| Beth's Farm Rambles and Rants An Introduction to Local, Seasonal Eating Reasons to Eat Locally and Seasonally ~ Support the Local Economy: American farmers receive something like 20 cents for each dollar spent on product ~ Strengthen Local Communities: Know your farmer ~ Be kind to the Earth: less petroleum for packaging, cooling and transport over great distances Encourage organic and sustainable practices ~ Support your Health: Whole foods, Organic foods instead of packaged and processed foods Know where your food comes from, what goes on it and into it ~ Local Fresh Foods are Yummier |
| Birds and Critters of Goldfinch Farm One of the important reasons to farm organically is to protect the lives and habitats of local wildlife. A wide variety of birds is a sign of a healthy farm. The bluebirds and swallows and kingbirds put in their fair share of work, too, gobbling up the potato beetles and other pest bugs that trouble an organic farmer. We are bird watchers, and enjoy keeping track of the many species of birds we see here on Goldfinch Farm. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see our current list. The birds are a great help in our struggles to keep certain insects from eating the veggies; other insects also help: lady bugs and praying mantis among them. We finally saw a fox in March 2007, zipping through the snow over the bluff, across the road and through the creek, its bushy tail streaming out behind it. The year before, Beth and a friend spotted a coyote in the bosque across the road! One spring we saw a snapping turtle by the pond. Groundhogs, rabbits, deer, and raccoons are also common on the farm. These folks also like fresh vegetables, so we're finding ways to deter them from invading the fields. This spring we caught an opossum in the live trap. She didn't seem like a highly destructive critter, like the groundhogs, so we let her go. The most amazing critter we've spotted here is the Patagonian Cavy, an escapee from a nearby farm. See 3 December 2007 entry at left. These birds appear in order of when we first saw or heard them on the farm. A few birds, like the screech owl and the ring-necked pheasant, we have identified by sound rather than by sight. 1. Cardinal 2. Black-Capped Chickadee 3. Junco 4. Blue Jay 5. Tufted Titmouse 6. Chipping Sparrow 7. Song Sparrow 8. Fish Crow 9. Red-Tailed Hawk 10. Turkey Vulture 11. Mockingbird 12. White-Throated Sparrow 13. Yellow-Shafted Flicker 14. American Crow 15. Screech Owl 16. Mourning Dove 17. White Crowned Sparrow 18. Goldfinch (of course!) 19. Robin 20. Downy Woodpecker 21. Canada Goose 22. Bluebird 23. Snow Geese 24. Red-Bellied Woodpecker 25. Brown Creeper 26. Hairy Woodpecker 27. Pewee 28. Mallard 29. Great Horned Owl 30. Wood Duck (pair on pond) 31. Starlings (flock of a thousand) 32. House Finch 33. Ring-Necked Pheasant (heard) 34. Carolina Wren 35. Tundra Swan 36. House Wren 37. Indigo Bunting 38. Wood Thrush 39. Baltimore Oriole 40. Kingbird 41. Ruby-Throated Hummingbird 42. Great Blue Heron 43. Nighthawk 44. Kestrel 45. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak 46. Bobwhite 47. Coopers Hawk 48. Yellow-Rumped Warbler 49. Purple Finch 50. Bald Eagle |
Portrait of July 2010 share by Brodi Zimmer Malfliet
