Whenever guests are here at the farm, they always take time to visit with the animals - my dogs, kittens, horses, donkeys, chickens, geese, and my peafowl.
Peafowl are very curious and social birds - they usually travel in groups, enjoy foraging, and often play together. They live in a very safe and comfortable pen near my stable, where they get lots of attention. Occasionally, I let them out of their enclosure for a short while to roam the area and explore. Fortunately, they are also very loyal and tend to stay close to where they are well-fed and well-protected from predators.
Enjoy these recent photos.
I keep all my birds in large, protected enclosures because of the predators that sometime wander through the property, such as coyotes. The birds feel safe in these spaces, but can view all the activities at the farm.
Peafowl are smart, docile and adaptable birds. They are also quite clever. It is not unusual for peafowl to come running when the food appears.
In all I have 16 peafowl – juveniles and adults. I also have three peachicks. Within a year, peacocks are almost completely mature. Two year olds resemble adult males, but their tails are still short and need time to develop. They become sexually active around the age of three. Peahens develop faster than peacocks and can mate as early as one.
And although they are large and quite heavy for birds, peacocks can fly, but not for very long periods of time or for long distances.
Peafowl are ground feeders. They do most of their foraging in the early morning and evening. As omnivores, they eat insects, plants, grains, and small creatures.
I give all the birds fresh produce every day. This peacock is snacking on a newly opened pumpkin.
I also give my peafowl a special game bird food mix fortified with vitamins and other nutrients.
Peafowl are members of the pheasant family. There are two Asiatic species – the blue or Indian peafowl native to India and Sri Lanka, and the green peafowl originally from Java and Burma, and one African species, the Congo peafowl from African rain forests. Here is one of my blue peacocks – it is no longer breeding season, so his tail is short. It will grow full feathers again next spring when mating season starts.
Both male and female peafowl have a fan-shaped crest on their heads called a corona. It may take up to one year for a corona to reach full size.
White peacocks are the result of leucism or albinism. While leucistic white peacocks are far more common than albino peacocks, both types are rare.
Peacocks and peahens are alert and curious animals – can’t sneak up on any of them.
Because most of these birds have been raised here at the farm, they’re accustomed to the various noises.
Peafowl are pretty tolerant of cooler weather also. Their feathering and ability to regulate body temperatures help them to stay warm. They do have a heated coop, where they can take shelter during unpleasant conditions.
Peafowl will look at you in the eye; however, if you stare at them or seem aggressive in your body movements, these birds will feel threatened. Talking softly and keeping eyes averted tells them you are not a predator.
Peafowl have acute hearing, but can be poor at discerning from what direction certain sounds originate.
Like many birds, peafowl enjoy roosting at higher levels. In the wild, this keeps them safe from predators at night.
And look closely at its feet. A peafowl’s legs are very strong. They have three toes on each foot facing forward, and one facing backwards. They also have sharp, powerful metatarsal spurs that are used for defense. Also, as they develop, males will tend to have longer legs than females.
As beautiful as peafowl are, they don’t make very melodious sounds. Peafowl have 11 different calls, with most of the vocalizing made by the peacocks. And, with their sharp eyesight, peafowl are quick to see predators and call out alarms. Oftentimes, I can hear them from across the farm.
They are put indoors every night – to keep them extra safe.
I try to visit them at least once a day to check on their general health and well-being. They are all very content here at the farm.
I always call out to them whenever I drive by… and oftentimes, they answer. And remember, only the males are peacocks. The females are peahens, and both are called peafowl. Babies are peachicks. A family of peafowl is called a bevy. And a group is called an “ostentation” or a “muster.”
Another task is done. Next year's garlic crop is now planted.
Although garlic can be planted in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked, fall planting is recommended for most gardeners. This allows extra time for the bulbs to grow and become more flavorful for the summer harvest. Every year, we plant a big crop of garlic from Keene Garlic, a family owned farm in Wisconsin that sells certified organic and naturally grown gourmet bulbs for both eating and planting. Garlic is great for cooking and very good for your health. It is well known to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and carries many antioxidant properties. Knowing that I also grow the garlic myself makes it even more special.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
It’s always exciting to get a delivery from Keene Garlic filled with bags of fragrant garlic bulbs for my garden. I have been planting Keene Garlic for several years and am always so pleased with their growth and taste. Here are just some of the different varieties we are planting this year.
Each bulb is carefully broken to separate all the cloves. For the best results, plant the largest cloves from each bulb and save the smaller ones for eating.
When planting garlic, look for the largest most robust bulbs. Each bulb contains at least four to six cloves – some even more. Among this year’s varieties – Asian Tempest – Asiatic is very hot when eaten raw and sweet when baked. It tastes rich, garlicky, strong, and robust with easy to peel jumbo cloves.
The German Extra Hardy Porcelain garlic is large-sized and medium flavored. Because of its large root system, this hardneck is extremely hardy and often withstands freezing and thawing cycles when other garlic varieties don’t.
Nootka Rose is known for being a long storing garlic. This type is great baked, roasted, and nicely blended with a variety of dishes.
Ryan prepares the labels. It’s good to keep varieties identified, so favorites can be grown again the following season.
All the variety names are written on white labels and then covered with transparent tape and secured to the markers.
For the preparation process, Ryan gathers fish emulsion, isopropyl alcohol, a strainer and some plastic containers. Fish emulsion is an organic garden fertilizer that’s made from whole fish or parts of fish. It’s easy to find at garden centers or wherever gardening supplies and fertilizers are sold.
Ryan soaks the garlic in isopropyl or rubbing alcohol for about 20-minutes. This helps to sterilize the cloves. If you don’t have alcohol, you can also use hydrogen peroxide or vodka. Then drains.
