Summer School Supplies

The co-captains (to be) are delighted with the latest addition to the fleet: an 8' sailing dinghy. She is the third we looked at and the only one to earn Reece's sincere "she's a beauty, the most beautiful boat in the world!" She will not be re-christened; they adore the name. Dulcinea basically means sweetie or sweet thing, which fits her beautifully.

Reece Racer

DC Cherry Blossoms & Kite Festival (at the big Candle)

 

Circus Training

Friday Pizza Night Talent

Color Test in the Living Room

The blue is out , but something like the terracotta tone might work.

FRESH Catfish Dinner (and Transient Fish Art ;-)

 

More Scenes of Feederbrook Farm

Electric Shearing

Emily is one of only two shearers in Maryland and the only female shearer in the state. The electric shears cut closer to the skin, so hand shearing is generally preferred this early in the season when sheep may still be exposed to cold temperatures. These sheep are pregnant ewes that will remain in stalls until they lamb, so exposure is not a concern.

Emily the Super Shearer: Hand Shearing at Feederbrook Farm

Emily flips the sheep on their backs and holds them securely as they lie still and calm during the shearing process as though they were enjoying an exclusive spa treatment. The fleece on the belly and hind quarters is discarded and used to mulch Lisa's garden. The rest is cut off in a single piece, which is folded and rolled in preparation for cleaning. Lisa washes the fleece in very hot water with Dawn dish washing detergent in an old washing machine. They are soaked without agitation, spun, and rinsed again in very hot water. The clean fleece is then sent to a mill for processing.

Emily uses both hand and electric shearing methods. The hand shears she uses are purchased but have to be modified substantially before use to fit a handle, hone the blade, and set the closing distance to fit the shearers personal preferences. Blades must be re-sharpened after every 2 sheep and dipped frequently in soapy water during shearing to help the shearer cut through the lanolin.

Measuring Our New Native Trees

We planted 2 each one-year-old bare root stock of 4 native tree species: Dogwood, Hazelnut, Persimmon, and Willow Oak. We decided it would be a good first week of Spring activity to measure the height and circumference of each tree. To do the circumference, we wrapped a piece of paper around each tree just above the ground, marked where the paper extended to, and stretched the paper flat on the tape measure to read the circumference.  I will keep the data on Excel so we can update it annually. 

Avocado Adventure

A few weeks ago (about the same time we planted the citrus seed), we decided to try sprouting an avocado seed. I have always heard that this is ridiculously easy, but it is something I have never achieved, despite several attempts and many moldy seeds. But I thought the kids might have better luck than I have, so we pulled out the toothpicks and popped the seed bulbous side down in a glass mug of rain water. Below are the current results. Now, in truth our experiment suffered from some initial challenges. Most sources seem to recommend that you do not wound the pit or the skin in the process of opening the avocado and also suggest that the water be changed regularly to avoid mold. Our knife scar is clearly apparent on the second photo, but I really don't know why that is a problem because the toothpicks wound the skin and pit. We also did not refresh our water, that growth at the bottom of the pit is mold or algae not evidence of roots.

So, we went back to the web for alternate advice and found the recommendations of Lee Reich (http://www.crfg.org/tidbits/AvocadoFromSeed.html). In contrast to the "don't wound" theory, he/she actually suggests that the pit be peeled and a thin slice shaved off the top and bottom. He also recommends sprouting in soil as a preferred alternative to water. Based on this advice, we peeled the pit that has been soaking for two or so weeks, sliced the top and bottom, and popped it into fresh water after carefully cleaning the mug. We also peeled and shaved a new pit that had been carefully removed from the fruit without injury. This pit was planted in a 4:1 mixture of potting soil and worm castings. We moistened this with a rain water/worm tea concoction.

Evidence of Life in the Citrus Growth Experiment

The citrus growth experiment has not been much of a success at this point, but today Kallan discovered a sign of life. At first, she was sure it was was a baby lemon tree, but we checked it out with a magnifying glass. She drew it, described it (e.g., white, bell-shaped, like a comb jelly at the top), and decided it was more like a mushroom then any seedling she had ever seen. We then removed it from the soil, and examined it under higher magnification (i.e., 100X, 200X). It does sort of resemble a ctenaphore and a monarch egg.