Well as a man with direction, surely I couldn’t install a chicken perch without aligning it to the four directions of Earth… but which direction will The Peddler travel?
Here is a jump start of the various courses to follow right here at The Garden Peddler’s Homestead…
The original sign still hangs in the garage… “Home of Ethel, Gerome and Cocksy” – yes that’s probably where it all began.. Those were our first chicks. And YES, we named them. As we began writing our book, “Pollo Loco” (still seeking a publisher), it became clear that rearing our chickens was going to create a bit of a learning curve. Not a terribly steep one, of course but there were going to be things to learn.
Lesson One: Within this flock mentality, an injured bird is destined to be returned to its maker. So what form might an injury arise? Well for starters, chickens are attracted to the color red. Not blue… not green… RED. So home comes innocent and pure three week old Gerome, a young cocky cockerel and I said to Amy, “you know I’ve seen videos where they die the chickens colors.” What a great idea… I want tie-die chickens! Well don’t you know that the red die landed directly on Gerome’s head. And wouldn’t you know within moments the other chicks were ready to bash his head in… the cranium of which was probably still soft for goodness sake. Frantically, we foundd ourselves with the chicken under the sink to remove the food coloring from its head before its brain was mashed.. Gerome survived, but this was not the last time he would be separated from the flock for injuries!
So chickens were the first addition to the Homestead. And there are many more lessons to unfold as the months and years carry on… but there were other things to accomplish here at the ranch. I quickly carved out my first garden and began planning what tasty treats we would put in the dirt. Among our favorites last year was the lettuce, cucumbers (for pickling), tomatoes of course and a loganberry (cross between a black and raspberry). I think my absolute favorite was the Habanero tree. More or less like a small Christmas tree covered in dozens of bright orange ornaments. This year, the garden expanded to include fruit trees, blueberries, Brussels sprouts and more… It is in this garden that the beehive has taken home…
THE BEE HIVE… this is another exciting thing arriving this year. Part of the new garden has been designated to many kinds of flowers for our winged friends. You can see one of my YouTube Videos of the arrival of the hive here.
Yet another attraction here at The Peddlers Homestead is the reconstitution of about a dozen grape vines that were discovered around the property. They are roughly 30-50 years old and have been neglected for at least a decade but they are alive! I have trimmed them back and I will keep our followers up to date as to their inevitable triumph over neglect.
I will draw this post to an end with perhaps the most exciting thing going on around here. Through my explorations and networking I have discovered and quickly embraced a company called California Vermiculture. You can find links to their info around the website but this will be a major factor in The Peddler’s development. I have become the ONLY distributor of Cali Verm’s products in New Jersey. Thats right, you can’t even find it here in NJ except what will soon be flying out of our own barn this season.
As you can see, we have our hands full here at The Garden Peddler Homestead! I will continue to keep everyone updated to the antics and I hope to become a valuable resource for all those who would just rather be digging a hole in the back yard…
Until then…
Cluck on with your bad self…