Pig Poop < Baby Poop

My tough-guy farmer husband has handled a lot of "dirty" jobs. He cleans the chicken coop without a second thought. He takes no issue with grabbing a shovel and scooping a trailer's load worth of chicken excrement. If he takes a break to get a drink of water, sometimes he even absentmindedly leaves his boots on and brings chicken feces-coated bedding into our kitchen. (This is one of the many reasons I need to vacuum my house every single day, especially since our sweet little H has hawk-like vision, and can scope out a microscopic speck on the floor over ten feet away from him, that he just MUST put in his mouth. If you remember back to my ladybug post: yesterday, I saw him chewing and making a strange face. I open in his mouth and what do I find....a ladybug! I can surround him in toys and vacuum daily, and he will still find the one thing that he can't have, and try to eat it....but I digress).

Anyway, back to the point. Luke also has the responsibility of shoveling the pig manure. Typically, the pigs go to the bathroom in their pasture, but the pigs that we have when there is still snow on the ground don't like to venture outside, so they go to the bathroom in the pig pen. I find pig manure to be foul stuff. It stinks. When their is an east wind and I have the windows open, the smell quickly consumes my house, and forces me to shut windows. It is terribly nasty. But Luke will not hesitate to grab his shovel, and clean out the pig pen, stench and all. 

Pigs, chickens, ducks, even Tobshu's feces....none of it bothers him, and he cleans it up without a thought. So how is that little H can go to the bathroom in his diaper, and Luke high-tails it out of the room? Or pass him to me and scoff at the smell? I don't get it. In my opinion, baby poop is not nearly as bad as pig poop. Luke disagrees. Now don't get me wrong, he has changed plenty of dirty diapers in his fatherhood debut, but if he had the opportunity, he would pass the job on to me every time. I find it hilariously ironic.

Little H isn't feeling well this week, and therefore left us something of an unpleasant surprise. Tough guy, manure-shoveling farmer-man was beyond disgusted. I needed assistance with that one - Luke sort of awkwardly laughed or cringed the whole time.  Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't a glowing-motherhood moment for me either. But I guarantee I would rather change the diaper of a baby before shoveling pig manure. I guess that is just another way Luke and I are different from each other. And I suppose, it establishes a good balance between us as well! 

It Smells Like Ladybuy Pee?

If people every worried about ladybugs going extinct, they could rest assured the population that exists in our house could probably replace the wild population. They have a very healthy residence in very peculiar rooms in our house. In particular, they like to inhabit my son's room, our master bathroom, and the laundry room. I rarely see one in our living room, but walk into H's room and it is like a ladybug metropolis. I can vacuum them up, get every last one, and the next day they reappear, by the dozens, as if by magic.

Luke orders live ladybugs to help control aphids in the greenhouse. It works wonders. No chemicals involved, and the ladybugs really do their job. Sometimes I wonder if Luke accidentally released them in the house, with how many we have. He swears he didn't, but I have to wonder. There have been many occasions where he brings one or two into the house by accident. They travel aimlessly on his Carhart pants, only to find themselves in some new paradise, most likely Henry's room. I find them to be a mild annoyance, Luke finds them to be an essential farm employee.

Luke orders ladybugs by the quart. How many ladybugs is that?  About 20,000!!! (If you ever want ladybugs for your own purposes, check out http://www.thebeneficialinsectco.com/aphid-control-ladybugs.htm ). He releases them into the greenhouse; a location that he himself spends countless hours. Needless to say, he knows the little creatures well. I had no idea how well he knew them until a recent candlelight diner.

It was a peaceful night. Henry was in bed, dinner was made, and the wine was on the table. Lights were out, candles were lit, and we were conversing about our days. Out of nowhere Luke says "It smells like ladybug pee."

"What?" I ask, confused. The dinner I made smelt delicious, delicious aromas of pork filling our house and enticing our tastebuds. How on earth could it smell like ladybug pee? What does ladybug pee even smell like?

Luke said "Didn't you tell me that when a ladybug lands on you, it pees?"

I think my face let him know I had no idea what he was talking about.

Luke continued, "Well, whatever it is, it has a distinct smell. Trust me, I am with them all the time. I know."

My face, still blank.

Luke went on further, "Seriously Mel, I mean it. I bet there is a ladybug by us." He seemed like a lunatic, but being a scientist myself, I had to check the theory. So, I started looking around. I stood up, walked behind him, and sure enough, crawling on his left shoulder was a ladybug.

I know my profession well. I know the ins and outs of my students, and can read many of them like a book. But to recognize the excrement smell of an insect - well that is just beyond me. Impressive, to say the least.

Growing in Antarctica

At this very moment in Wisconsin, it would be easier to grow in Antarctica than it would here in Wisconsin. A continent covered in ice 100% of the time - and our greenhouses would be doing better if we moved them down there.

Okay - sure, we can ignore the obvious fact that it is summer there, and winter here. But still, it is crazy to think about. They have warmer conditions and 23 hours of daylight - our greenhouses would do awesome.

Allow me to demonstrate via picture:

This first image is a screenshot of current conditions at Camp Esperanza, Antarctica:

And here we have a screenshot of current conditions in Green Bay, WI:

So, if we look at the windchill, we can compare -32 in Green Bay to 13 in Antarctica. Anyone up for a vacation? Because 13 sounds balmy :)

But seriously, I will admit I have been questioning the value of keeping our greenhouses alive. Luke currently has a fire going in each greenhouse wood furnace, and the propane furnaces haven't turned off either. Combine that with the propane shortage that puts propane at $4.50/gallon, and we are basically throwing money up into those 30 mile per hour windgusts!

I am certain any customer eating our kale, spinach, or salad mix will appreciate the healthy, delicious, local product this time of year, but I can't wait for 20 degrees. Positive 20, that is.