Losing some, winning some, ducks

Although it seemed to happen a bit earlier this year, we are having to abandon a large part of the garden because the heat is burning up the plants at an alarming rate. Some of the plants were trying to produce fruit and with Mama’s daily watering, they appeared to be coping with the high temperatures, but we are losing that battle. The ripening fruit has been dropped by most of the vegetable plants. We are at the juncture where we need to conserve water versus trying to keep our vegetable plants alive. So, we will try for a couple more weeks to tend to the pumpkin plants – even though that might not help - but almost everything else is not going to get the daily morning watering. Our fruit trees and berry plants will be watered as normal, but to save time and water, all the beans, squash, watermelon, zucchini, cucumbers, and Brussel Sprouts are forfeit. It is a sad decision, but one we make every year.

This year we got a few potatoes, a few onions, a few squash, one or two cucumbers, a couple sunflowers, a few peppers, a few tomatoes, and a handful of strawberries. No watermelon, no green beans, no peas, no okra, no spinach, and no corn. A lot of effort went into the very minimal harvest, but we are not alone in that outcome. Local ranchers only got one cutting of hay this year versus the three cuttings gleaned last year. Local vegetable growers have pared down their “truck farms” to focus on only certain crops. Those that are heat tolerant. In all the years Mama and I have tried, we have yet to be successful in raising a productive garden. Oh, well, there is always next year.

Right now, Mama and I are battling a mite infection in our chickens. To try and control the mites that have made themselves at home on our poor chickens, Mama made a solution of oil, dish soap and water to spray on the birds. We did so last night and will repeat the procedure tonight as well. The suggestion that accompanied the recipe was that the application be repeated three times. That is to say, three nights in a row. What I do know is that I had to take a shower after holding each of the fifty or so chickens for Mama to spray their backsides and under each wing. I can honestly say she covered each bird well because the overspray from the application thoroughly soaked my shirt. Hopefully, this will help our birds.

In the winning column, I am going to harvest at least some honey from the hives this week. I am not sure how many panels I will pull to collect the honey, but the last time I looked, I had three full frames of honey. Removing those frames will necessitate feeding the bees through the remainder of the summer and into the Fall, but it is a good trade off for us. Hopefully, the bees will do well enough with a supplemental feed as we try to keep them supplied with both sugar water and pollen substitute. If I do not pull the panels this week, the bees will begin to eat the honey to survive the dearth we are now in. That is why they made the honey, but I will take at least part of their stores for our use – if I can – and feed them in return for robbing their stores.

Also in our potential wins, I ordered and received a promotional video and booklet that has introduced me and Mama to a company that has developed a system to produce worms, castings and cocoons in a measured, predictable way. One of the unknowns of making the worm beds we have already started is that the outcomes are very unpredictable. With the system I am investigating, the production of each of the three products can be calculated with high probability. That way, we can know how much product we are making and thereby, how much product we will have to sell. In other words, we will have the potential, in a reasonable manner, take and fill orders for our products versus trying to sell what we have produced after we see how much we have to offer.

I like the ability to plan and forecast outcomes especially since growing the worms has an initial cost associated with the setup of the beds required. With the system we are looking into, the start up cost is pretty high, but that is a one-time expense. Once the worms are reproducing, the operation is self-perpetuating. At least as far as I have been able to learn. This looks like a very workable income stream in my pending retirement. Something Mama and I can enjoy doing together here on the farm.

Today, we will start our duck flock. Mama will be picking up two or three hatchlings locally. I have made a good start on a pen for the ducks. Complete with a water trough for them to swim in. It will be a few days before that pen is complete, but that should be good timing for the little ones we are getting. The main concern is to make sure the ducks are protected from predators, mostly raccoons and opossums in our area.

Working that safety issue out has been my main challenge. The rest seems straightforward.