GUINEA SCORE.
The goal was to buy more guineas. We like what they do to the tick population around the house and, admittedly, we like their meat. The noise we could do without, but as we've said several times before, there are no perfect creatures, only perfect systems. And our system needs more guineas, loud or not, to be perfect.So we decided to go to the Amish auction in Scottsville, Ky. This is a wildly popular event. People come from all around the country. But auctions are also intense places. It's hard not to buy all the random rabbits, fowl and miniature livestock available. On several occasions we found ourselves itching to bid on rabbits. But we've made a deal with ourselves this year: any animals we decide to get, we have to be ready for first. So we waited impatiently for some guineas to come up.And finally, after twenty or so lots, they did. We didn't want to spend more than $25 on a bird, and when the auctioneer began at $15, several people jumped in, as did we. It was three one year old guineas—two hens and one cock. Exactly what we wanted. But when the bidding ended at $22.55, I was a little surprised to see everyone else back off. We had won. We had won three guineas for less than what I had expected to pay per grown bird!But if you've been to an auction like this before, you know what a newbie assumption we'd made. Because the biding is per item, I learned in the check out line, not per lot. Oh well, we'd still paid less than we'd wanted to per bird. I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed, but not nearly as much as the guy in front of me who thought he had just scored twelve Tennessee Quail for $10. That's a lesson you don't learn twice.Of course, when we got home we kept them penned for a couple days before letting them out with our other guinea who seemed uncharacteristically excited. We were, however, a little dismayed when they promptly flew off into the woods.They are still (as of now) hanging around the property, living in an old barn. But so long as they eat ticks around our woods, they can live wherever they want. Rough Draft Farmstead, indeed.- Jesse.
GUINEA UPDATE.
Our guineas are growing! They are getting so big (and so LOUD). We are hoping soon to start letting them free-range - right now, they are in a portable coop that we move several times a day. We tried letting them loose last week, but the dummies did not come back to roost - choosing to sleep on the GROUND in a big pile in the woods. Knowing they would be promptly eaten, we put them back inside their coop for a bit longer, trying to get them used to roosting there.Any ideas? Should we just let them out and hope for the best? Or wait a big longer for them to get acclimated to their little perch in the coop? We are eager for them to be FREE and start eating all of our ticks!- Hannah.
CLEARING.
In order to build a cabin, or really to walk onto our land, Hannah and I had to clear a great deal of honeysuckle and rosebush, saplings and briars. Most of this activity, however, took place in the fall when much of the life was dormant, hidden from sight or on vacation. Now however, as the clearing continues, we've become INTIMATELY aware of the life—of the ecosystem within which we are working. Our bodies are blistered with poison ivy. Our hands are constantly lifting our shirts and waste bands in search of ticks (all too successfully). We uncover nests and holes, scare up snakes, poke toads and flush out rabbits. And there is something both tragic and wonderful about this element of "reclaiming" the land. We have no choice but to be sensitive to the environment during our work (it bites back), and it feels a lot more gentle to go about it this way—by hand—than with the giant machinery our poor skin wishes we were using. And in the end, we feel the land will be grateful, fruitful and full of life, just the way we like it. We'll hire some fowl to control the ticks, and hopefully some small livestock —a milk goat perhaps— to help remedy our poison ivy problem. The last thing we want to do is remove the life. And by working slowly, utilizing life to create a tolerable balance, we believe we won't just preserve the life at was there, but hopefully grow it a bit.
- Jesse.
