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

A Tale of Many Wheats

 

Spring has just barely arrived here in the Maritime Pacific Northwest of the USA. The second La Niña year in a row has been playing havoc with our usual weather patterns, and as a result, we are about 7° F below normal. That might not seem like much, but plants and humans are definitely feeling the cold spring. 

We are just starting to plant spring wheats and we sorted a few varieties to get the spring season wheats ready for planting. This is my first time planting wheat and handling the seed. There are so many different varieties and configurations. They are all beautiful. 

These are just a few selections from the many wheat varieties in the Orcas Island Seed Bank. After we laid the wheats out Dan, the resident biologist, inspected each seed variety, setting aside some that were not spring wheats, and sorted out the ones we would grow. 

From there, we threshed and winnowed the wheat seed by hand and put them in labeled coin envelopes to be planted. A few days later we planted them in one of the beds we had prepared earlier. 

Here they are all planted in their labeled sections. The ground has been firmly pressed around the seeds and a floating row cover was placed over them to discourage the birds from eating the wheat seed. 

After a bit of time, rain, and sun, the wheat came up! At the moment it looks like grass, which of course it is. 

As I mentioned above, this was my first time growing wheat. I have grown oats and barley, but not wheat. I am continuing to add to my gardening skills. 

I will have words to add to that thought at the end of the growing season. I will also share a post on the resulting harvest from the planting above.

Finally, I have been so busy with clearing, garden bed prep, seed starting, and planting that I haven't had much time to work on my cargo trailer and drawing and painting are on a temporary hold. 

This is going to be a busy year.

Yours in Truth and Beauty, 

-Renee

Regenerating Old Seed-Part One

We have been having a cold, wet spring this year in the Pacific Northwest and the temperature and weather feels more like February or March. I have to remind myself that it is the middle of May!

It is time to get the gardens planted and to that purpose, I have been learning how to regenerate old seed.

The seed above belongs to the Orcas Island Seed Bank and I will be putting a link to the website up in a sidebar in addition to the linked name above. Most of the seeds in the seed bank are hard to find varieties that have been proven to grow in this specific island climate. Like all seed, they occasionally need to be renewed by growing them out and saving the new seed that they produce. 

I have been learning a very specific process of slowly waking the seeds up by humidifying the seed rather than hydrating. This slow process of adding a few drops of water at a time and allowing the seed's natural repair process to be activated has been very fascinating to me. Not all the seeds make it. Only four out of the five remaining pea seeds in the above photo made it. They are now about four inches tall and growing in a small spot bed in the garden. All the seed will be saved from these four plants if they make it. The seeds will continue to add to the adaption of this particular pea to this area.  

This is a very general description of what I am learning to do. I need to study up on the science of what the actual process is and will follow up with a more detailed description for those who are interested.

Like most gardeners, I have a collection of old seed and I have been practicing this technique on seeds that are not so precious as these. So far, I have been able to regenerate most of the seed I have worked with. There are many factors involved in the success or failure including whether the seed was saved or stored properly, the temperature of the regenerating seeds, the amount of moisture being applied, etc.. Add to all of the above a few challenges of being on an off-grid farm. 

I will be writing another part to this post as I learn more. 

On a more personal note, I am slowly settling into my little cargo trailer. I have been completely re-building the inside. It is always challenging to be living in a construction zone but living in a tiny space adds to the challenge. I will have an update on the Scarlet Raven in the next post.

Yours in Truth and Beauty, 

-Renee

 

Welcome to my new blog!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Scarlet Raven Chronicles. This blog is the start of a new chapter in my life. It will fold in much of what I have blogged about in the past. Topics from my past include fiber arts, gardening, art, music, and sharing the beauty of my surroundings. 

I am on a new journey in life and have recently earned a Permaculture Design Certificate and have moved to this island on the Salish Sea...

Currently, I am working on a farm and seed bank that is owned and operated by a small family who are committed to moving forward toward a more sustainable life. 

As the name of this blog implies, this will be a chronicle of my personal journey. I hope to inspire readers to begin or to continue on their own journeys to sustainability. 

There is much to learn and there never seems to be enough time.

I will be posting again soon. The next post will be about regenerating old seed stocks. It has been a fascinating learning experience for me and I hope it will be useful to read about! 

Yours in Truth and Beauty, 

-Renee