Something I’m pleased about was finding little white root nubs starting on my willow saplings when I changed out the water this week. They say we can’t plant them until the rains have come to stay, which won’t be until October or November.
The Spanish word for willow is spelled “sauce,” but it’s said more like Sah-oo-say. The word for pine trees is pino, which is easier to remember.
The vet told me the other day that I ought to plant more trees on the farm to offer shade for the animals. I told him about my sapling project. He said the pine trees won’t root. I’d read they have trouble rooting, but with some care, they can.
So I’m taking the water from the willows and giving it to the pine saplings. Willows release a component that promotes root growth. With that in the water, I’m looking for roots from the pines, too.
In other growth news, the eggs have only one week left until the hatch date. The duck eggs are showing growth. I can’t candle the chicken eggs because the shells are too thick and dark. I have to keep the incubator under a blanket at night because of how low the house temperature drops. So far, the temperature alarm went off only once, but it was a short spell.
I’m looking forward to raising my own chicks, assuming they make it. I’m trying not to count them before they hatch, ya know.
Could someone bring fertilized chicken eggs in a suitcase from the States? Is that permissable? Or viable? I’d love to have a flock of Buff Orpingtons and/or Buff Chochins. Pretty well everything I can find here are not purebred anything. Is there such a thing as a mutt chicken? Would that be mutton?
Juan David 