February 15, 2020

Today we lost Princess, aka Louie’s Chicken. We called her Louie’s Chicken because every evening she would make her way to Louie’s stall and roost in the corner feed bucket, spending the night there as he looked after her. Sometimes, before she settled into the corner bucket, she would perch on its rim and begin clucking and squawking at poor old Lou, as if she wasn’t happy with him for some reason. Louie would just lower his big old head and tilt it so that he could see her with his one good eye, then look at her sympathetically as if he was saying he was sorry for whatever it was that upset her.

I don’t understand everything about how animals connect, but I know that there was a strong, special bond between the two. It is very unusual for a chicken to leave its flock to roost alone, and especially on cold, below freezing nights, when they are known to huddle for warmth. Yet Princess would go off alone to be with Lou.  There was something intuitive that only they could know, and that we could only observe. I think somehow, they comforted each other, and in ways I will never begin to understand, they looked after each other. In the end, it was just two good souls that understood each other.

When Louie passed, Princess integrated herself back into the flock. I never saw her again in Louie’s stall- neither to roost nor to scratch around looking for bugs. I never even saw her passing through. I don’t think she could go back because she never did. 

Through last summer Princess had bouts when we thought that we would lose her, but she seemed to bounce back. Unfortunately, this time she didn’t. We did our best when she fell ill again, but it was her time, and none of us had a say.

I can’t help to think that tonight, she is perched on the rim of some cloud beside Lou, and she is giving him a piece of her mind. I bet they both sleep well tonight, and sleep happily as two good souls do.

January 6, 2020

Today Pat’s “therapy vet” came out to evaluate him and give him a chiropractic treatment followed by an acupuncture session as part of his ongoing treatment plan for DSLD. We do these every 8-10 weeks to help his body stay aligned, and to re balance and strengthen his life energy, or Qi, so that his body can continue to fight any advance of DSLD. The other parts of his treatment plan include diet and nutrition, natural food supplements, regular feet trimming, western treatments for his Cushings Disease, and plenty of love and attention (spoiling).

We have been doing chiropractic sessions for four years now, and early in 2019 we added acupuncture. The therapy vet has used different methods of acupuncture on Pat which has included dry needling, B-12 injections, and laser. She decides which method she wants to use based on her evaluation, experience, and Pat’s physical and mental presentation. 

Today our therapy vet used dry needles on the acupoints. Pat doesn’t mind the needles – he stands still as each acupoint is accessed. He does get a bit bored standing in place for the twenty minutes or so that is commonly suggested for the needles to best stimulate his Qi. Pat would rather be out nipping at Zippy, or better yet, grazing peacefully in the pasture. Nonetheless, he is a good sport and endures the needle time without too much fuss. I know he understands we are helping him, and does his best.

I will admit that while I do see a difference in Pat after a chiropractic session – he moves more freely – I am not yet sure if I see added energy after an acupuncture treatment. Sometimes it seems to be giving him a boost, but like any type of complimentary treatment, it’s not always glaringly evident. 

Because there is no “western” cure for DSLD, we have followed a mostly holistic path, with the hope to keep him as comfortable as possible, and that these treatments might help to fend off a rapid advance of the disease. Pat was diagnosed with DSLD in early January 2015, and five years later, balancing good periods with the bad, he seems to be doing ok.  Unfortunately, with DSLD, one can never know or predict when the time will come – we can only hope it’s not soon.  

Note- "Therapy Vet" is my term for a veterinarian who specializes in holistic, non pharmaceutical, practices, but is not against western medicine altogether. Pat is seen by this veterinarian and another veterinarian who practices the more traditional "western" methods. Although one would think that holistic and western practices are at complete odds with each other, both our veterinarians work closely together and complement each other so that Pat is getting the best from both approaches. Both believe in, and embrace, the benefits of these philosophies and have fit them seamlessly into a long term treatment plan for Pat. We are lucky to have both of these dedicated professionals on Pat's side.

December 29, 2019

After all these years of growing garlic, I still get excited when the first bud comes through the soil and begins reaching for the winter sunlight. I always look forward to having bulbs and scapes, as well as growing the garlic itself.

It's fun to start out with but a handful of cloves and finish with bundles of bulbs hanging from the rafters. It’s a process that involves all four seasons - spring for growth, summer for the scapes and bulbs, late summer and fall for drying, and finally, winter for separating and planting. I have always liked how garlic comes full circle.

From the time the first bud appears until the plant is harvested, it’s really hard to know how the bulb will be – small with thin cloves or huge and fleshy. Many times, the success of the stalks and leaves do not tell the story, so it's a wait and see, although if ones follows a few common “how to’s”, the anticipation is usually rewarded.

Garlic is simple. It doesn’t like to have wet feet- neither too much water or a soil that is slow to drain, or a bit of both. Garlic doesn’t like competition – it needs to be spaced properly when planted and kept weeded. It needs fertilized, which is especially important in the spring when it comes out of the winter. When the scapes begin to form, they need to be removed before the plant transfers it energy to the flower. By removing the scapes, the energy is redirected back to the bulb.

The best part of growing garlic is that the entire plant can be used. We are all familiar with using garlic cloves, which is why we grow it in the first place. Scapes – my favorite - which have a tangy garlic taste, can be eaten alone, fried, baked, chopped, added to any dish, made into pesto, etc. The leaves and stalks, when dried, can be fed to wildlife and livestock. We feed these to our goats, who go crazy for them. Some goat people swear garlic and the garlic plant are a natural wormer. The bottom line is, there is nothing wasted for the effort of growing garlic.

It was just a few weeks ago that I separated out the cloves from a few of last summer’s bulbs and planted them in the hoop house. It didn’t take long for the magic to begin!