Around the Farm- Part 1

 

Symplocarpus foetidus: Skunk Cabbage

Welcome to the Farm! I decided to break this virtual farm tour up into several parts to keep the posts manageable. Even though Part 1 deals with the non-human creatures on the farm, I couldn't resist starting with this photo of the Skunk Cabbage in early spring. 

This farm focuses on the small animals rather than larger livestock.

There are two distinct flocks of chickens, each with their own rooster. The first flock are Bovan Hens with Chevy the rooster, who is a mixed breed of unknown origins. Unfortunately, we recently lost a hen to a raccoon, leaving us with four hens. Here is Chevy with a few of his flock:

Chevy is one of the best roosters I have known. He takes a great deal of care of his flock, carefully watching out for danger, finding and pointing out tasty things to the hens, and, when a perceived danger is near or one of the hens has wandered off, his high pitched alarm call brings us over to see what is going on.

He is a gentle, friendly rooster who is quite fierce when protection is needed.

The second flock consists of Buckeye chickens. Here is a picture of the young rooster who I call Mr. Handsome. His feathers literally sparkle and shimmer in the sun and he is quite a nice looking rooster. His crow is very melodic and the Buckeyes have a sort of roar when anything alarming or disturbing arises. 

Here is a picture of Mr. Handsome:

Of course, it is challenging to get a picture that does this rooster and the beautiful hens justice with a phone. One day I will hang out with my camera and hopefully get a better photo. 

These flocks tolerate the cold northern maritime climate of this island. 

The other domestic animals, besides humans, live in the rabbitry. This farm was once a cattle farm and a lot of the fertility of the land here has been depleted by too many head of cattle over many years. The cattle roamed the forested part of this property and it has been distorted from the compaction and foraging of the cattle. Rabbit manure is used along with other techniques to increase fertility and to build up tilth. Healing the forest will take a bit of time. 

Here is a picture of a recent rabbit litter. These little ones are completely captivating and I enjoy a morning routine of checking their water and feeding many of the adult rabbits treats of dandelion leaves, plantain, wild strawberry leaves, and fir branches, among other herbs and plants. 

This is it for the domesticated creatures on the farm. There are also wild animals such as deer, raccoons, mink, birds, snakes (non-poisonous), and rodents that live here along with the human creatures. I have even seen the occasional otter passing through.  Occasionally one of the larger mainland animals makes it out to the islands. There is a lone Elk on Whidbey Island and some of the islands, including Orcas, has been visited by bears that somehow swim over. 

I am slowly getting into a routine of work here on the farm and am trying to get a regular practice of blog posts going. 

Next post will be about the gardens! 

Yours in Truth and Beauty, 

-Renee