- Every chick deserves a mother: one man’s crazy dream for how chickens deserve to be raised.
Follow "A Man and His Hoe" via Email
Sections
- About My Chickens (566)
- Cooking-Roasting Tips (18)
- Happiness (128)
- How Things Grow (507)
- Purchasing Chickens (5)
- Raising Chicks (138)
- Recipes (19)
- Reflections (460)
-
Recent Posts
- The Last Freeze April 17, 2021
- Surprises Every Day April 8, 2021
- Cherry Blossom Blizzard April 4, 2021
- Trivial Events Lead to the Spectacular April 1, 2021
- Frosty Cherry Blossoms March 31, 2021
- All Shapes and Sizes March 25, 2021
- What It Looks Like on the Other Side March 22, 2021
- March is Pink and Yellow March 21, 2021
- I Could Watch Clouds All Day March 12, 2021
- Happy and Sad at the Same Time March 5, 2021
- Life is Full of Mystery February 27, 2021
- Walking Through a Poem February 14, 2021
- The Trip Home February 9, 2021
- Pandemic Skies February 3, 2021
- Never a Dry Moment January 30, 2021
- Red Sky at Dawn and Dusk January 20, 2021
- More Marvelous Than Fairy Tales January 18, 2021
- Red Dawn January 14, 2021
- Is It Still Winter? January 12, 2021
- Winter Skies January 4, 2021
- Happy New Year! January 1, 2021
- Stories Untold December 28, 2020
- Blink and You’ve Missed It December 22, 2020
- Chatty Mud Birds December 20, 2020
- Getting the Mail December 10, 2020
- Soothing is Good December 5, 2020
- When Life Returns to Normal, I’ll Miss Blue Skies December 1, 2020
- Blue Skies in November November 21, 2020
- Sunshine Is Just Beyond the Clouds November 17, 2020
- Winter Returns to the Hills November 14, 2020
- A Squirrel’s Fate November 8, 2020
- November at Last November 3, 2020
- November 1 and No Swans November 1, 2020
- First Frost October 23, 2020
- Too Wet to Burn October 18, 2020
- Eyes Wide Shut October 13, 2020
- The End of Flowers October 11, 2020
- 20201010 October 10, 2020
- Am I Growing the Wrong Grapes? October 6, 2020
- Fog and Less Fog October 5, 2020
- First Blush of Fall September 29, 2020
- A Perfect Fall Day September 27, 2020
- Blue Sky to Rain to Shaggy Parasol September 26, 2020
- Six Short Weeks September 24, 2020
- 317 Days for a Miracle September 23, 2020
- We Can Breathe Again September 22, 2020
- You Can’t Help But Be Sad September 13, 2020
- Duck Serenity September 6, 2020
- August is Coming to an End August 28, 2020
- It’s Easier with Another August 21, 2020
Recent Comments
leo green on March is Pink and Yellow amanandhishoe on Happy and Sad at the Same Time SHIRLEY CLIFT on Happy and Sad at the Same Time amanandhishoe on Life is Full of Mystery Kimberly S. on Life is Full of Mystery Archives
- April 2021 (4)
- March 2021 (6)
- February 2021 (4)
- January 2021 (7)
- December 2020 (6)
- November 2020 (6)
- October 2020 (7)
- September 2020 (8)
- August 2020 (7)
- July 2020 (4)
- June 2020 (3)
- May 2020 (4)
- April 2020 (4)
- March 2020 (6)
- February 2020 (5)
- January 2020 (7)
- December 2019 (7)
- November 2019 (4)
- October 2019 (7)
- September 2019 (8)
- August 2019 (6)
- July 2019 (6)
- June 2019 (7)
- May 2019 (5)
- April 2019 (9)
- March 2019 (8)
- February 2019 (13)
- January 2019 (15)
- December 2018 (10)
- November 2018 (9)
- October 2018 (13)
- September 2018 (8)
- August 2018 (9)
- July 2018 (8)
- June 2018 (8)
- May 2018 (8)
- April 2018 (10)
- March 2018 (9)
- February 2018 (8)
- January 2018 (9)
- December 2017 (10)
- November 2017 (10)
- October 2017 (17)
- September 2017 (12)
- August 2017 (11)
- July 2017 (8)
- June 2017 (11)
- May 2017 (10)
- April 2017 (12)
- March 2017 (11)
- February 2017 (11)
- January 2017 (15)
- December 2016 (20)
- November 2016 (15)
- October 2016 (14)
- September 2016 (17)
- August 2016 (20)
- July 2016 (20)
- June 2016 (23)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (19)
- March 2016 (24)
- February 2016 (22)
- January 2016 (24)
- December 2015 (19)
- November 2015 (19)
- October 2015 (24)
- September 2015 (22)
- August 2015 (26)
- July 2015 (26)
- June 2015 (23)
- May 2015 (30)
- April 2015 (35)
- March 2015 (36)
- February 2015 (31)
- January 2015 (35)
- December 2014 (31)
- November 2014 (34)
- October 2014 (37)
- September 2014 (35)
- August 2014 (52)
- July 2014 (54)
- June 2014 (50)
- May 2014 (67)
- April 2014 (55)
- March 2014 (34)
- February 2014 (23)
- January 2014 (33)
- December 2013 (20)
- November 2013 (3)
Monthly Archives: April 2016
The Purple Flamingos are Here. Why Have a Bad Time?
