The Birds

I went back to the farm this morning to move the sprinklers to water the corners of the field. The baby plants have to be coddled until they get established; the pumpkins were visibly wilting yesterday afternoon, despite having been hand watered. The drip system is waiting on a part that is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I imagine it will be all set up after Wednesday’s workday.

When I arrived, a flock of guinea hens were pecking at the pepper seedlings. They retreated to the edge of the field, but I don’t know whether the water will keep them off. After getting rather muddier and wetter than I was dressed for, I managed to get the sprinklers functioning to my satisfaction. In the corner of the fence, a peacock was showing off his tail to a peahen. On my way out, I looked in on two hens who have taken up residence in a tall, plastic compost bin. There are two chicks in there that may or may not be eating anything, but certainly cannot get out. Despite my dislike of feral chickens eating the row crops, I felt sorry for the little mites. Without gloves, I don’t want to reach in an face the wrath of the two mamas, so I pulled up some bolting lettuce and put it in with them.

The groundbreaking was on KTVU last night. We were out bidding Mark bon voyage, and watched it at the Cinebar, thanks to the obliging bartender.

Here is the link.

And, to complete a rather disjointed post, here is a rare photo of me at the groundbreaking, or at least a photo of my shoulder. The reporter from the Merc is in the background. I’m keeping an eye out for the story and the audio slideshow.

ETA: And the Mercury slideshow, by Paul Myers, is up. Check it out here.