Vintage Home and Farm

We have a white Leghorn hen who flies out of the coop every morning, walks to the front of the house, climbs up into the flowerbed by our front door, and lays her egg. Below, she has arrived from the backyard coop. Next, she jumps up into the flowerbed to the place she has chosen. She then crawls partway under the leaves of the irises to her slightly hidden spot. She fluffs the small pile of hay that I put there for her after we had discovered that this is where she is laying her eggs. I figured if she is going to lay eggs there, she might as well have a decent nest. She nestles down into a comfortable position. A while later, she leaves, and there is her egg in the nest. She returns to the coop and flies back in. We would have never known this was going on, except that there were not very many eggs in the coop, and I suspected that eggs were being laid elsewhere. I had been on the lookout for eggs for some time. Then, the other day, Paul spotted three eggs in this flowerbed nest. Aha!...

About a month ago, our little family farm applied to become a Certified Wildlife Habitat through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. We're so pleased to announce that the farm has been accepted, and we've since received a sign to hang outside.  By doing this, we are committing to following guidelines for improving the habitat on our farm and helping nature thrive. We started in that direction simply because we love nature and are excited to see so many pollinators, birds, and wild animals on and around the farm.  A recent purchase to help with this effort was a birdbath for the front yard. It took a few days for the birds to start using it. The most unusual birds to use it so far were crows. I wish I had my phone at the time so I could take pictures of them, as it was funny to see those giant birds splashing around and drinking from it. We've also had success this year feeding the hummingbirds. There are so many hummers around here right now. They are enjoying a...