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Barrel Hoop MicroFarm |
76f, sunny and breezy
I really don't want to have a thread of entries that start with "Barrel Oops" but if I do I would rather that they are of the sort of the last entry and not of the message of this entry.
Lucy died. She was at the bottom of her pond this morning. The very troubling thing is that I am not sure why she died and am probably even more to blame because of my ignorance. Desi seems OK, but it is hard to tell with fish. I can't even hear them complain as I can with my dog. By the way, yesterday was Chilly's (my dog) 8th birthday!
Now I have heard comedians do routines about just flushing gold fish down the toilet and getting another for their kid, and a lot of people wouldn't be to bothered by the loss. I am very aware of the roll of death in the cycle that supports us all, and that I'd only known this fish for about a day. This doesn't do much for my feeling of failure at stewardship over another life.
No, there won't be a big, or even a little funeral or anything like that. Lucy will probably have a chance to continue on as food for the soil that will allow plants to live and grow and maybe then animals to eat those plants and continue the cycle. What there will be is contemplation on the role I have chosen as steward to other lives.
We have a goal to get and raise chickens, a couple anyway, for eggs, maybe some for eating. I am a bit nervous because of not wanting to have the chickens suffer or perish in the same way as Lucy, because of my ignorance or inattention. Plants seem a bit more hardy than animals. Maybe that is just my perception, but my perception is all I have isn't it. The transferred squash looked wilted and dead in yesterday's heat, but this morning they all had stood up and seemed like they might just make it.
Part of why I chose the Barrel hoop for my symbol of the farm was because it is a circle. A circle of life, can represent a cycle that we are all in. A circle can encompass all that is what we know or are aware of. I have come to believe that the farm is very circular in it's nature, if it is a good farm, or garden. It can be self contained, defined in a circle. There is what is outside of the farm and what is inside. Little need pass in or out of the circle in order for it to function in a healthful manner. The circle also defines the cycle of growth and decay. Balance is a result as well as a barometer. (these ideas I am taking almost directly from Wendell Berry and thusly, from Sir Albert Howard)
The barrel hoops I found, or they found me, and the idea of their place in this place was quickly obvious.
The native americans were said to have put a fish in the ground with every corn seed during planting. I guess I have an idea of where I will bury Lucy.
I love the barrel hoop logo, it seems very fitting :) Sorry to hear about Lucy...you never know, she may have been sickly before she even got to your pond. Fish are hard to keep sometimes. As far as chickens, they seem pretty hardy. The only things I've learned so far is that they need 18 hours of light per day in order to lay eggs (we have lights inside the coop on a timer) and also adequate water, and nice sawdust nests to lay eggs. We feed them corn/grain feed daily, kitchen/garden scraps and they forage for bugs and grass too. We use electric fencing to keep them in a specific area, and move the fence to ensure they have plenty of grass to eat. Other than that, they have shelter to protect them from the elements, and thankfully we don't have to worry about wild animals coming around (not sure if our presence deters them or the electric fence). I'm sure I have plenty more to learn, but those are some basics!
ReplyDeleteWow, I never heard the 18 hrs. of light thing. That is a lot of light and I think in nature they's only get that in the polar regions during summertime:) Maybe this is where the little solar powered garage lights will come into play. It is good that the chickens have protection from the elephants, I mean elements. You have learned allot already Grasshopper!
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