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<\/a><\/p>\nGenerally, by this time of the year we harvest cherry tomatoes by chucking them over the garden fence for the chickens.\u00a0 Because we have run out of uses for them.\u00a0 This year, Middle sneaks down to snack on the 2 or 3 that are ripe every couple days.\u00a0 He calls this “weeding.”\u00a0 But I am on to his game and am forced to secret them away in 4 oz Tupperware containers so I have some for lunch.<\/p>\n
The children just assume that Tupperware containers in the fridge contain leftovers.\u00a0 So they are safely hidden right in plain sight.\u00a0 I might be outnumbered by the children in this household.\u00a0 But I have yet to be outmaneuvered.<\/p>\n And although the large tomato varieties are loaded with produce, the tomatoes remain stubbornly green.<\/p>\n I am forced to pick orangey tomatoes and ripen them on the windowsill or else they are lost to rot.<\/p>\n But tomato sandwich season hasn’t only been threatened at our house.\u00a0 The General Assembly had to wait for their tomatoes, too.<\/a> And my neighbors’ farm put the top back on their field greenhouses so they could control the amount of rain their tomato plants are exposed to as well as rely on the plastic to amplify the limited sunshine and raise temps around the plants.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the insects are having a field day in the wet conditions.\u00a0 The diatomaceous earth and Dr. Bronner’s peppermint castile soap I use to discourage insects simply washes away in the daily rainfall.\u00a0 As a result we are struggling with squash bugs and Japanese beetles and ants and potato beetles and aphids and this freak that we spotted for the first time ever on the garden fence.<\/p>\n It’s an Eastern Eyed Click beetle.\u00a0 Which, as an adult, doesn’t pose much danger to the garden.\u00a0 But it has probably deposited a load of plant-eating larvae in the struggling eggplants or beans.\u00a0 A bunch of larvae that the guineas might miss while they are busily eating all the cantaloupe.<\/p>\n Cantaloupe-eating is a direct violation of our living-in-the-garden agreement.\u00a0 You would think my last 2 remaining guineas would be grateful that I have provided a fenced-in space that is safe from the neighbor’s shotgun and the murderous traffic on the main road.\u00a0 Eating fruit when the garden is loaded with insects seems like such a cruel betrayal of trust.\u00a0 Don’t be fooled by this, er, honest face.\u00a0 She’s in serious breach.<\/p>\n Even the flowering plants that are typically immune are being overcome by insects or blight.\u00a0 Sunflowers,<\/p>\n canna lilies,<\/p>\n and even elephant ears.<\/p>\n Let’s not even talk about the grotesque number of spider crickets living and breeding under the lid of the nest box.<\/p>\n At least half of the population hopped off when I opened the box to take this picture.\u00a0 Meaning this pic only shows half of the spider crickets we encounter there on a daily basis.\u00a0 By “we” I mean “me”.\u00a0 Because the kids draw the line at spider crickets jumping onto their hands and arms as they collect eggs.\u00a0 It’s enough to drive the boys to tears and even Pretty takes a pass.\u00a0 Guess it takes mature ovaries to handle this kind of Ugh.<\/p>\n Perhaps the only insect insurgence we are enjoying is the huge number of butterflies.\u00a0 The zinnias are awash in Swallowtails.\u00a0 The kids and I have counted 12-15 at a time on the flowers.<\/p>\n And that doesn’t include the extra ones fluttering around the property.\u00a0 Although even the number of butterflies is a bit alarming.\u00a0 The population is so large that it’s impossible to drive the country roads without butterflies constantly striking the windshield and crashing into the car.\u00a0 Massacring a bunch of butterflies on the way to work just can’t be good karma, can it?<\/p>\n Never mind that while driving around, inbetween butterfly kills, I have noticed the leaves of the dogwood trees already beginning to turn color.<\/p>\n I’ve seen the dogwoods turn brown and drop leaves plenty of times in the summer during drought years.\u00a0 And dogwoods are always the first of the trees to show fall color.\u00a0 But not in the new rainy season of July<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 What in the world is going on???<\/p>\n It’s something to ponder while sitting at the kitchen counter, sipping coffee, and watching the hummingbirds at the feeder.\u00a0 Except there are almost no hummingbirds.\u00a0 Instead of spending my summer washing and filling feeders and frantically trying to prepare sugar water as hummingbirds hover impatiently outside the window, I stop in awe when a hummingbird actually appears.\u00a0 Others in the area have noticed this, but no one seems to know the real reason why there are so few. (Diggin’ In article<\/a>)<\/p>\n But if the hummingbirds are disappearing, then the deer are multiplying rapidly.\u00a0 Everyone around here has a fawn story to tell.\u00a0 Does with twins and triplets can be seen all over the county, any time of the day or night.\u00a0 And local authorities have been inundated with reports of abandoned fawns, prompting the NC Wildlife Commission and the local newspapers to remind people that most fawns are not abandoned as much as hidden away while their mothers are grazing.<\/a> Fawns should be left alone in their hiding spots to await their mother’s return.<\/p>\n Luckily, Bruno keeps most of the deer population out of our feed troughs.\u00a0 However, he can’t do much about our new nocturnal visitors.