Freeze and Freeze Again

Well, when I went out to the field this morning I discovered that we had a frost last night that wiped out everything I planted in the field except for the leeks. It is supposed to freeze again tonight. I pulled out my seed bin and just planted seeds where the Copenhagen Market Cabbages and Champion Collards were. I will wait a while and where the Garden Huckleberries were I will plant Wonderberries. At least everything in the high tunnel looked all right thanks to my wrapping everything up in Agribon!

This morning I worked on patching the high tunnel end walls, and although the feed bag patches don't look very pretty, the patches should hold for this year (unless we get a hurricane!) until I can buy some new end wall panels. It was a gorgeous day to be outside, too.

This afternoon, Tom and I hooked up the mower to the BCS and he started mowing the rest of the field for me while Ed helped me plant. It's surprising how long planting takes. I hope I can get it all finished by the end of this week. We had to bring the little mower back to the house because the pull string has tightened up and you can't pull it. Looks like we'll have to take it apart again. I think the problem is the clutch; I wonder if I can pick up a replacement part at the hardware store. Well, it looks like I'm going to learn how to repair lawn mowers.

And I'm going to need to learn how to shoot! At the same time I went in to take care of Lara for the night I heard the chickens making a ruckus outside and saw the whole flock running across the front lawn. I went to the window just in time to see a fox carrying one of my biggest birds off into the swamp. By the time I got outside, I saw an Arucauna bite the dust on the other side of the chicken coop. I grabbed an axe and charged another fox that I saw coming up the slope by the septic field, but he got away. So, I know I have at least three foxes to deal with, and I know for sure that at least two chickens are lost. A number of other birds have missing feathers and are ruffled, but are otherwise uninjured. Just what I need -- foxes!

Remember when I told you I thought the woods were on fire? Well, when "The Iron County Miner" newspaper came there was a big story about how there were several forest fires in the area that had been flamed by the high winds that day. The biggest fire was near us. Thankfully no one lost their home or was injured, and all of the fires were put out.

I wonder what fox meat tastes like. . . .