The Superfluous Campaign 2009

Exhibit A: Running along sandy ledges until you fall.

Reduced Thermal Activity

For those of you whom are not in Oregon, the Willamette valley has been hit (and is being hit) by one of the gnarliest cold snaps we have seen in a while. Being the filthy, despicable optimist that I am, there are some unforeseen benefits of all this nasty weather. The Jackson-Frazier wetlands, located a few hundred feet behind my place of residence, has turned into a winter wonderland rife with aesthetic ice formations, snow cloaked shrubs and other winter treasures. It is bound to excite even the most amateur photographer. That's right, even me.

With such great beauty comes great inconvenience. No, I don't mean figuring out how to get rid of that annoying guy at the bar. The wintry weather might not allow me to get down to California in time for the Gradek family Christmas party. Let me just say I've never left the chains on this long. As sad as missing family members during the holiday might be, with rumors of ice forming in the Gorge and frozen Mac forest riding on the horizon, I think I'll get by. If this new storm socks us in more than the last, I think most Oregonians aren't going anywhere for a while...'cept for those with tools and crampons.

Love at First Sight

Big Gray

This is Big Gray. She's the boss. Out of our 11 chickens at Shaun's house, she is first in the pecking order, first up in the morning and pretty much is the queen of the coop. She doesn't really have to peck at the other's to assert her dominance, but when that scrap of stale tortilla hits the ground the others know not to be in her way.

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The other day, I observed her doing something curious. I've seen chickens peck at lots of inedible things like... say wood or rocks. But usually they figure it out after a couple of trys. Anyways, Big Gray was plucking the wire that the cylindrical feeder was suspended from. What was strange was that she kept at it, which made the feeder bob back and forth. Then I figured it out. The chickens feed from the rim at the bottom of the feeder. Their voracious appetites eventually exhaust the food supply for the day, but Big Gray has learned to cock her head into the top to see if there is food in the center. Then she expertly shakes the feeder back and forth and jostles the feed out to the edge where she can get it. Birds, as a rule are not said to be very intelligent (Ravens and Jays notwithstanding) but this impressed me.

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Having chickens has been fun and beneficial in a number of ways, besides getting some mighty tasty eggs. Chickens will eat anything. ANYTHING. Have some chips that went stale, or some lettuce that is a little ratty? It's OK, they'll take care of it in matter of minutes. And yes, just because I was curious, I fed them some chicken one day (am I going to hell for that?). They enjoyed the turkey bacon I fed them today as well. I almost never have to throw anything organic away, and the rest can go in the compost pile. The only thing they will not eat, for a reason I can not fathom, are mint leaves.

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With all the leaf litter on the ground in Corvallis this time of year, I figured I'd let the birds handle it. Inside the coop, with their constant scratching and movement, it only takes a few weeks for the leaves to get trampled into a fine duff that will be great organic matter for the garden. On top of that, the chickens deposit one of the finest nitrogen sources around in the leaves. One man's trash is another man's treasure...

Prop 8: This pretty much sums it up for me

A little satire to lighten the mood. Still worried about those ice caps though....

Ice Plants

Ice Plants... a misnomer perhaps? I've seen them growing in So Cal. Anyways, here's a few pictures from a couple of weeks ago during my visit to Stone Lagoon in Redwood National Park.

The Garden is Toast

The onset of raindrops the size of hockey pucks has spelled death for the tomatoes and just about everything else in the garden. The sunflowers are in a decrepit, rotting state, the squash are gone, the eggplant terminated, the sweet peas a distant memory and we even finished off the last of the potatoes the other day. But everything has a flipside. Coming from a farming family means it makes me smile to see the hills get some precipitation and the wetlands and reservoirs swell to their limits. The nights have been hinting at the promise of snow soon (and some fresh "pow pow"). It also makes for some vicious wet roots on the trails... but I digress. As much as the darkness and gray weather gets people down, scraping mud off your face after a ride and watching it hammer outside with a hot cup of tea in hand is just doing it for me right now. Bring on winter.

Below are some of the bounties wrought in warmer times. Our corn sucked this year and the brussel sprouts made aphids drop to their knees at the sight of the promised land. But there can be no denying that Shaun, Carl and I can grow some mean Thai hot peppers.


Our little watermelon plant strove mightily this summer, and despite cool weather and other abuses it produced one basketball sized fruit. We just finished it the other day. So tasty!