Last week we had the first day of harvesting 6 eggs, which means all hens are now laying. But chicken eggs aren't the only eggs in the henhouse. Kuu and Isa, our rescue pigeons, are about to hatch two eggs. The candling photo below was taken 10 days ago. The photo below it was taken at 10:50am PST today... showing the first signs of hatching. Looks like we'll have a baby today!
Pigeon egg at April 21st
Pigeon egg on May 1st - I carefully lifted the egg from the nest this morning, always being sure to keep it oriented in the same direction as it was in the nest. I'd expected the egg to start hatching a couple days ago so I was trying to determine if the egg was still viable today. And there it was... the first pip!
With temperatures in the 80s for the past two weeks, most of our Winter/Spring veggies have bolted. While it's disappointing that the daikon radish, Chinese mustard, and bok choy went so quickly, I'll be glad to save their seeds as they dry on the plant in the coming weeks. I think this year the lesson will have finally sunk in that it's okay to plant seeds in the winter in order to have a full spring harvest. I guess it's not so easy to turn a stubborn Midwesterner into a Californian.
The good news is, the heat means the squashes and melons are off to a strong start...
Baby watermelon
Baby pumpkin
Our first year growing Romanesco zucchini and it's been a strong early producer. Has great star shape when cut, retains a nice texture when cooked, and doesn't seem to get seedy or stringy. The only drawback is the prickly vines.I'd suggest wearing gloves when picking.
Since it's already too hot to grow peas outside, I'm once again using my office as a sprouting room. With LED grow lights casting a purple glow in the cool room, the peas sprout very quickly and are nearly ready to cut. These are one of our favorite veggies and they're hard to find in grocery stores because they don't last long and can be expensive. I bought 1/2 pound bag of Oregon Sugar Pod Snow Peas from Baker Creek specifically for indoor sprouting.
Juvenile alligator lizard in the garden yesterday.