Distemper

It was a bit of a sad and stressful day around my house . The little skunk that I saw yesterday came back and he was definitely in worse shape. He was staggering and disoriented, and was showing the symptoms of advanced distemper. I carefully approached the skunk and was able to get the dog cage over it. I called the Sarnia Animal control, who sent me to someone else, who sent me to someone else, who again sent me to someone else. In the end I could not find one animal welfare agency that would come out and take care of the poor fella. The last person I talked to said to shot it.

I did a lot of research on distemper the afternoon and learned a few interesting thing.

• Distemper is passed through bodily fluids - saliva, eye discharge, urine, feces, and even skunk spray
• There are two completely different types of distemper - canine and feline. Cats cannot catch canine distemper and dogs cannot catch feline distemper: however. animals like skunks, coons and ferrets can catch both.
• Humans cannot catch distemper
• Distemper is more prevalent in young animals
• The distemper virus cannot live outside the host for long and can be killed with heat, sun and disinfectant cleaning products - bleach
• The symptoms of distemper are very similar to rabies.
• In adult domestic dogs there is a 50% mortality rate from distemper
• There is no cure for distemper; however, there are numerous herbal remedies to help the dog's immunity system fight off the disease
• Vitamin A and C help to fight distemper

Unfortunately, in the end the poor skunk had to be killed. So sad.

Eggs in a Tomato Recipe

I saw this recipe on Facebook (From some backyard chicken group I'm on) and though I'd give it a try as it looked super easy.

Ingredients:
 a couple of eggs
Large ripe tomatoes
Spices

Optional:
Some onion/sausage/bacon/cheese/peppers etc

Tomatoes, eggs and fresh basil

Hollow out the tomatoes and mix the eggs and basil together (and anything else you'd like add)

Fill the tomatoes with the egg mixture (Perhaps top with some grated cheese?)

Cook about 30-45 minutes (until egg is fully cooked - check with fork)

For me, the nice thing with this recipe, I have all the ingredients at my home - Fresh tomatoes and basil in the garden and eggs from my hens :)

Skunk

I was out tidying the wood pile as I'm expecting a couple of cords this week and wanted to make sure I was all ready for it, and noticed a little skunk over at my garbage.

He's such a cute little guy! The poor little sweetheart was limping, so i hope he's gonna be ok. I carefully hered him back to the ravine (and cleaned up the garbage he had gotten into) so all my critters would be safe. 

I was a little worried about the little fella being diseased, as I didn't think skunks were out much during the day, but google tells me that its actually not that uncommon.

Here's an interesting site with site info:

http://www.wildskunkrescue.com/

http://www.wildskunkrescue.com/rabies.htm

Cucumber Blues

My garden is doing great ... well, at least most of it ... My poor cucumbers are not doing well, they started great, but have been going yellow and many are round shaped. I thought they had cross pollinated with the squash, but after some advice from friends and much googling I found that that was not true. Squash and cucumbers are related, but not enough for them to cross pollinate. So, it must be an issue with the soil - not enough of a certain nutrient (or perhaps too much of a certain nutrient?)

This cucumber is very large for a cucumber, it was looking great, but about two days ago started to turn yellow. Its still nice and firm, just yellow

The cucumbers in these two pic are round and yellow.

I'm very disappointed, I was really hoping to make piles of pickles this year. I'm going to get some more seeds today and try planting them elsewhere, there should be just enough time for them to grow before the first frost. 

Basil Ice Cubes

I harvested some basil today and I had a friend recommend cutting it up and freezing it in ice cubes. Once the ice cubes are frozen, transfer to a freezer bag and then you can just add an ice cube to soups and stews. Super easy!

Freshly harvested basil

Cut it up

Add to ice cubes trays

Add water and then put in freezer. Once they are frozen, pop them out and put in labelled freezer bag :)

Obviously, herb ice cubes wouldn't work for everything. They could be used in soups, stews and sauces, but not so good for putting on garlic bread or anything like that.

Here's the frozen ice cubes. They don't look too pretty, but they work great :) A friend also suggested making them in olive oil instead of water :)

The Garden at the end of July

As July starts to come to an end, the daily garden harvest is increasing substantially. I am now harvesting beans, peas, lettuce, Swiss chard, cucumbers and green onions. Many of the other plants are starting to bear fruit - the tomatoes have piles of babies tomatoes on them, there are baby watermelons, corn and tons of squash!

The pole beans are doing great. they've made their way up the trellis and have a pile of beans on them

Lettuce, lettuce and oh ya more lettuce.

This is Cauliflower - not ure why it looks so horrible. Too much sun? Insects? 

This is three mounds of squash! Oh my! Its a monster!

A baby squah from the mounds shown above

A Butternut squash

Bee Swarm

Yesterday, I posted my bee photos on Facebook (cause that what we do with all awesome pics!) and tagged my friend Braja in them and asked if there was anything we should do. He said that the bees would leave on their own in a day or two, but to ensure they made it through the winter it would be best for us to call a bee keeper to come get them. I contacted the Chatham section of the Ontario Bee Associations and from there ended up talking to a bee keeper from Sombra. 

The bee keeper came out this afternoon and set up a bee hive box - shown in the pics below. He said there was honey in the box that would draw the bees over. The process can be as quick as 30 minutes to as long as a day.

The fella set up the hive-box with no protective gear on; he said as the bees are in a traveling state and are not in a defensive mode, they pose no real danger- unless of course you really pissed them off!

The bee keeper said that there was several thousand bees in the swarm and the queen would be situated in the center of the swarm.

