The Uneven Score

Nature 3-----------Me 1

I will say that the natural world beat me hands down this year. I always try to work with it, and yet attempt to be at peace with it. After all it is way more powerful than me and I want to work along side it and not in direct conflict with it. This year nature didn't meet me half way.

Score 1 for nature:
The continuous thunderstorms in conjunction with my backyard swamp beat us time and time again. We rethought our chicken area, and had purchased and shoveled gravel/sand to fill up the inside coops to prevent flooding from the rising water table. We are currently getting quotes for a "v" pitched roof to place over 3/4's of the 3 small joining coops.

In addition the flooding of the garden, specifically the tomatoes.

Score 2 for nature:
recently a juvie red-tailed hawk has found a quick easy meal in our chicken flock. I lost two birds within one week (last week) due to this bird. At first I wasn't sure who I was dealing with but then after some investigation I discovered the hawk's whitewash (poop) and a feather from the red-tail. So I decided to research what a red-tail fears since I really wouldn't have shot it even if it wasn't illegal. After all I can't blame a wild animal that has found easy pickins.
So for 2 days now the girls and I have been stringing vinyl clothes line adorned with colored flagging to create a continuous movement in the run. We have also been rotating 3 of the dogs to spend time in the run so that their presence would spook the hawk. I also purchased BOLT (the girls named him), a coyote decoy that we move around 2 times daily for the live effect. So far so good, but I still plan to string about 400 more feet of the line to equal the total of 1200 feet of a line shaped like a spiderweb.

Score 3 for Nature:
My garden, So far I have lost cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and beans to the deer and rabbits and chipmunks. I am in deep thought as to what I plan to do next year. I have noticed the deer won't walk through the viney plants, so I plan to plant all my viney plants on the periphery of the garden and plant the sought after plants on the interior. I also plan to erect with Mim's help a 6' foot fence around the garden instead of the 4' netting since we know that this area of my yard is highly productive, even with wildlife raiding it daily.

Score 1 for me:
The heavy rain helped produce mega gourds, more than I have ever produced in my life. We also produced 4 muskmelon, 6 pumpkins, too many to count cucumbers, summer squash and tons of butternut squash.
We haven't harvested any carrots yet, but am hoping for a good return.


The new gravel flooring the in the big coop

The new flooring in one of the small coops

our very busy chicken run to discourage the hawk

dipper gourd


apple gourds

butternut squash

one of the pumpkins - this is the largest one cannon gourd

and another dipper gourd

tomatoes falling over due to the excess rain and saturated soil

sweet pickle relish - a new attempt by me since we have already canned 38 quarts of dill pickles