4th week of June 2007
Warm summer days are here again. Good weather for ripening tomatoes and other things like the first cucumber we shared for lunch today. Our daughter also was excited to spot the first sunflower in bloom, one of the many volunteer plants that dot the gardens. 
In preparation for the hollyhock tea party we are putting on for the Dalton Library this week I sent my children out to start making up some examples. They were quite creative in what they used for heads, skirts and even sleeves - everything from poppy heads to onions going to seed and garlic scapes. That is a good lesson for me in learning to look at plants with an eye for shapes and designs that goes beyond their traditional uses. It is also beautiful thing to see children so entertained with natural items and a few toothpicks in our day where plastic toys are so prevalent. One of my goals in doing the hollyhock program is to encourage the children who attend to be more connected with the natural world by learning to create play things from outdoor treasures.
Letting the pastured broilers out of their mobile pen in the mornings is an interesting experience. They flow out quickly and soon are canvassing the whole area for fresh grass and bugs. By afternoon they retreat to the shade and in the evening are out scratching around for more tasty morsels in the pasture. In a few weeks the deep lush green of the grass will be evidence of the path the chicken coop took through the field. Our next batch of broiler chicks should arrive any day and will be under the heat lamps for a few weeks till they are ready to take over the mobile cage and the current broilers will be tucked away in the freezer.
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