by Flower Farmer | Feb 26, 2019 | Creatures Great and Small
Sure Sign February, 2019 The hens have started laying again – a sure sign the days are getting longer. Our flock is a heritage breed, Barnevelders, with copper and black plumage. The eggs are brown and some are distinctively spotty. Each hen lays a signature egg: big... 
by Flower Farmer | Aug 29, 2018 | Creatures Great and Small
August, 2018 What a summer! For the second time, we are foster parents for a foundling creature. This time, Sheila made the discovery on a walk with Poppy. Behind the barn, a mother opossum was dead, two of her infant “joeys” clinging to her back. The flies circling... 
by Flower Farmer | May 4, 2018 | Creatures Great and Small
May, 2018 We were alarmed to see Finn eyeing a small creature on the corner of the patio. Too big to be a mouse, too grey to be a chipmunk, the tiny squirrel kit was clearly in danger. I donned gloves, scooped it up and carried it to where I knew it belonged: the... 
by Flower Farmer | Aug 20, 2016 | Creatures Great and Small
August, 2016 So what kind of farm doesn’t have chickens? Rhetorical question, but one I ask myself often. I had wanted goats, the rascals have charm. But hungry goats and tender flowers seem incompatible (pretty sure I’m right about that) so what animals could we... 
by Flower Farmer | Jul 12, 2011 | Creatures Great and Small
July, 2011 We drove to Dryden with a pile of fluffy towels and tremendous excitement. Today was, finally, the day. We had waited for our Bernese puppy for a looong time and Galen, the dedicated breeder, had found us what she deemed the right temperament match: sweet,... 
by Flower Farmer | Jun 21, 2011 | Creatures Great and Small
June, 2011 I could not miss the brilliant blue form, the little corpse that had once been glorious in flight. A bluebird lay on the pebbles outside the sliding doors, stiff with a death that was not fresh. Gingerly I picked him up and carried him to the steps where I...