Thinning and Planting

Today was the first nice day in a long time.  While the wind was still pretty strong, the day was sunny and warm.  I took this opportunity to plant a few new rows and to thin some of the existing plants.

I was surprised how painful it was to thin seedlings in the garden - both physically and emotionally.  It was a struggle to break little lettuce plants from their dirt nests.  It was hard to make sure you didn't pull out all of the plants as you tried to thin.  Did you know that with this variety of lettuce you are supposed to thin to 8 inches apart?  It seems excessive.  I thought I had chosen a leaf lettuce variety so that I would not have to thin, but apparently this leaf lettuce grows as a bunch.  And while I used the seed popper thingy to plant, hoping that it would make the seeds drop in at a more regulated rate, they clumped together a lot.  I think that I may take the time to seed by hand on the next go around just because it will save time in the thinning process.

So I thinned the lettuce and the radishes.  The radishes were painful because I could see their young bulbs growing as I pulled them up.  I know that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one (thanks Spock), but it was hard to destroy the potential radishes as I pulled them up and tossed them into the trough.

After thinning, I planted a long row of beets.  The beets that I planted earlier have sprouted and will need to be thinned, but they are still not showing both true leaves so I will let them have more time.  In addition to beets, I planted a double row of snow peas and a small row of sunflowers.

I decided to plant the snow peas on the very first row of the garden.  We were going to leave this row as a buffer, but by planting with snow peas, we can use the eventual fence as a trellis for them to grow on.  I followed the sewing instructions that said to plant a double row three inches apart.  We'll see.  I know that the peas didn't stay in the exact location I put them when I covered them, so it will probably end up a single row that bounces within a three inch width.  Hopefully they will all be able to stretch over to the eventual fence.

While I worked on planting, J worked on drilling holes for the new fence.  I think he wanted to start on a fence for the garden, but I suggested that we build the new pen so that we don't need to let the goats out at all.  Like a good hubby, he agreed.  I'm not sure we will get the fence in this weekend...J is leaving for a field trip on Monday and we have a bit to prepare for that.  But at least we're started.

A couple of small notes...
No sign of the hawk for a few days.  Hopefully it has found another place to hunt.

I beleive that Hammy Fae is pregnant.  She passed through her scheduled heat cycle without any outward signs.  If she is, she will be due the end of August.

I also believe that Ruby Rose in pregnant.  We need to wait another two weeks to see if she comes back into heat, but she and Jaws had quite a bit of time together and they were consumating often for a few days.  If she is, she will be due the middle of September.

We added two Indian Runner hens to our duck flock.  They are nice looking girls and should make great layers.

I have been sticking a couple of hens in the "brooding box."  Both Snowball and Salsa decided that rather than lay eggs, they would like to hatch eggs.  I disagreed and they both have been put in brooding boxes to break them.  I use a wire cage with no bedding to do this.  They are given food and water, but that's it.  After about three days, I let them out and they usually are fine.  If they go back to brooding, I put them back in.  Apparently, a broody hen's temperature rises and one of the best ways to stop their brood is by cooling them off.  The wire bottom of the cage does just this.  It allows air to circulate under the hen and cools them down.  I've tried ice cubes and cool baths too, but the brooding box works the best.