[Ag-eq] Tomatoes and Chickens

Sat Apr 27 05:04:03 UTC 2013

Susan:

A tomato eating contest sounds messy!  I wonder if they eat small or large
tomatoes.

Nella
Quoting Susan Roe <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net>:

> Hi Nella:
>
> The Hanover Tomato Festival started at our local fire department about 36
> years ago and has outgrown our little community to where the county has
> taken it over and our fire department receives donations.
>
> They will have about 100 venders that will sell tomatoes and other
> vegetables, food venders, crafts, commerse businesses promoting their
> services, political parties, a kid's area and displays and demenstrations
> from the county's fire departments, rescue squads and sherif's department.
> They will have groups representing different historical groups and areas and
> believe it or not, even our own Richmond paranormal group has a booth where
> they sell books and invite people to check out their web site.  There is
> also a Little Miss Tomato contest and a Miss Tomato contest.  They also do
> several different tomato judging, tomato eating contests and even a pumpkin
> chunking contest.  It lasts from about 9:00 to about 5:00, rain or shine.
> In our younger years, we had to help work several booths because our dad was
> the local fire chief for about 15 years.  It is always the first weekend
> after the 4th of July and normally hot and humid as you know what!  Some
> years have been better than others and we try and go every couple of years,
> avoiding years when the heat is just way too much for me to handle.  They
> provide little seating and no shady areas.
>
> I liked it much better when everything was located at our fire department
> which was only 1/2 mile from our house.  Before I lost my sight, my sister
> and I even road in the parade on our horses, Beau and Princess.
>
> It is not unusual to find a hen dead like that.  One problem hens will have
> and it can kill them is to be egg bound where she can't lay an overly large
> egg or an egg brakes inside her before she can lay it.
>
> Susan
> dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <nfoster at extremezone.com>
> To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 6:32 AM
> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] garden, chicks, horses
>
>
> >
> > Susan:
> >
> > What all happens at the tomato festival?
> >
> > Yes, the chicks are getting quite curious.  They swarm me when I come in
> > to feed
> > and I'm very careful not to step on them.
> >
> > Yesterday when I went in to refill the water in the big hens run, I found
> > my
> > Golden Comet dead.  I think she was 4 years old and I don't think she had
> > been
> > laying much.  She seemed fine Wednesday evening when I fed, so I don't
> > know
> > what happened.
> >
> > The broody hen is still sitting on the nestand fluffs up real big when I
> > reach
> > in to get the eggs.  Yesterday she even tried to peck me.  I thought she
> > wasn't
> > laying, but there were 4 eggs yesterday, so I guess she did.
> >
> > The girls have 3 nice nest boxes up in the coop, but 1 likes to lay her
> > eggs in
> > the corner underneath.  The other all prefer the same nest box.  More than
> > once
> > I've found 2 hens in the nest box at the same time.
> >
> > Who knows what's going through their little chicken brains!
> >
> > Nella
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Quoting Susan Roe <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net>:
> >
> >> Hi Nella,
> >>
> >> Your tomatoes are far ahead of anything around here.  Even the commercial
> >> growers don't have plants in the ground yet.  Our tomatoes don't ripen
> >> until
> >> early July.  That is when we have our anual Hanover Tomato Festival!
> >>
> >> Your chicks are at a real fun age.  You can go in their run, sit on their
> >> crate if it is not too poopie (LOL) and they will be all over you
> >> checking
> >> you out.  When my second flock of black austrolorps from Austrailia were
> >> about that age, I had 15 hens, they just walked all over me.  I would
> >> have
> >> to be careful not to step on any of them because I always seemed to have
> >> 2
> >> or 3 on my shoes after my shoe strings.  "Oh boy, big fat white worms!"
> >> They would even run up the latters to the outdoor perches and try and
> >> stand
> >> on my arm holding their scratch bucket up.  You will see them quickly
> >> develop their own personalities from here on.
> >>
> >> Your older hen that wants to set her eggs is what we call a broody hen.
> >> This is very common whether you have a rooster or not.  She'll snap out
> >> of
> >> it and not be such a fussy layer.  Sometimes I think those hens are
> >> trying
> >> to glue their bottoms on top of the eggs.  I have found that sometimes
> >> scooting up under their bottoms from the back end makes it easier to sort
> >> of
> >> tip them forward and scoop up the eggs from between their feet.  That
> >> coop
> >> has hen box access from the back of their hen boxes and you do not have
> >> to
> >> go inside their coop.  Of course this does not help when you have a hen
> >> or 2
> >> that insist on laying on the floor in the corner under all the nest
> >> boxes.
> >>
> >> Susan
> >> dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: <nfoster at extremezone.com>
> >> To: <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> >> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 10:26 PM
> >> Subject: [Ag-eq] garden, chicks, horses
> >>
> >>
> >> Yesterday while watering my cherry  tomato plants I found several tiny
> >> green
> >> tomatoes. The rest of the plants are growing and look healthy.  I'm
> >> always
> >> so
> >> excited about the progress in the garden.
> >>
> >> The little chicks are now 7 weeks old and no longer little.  They are
> >> growing as
> >> fast as weeds!  They have their own 6 by 12 dog run to chicken around in.
> >> They
> >> also have a big wooden crate, which they like to get on top of.
> >>
> >> One of the big hens has decided that she wants to hatch out some eggs.
> >> She
> >> sits
> >> in the nest box most of the time and complains when I gather the eggs.
> >> We
> >> no
> >> longer have a rooster, so she's wasting her time!  I wonder how long she
> >> will
> >> keep this up?
> >>
> >> On Sunday I rode Cruiser in a 3 hour, horse and rider communication
> >> clinic.
> >> I
> >> was really nervous because there were more people than I like in the
> >> arena.
> >> Horses and riders kept stopping in front of us and I was worried that we
> >> would
> >> get kicked.  Cruiser wasn't relaxed because I wasn't relaxed.  The
> >> instructor
> >> spent a lot of time yelling at us; she's known me for a long time and has
> >> no
> >> problems pushing me when I'm being wimpy.  Half way through I relaxed and
> >> everything got better.  We spent a lot of time practicing smooth turns at
> >> different speeds and transitioning between gaits.
> >>
> >> One of the horses in the clinic was an 18.1 hand warm blood.  He is
> >> probably
> >> the
> >> biggest horse I've ever seen.  His owner had to use the mounting block
> >> with
> >> 3
> >> steps instead of the 2 step one.  I was so worried about him kicking us,
> >> but
> >> he
> >> seemed like a big sweetie.  There were also 2 Tennessee Walkers, a
> >> Quarter
> >> Horse
> >> and a Thoroughbred.
> >>
> >> As usual I loved Cruiser even more by the end of the clinic.  He has come
> >> so
> >> far
> >> in the 2 years that Mike and I have owned him.  He would be an even
> >> better
> >> horse
> >> if I were a more confident rider, but we are learning and becoming more
> >> confident together.
> >>
> >> Well I got all the electric fence up, with the help of my wonderful
> >> neighbor.
> >> Monty hasn't been out of the yard since the installation.  Yesterday I
> >> walked
> >> down the street and he stayed in the yard; usually this is more than he
> >> can
> >> handle.  I will try it again tomorrow.  On Friday we will start obedience
> >> classes.  Hopefully Monty can be turned into a law abiding citizen!
> >>
> >> What is everyone else up to?
> >>
> >> Nella
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >
> >
> >
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