Next, he creates a solution of fish emulsion…
… and a bit of baking soda and water for each container.
Ryan fills the containers with the baking soda water to ensure all the garlic is covered. This will give the garlic a fertilizer boost and rid them of possible diseases, which could have been carried by the garlic. It also increases the size of the bulb by giving the plant food before putting it to bed for the winter.
The cloves are all left to soak in the baking soda and fish emulsion mixture for at least 30-minutes or up to overnight. Then they are drained and rinsed thoroughly before drying.
Once all the garlic is put through the preparation process, the cloves are returned to their mesh bags for easy transport to the garden bed – this year located in the far southwest corner of my vegetable garden. Extra bulbs were left whole and brought down in case needed.
Josh secures twine to ensure the rows are perfectly straight. This is a guide for all the other rows in the bed. Ryan already determined how many rows would fit in this bed and how many garlic cloves would be planted in each row.
Ryan positions each clove. When planting multiple rows of garlic, be sure the rows are at least one-foot apart.
It is also important to give each clove enough room to grow and develop. They should be planted at least several inches from each other.
The majority of garlic in the US is planted from mid-October through November before the ground freezes.
To make the holes for planting garlic, Josh uses a dibble or a dibber. The T-grip on the dibber allows the planter to apply enough pressure to create a consistent depth for each hole.
Cloves should be at least three inches deep.
Josh gently pushes the clove to the bottom of the hole.
And then backfills with soil.
Josh and Phurba are fast planters. The garlic crop will tolerate some shade but prefers full sun. This garlic will be ready to harvest mid-July to August.
Each marker is placed at the end of the row for easy identification.
Finally the beds are raked and then given and good drink of water and that’s it – we wait until next year to harvest. If you’ve never grown your own garlic, give it a try – it’s so easy and so rewarding. Go to the Keene Garlic web site to learn more!
I always enjoy growing my own plants, but there’s something even more gratifying about rooting and growing them from cuttings.
I love boxwood, Buxus, and have hundreds of shrubs growing on my property. I use boxwood in borders and hedges, as privacy screens, as accent plants in my formal gardens, in my living maze, and of course as part of the long allée to my stable. When I can, I like to grow my own boxwood from cuttings. This process takes time and patience, but seeing them mature is very rewarding. Recently, I received hundreds of young boxwood branches that were ready to root in a cold frame behind my main greenhouse. It will be fun to see them develop.
Enjoy these photos.
I am extremely proud of the growing boxwood around my farm. I designed every border and bed. This garden has both a boxwood hedge and individual shrubs on the terrace outside my Winter House kitchen.
This is a section of my long 450-foot Boxwood Allée. It runs from my stable all the way to the carriage road that leads to my hayfields and woodlands. It is so lush and green. I take very special care of these specimens.
These boxwood shrubs surround my herbaceous peony garden.
This is my sunken Summer House garden – a more formal garden with both English and American boxwood. Boxwood is a very ancient plant. Its ornamental use can be traced back to 4000 BC Egypt. The early Romans favored it in their courtyards. The wood itself is harder than oak and its foliage is dense and compact. Because of its growing habit, boxwood can be sculpted into formal hedges, topiaries, and other fanciful shapes.
In 2017, I decided to line both sides of my clematis pergola with boxwood. There are more than 300-shrubs planted here and they continue to thrive.
This year, I designed and planted a new boxwood garden in this front bed outside my greenhouse.
I received two large boxes of boxwood cuttings. They were delivered to me by my friend and boxwood expert, George Bridge, owner of George Bridge Landscape Design Inc.
This is one of two large cold frames behind my main greenhouse. A cold frame is a transparent-roofed enclosure, built low to the ground that utilizes solar energy and insulation to create a microclimate suitable for growing or overwintering plants. Historically, cold frames were built as greenhouse extensions tucked against the outer walls with southern exposure outside Victorian glasshouses.
I always save nursery containers, so I have a good supply whenever I need them. These have large holes in the bottom for good drainage.
Ryan fills crates with these plastic reusable containers to prevent them from falling over and to keep them tidy in the cold frame.
We use Miracle-Gro® Moisture Control® Potting Mix, which feeds plants for up to six months.
Ryan spreads the potting mix across all the pots to fill and then levels the top and removes any excess.
Ryan then removes any leaves from the bottom two to three inches of each boxwood stem, so they can be placed deep enough into the potting mix.
When preparing the cuttings, make sure to only use healthy stems with no insect damage or discoloration. These cuttings are in excellent condition.
Boxwood is popular for its versatility in the garden, its foliage, and its year-round greenery. Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Boxwood has dark green glossy leaves arranged opposite from each other, making pairs. Leaf shape depends on the variety; some are round while others are elliptical.
Rooting hormones increase the chance of cuttings taking root. It comes in a powder and is easy to find at most garden shops and online.
Ryan rolls the lower end of the cutting in powdered rooting hormone and taps the stem to remove the excess. Then, he sticks the lower end of the cutting into the rooting medium. He presses it firmly just enough to make it stand up straight.
This is just the first batch of cuttings. When complete, this entire cold frame will be filled with growing boxwood. It can take up to three months before roots appear.
Keeping the cuttings here in the cold frame will ensure they get lots of warmth and access to indirect sunlight. They will also be kept moist to encourage growth.
Ryan gives all the newly potted cuttings a good and thorough drink. These cuttings will remain here through the winter and then be transplanted in the outdoor “nursery” garden once they have well-established roots. And in two to three years, they will be beautiful shrubs ready to place in the gardens!
One can tell the cuttings have rooted if there is a slight resistance when gently pulling on the stem, or if new roots or growth can be seen from the bottom of the pot. It will be exciting to see how these look in the new year!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
