tomatoes...

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's been awhile... one tip: do not take a vacation in the middle of September if you are growing most of your own veggies! We had sooo much catching up to do, for a while I was canning multiple loads nearly every day. Didn't need the heater on though :-)

The ducks that hatched during our trip are all doing very well, they now live in our "swimming pool" in the back yard and have a little house with a heat lamp to help with the cold, cold nights. They started feathering out and it seems like they are all completely white... which is too bad, I was hoping for at least one black and white duck!

The cayuga duck eggs in the incubator did not make it, the incubator ran dry during our vacation. I had installed an automatic turner to help ease the pet sitter, but did not think to remind her to still check the water level... that sucked, but hopefully my friend will trust me with another dozen come spring! And I did locate a good source for mixed breed duck eggs (including appleyard) for a very reasonable price at Daring Drake Farm, one of the Ithaca Farmers Market ag vendors.


Something real interesting I saw at the Farmers Market was this perfect tomato with a perfect monarch butterfly cocoon attached to it's side! Real strange, and what a beautiful colors in that cocoon - it's almost like Chinese art with the subtle gold touches...