Unconventional Farm Tools

Yes, that is my toddler with a bull whip.  And no, we do not have a bull.

But we call it the Chicken Whip as that is Paul’s preferred tool for getting chickens off the porch.  I bet some of you would pay money to see him in action.  As much as I like having chickens around the place, they do tend to poop everywhere and we prefer that out front porch be relatively clean of chicken droppings.  I think one of the ingredients in the solution they use to clean off metal spans in highway bridges is chicken excrement.  That stuff will take the paint off a car.  Really.

The whip is kept on a hook right by the front door for easy access.  So when we hear clucking noises too close to the front of the house, one can just open the door, grab the chicken whip & start flailing it around like a crazy person in order to scare the little biddies away.  Well, at least that’s what I do.  Paul is a little more proficient with a whip.

After scattering the chickens out of chicken-whip range, Rhiannon and I visited the goats and took a walk around since it was so nice out.  Nettie is due in only twelve more days and she doesn’t look very pregnant. The first two years she had a single kid, then the third and fourth years she had twins.  Maybe she’ll only have one kid this year.

Birdie Eyeball View of Nettie's not-so-pregnant-looking belly.

It’s starting to feel like spring.  The onions / chives are greening up around the yard & my wild garlic patch is looking pretty nice (even after Paul accidentally brush-hogged them last fall).

The eggplant, tomato & pepper seeds are still just sitting there.  I know that the peppers take for like ever to sprout and I didn’t cover them with soil yet.  I think I read somewhere that peppers will sprout faster if they are exposed to light at first.  Or at least I think that’s what I read.  Hmmmm.   Maybe I should go back and find out.

I planted fifteen peat pellets with cabbage seeds and of those, twelve came up.  Not bad as the package of seeds was from three years ago.  I did put three, maybe even four seeds in each peat pellet though.  So now I have to murder one as there are two sprouts in one pot.  This is the part of gardening that I just can’t stand; thinning out.  I know, I know, it’s all for the best.  But I haven’t the greenest thumb and getting anything to grow is pretty much of an accomplishment for me.  I don’t know if I have the heart to do it.  Maybe Paul will do the deed for me.