On the note of bees and honey. If you are looking for awesome honey and herbs, my friend Braja has some of the best in Canada 

Herb Guy's Honey House

As the bees were taking their sweet time moving to the hive-box, the bee dude decided to leave the box here for the day and come back tomorrow to get it.

I'm happy that the bees will soon be safely in their new home. Bees are a vital part of our ecosystem and we have been losing them at an alarming rate. Without bees many of the fruits and vegetables in North America will not bear fruit as they will not be pollinated. 

Two hours later the bees are all in the box! No fuss, no one got stung and the bees are not and safe! Yay!

Nests and bees

I had an interesting day around the homestead. I went out hang laundry on the line and noticed my son had left a pair of shorts on the line (they had been there a couple of days). I went to take them down and they had a bird nest in the leg!

I've never seen a bird nest in a pair of shorts before! How weird!

Later in the day, I went to take the dogs for their supper time walk and noticed something on the back post of the dog pen

Yep, that's a swarm of bees! Very cool! i think they are honey bees. From what I understand they are on the move and just taking a short break on my fence post (for a day or two) and then they'll continue on their way. They are looking for a place to set up a new hive. I will obviously avoid the dog pen until the move in and keep an eye on them as I don't want them setting up in the garage or anywhere too close to the house. To deter them from setting up in the garage, I simply burn strong smelling incense in there all day. The bees don't like the smell or the smoke and they'll decide it is not a habitable place (My beekeeper friend Braja taught me that!) there are woods around my place where they can set up a hive or they can set in the barn. Bees are a very important part of the ecosystem, I am happy to have them set up their home near me (as long as they are not right up at the house!).  Bees are pollinators and without them we would not have a lot of fruits and vegetables. I try to promote the growth of wild flowers in my yard to help the bees and butterflies, as both are in decline in North America.

July 10th

Some photos from around the garden and yard today :)

The squash is growing awesome!

Royal red and iceburg lettuce

More squash

Cabbage

peas

The ladies

my son Travis feeding the hens and the cat Rollie

Honey Bees

We have already lost a huge population of bees in Canada and the beekeepers say this year is worse. I say "we" because this loss of bee population is important to all of us. Conservative, Liberal, NDP or Green, SIGN the petition to ban this pesticide that is killing our pollinators.Without pollinating insects, many of or crops will not bear fruit ...

"Pollinators, including honeybees, are a central element of our food system and a critical pillar of our ecology. While the impact of honeybees extends far beyond the pollination of commercial agricultural crops, the monetary value of just this service is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars globally each year.
In the past decade, extreme declines in bee populations have been measured across North America and throughout Europe, prompting widespread concern from citizens, scientists, and many governments.
While many theories have been put forward for this collapse of the bee population, one of the most likely is a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, which attack insects’ central nervous systems causing paralysis and death, and have proven very harmful in sub-lethal quantities."

Sign petition

Catnip

Catnip grows wild all around my house so I always harvest some each year. I harvest some for medicinal purposes and some for the cats. When catnip is going to be used for medicinal purposes it should be cut before it goes to flower (as it has the most energy that way). When used for cats, it is best cut after it flowers.

After catnip is cut it needs to be dried. Normally I simply tie it and hang it upside down in a dark closet. Once dry, I cut it from the stem and simply break up the leaves and flowers by hand. Catnip can also be dried by laying it on a screen or even by cutting it and putting it in paper bags to dry in the sun.

Catnip has numerous medicinal qualities:

Catnip has anti-spasmodic, diaphoretic, carminative and astringent properties and is also a mild sedative. It has many old folk remedy uses. Teas can be made from it to help with digestive upsets and gas, spasms, colic, bronchitis, colds, headaches, morning sickness and a sleep aid. It has also been used to treat enema and to help detoxify the body. Catnip is said to also help with cancer.

Catnip is also great for cooking:

Catnip can be used as a spice to flavour soups and stews. It has an unusual yet lovely flavour. For humans, it is mostly used as an herbal tea to help many health issues. Some enjoy a little lemon and/or honey in their catnip tea.

Watermelon jam

I have lots of watermelons growing in the garden and hopefully they will all grow wonderfully! I saw this recipe and am hoping it try it in a couple of months!

Watermelon Jam recipe

I've never had watermelon jam, but seriously, its jam and its watermelon, whats not to like!

I'll let you know in a couple of months how it tastes! :)

Harvesting and Planting

Today I officially harvested the last of one row of radishes. It still have two rows left, but they are definitely depleting quickly. As I found myself with an empty row, I figured I might as well get something else in. :) I had a friend, Braja, send me some heirloom Romano beans so I put in a row of them. What are Romano beans? I have no idea!! I know they are edible and fairly quick growing. If they grow, I'll google the crap out of them to find out how to harvest them and what to do with them. :)

The garden is doing fantastic and I have many things starting to produce veggies. I've been harvesting spinach, red lettuce, leaf lettuce and kale for the last two weeks (and of course radishes!). it looks like I should be able to start harvesting peas next week and beans the week after!

Baby peas and beans!!!

Pole Beans

Squash

Cucumbers 

Last year I erred and put the squash WAY too close to the cucumbers and ended up with squashumbers :O This year, I grabbed a brain and planted them in two separate gardens,  Hopefully I'll get lots of cukes this year as I want to make relish and pickles!

Stephie and Ruth - My silver laced Wyandottes. They are about 3-4 months old now.

Turkey vultures sitting on top of a dead tree across the corn field from me.