Dino
Last month our feisty six year old rooster Dino died from natural causes. He was an excellent rooster, if a bit ornery, which is just what makes an excellent rooster. He was serious about protecting the ladies from predators of all sorts, often believing that anything or anyone who came close was indeed a potential predator. The wise person never turned her back on Dino. Ask me how I know. We came to respect each other over the years and I miss that surly old guy.
This handsome fellow, a November hatchling, moved in with the much older ladies last week, and was greeted with, well, just a wee bit of ugliness. It seems the ladies were less than impressed with this cockerel at first. Now after about a week of togetherness, they’re tolerating him. I expect they’ll decide he’s alright. The problem is, he hasn’t told us his name! He’s got a sweet temperament so far–friendly and curious. I’m pretty sure he’s a Golden Laced Wyandotte. Here’s where you can help. What should we name him? We’re open to all suggestions and will choose one by March 1st. Winner gets a Granite Springs Farm T-shirt. So all you clever folks, email us your ideas (farm@granitespringsfarm.com), or respond on the Granite Springs Farm Facebook page. And thanks!
UPDATE April 4, 2016:
Sadly, last month this fellow disappeared. We’d like to believe he ran off to join the circus, or went on extended holiday to visit the world’s most famous chicken-y sites. But our best guess is that the little red fox we’ve seen a time or two carried him off to feed her babies. We’re calling him Houdini. Stay tuned for another naming opportunity and contest for this guy’s replacement.
?
At Granite Springs most of our garden plots are green and lush with good stands of various mixtures of cover crops, thanks to the warmer than usual winter (so far), and the (over) abundance of rain. We’ll be finishing our planting schedules this week and will start making soil blocks and doing greenhouse work next week. We’re excited about the new farm year beginning! We’ve got plans to grow all of your old favorites and a few new things as well. This year we’re happy to grow ginger and turmeric again because last year we weren’t able to get any certified clean seed. We’re increasing our plantings of melons and hope to do some pickle-making. We have some new folks on board to help us and are happy that Katie is back from maternity leave and ready to rejoin the crew. We’ve missed her! All this means it’s time to open enrollment for the 2016 CSA! All the info you need to sign up for your share can be found on our 
