A couple moves from the big city to the countryside and starts a small farm...wait, you've heard this premise before? What? Trite? Hackneyed? But, I have goats. Really cute pictures of tiny baby goats. And cheesemaking recipes. We slaughter our own pigs and cure our own bacon! Well, that's in the master plan, anyway. Just read it, you'll see.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Curses!
The chickens tore apart the rows the kids and I planted. I knew this would happen, why did I plant before I figured out a chicken control system?
Mankind has been battling birds for control over crops since agriculture began. Don't kick yourself too hard, birds, even chickens, are really smart and often figure out how to defeat the most ingenious defensive systems.
For example: did you know that Strawberries were not domesticated until the mid 1800s? The problem was thrushes. They liked strawberries too. But they like little bitty wild strawberries, not the great big ones we like.
So all our efforts to breed big juicy strawberries were thwarted because the thrushes were far better at distributing the seeds of the little ones they liked than we were at controlled planting of our selected seeds. It wasn't until strong but cheap netting that could cover large areas and was thrush-proof was developed that we were able to make strawberries the way we wanted them.
So think of it this way: You are standing in a long long like of horticulturists who are engaged in a life and death struggle against feathery oblivion.
sorry. Had to say it. We spent the better part of two days building a new coop to contain my evil chickens, got it all finished, caught all the chickens (no easy task, mind you) and put them in their new and improved chicken yard and within 5min they had all figured a way out. Bastards. I don't know how they did it.
Oh yikes!
ReplyDeleteI guess the bright side is that it has happened early enough that you can replant maybe? Yes?
Mankind has been battling birds for control over crops since agriculture began. Don't kick yourself too hard, birds, even chickens, are really smart and often figure out how to defeat the most ingenious defensive systems.
ReplyDeleteFor example: did you know that Strawberries were not domesticated until the mid 1800s? The problem was thrushes. They liked strawberries too. But they like little bitty wild strawberries, not the great big ones we like.
So all our efforts to breed big juicy strawberries were thwarted because the thrushes were far better at distributing the seeds of the little ones they liked than we were at controlled planting of our selected seeds. It wasn't until strong but cheap netting that could cover large areas and was thrush-proof was developed that we were able to make strawberries the way we wanted them.
So think of it this way: You are standing in a long long like of horticulturists who are engaged in a life and death struggle against feathery oblivion.
told you so. Neener neener booboo
ReplyDeletesorry. Had to say it. We spent the better part of two days building a new coop to contain my evil chickens, got it all finished, caught all the chickens (no easy task, mind you) and put them in their new and improved chicken yard and within 5min they had all figured a way out. Bastards. I don't know how they did it.
ReplyDelete