Boysenberries & Other Interesting Things

It was me neighbor that pointed out my boysenberry tree to me a couple months ago. I hadn't even realized it was there! I had thought it a weed tree and as such tried to kill it repeatedly... and obviously, unsuccessfully. Now I'm very glad for yesterday afternoon I harvested a large handful of the tasty berries from it. I honestly like them very much. They aren't as sweet as most berries, and for me that is a great advantage of them.

Owing to a small catastrophe, we have just 7 baby geese remaining. All of whom are growing large and appear healthy. They now have a large corner of the yard sectioned off for their own personal use and grazing. The ducks and chicks are also growing well, it won't be long now until they are ready for harvesting or being added to the layer flock.

The garden is coming along very nicely. Though some more intense weeding will need to be done very soon. Everything has sprouted to some degree. Though the amount of rain we've been getting recently has not been entirely helpful. Only one set of watermelon seeds sprouted and the cantaloupe plants are nearly lost. I still need to work the raised garden bed, plant the flower border, get the trees planted, and figure out what to do with some of my herb pots.

The Documentary, Earthlings

This is a very long and in-depth look at all manners of animal uses by humans and potential for abuses. I watched the entire hour and a half movie with voiceover. I have to say, while there were a few places in it where I cringed at the abuse, overall I didn't react. I am not hard-hearted, nor do I condone the mistreatment of animals. However, I took what was being shown for what it really was, minute, singular examples of abuse. Not the norm as was suggested. I was also appalled at the horrendous amount of misinformation being spewed to the viewer. The entire purpose of the movie was to turn people against all uses of animals by human beings in all forms.

Think it over, why would someone carry a hidden camera to a facility that is actually following good practices towards animals? Why would they bother to show people doing the right thing? The average person wants shock factor. They don't want to hear that in reality, most animals are treated beyond humanely, are given quick and painless deaths, and do not suffer as was indicated. Now could it be happening in other countries? Of course, but since I don't study the laws and practices of those countries, I really couldn't say for certain.

Education is the real key to improving conditions and treatment for animals, but most people like the producer of the film aren't interested in educating the public. Only in changing as many as possible over to their side of the issue. That would include showing antiquated clips that had already served their purpose decades ago to change practices.

Now, was some of what he showed true? Yes. Were some of the things he claimed also true? Yes. Was all of it accurate? Absolutely not! I have been in many different processing plants (slaughter houses) and never have I witnessed anything even remotely close to some of the things he showed.

In the end, it's something each person will have to decide for themselves. But remember this: The ones doing most of the yelling are the ones trying to tell you that those who work with animals are evil. Sadly, the advocates for animal welfare are too quiet to be heard much of the time. I will point out though that every person that has ever attended any kind of agriculture classes will have been taught not only about animal welfare, but also ethics.

Size differences

Isn't it interesting how children grow so differently? My youngest daughter went from NB diapers to S in a couple weeks, by 2 months, she was in medium. By the time she was 6 months of age, she wore larges. When she was 2 I had her in XL and was worried she'd outgrow those as well (there isn't anything bigger with cloth diapers than XL, and even those are rare). She's 3 now and wears a size 4T in clothing.

My son, on the other hand, is nearly 12 months of age and still fits into size medium diapers comfortably! I admit, at first I was concerned, he looks small to me. Much smaller than I'm accustomed to seeing at his age. He eats fine, nurses fine, and is otherwise quite healthy, so I stopped worrying about it. It could be that he's just going to be smaller framed. Or it could be that he's growing more slowly. Or it could simply be that he is more average than his older sister, who was above average for growth in her first year.

