Fox on the Farm

We have a fox on the farm, and no, I am not referring to Craig (this time!) 

This is a red fox, whereas Craig is more of a silver fox.

We first saw him last week, when we had to go over to the farm before work. I spotted him on the island, just disappearing into the undergrowth.  Yesterday Craig and I made our usual evening trip to check on progress and we spotted him again, in the pasture near the little pond. I started walking toward him while snapping pics, assuming he wouldn't let me get very close before he bolted. But this was a juvenile and not yet savvy enough to be on guard. I was able to get pretty close; close enough that I started to worry that he might not be running away because he was rabid.  Not worried enough to stop approaching, obviously.  Eh, I had plenty of room to run!  

I had noticed some stray goose feathers near the fox, so after he left I went looking for our geese, just to be sure we still had a full crew. I spotted them by the blueberries and all were accounted for, just hanging around the bushes and...wait a minute! Those darn birds are stealing our berries!!! They were even taking little hops so they could reach higher. Which was adorable but still...I don't want to share my blueberries with the geese.  Neither did Craig, who immediately went to shoo them away, muttering "whippersnappers" and "off my lawn".  They departed reluctantly, hissing over their shoulders (do geese even have shoulders?!). I'm sure they'll be back.

Caught in the act.

Move along!

In other farm news, we've been overly blessed by cucumbers that think they are zucchini, and the tomatoes are really starting to come in as well. Last week we picked baby eggplants and turned them into feta, pine nut, balsamic-glazed awesomeness. This week we have 9 more eggplants on the same plant. Maybe it is because I didn't plant any zucchini that my other vegetables are taking up the mantle.

We're getting about a dozen cucumbers a week at this point, off 2 plants. 

Getting creative with the pickles: Claussen knock-offs, half sours, Thai-style, and more. 

Almost too cute to eat. 

They were delicious (she says modestly).

I think we'll pick our first cantaloupe next week and the watermelon won't be far behind. Yum!