The Daily Adventures of Lavender

[Farmgirl283420]

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while, but life has been crazy. That being said, I have more stories to share! Some of the late infamous Lavender and some of her feathered and furry friends! So please, find yourself a nice cup of tea and stroll down memory lane with me as we once again delve into the adventures of Lavender and Friends


DIY Salad:

I'm sure we've all taken a hand at gardening at least once in our lives. My family loves fresh veggies, and since we had already started with chickens the thought came in: "Why not grow our own vegetables?" This being said, we visited our not-so-local nursery about 3hrs away and picked out $200- (yes, you read that right) worth of seedlings. Including 20+ kale plants and some strawberries. Well, now that we had obtained the plants, all that needed to be done was break the dry clay ground we had been cursed with . No problemo! My brother and I spent two back breaking days singing the dwarves marching song from Snow White while swinging hoes and dreaming about how delicious the fresh veggies would taste. As I laid all the little plants out and individually dug tiny holes to plant them in, Lavender stopped by to see what all the excitement was about. She'd been monitoring us from her perch a-top the goose's water bucket, simultaneously "flavoring" his water and curiously scrutinizing our every move and off-tune pitch. She watched me dig for a few minutes then decided to help- surely the human wanted freshly manured dirt thrown in her face, right? Oh wait- a worm. Yummy. After about five minutes of this, Lavi was bored and suddenly noticed the lusciously green seedlings I had beside me and ever-so-conspicuously made her way around and- snap! Ate half of an entire kale plant "Lavender! No!" Cried I as the offender was unceremoniously shooed away and the mutilated sprout quickly tended to. Lavender began staring at me with a mischievous look in her eyes that I new well, and so I was able to ward off an imminently impending attack on the rest of the seedlings by carrying her back to the rest of the flock. That was that. Or so I thought... over the next few days Lavender led multiple assaults on the freshly planted patch of greens. No fence or barrier, no matter how high or how sturdy was able to deter her. Honestly, I should've just invested in a brick wall. (Even then she'd probably fly to the top and down again to get the coveted kale). By the end of the season, my kale stalks were just that, kale stalks. Some, with pitiful mangled bits of leaves hanging on. My chickens on the other hand, were looking very pleased and plump.... with green tipped beaks.
The following season, having managed by nothing short of a miracle to prevent the hoard from consuming the newly sprouting leaves, I began to notice little holes appearing on the kale. Such dainty holes could never be created by a chicken- especially one in Lavender's company. Turns out, we had cabbageworms, and with no successful homeremedies, I reopened the kale patch to the girls- desperate to be rid of the accursed green invertebrates. But lo and behold, the flock suddenly decided they've had their fill of veggies and would not even venture near the now-not-so-green patch. They would, however, quickly gobble up any and all cabbageworms that were offered to them by human hands. Why pick them ourselves when the humans will do it for us? Long story short, in the entire year of the kale's existence, our family has only ever enjoyed one meal made from those kale leaves... and they were suspiciously hole-y.

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(Lavender "helping" dig the garden-bed^)

I love that story!!! Hahaha!!!