Garden Update

Yesterday I turned the garden horizontally and created rows. Last night the girls and I removed any living vegetation. Today I neatened up the rows and started planting. I also dug a small 3x3 garden plot for Aydi next to her swing in which she could play. She planted pumpkins in it. I have already planted the tomatoes and sunflowers and laid out the rest of the seeds and plants. We'll have the following:

Sunflowers
Tomatoes (Better Boy, Beefmaster, Sweet 100 cherry, Roma)
Bush beans
Broccoli
Onions
Kholrabi
Beets
Romaine lettuce
Collards
Carrots
Yellow squash
Cucumber (Easy slicer & Burpless)
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Butternut squash
Pie pumpkin

As well as the following fruits:
Apple (golden delicious)
Pecan
Cherry
Fig
Nectarine
Pear
Plum
Rhubarb
Strawberry
Boysenberry
Grape
Black raspberry

I wanted to add some blueberry plants this year, but was too late to get them this time.

I also have some herb pots with:
Lemon and sweet basil
Lemon balm
Lavender
Rosemary
Chamomile

And I may add some stevia or other herbs for which I have seeds.

The garden has been turned

My birthday present this year was something I'd wanted for many years... a garden tiller. It's a refurb, true, but I love it! A front tine, so it does tend to beat the piss out of anyone behind the controls. Still, it does the job, and for the garden size we usually put in, it's a necessity. This year I extended the width of the garden by about 5 feet. That makes the overall garden about 25' x about 50' (or so, I've never measured). Not a bad sized garden considering it's all hand-tended, minimal equipment (except the tiller). I have the plants and seeds ready to go, but have been waiting for the night-time temps to cooperate. It still gets quite cool at night, close to freezing recently. So the plants are waiting. Plus, I wanted a couple back-to-back days off to get everything in at once.

However, I wanted to start prepping as soon as I could. The soil is nice and rich, if a little dry. I turned the whole thing this morning and evening. The girls have been instructed to rake out any loose vegetation. Then on Saturday, I'll turn it again and the girls will rake once more. The idea being the less wild vegetation left in the soil, the fewer weeds we'll have to fight back later in the growing season.

I discovered though that I will need to add some new tomato stakes or cages, I'm down to just a few left.

Chicken Nuggets

A few weeks ago I was in the feed store and picked up 10 bargain chicks with the intention of raising them for meat (since I can't seem to get any Cornish Rock chicks). They were crammed tightly into the carrier-box and I set it on the counter in the house on the way to the brooder. Aydi came into the kitchen and announced that she wanted "that" as she pointed to the box. So I asked her what she thought "that" was, to which she casually replied, "chicken nuggets!" I, of course, roared with laughter then pulled the box down for her to see what was in it as I agreed with her, "you are absolutely right!!"

My Sick Boss

What is it about some people that think they are invincible?! Everything started with the first day of the pay week, Sunday. My boss switched days with the other manager so he could visit his grandmother. All fine there, no big deal. However, Monday he came in looking poorly and mentioned he didn't feel well. He allowed me to check his face later in the day (we didn't have a thermometer, but I'm a mom for heavens sake!), his skin was hot and flushed. Finally, when the other manager came in, the two of us made him leave and head home. A health store is no place for a sick person to be lingering! Some of our customers are elderly, some may have compromised immune systems, they do not need to be exposed like that. So we made him go home. Then yesterday he switched with me so he could sleep in a bit. He wound up calling the other manager in to work for him that evening though. I was scheduled to open this morning again, so he came in around mid-afternoon. He seemed alright at first, then he ate something and turned ghostly white. I told him to go home again, saying he could come in later tonight. He wound up calling the other manager to come in again this evening. He's supposed to work again tomorrow, we will see.

Him being sick is not a problem, it happens to everyone eventually. The problem is that he is salaried and has always been the 'bridge' between the hourly associates. No one is permitted to have overtime. I'm not sure that is going to be possible this week, though we can certainly try. For instance, I was alone today from the time I came in until I had to leave... read that as, I was not able to take a lunch break. That means that as of today, I am currently approximately 30 minutes into 'overtime'. That doesn't even take into account that I might have to work again tomorrow... on my day off! What is going to happen if I do have to work? The second manager doesn't have any extra time either. And he really shouldn't be trying to work doubles immediately after having spent the past 4 days sick. :/