She did not break skin but there were little red marks for at least 48 hours. I made sure to point this out to the guys. I've always thought she was planning something. They think I am silly. What do you think?

Miserable Ducks

Since we lost Tippy to a red tailed hawk, we have been keeping our ducks in their run unless we venture out to the garden. Then they get to go out and forage. The hawk comes back every now an then to see if we still offer free meals. Poor ducks can hear us when we go out on our deck or open the front door and the hens shout at us "Quack Quack Quack" It's sad and we wish we had a larger pen for them to roam. Another set back is that they mess up their house and run which need to be cleaned more often. Since they don't get to forage as much, I have been getting scraps from Shorty over at Tomales Bay Foods for them. They love the outer leaves of cauliflower and cabbage. I also dig worms from the compost for them. One positive result of having them penned is that we don't have to look for their eggs. They are laying in the nest box and or dropping their load in the run. We are having French toast tomorrow! Duck eggs make great batter. Below is a photo of Loopy after her mud bath. She was preening for such a long time. The perfect white duck.