Muskrat Love

It's day 22 of staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic, and I'm researching muskrats.

My mother informed me, with a sense of urgency, that she'd found muskrat activity around the farm pond.

The USDA has a technical service bulletin on muskrats, and offers lots of practical information and fun facts.

Fun fact #1: "The muskrat belongs to the Family Cricetidae in the Order Rodentia."

Fun fact #2: "The name 'muskrat' is derived from a musky yellowish secretion males use to mark territories and attract mates during the breeding season."

Fun fact #3: Male muskrats can weigh 2.5 pounds.

After learning more than I ever wanted to know about muskrats, I decided to inspect the pond area and look for recent muskrat activity. When I inform my husband of my plans, he gives me encouragement by singing "Muskrat Love," that 70's song made famous by Captain and Tennille.

With "Muskrat Love" playing over and over in my head, and two Border collies on leash, and raining falling, I trek the half mile to the pond. With the recent rains, I thought I'd find muskrat tracks in the mud.

While I found no tracks, I found lots of clam shells. Freshwater clams are a delicacy of both raccoons and muskrats.

 But they are not so much a delicacy of humans, at least according to my brother, who tried them once.

I could not determine who was digging up clams and eating them (best guess, not my brother). I found evidence of muskrat dens, but no fresh activity. The muskrat situation, I determined, needed on-going monitoring.

 As for Muskrat Love, I can't get that song out of my head.

Seeds of Hope

I sowed pea and lettuce seeds on Sunday, March 8.

It was sunny and sweatshirt weather. Coronavirus was in the news, but people were still moving about--and my parents, including my father who is assisted living, came out to the farm for dinner.

Before planting, I looked on the seed packets for the days to maturity. Sometime in May, I should be eating peas and lettuce. I'll have to harvest them between dog trials, I thought, noting my busy spring sheepdog trial schedule.

Temperatures dropped and rains came after that initial planting. For days, the soil looked as barren as it did on that early March day.

On Wednesday, March 18, I sowed more peas, lettuce, onions and radish seed in what I now called my Victory Garden.

The coronavirus was spreading, and the Ohio governor had ordered the closing of schools and restaurants. The primary election was postponed. I could no longer visit my father. 

Each day, I checked for a sign of green in the garden. Each day, I found none.

On Friday, March 27, I again sowed onions, peas, lettuce and spinach seeds. Ohio residents were now under a Stay at Home order as the coronavirus pandemic spread around the United States and the world. The week's news was filled with stories about the nosediving stock market, the trillion dollar stimulus package, record unemployment and lack of medical supplies. Flattening the curve and social distancing were now part of my vocabulary. Early spring sheepdog trials were canceled.

The rains came Friday afternoon, and sprouts from those seeds from the March 8 and March 18 plantings peeked through the soil.

I don't know what the coming weeks and months will bring, but I have seeds and I have a garden, and when the sun shines, I will continue sowing seeds and looking for those glimmers of green.