Tom Still Gobbling (445)

Virginia's and West Virginia's spring gobbler season has been over for several weeks. In fact, some poults, no doubt, are hatching now. Yet, there is a gobbler on our rural Botetourt County road that is still gobbling. When I am walking in the pre-dawn murk, I often hear him sound off.

If he is not gobbling, I give him a couple yelps with my mouth, and he gobbles at that. One morning, I didn't yelp until I walked past his roost area. Then I yelped at him as I was walking away. This seemed to make him even more charged up. The gobbling became so intense that I thought he was  going to pop  out onto the road and look for the "hen."

I wonder how long into June this tom will continue to gobble?

Heritage Rhode Island Red Hen Goes Broody (Blog 444)

Mary, our heritage Rhode Island red hen, "went broody" yesterday afternoon. Elaine and I were very excited because that means in three weeks or so Mary's chicks will hatch. One of the joys of raising heritage chickens is that the hens know how to sit on a nest and hatch the eggs. Mary is now three years old and this is the fourth time she has become broody.

Mary is an excellent mother and is very attentive to her chicks. So we are sure that she will be the same with this bunch. She has already been doing the harsh "chrrrr" sound when her fellow flock hens approach her nest. Chickens have this penchant of all wanting to lay their eggs in the same nest no matter how many nesting boxes are within a coop. Mary's protesting chrrrrs is her way of telling her fellow hens to stay away.

Strawberries and More Strawberries (Blog 443)

Our Surecrop strawberry plants continue to produce in great abundance. This week, Elaine made jam, a second pie, and clafouti out of our haul, which has been averaging about a quart per day. Yesterday, my wife froze a quart or so of berries, which will eventually become part of smoothies and topping for oatmeal and cereal.

We are hoping for another week of production, as it would be good to have another pie and perhaps we could make jam one more time. There's no such thing as too many garden fresh strawberries.

Below is a picture of strawberries being turned into jam.

First Strawberry Pie of the Spring (Blog 442)

To my astonishment, strawberries from our garden are already ripening, and Saturday I picked enough for Elaine to make a pie. Pies made from Black Twig apples are high on my list as are pies made from wild raspberries. But pies consisting of garden fresh strawberries also rate in the top three. I'm not sure which of these three pies would come in first.

Today, there won't be enough for a second pie, but they will go great with breakfast cereal. Later in the week, hopefully it will be time to make strawberry jam.

Smooth Green Snakes and Grandsons (Blog 441)

Yesterday, my six-year-old grandson Sam, who lives across the hollow from Elaine and me with his family, came running into our house and said he had just seen a snake. He has been taught not to touch snakes but not to be fearful of them, either. To respect them and come find a parent or grandparent when he encounters one.

So Sam and I walked up the driveway to where the snake was entwined in a small tree. I  identified the reptile as a smooth green snake and Sam received a lesson on how beneficial these small creatures are. All in all, it was a nice little moment in life and a teachable event for Sam.