Two more hatchlings arrived tonight...well, one is still struggling with a thick shell. I am waiting close by.
The first of these two is boldly making friends with the older chicks. Do I detect a moment of hesitation in that backward glance? I am impressed by how quickly guinea chicks accept new arrivals. The chickens were not as tolerant.

Aoi would love a guinea snack...we try to keep him amused and distracted...and away from the room with the brooder.

The hard work of hatching is over for this baby guinea.
I was tired out just watching the struggle. Those shells are very hard and thick compared to chicken eggs.

Here are 2 guinea chicks which are five days old and 1 two day old chick at rest.

The little bird made tiny cheeping noises now and then over about 3 hours before hatching. I could barely hear him/her. Yet the breaking out of the shell only took about 1/2 hour. Birth is so miraculous!

Pecans sprouted and we planted them yesterday. Actually, about a month ago I soaked a bunch of pecans we'd found on the ground after winter. Just soaked in a bowl of water for 24 hours. Then I planted them all into 6 pots - very crowded together - and kept them continually moist until they sprouted. Most of them sprouted at the same time and sent a taproot down faster than they sent a shoot upwards. Some roots were already outside the pots and air-pruned as soon as they met dry air.

Larry and I planted many seedlings into irrigated spots yesterday, weeding as we went along.

The research station grows seedling pecans in "pecan pots" which are taller and narrower than other pots. These get placed on cement blocks with a hole under each pot. The pecan root is air-pruned as it comes out. But there is enough tap root for the tree to live for a year before being grafted and planted in the ground.

Eggs hatching 4 days early! It's day 24 of their incubation. Two guineas have arrived today and look exhausted after breaking out of extremely hard shells. (I have to give a very hard rap to open a guinea egg compared to chicken eggs.) It would have been easy to prepare the brooder tomorrow, picking up the chick feed and bedding shavings when we go to town. Ah well! They are on their own schedule.

After spending the next 3 hours preparing a horse trough to be the brooder, I moved these 2 bedraggled babies in and gave each a drink. Instinctively they began to peck at food within a minute or two. At this stage they aren't afraid of my handling them. If I keep doing over the next few weeks, they'll be calmer around me. Keeping up with 30 babies hatching at differing times over 4 days is going to keep me tied up!

Blueberry harvest has begun today! While they are still small the bushes are looking well established this year and most are loaded with berries. Berries will ripen a few at a time over the next few weeks, so we'll be out there daily.

Bob and Blackie

My brother Bob has trained the wild turtles to eat out of his hand. This one turtle in particular ('Blackie' whose head is black and he is missing one eye) is very trusting of him. 

 Akebia vines and fruit at Calloway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA. With 6 full time gardeners and many volunteers there weren't any signs of invasiveness by these Akebias. Each of four swings were flanked by a pair of vines - yet there were only 3 small clusters of edible fruits on all the vines. Larry is enjoying their shade!

Baby mockingbirds waiting for mother and food. Not very hidden in the vines!

Very well established Actinidia chinensis. Fuzzy kiwis forming on the vine below: The vine trunk was 6-7 inches diameter at the base! More proof that fuzzy kiwis should do well for Snug Hill Farm after we can get them established.