As the dismal month of February lurches uncertainly to the uttermost dregs of its nadir, I am pleased to report the faintest stirrings of Spring. Last week we noticed more birdsong, and snowdrops. But if de spring is sprung, and dem boidies is on the wing, then the grass should be riz. Has it?
-
I, Editor by Henry Gee
This is the Nature Network and therefore Terribly Extremely Very Serious foothold for Nature Senior Editor Henry Gee. If you want fun and games, visit http://cromercrox.blogspot.com/
-
Control Experiment
- Date:
- Saturday, 21 Feb ruary 2009 - 14:05 UTC
You’d never know from our garden.
Our Garden, earlier todayOur garden had a lawn – once – that remained intact provided nobody ever walked on it, ever, ever. Let alone started to eat it and/or dig holes in it. In this picture, chickens Bluebell and Lola are enjoying a chookbath in a hole dug by Heidi (foreground) and possibly augmented by Beelzebun Demon Bunny of DOOM (background – really, this is the closest that she should be approached without protective gear, though it’s damn hard getting protective gear on a rabbit, especially from that distance).
The effect our livestock is having on our lawn can be illustrated by the following contol experiment:
This is the second prototype EcoMo™ parked up against a north-facing wall for the winter, inadvertently keeping dogs/chooks/bunnies of DOOM out. Even in this shady spot, you can clearly see that the grass is riz. It hadn’t riz at all a week ago. Methinks I shall have to screen more of the garden from the fauna just to give some of it a chance – and to grow something for the guinea-pigs to eat this summer …
Last updated: Saturday, 21 Feb 2009 - 14:05 UTC
-
Comments
-
It’s rotation what’s you want, squire. (That and an EU subsidy.)
This has been an official communication from the National Union of Farmers. Ooh, arr.
PS Amazed at Heidi’s indifference to the chickens. Goldie would definitely feel it was worth trying to eat them.
The scar from Heidi’s recent tail straightening operation are clearly at odds with the jaunty angle of said appendage. A woman’s restorative work is never done.
Crocus and real grass in Central London, this morning
Oh – looks familiar. Is it in the middle of Piccadilly Crocus?
@ Brian – The chickens were there before Heidi was. She chased them when she was younger, but Beelzeebun Demon Bunny of DOOM soon made it clear that Nobody Chases Her Chickens And Lives.
@Mike – yes, Heidi had to have part of her back shaved and treated for an infection caused by enthusiastic rolling in something very unpleasant. Dogs, eh?
Snow drops in Connecticut, this morning.
You should get your soil analyzed, Henry.
No need. It’s full of nitrogen and organic matter from all the animal refuse, and seething with worms. If you put your ear to the ground you’d think it was Tremors.
Ah – a science fiction motif, and not before time! If you ever get really bored the film spawned (definitely the right word) at least three sequels…
Don’t forget Mr Darwin’s major contribution to our understanding of our earthworm friends…. Could make a major movies in its own right… :-)
Indeed? And what is the ph? Although you would appear to only have the four animals, if your plot is small, you might have to MUCH nitrogen. That would explain why the grass grows, but dies when someone walks on it. Too much nitrogen causes overgrowth of the “green” part of the plant, so that they can’t establish a proper root system. Unrotted chicken manure particularly is often the cause of such burnout. (Two chickens would produce about ninety pounds of manure per year, which be pretty good fertilizer for 200 square feet of ground, providing it was composted or leached into a tea to eliminate some of the extra nitrogen.)