Jen Fulkerson

I can accept what ever happens. I'm not attached to him. For the most part we give each other plenty of space. I carry my shovel and keep my eyes on him.  I can usually tell when he's going to attack. Most of the time I can look him in the eye and tell him to back off and that usually works. I'm not going to lie it's a lot nicer to not have to be on guard and carry protection every time I enter the chicken yard, at the same time he does watch out for the hens and he is beautiful, and even though I don't like it, it's hard to fault him for acting like a rooster.  I'm pretty sure his time is limited.

Slick attacked my son today. He's an adult, and handled it. I'm sure that rooster was sorry he messed with the wrong guy. My son was traumatized when he was 4 by a very mean rooster. I'm not a farm girl and couldn't kill it but I got rid of it. He has a very low tolerance for roosters. He told me today this is strike 2. If Slick attacks again he will end up dinner. He asked me if I would be angry with him. I told him we can't keep a mean rooster, and if that's what he needs to do I won't be mad.
I really couldn't believe a rooster could be so timid. It's very strange that he's started to act like a rooster when he is more than a year old. I guess he's just a late bloomer.  Most of the time he leaves us alone. The one time he came at me it was a quick attack, and one kick and he backed off. Now I carry an old shovel, and he hasn't  tried anything since with me. I fear Slick is living on borrowed time.

I guess wild and beautiful seems to be the theme of my garden. It won't be long before I need to plant my summer veggies and my main veggie garden is loaded. I enjoy the look, and the pollinators are having such a good time it's hard for me to remove plants to make room for what's to come.

Megan what a cute little dog.
I added the name of the roses to the pictures. I need to remake my rose diagram, because I lost roses due to my neglect. I didn't do this in the very beginning. At some point I realized some of the tags were no longer attached to the roses. That's when I made my diagram. It's very useful because I would never be able to remember all the names. Someday I hope to make decorative name markers, but for now this works.

You can smell the roses just walking by, it's lovely.
I made a diagram in my garden book so I have the names of most of them.  Maybe someday I will make little markers with there names. I'm always full of fun ideas, but short on time.

Slick the timid rooster has found some courage unfortunately. Slick doesn't really fit him in my opinion, but my daughter came up with the name because he has the most beautiful black feathers that look iridescent green in certain lights like an oil slick. I could think of anything better, so slick it is.
Slick has challenged me a handful of times now. At first I could point my finger at him and say in a firm voice we are not going to do this , and he would walk away.  One time he did go at me, and I kicked him, which irritated me because I didn't want to use violence with him, hoping it wouldn't encourage aggressive behavior, but unfortunately instinct kicked in.
Now I use an old shovel like a walking stick. Most of the time he leaves me alone. When he does decide to challenge me I can often stare  him down. So far I  have only had to use the shovel once (not to hit, but use like a shield). It's a bummer to have to be on guard when I'm in the coop, but so far he's not enough of a nuisance to make me want to get rid of him.

Well it's time and I'm really dragging my feet. It's been so nice to just keep a running bucket.  Unfortunately something keeps growing on the top of my grains. It doesn't really smell different from the fermented grains, just a little stronger. It's white, and if I leave it for a few days I can scoop it up like cottage cheese, only not lumpy, more like a solid smooth consistency.  I scooped it off and still fed the grains to the chickens, with no noticable ill effects.  I Started over, stirred more vigorously and even tried blasting water in once a day and still the white stuff kept showing up. So I guess I have to go back to individual containers for each day. I'm kind of bummed, it's just more steps and more work.
I'm trying to cut down on plastic. I'm thinking about buying 1/2 gallon jars, and using them. I hope drilling a couple of small holes in the lids with be enough for off gassing. I think they will be easy to clean, and maybe big enough to allow me to get two days per jar.
If anyone has thoughts on the white stuff, glass jars, or anything else I would love to hear it.  Thanks

Compared to lots of seedsnail pictures I have seen, my results aren't that impressive. the strange thing about it is the uneven germination. I have 9 marigold seedlings in all stages from ready to plant out, to a couple pretty small. This was marigold seeds I harvested myself, so maybe that was the issue, or maybe uneven watering? I don't know. It's been a very rough year for seed starting for me all around, so I guess I'm happy I got what I got. I was practically free, and I enjoyed the process, so I'm still calling it a win.

You gotta love spring. Every time I walk through my rose garden, or even just look at it from some place in the yard aI get a big smile on my face. I love my roses, and I'm so glad I took the time to fix my neglect.  I can't wait to bring roses to my friends and family.

I always envy your ability to grow wine caps. I have tried many times, and followed your  advice the best I could, and never got one mushroom. I was talking to a customer that came through my line. He grows mushrooms and sells mushroom kits. He told me he can't even grow wine cap. That made me feel a bit better, maybe it's the dry hot weather, and not me.
Eric give yourself a break. Taking care of yourself is more important at this time than new raised beds.