\u00a0 Any time we step onto the deck after true darkness sets in, the air fills with sharp, ear-piercing peeps.\u00a0 The colony of Southern flying squirrels in the backyard explodes into the treetops, leaving the birdfeeders swaying from their quick retreat, and sounding their alarm call throughout the canopy.\u00a0 I know what you’re thinking.\u00a0 Flying squirrels are rare in North Carolina.\u00a0 Most people who heard of our squirrels were doubtful and stated that, in their lifetime, they had only seen 1 or 2 of the elusive creatures.\u00a0 Even The Other Half, who has spent years moving through the woods in the dark after leaving his tree stand, had only seen a flying squirrel on one occasion.<\/p>\n That was until he spent an evening, crouched with me and the kids on the deck stairs, as somewhere between 8 and 10 of these critters took turns raiding the feeders and flinging themselves from the canopy to lower branches, and in one spectacular feat, about 30 feet from one tree to another.\u00a0 I would show you a picture but they scramble around so quickly that they are hard to watch with the naked eye, never mind get a picture with my pathetic photography skills.\u00a0 You’ll have to take my word for it that they are there and this picture by Dr. Weigl to know what they look like in flight.<\/p>\n Officially, the Southern flying squirrel is not<\/em><\/strong> rare.\u00a0 It is just nocturnal and so is often overlooked.\u00a0 Perhaps we have always had a colony of flying squirrels in the backyard.\u00a0 Yet it is only this wet, wacky summer that they have set upon the feeders in hordes.\u00a0 Huh.<\/p>\n Even the farm animals aren’t immune to this summer’s idiosyncrasies.\u00a0 The goat forums are filled with reports of the bucks going into an early rut and does going into heat, even in states struggling through heat waves.\u00a0 Now I am not an alarmist.\u00a0 I am concerned about the changes in the environment, the reports of global warming, and all the resulting effects upon the species of this planet.\u00a0 But I do not panic.\u00a0 However, in the face of all the bizarre characteristics of this summer, I felt forced to take action.<\/p>\n I opened the gate to the pasture surrounding the buck pen so the does can feel free to sidle right up against the bucks through the fence.\u00a0 As soon as they are in heat, I intend to start breeding.\u00a0 All of them.\u00a0 Every single doe.\u00a0 Never mind the complications of kidding in the frigid temperatures of December and January.\u00a0 Or trying to create separate stalls for each of the 7 does as they kid.\u00a0 Or not being able to leave the farm when the entire herd is close to kidding.\u00a0 If the end is near, this world is going to need goat babies.<\/p>\n And although the bucks are enjoying the female presence, they aren’t too thrilled with the feed competition that has flooded into their pasture.\u00a0 Really, boys, is a nice meal out to much to ask in return for a bit of affection?\u00a0 Really?<\/p>\n I was a bit worried that I had just sold off the last of the ducklings.\u00a0 Muscovy ducks are hardy and prolific and exactly the kind of breed that will needed be when sustainability is an issue of survival, not just political correctness.\u00a0 Good thing that just before the new owner arrived to take away Blackbeard’s ducklings, more ducklings were hatching in the barn.\u00a0 Take that, Apocalypse!<\/p>\n Another bit of luck is that I haven’t sold my 2 extra sheep yet.\u00a0 And I’ve gotten them all eating out of my hand now.\u00a0 Literally.<\/p>\n A flock of friendly sheep may just be needed in the frightening days to come.\u00a0 Plus, thanks to the arrival of a set of carders and a spinning wheel (!!!!!!)<\/em><\/strong> from my Aunt Peggy I am now ready to clothe the world.<\/p>\n As long as the world is willing to wrap itself in scarves, shawls, and headbands.\u00a0 ‘Cause that’s all I know how to make so far.\u00a0 But I bet my knitted headbands will look pretty versatile when there’s no Fruit of the Loom, people.<\/p>\n We may have to consider eating the fat pig this winter,<\/p>\n but saving the other one to breed.\u00a0 Because OMG how cute would it be to have piglets!\u00a0 tiny sweet piglets!\u00a0 to hold and cuddle and….<\/span> they might just end up being the last of the pork that’s available.<\/p>\n I am also blessed with friends that are just as fortuitously prepared as me.\u00a0 On a whim, one of them recently hatched a tubful of hardy Bobwhite quail.<\/p>\n Without even realizing it, she has opened the doors to a plethora of sustainable survival delicacies.<\/a> And I’m sure I could finagle a way to get a handful of that adorable fluffiness<\/span> essential meat and egg producing species over here.\u00a0 With an overflowing barn of dairy goats, an entire flock of sheep, piglets, ducklings, chickens, and quail, we should be ready for Armageddon.<\/p>\n What?\u00a0 What?!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I can’t help it if I have been accidentally entrusted with the survival of the human race.\u00a0 Haphazard, happenstance animal hoarding<\/span> farming is apparently my superpower.\u00a0 Nobody asks for that kind of responsibility.\u00a0 It’s given to us by forces that we cannot possibly understand.<\/p>\n Probably the same powerful force that has led us to have 2 broken fridges sitting in the yard for several weeks now.\u00a0 We thought they were trash and we were just too busy hoping someone else would haul them off<\/span> to take them to the dump.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
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