Butterflies!
#3 of things you may not know about Peace Valley Poultry
Status quo farmers are becoming less tolerant of weeds in their crops and pastures. (As shown in picture below.) It is now considered fittin' and proper to spray Roundup and WeedEat under barbed wire fences. Not much quail habitat in a scorched earth policy.
We do brush-hog to keep weeds in check, however, we let this patch of milkweed (left) go untouched so as to provide habitat for Monarch butterflies.
The Monarch (Danaus plexipppus) belongs to the Milkweed Butterfly family. The larvae of these butterflies feed on milkweed, like this Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). This family of plants provides the only place that Monarch larvae can survive, while the butterflies help the milkweed by pollinating the flowers.
The Monarch butterfly are the ones who do that amazing migration to a few acres of Oyamel fir cloud forest in central Mexico every year. It is intersting that the generation of Monarchs that come to taste our milkweeds this year is not the same one that left last year.
(Missouri Wildflowers, Denison; Field Guide to Insects, Borrer/White; www.myaltonaforest, Natasha)
Fresh Chickens for sale Tuesday (farm) and Wednesday (Mansfield/Springfield), August 9/10
Our chicken will be for sale again fresh on Tuesday and Wednesday. Between our sale dates, you may buy frozen chicken Monday through Saturday. Just call or email and make an appointment. We will meet you at the plant.
FRESH CHICKEN SCHEDULE: Peace Valley: Tuesday, August 9, 2-6 p.m., on the farm Mansfield: Wednesday, August 10, call for time and to let us know you are coming. Springfield: Wednesday, August 10, noon till 1 p.m. Rolla: We hope to come once a month, or so. Call or email for information.
On Our Farm
A lone bird sings in the tree in our front yard, while a slight breeze puts the leaves to dancing. Across the field a quail calls, while a dragonfly flutters past as though on an important errand. It has been a hot summer, one that makes remaining cheerful a challenge, and also caused the loss (yesterday) of 18 mature chickens to the heat. On the other hand, here we are in August, with green grass around our house in in the fields for the chickens and beef to eat. And any breeze in August, what a blessing! Sometimes it is nice to pause a moment before we step into the next season. (Well, okay, not too long!)
