I acquired a broody hen last fall. She got disturbed when I moved her to my farm, so she didn't raise a batch of chicks. She went broody again first thing this spring, and we allowed her to sit on 8 eggs. They started hatching a few days ago. Six chicks have survived so far.

Mary Hysong wrote:I have been trying every variety of winter squash at the grocery store and so far have discovered I DON"T LIKE acorn, butternut, carnival, turks turban, or hubbard but I LOVE Buttercup! I really liked the first one I ate and saved all the seed. Then I got another one and it was even better so I save it's seed separately. I haven't seen any other different kinds of squash at the store tho and this year there weren't even any different kinds of pumpkins, just standard orange or white jack o'lantern types.

I know you like Buttercup best also but I was wondering if you have a runner up that isn't like the others I listed? all of the above were terribly bland and some just tasted nasty to me.

I was buying pumpkins last november to make pie with and a lady asked me why I was buying them since haloween was already over. I said they were a huge amount of food for minimal expense and could be made into custards, pastries, soup, etc. She about lost it, said something about she wouldn't eat it, and huffed off. I don't know what I did to offend her but she seemed genuinely disgusted at the thought of eating a pumpkin.

After days of steady cold rain, it has cleared up, and is warming. Time to check for mushrooms. Yup. They are pinning. Looks like they'll be ready to harvest in two days. Woot! Time for a wildcrafting expedition.