The white wisteria are opening. It’s glorious to be alive. The bees are ecstatic. They live for the wisteria to bloom. If you want bees in your garden, plant wisteria. This morning I read a quote by George Weymouth, conservationist, … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Leave a comment
BFFs?
Seven year old Billy enjoys spring more than winter. An old rooster, sunshine and warmth suit him much more than cold, windy, rainy days. I may be one of the lucky few who have a mob of chickens racing over … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Leave a comment
The Taste of Good Earth
The shallot buds are plump for picking. This is what good earth tastes like, delicious plants springing out of the ground. Garlic shoots are ready for pulling too. They have been growing all winter and are thick and juicy, perfect … Continue reading
Posted in How Things Grow
Leave a comment
Lost and Found … The Treasures of Weeding
My garden has a sneaky way of absconding with my tools. A few days ago, while putting up a trellis for peas and beans, a bed of greens hid a pair of pliers so well, I haven’t found them yet. … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
Leave a comment
All Is Well When …
All is well when potatoes are growing. Potatoes are among the most beautiful of vegetables. I’m surprised city parks don’t plant beds of potatoes. Not only would the plants grace the parks with beauty and flowers, at the end of … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
Leave a comment
Don’t Forget to Smell the Lilacs
The summer-like weather has the lilacs in full bloom. It’s impossible not to smell them. The slightest breeze, and their heavenly scent floats inside. In a few weeks they will be gone until next year. Now is the time to … Continue reading
Posted in Happiness
Leave a comment
To the Dearest of Friends
Here lie the dearest of friends. We buried our dear BB along with the ashes of his brother, Echo, on Monday, by the garden gate, a place they often sat, waiting for us to return when we went away. The … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
6 Comments
Maybe the Rapture Happened During the Night
Bicycling home from the Bow Post Office this morning, I came across this mysterious sight on the climb up Bow Hill. A rock, a pair of boots, and a half-drunk latte. The boots and latte cup were laid too neatly … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
Leave a comment
Mouth Wide Open
All looks calm and peaceful with the peonies’ mouths wide open. But along the edge of the pond the struggle for life and death plays out. A garden snake has caught a fish. It’s an effort for the snake to … Continue reading
Posted in How Things Grow
Leave a comment
Spread My Wings And …
I don’t have wings like a chicken, but even I can see how good it must feel to spread your wings in the bright, warm sun. Sunbathing is a favorite pastime of chickens. They twist themselves into humorous contortions as … Continue reading
Sounds of Spring
A fortuitous combination of country road crews and rain has created a slender garden of cascading mountain streams along Bow Hill Road. Take a few steps away from busy Bow Hill Road and you enter the calming world of a … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
Leave a comment
A Few of the Wonders Today
The news on the radio, internet, and TV, is so dismal, it’s a wonder the world doesn’t stop spinning and just give up. And yet, every minute of every day, there are wonders to enjoy. The magenta screen have sprouted … Continue reading
Posted in How Things Grow
Leave a comment
How Do Your Vegetables Bloom?
I will never need to buy rubystreak seeds again. A row of rubystreaks I let grow through the winter are in full bloom. One row will produce enough seeds to last a lifetime. An eyeopener of growing vegetables is seeing … Continue reading
Posted in How Things Grow
Leave a comment
Spring Snow for the Pond
After a snowless winter, falling cherry blossoms on the pond are the most snow the pond will see. It’s been a few years since the pond has frozen over, let alone be covered by a blanket of deep snow. Does … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
Leave a comment
Smile Time
Any day the mountain is out is a good day. When it is out, pedaling down into the valley to get the mail or deliver eggs, is smile time. The salmon berries are fruiting. They should be called clown berries … Continue reading
Posted in Happiness
Leave a comment
Before You Can Eat an Apple
Before you can eat an apple, it has to bloom. That delicious apple that goes crunch inside your mouth was once a beautiful flower, dancing in the spring air, and getting tickled by buzzing bees. Apple blossoms have a delicate, … Continue reading
Posted in How Things Grow
Leave a comment
5,000,000 Flowers
This is what five million dandelions look like. I pass this meadow on the way home from the post office. It’s about four acres or 174,240 square feet. There are about 30 dandelion flowers per square foot. Multiply 174,240 by … Continue reading
A Whole Meal in One Worm
Hey! How’s this for an earthworm? The chickens would go crazy if they found it. It would be smorgasbord time. The overnight rain brought this large earthworm out of the ground. There are snakes smaller than this earthworm. You can … Continue reading
Posted in How Things Grow
Leave a comment
Fog to Sun
All it takes to transform the place to a hideaway high in the mountains is for the fog to roll in. BB enjoys a walk as the fog starts to lift. In the afternoon, with the sun out, and the … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections
Leave a comment
