Homesteading: Peacocks, Plants, and Horses!
Oh My!
Waylen the peacock is looking fine perched on the coffee tableā¦ In his opinion, he is always looking amazing. He is that kind of bird.
Waylen is a black-shouldered peacock. Below are two babies from this year that are also black-shouldered.
In the photo above is also Jillās banana trees, which she has grown from little, tiny $10 plants. They are getting big!
The peacocks do like to sneak into the greenhouse, but only when they can.
As the peafowl breeding season draws to a close, the males are shifting their focus. They're spending more time together, basking in the joys of life - which basically means parading around and eating mulberries. The mulberry tree has become a popular hangout spot for all the birds, leading to a colorful aftermath of purple stains. Thankfully, mulberry juice washes out easily.
The juvenile boys from last yearās hatch have joined the ranks of the free-ranging males. The females are still in the aviary, although we have stopped collecting the now occasional egg. We might let some of the females out of the aviary once the hormones have completely settled down for the year.
In the meantime, we have 20 babies in total - half of which just graduated to the outside poultry tractor. Then we have four babies just hatched, and eight more eggs incubating. The black-shouldered variety are the most handsome, so we will probably keep a few of those babies, and then the rest of the babies will be going to friends and for sale.
Below are the six week old peababies - in their new home.
We are bound to get some predation from foxes to our birds - so preparing ourselves for that. But so far, so good this year. The foxes have been very scarce this year and we have not lost a single bird since the big chicken-hawk feeding frenzy last fall/ early winter. It could also be that the giant sized emu is making the foxes think twice about bothering our birds. Knock on wood that our luck holds.
There is nothing more beautiful on a farm than free-ranging peacocks, and with all the birds running about, it feels like we are living in a botanical park or some exotic location in the Far East.
Which, by the way, is our little personal dream for this beautiful piece of land that we are the caretakers of. That one day, this farm will become a botanical park.
A society grows strong when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. āĀ Greek proverb
Jill and I are both mourning the fact that we wonāt be on the farm for the next nine days, and are busy fixing, watering, stocking-up, and generally prepping for Olivia, farm manager extraordinaire, to take over.
So far, the Japanese beetles havenāt really made an appearance. By this time last year, they had done a huge amount of damage. For the third year in a row, we put down Milky Spore powder. Milky spore is a naturally occurring bacterium, Paenibacillus popilliae . This bacillus primarily targets Japanese Beetle grubs at the soil-dwelling larval stage. Last fall, I applied it heavily and I hope maybe it is finally making a difference. The stuff is not cheap, so I am pleased that it finally appears to be working!
However, we have put netting up on all of the young fruit trees, as well as over the raised beds.
The vegetable plants inside are thriving. The netting provides a bit of shade and seems to help hold in the water.
Jill has started harvesting garlic this week.
She plants garlic in the late fall and just uses organic grocery store-bought cloves - from the USA.
The carrots are doing nicely and we have been eating those fairly regularly. The gladiolas were planted two summers ago.
A lot of flowers and edibles are in the pots.
Shallots, thyme, oregano, day lilies, sage, basil, peppermint, and spearmint are mixed in with the flowers. The two lemon and lime trees are new, and will be joining our 8 year old lemon tree, which used to overwinter in the house but all three will get to try out the new greenhouse next winter. Even Thomas Jefferson had an Orangerie in his nearby farm (Monticello), so there is a strong local tradition of cultivating outdoor citrus and then overwintering the trees indoors.
Gardening is akin to many science experiments, all running simultaneously. It takes research, work, planning, strategy, and design. Each season, new knowledge, insights, failures, and successes await us.
Jill and I sit outside most evenings and sometimes in the morning - out on this deck.
Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized. āĀ Allan Armitage
The tomatoes and beans are all doing well. The beans were planted late - but are now climbing up the trellis, as they should.
āGardening adds years to your life and life to your years.ā
This morning, Jill and Olivia moved around horses today - as the herd dynamics needed some adjustment. The two pregnant mare herds were put together again in preparation for birthing later this summer. The one junior stallion, named Onasis, who was still in with mares was separated from his mare herd, as he is just a little too squirrelly to be in with babies.
We donāt want to take any chances with the babies to be born, plus with the travel, if horses have to be moved - we donāt want Olivia to have to do it solo. Moving multiple horses is a twoāor three-person job; some things are best done using a buddy system.
Earlier in the week, we had moved this one of the mare herds into a different pasture that is a bit safer for babies when they are born, but stallion Onasis was too upset by the stallion next door for this to be a solution. Sometimes, it takes more than one move to get it right with horses, as they have very big feelings and big emotions about who they are partial to. Particularly stallions. Stallions donāt even want other stallions to look at their mares or their mares to look at other stallions. When hormones are in the air, emotions can get very strong in the horse world.
We actually try very hard not to break up herd dynamics when they are working well. Most of our mares have lived together for over a decade. We donāt sell adult mares except on very rare occasions - as they are part of our farm family. We feel a strong obligation to take care of them.
Anyway, here is a short clip of the ten- month pregnant mares and our beautiful stallion Onasis from a few days ago.
In the horse business, hopes and dreams can get crushed in an instant.
As a note - Stallion Onasis should have been a dressage superstar - but when we imported him as a youngster from Portugal, he got injured in transport from an unknown injury, and most of the cartilage in his knee had to be removed. So, he is now an amazing breeding animal, and we expect great things from his offspring in the years to come.
I should wrap this up - as we are leaving tomorrow evening to go to Italy to give a lecture and attend a graduation ceremony. Then, we will go to Portugal for a few days (and to watch/participate in a key Lusitano horse show) and then back home on June 29th.
Before I finish writing, I just want to note that if there is an elixir for healthy aging, it would be to keep fit, trim, and busy! Here on the farm, we donāt shirk work, we embrace it. It gives meaning to our daily lives, keeps our bodies in shape, and our minds active.
Furthermore, I am truly lucky. I have a long-term partner to be with. Sharing a life with another person is a joy. As we all know, studies have repeatedly shown that couples outlive their single counterparts significantly. Relationships matter. Investing in those long-term relationships can make all the difference to health and happiness.
The same is true for our animals too.
Love your at the farm posts
Thanks so much for sharing your life on the farm. It's a breath of fresh air.