A Covey of Quail Babies and Garden News

We were hoping we’d get at least a few babies from our Coturnix quail egg incubation project. Boy, were we surprised to hatch out 28 babies! Sadly, one of them ran into the brooder wall at full force and we now have 27. We had marbles in the water dish so they wouldn’t drown, a soft top so they wouldn’t fly up and hit their heads, but there is no safe way that I can think of to pad the sides. Thankfully, none of the other chicks have done that.

Doesn’t this just make you say “Awww?”

I hope they all make it. They’re so fluffy and sweet and they, of course, have names already. Tux, Thing One, Thing Two, Stripe One and Stripe Two are the favorites.

I planted a three sisters patch in the spot where I dug up the new potatoes. Yellow squash plants, Kentucky pole beans and Japanese pop corn. We’ll see how it goes. I also put in a small row of Kamut, which is a wheat type grain said to originate in Egypt. I couldn’t find much on planting, but it is in the wheat family, so I planted it like wheat. It isn’t really the right time for a good wheat crop, but I’m not worried. I plan to feed it to the chicks for summer greens.

The amaranth is coming up really well. The second attempt at red cabbage isn’t doing much better than the first. I may just have to reseed in August for a late fall crop and cover the bed when it starts to frost.

How is your garden growing?