Spring Time On The Island
Greetings from the island everyone. I hope that all of you are doing well and enjoying this nice Spring weather. Spring is my favorite time of the year on the island, when the little field flowers start to bloom and give the island a little color. The green wild pea bushes start leafing out and display their little yellow flowers, and even the cactus start budding out and give some color. I also love sitting out on the porch and watching the little hummingbirds come to the feeders, and seeing the different beautifully colored migrating birds as they stop over during their journey north.
Of course Spring is also the time of year that my tomato plants started from seed are 5-6 weeks old and ready to be planted in the raised beds and large tubs, which I just recently did. I’m trying my usual favorites this year, Big Zac, Steakhouse and the delicious Sun Gold cherry size, and also three new varieties, Bumblebee Pink, Red Deuce and Bodacious. The advantage of starting from seeds is that your variety selection is so much greater than being at the mercy of whatever the nurseries or stores have as started plants. True, it’s a little more involved and a learning process in the beginning, but the satisfaction of eating a delicious homegrown tomato that you started yourself from a tiny seed, is very rewarding and satisfying.
The one negative aspect of the Spring season on the island is the emergence of rattlesnakes, the only poisonous snake I’ve ever seen on the island. The months of March-June brings the most sightings, by far, of those deadly slithering serpents. The sunny warmer days bring them out to warm up in order to maintain their body temperature since they are cold-blooded. It has to become a matter of habit out here on the island, especially during the Spring months, to really pay close attention where you walk or reach for with your hands. Yes, I am well aware that snakes have a place in our ecosystem, and I have no problem whatsoever leaving alone all non-poisonous snakes out here, but I’ve gotta draw the line towards those that are capable of severely hurting or killing myself or my pets. It’s simply not gonna happen.
The chickens, ducks and guineas are all doing just fine. This is actually the longest period of time, 4 years, that I have kept the same batch of chickens without replacing them with new baby chicks. I’m doing so because they are still laying very well since Spring arrived, averaging 7-10 eggs a day from 14 older chickens. I believe that feeding them a high 20% protein Ful-O-Pep laying pellet feed these past years has really made a difference. Plus every evening I let all of the fowl out to roam the yard for bugs and stuff. Happy island chickens.
Well, that’s it from the island for now, everyone take care and think about growing a few tomatoes, you will be so glad that you did!
