etc.

i think all this rain is making me tired. i've been drowsy yesterday, and feeling it today too.
i didn't go outside yesterday, even though we had a lot of work to do. i focused on things inside the house. started some sprouts, which i hope to sell at the market. i hope people will be into them, they're so healthy, and i think they're very tasty too, in salads, sandwiches, or stir fried. so far, i'm growing alfalfa, mustard, and mung bean sprouts in one container, and wheat berries, and daikon radish sprouts in another.

we also signed up for one more market, so as of next week we will be selling at 3 markets: storrs, ashford, and westerly. westerly is down at the beach, in rhode island, and i'm very excited that we got in, because hopefully it will be busy, and also, ed's mom can help us with the kids. ed's parents cottage is minutes away from the market, so this should work out well. the kids will hang out with grandma and go to the beach, while i'm selling at the market, and maybe when it's done i'll hang with them too.

we've had some bad news over the past 2 weeks: most of our chickens and guinea hens got killed by a fox. ed saw the fox on the driveway one night, eyeing one of our roosters. she (we assume it's a she with young ones to feed) came by pretty much every night taking one or more birds at a time. we lost 4 guinea hens, maybe more (i lost count of how many we had), 3 roosters, and 1 hen. i'm really sad about 1 rooster in particular. he was the best, so gentle, and i swear he knew what we said to him. when he did something naughty, like walk in the house, we just had to ask him nicely to leave, and he did, whereas the hen and other chickens, we have to chase them out and yell at them. he liked the kids and he let them pet him. the kids called him "friendliest rooster". i really am sad about him. i heard that he put up a good fight with the fox (shandra heard him during the night), but she got him in the end. the hen he got together with most often is still alive. she's been sitting on eggs, and that's why the fox didn't get her yet, but today i saw her running around, and i'm worried for her. her eggs are still not hatched, and i hope she goes back to them soon. other than her, we only have 4 guineas left.

we're going to be building some special cages. they're huge, and they're on wheels. they're made with mesh, open to the outside air, and we're planning make them so that they can be moved around the field, so that the chickens can eat the crops that are ready to be turned over, and fertilize our soil at the same time. this design is already working well for our friends, and apparently it's used by other farmers too. hopefully the chickens won't get killed anymore once we do this. although foxes are really smart - they run around the cage until they drive the chickens mad with fear; sometimes a chicken will get so overwhelmed and stick its head out through the mesh, and the fox grabs it. this happened to anita and brian.

more than you wanted to know about chickens.
peace