Well, the duck and chicken eggs proved to be too much for my little broody hen. Other chickens kept laying eggs in her clutch while she was out eating, and eventually it became too much for her little body to effectively set upon. Clearly I need to facilitate the process with a separate enclosure for the broody hens (if I ever have any more).
Meanwhile, I've set up the incubator again in my second attempt to hatch chicks without a hen. Keeping the temperature within an acceptable range to promote growth has been a trick, but after a week, veins and hearts can be seen by candling the eggs. With any luck, we'll have some young pullets ready for slaughter by fall (finally some tender chicken).
Egg sales have been slow, but we do have a few regular customers. We sold a bunch during the weekend of the Caribou City Wide Yard Sale, along with two large coolers full of fiddleheads (we picked more fiddleheads than we could can, so we sold the surplus cheap just to get rid of them).
Most of the vegetables I planted this year are growing. Some are doing better than others. I learned (after I planted) that lime is required to get a good crop of peas. Needless to say, we're not going to have too many peas this year. However, the string beans, corn, and cucumbers are doing quite well. Lettuce and spinach should have been started indoors and are not doing so well. Tomatoes seem to be doing fine. We bought them started from Phil's Florist in Caribou and they've already blossomed.
We do have a few unplanned crops in our garden this year. I found some onions discarded at the wood pile at the local landfill (I know). Some of them seem to be doing well in their new home. We bought two basil plants at a local greenhouse just a couple miles down the road from us. We've already enjoyed some of those in a tomato and basil pizza that Kim makes (yum!). We have also acquired a rhubarb plant from Kim's parents. It's producing small and very sour (and very delicious) stalks right now. I'm hoping for a nice big bush of it in a few years.
