Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

Both front and back bluebird houses are again occupied by expectant  
mothers. The males sit on high branches keeping watch, ready to chase  
off all who might endanger the nursery, no matter the size of the  
intruder. I love bluebirds: beautiful, loving, non-aggressive, and  
they eat bugs. These houses are mounted on metal pipe posts, something  
I did to avoid again watching chipmunks steal baby birds with  
distraught parents unable to stop them--this happened to a nest in a  
fence post. These two houses have now been in use for longer than I  
recall. I clean them out each fall and a new pair fills them up each  
spring.

The Starkrimson Cherry is in almost full bloom but the Balaton has no  
flowers yet.

Successfully bounced across the stream for the first time since  
arrival last Wednesday. Bought fresh veggies, seeds and a cattle  
panel, with which to build a beaver stop. Planted four kinds of  
lettuce and one spinach and set out one tomato. Rain tomorrow will set  
the seeds against soil.