Eugene Garden Lounge

As spring nears, our time spent together and working with animals and plants in our garden seems to be more and more valuable, and full of new and exciting challenges.
We butchered our first chicken this past Sunday, which went as well as one could hope for a bunch of 'first-timers'; it was messy, but we learned an astonishing amount. Our preparation was no doubt improved by the excellent tutorials that are becoming available for free on the internet. It is curious, from an anthropological view, that instead of learning these skills from the compounded knowledge and carefully choreographed rituals of past generations from our local or familial heritage, we derive them from the unfathomably large and nebulous being that is the world wide web, and are guided by algorithms dictated by search engines. Even more compelling is the notion that we are using this, for lack of a better word, alien technology to revert back to more comprehensible ways of living. Whether one sees this as ironic or as simply another paradox of our surreptitiously beautiful universe is simply a matter of personal disposition.

Either way, you'd be hard pressed to try and deny how cute these new baby chicks are! We purchased 2 barred rocks, 2 silver laced wyandottes, and 2 buckeyes from the Eugene Backyard Farmer, one of our favorite local resources for all things feathered.

Originally, we thought we would try to go half incandescent light/half bunny btus to keep the little chicks warm (vertical farming anyone?), but Leo wasn't having it. The strange smells and funny noises were making him bounce of the walls (literally). Ultimately, we moved them on top of a wooden ottoman we recently picked up from the local Goodwill and placed the whole peeping bundle by the edge of the bedroom to ensure no curious kitty could sneak in in the middle of the night.

This little gal was completely wiped out from the journey home, and promptly fell beak first into her bedding as soon as things calmed down.

Mao honing his skills.

Sunlight is in high demand by plants and animals alike this time of year. This particular flowerbed has been tortured to no end; it really was a surprise for us when these beautiful daffodils erupted into their current emphatically trumpeting glory after the soil was trampled all winter.

A warm and happy d' Argent on a sunny morning.

 

I built a new, but in all likelihood temporary coop for the ducks, as their previous spot seemed to be encouraging some unwanted pests.

The strength of the hog wire and the tautness of these cinched up wire rafters makes a surprisingly stable and (hopefully) raccoon-proof structure. 

The ducks have already made themselves at home.

These bulk fava beans from Down to Earth Home and Garden grow (or at least germinate) anywhere!

An unidentified nut which wandered into a pile of potting soil; perhaps not so different than what happened to the writers of this blog.

Quick-Master-Gardener-in-Training-Pop-Quiz: Find the tesla, embryo, primary root, hypocotyl  and cotyledons!

Devising a new coop for either the new baby chicks or a nesting area for our mother muscovy.

More spectacular daffodils.

Sometimes we sit back and pretend that our backyard is full of ancient dinosaurs. Now all that we are missing is a John Hammond look alike and some gaudily painted jeeps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPoYzyOn44M

Mr. Brown is looking as old and as wise as ever.

This one on the other hand...

Our large rhododendron provides the perfect afternoon shelter for the birds.

A vase of daffodils freshly picked and beautifully arranged by our one and only Jenny Wunder.

A wide array of landscapes, often randomly occurring, under the T5 grow lamp.

This venus fly trap isn't the only carnivore in the house... 

Warning: The following images contain the humane, but somewhat gruesome butchering of a chicken.

Phew! now that that's over...

The final product of our long day; chicken dumpling stew. It was unbelievably tasty and satisfying, a memorable learning experience, and a great reward for all of our labor. Hopefully you can join us next time!