Growing trees from seed

I've got five hazel seedlings altogether, June 2021

I wasn't sure if I would get any hazels left alive, as something was nipping off the tops as they emerged in their pots.  Probably a slug, despite the fact I had the tray of them on my patio table.  I also found one seed pulled out of its pot, root broken off--maybe a rodent, though it didn't actually eat the seed, so perhaps a bird tugged it out.  Despite all that, from a good double handful of nuts stratifying over winter, I now have five hazels with strong growth on them, and I have high hopes for their future.  I collected the nuts myself last fall, and they were all good tasty big ones, so maybe in a few more years I'll be collecting them off my own bushes.

One year old quince, June 2021

I also have three quince seedlings, all sown from shop bought quinces (I didn't even properly sow them, just scattered them on top of some patio planters in the middle of winter).  One is a full year old, and two are newly emerged, though all were sown the same year:  2019.  The year old one is big enough that I will transplant it into the garden this autumn, and I will try to keep the other two alive (a predecessor dried up in a too-small pot).  I'll also try to keep the hazels alive!

Incidently, I still have a little peach tree in a planter, barely hanging on.  It too was sown from the seed of a shop bought peach, but has been badly affected by leaf curl every year.  I don't think it'll last to be honest, although it is several years old.  It flowered last year for the first time, but has not yet fruited.  You can see its little trunk in the photo above, just behind the quince.

Elderflower wine, 2021

Just harvested, June 2021

The elders are flowering, including those in my garden.  I have several small ones, all seeded by birds and frankly unwelcome;  I call them weed trees.  However, I also lack the time and motivation to cut them all down (again) and so I will make use of the flowers instead.  And I will probably make use of the berries later too, whether as chicken feed or home brew.  And then maybe in winter I or the husband will get around to chopping them down (again).

To make elderflower wine I picked about 32 flowerheads and gently rubbed the flowers off the stems into a container;  my recipe calls for 500 mL of flowers to 4 L water, and I'd decided to make 8 L--despite not quite having 1 L of flowers.  I also have run out of wine making yeast, so just used regular bread yeast.  I'm sure it'll be fine.  

The brew (including flowers, water, sugar, yeast, lemon juice and a mug of strong tea) is fermenting nicely in my stock pot, there to remain for two weeks before straining into demijohns to continue for another few months before we start drinking--it's best cracked into straight away, and makes a light, refreshing drink.

On a side note, we checked 2020's elderberry/blackberry wine just two weeks ago, to see if it was ready for bottling, but it's still showing signs of fermentation.  Hope to start drinking that by autumn.

And for your viewing pleasure, a gratuitous photo of Cookie and the Peep, who are both now the same height;  Peep is just about 3 weeks old.  We're hoping she's a girl, and will continue referring to her as such (right up to the time we eat him).

Cookie and Peep, June 2021

Life and death

 

The Peeps (with Cookie's tail in the foreground) June 2021

We are down to just one duckling (aka The Peep), after a predator attack.  The duckling shown above with the white spot on its wings was killed by a hedgehog last week, after it managed to climb into their little yard after dark.  I heard Cookie their mother hen making a terrible racket and dashed outside, as did the son, but we were too late to save it.  

Cookie was very brave and fought it off so that it turned against her instead, but it was heavier than her and too spiky;  she couldn't win that fight.  The son managed to get some garden gloves on and grab the hedgehog off of her;  it had a mouthful of her feathers as he took it away.  I have no doubt that Cookie would have fought to the death if we hadn't intervened.

Cookie and her remaining duckling were very subdued for several days afterward, and didn't come out of their house until yesterday.  I have no doubt that she has mourned her lost child and is wary of losing the other.  

I have adjusted the fencing around their yard;  I don't think a hedgehog can get in again.  I never thought they would be vulnerable to one--cats, rats and hawks yes, but it never crossed my mind a hedgehog would go for a duckling, or that one could even get into their little yard.  I guess we have been lucky all these years never to have lost any others this way and I will have to make sure it never happens again.

Ducklings!

 Just a few days ago we were commiserating with poor little broody hen Cookie who had dedicated so much time and effort to sitting on a clutch of duck eggs which just hadn't hatched.  Duck eggs take a full week longer than chicken eggs to hatch, and she'd been trying to brood for a few weeks before we actually gave her any to sit on, so she's been extremely patient.  But to our surprise, about three days after their due date, two little peeps were spotted in the chick house!

Mother Cookie is very experienced in hatching and raising a family, but we do wonder what she thinks of these funny little "chicks."  She's treating them just like she has all her other children--and they know she's their mother--so everything is working out just fine.  

I'm not totally sure, but it's possible that these two little ducklings are even cuter than chicks.  Here's hoping they get ugly soon so I don't feel too bad about eating one or both of them;  maybe they're both girls and get a free pass?  We kind of think one might be, but it's hard to tell at this age.

The two new Cherry Valley ducks are enclosed with the other three in their large yard in the Perennials section, but are still very wary of both us and the old ducks, who were spotted trying to drown one in the half-filled pond.  We've let the pond empty and will keep it that way until we're sure everyone is friendly--or at least neutral.  The new ones are mostly keeping under cover in the very back corner.

Food totals, May 2021

Vegetables

 

21.5 oz purple sprouting broccoli

17.5 oz salad greens (chard, miners lettuce, lettuce, arugula, mizuna)

3.5 oz turnips

46 oz chard

8 oz leeks

20.5 oz iceberg lettuce

0.5 oz oyster mushrooms 

Total: 117.5 oz, or 7 lb 5 oz

Fruit

 

No fruit harvested

Eggs

 

123 eggs from 10 adult birds