No offense to Old Hazza, but the eggs we raise are the best I have ever tasted in my life... They are laid by 100% free range chickens. They eat all that is available on our small farm including fibrous grass, bugs, and other such things... I think that the difference might be that they are happy chickens. We have 16 laying hens and each has their own personality, likes and dislikes, etc. I have a favorite named Phoenix because she is fire red. She sits on my shoulder while I mow the grass... As content as can be. They roost in the trees at night and scratch around all day. They visit with us and chase the cats and all sorts of funny things. They are great producers and fun pets. We don't weigh or measure their eggs or rate the shades of the yolks, but we eat them everyday and breakfast just seems like one big dessert! In my life I have never enjoyed a more rich, hearty, creamy, delicious egg from any other source. Can it not be true that happy hens just produce better "quality" eggs? I know we need large farms and such but that just don't settle well with me... It makes me feel bad to think about the mundane lives that they have... Just sayin...

What a lovely gift!! As Ginny said a bit more info about where in the state would help. One thing to be aware of is that spring is prime time for ticks in NH. Some of them are relatively large, but the small deer ticks are the ones that carry Lyme disease. When working in brushy areas I tend to wear long pants tucked into my socks, a long sleeved shirt and a hat, and when I am done working, change all my clothing and check myself thoroughly for ticks. Spraying clothing with bug repellent containing DEET helps also. Any ticks I find go into a vial of alcohol and clothing goes outside or into the washing machine after a quick check to find any obvious ticks. Lyme disease isn't something you want to pick up! Here's a link to a thread from last year suggesting several great NH nurseries (I am pretty sure all the listed nurseries are in the southern part of the state, but range from E to W,) and it also has a link to a 2006 or 2005 list of New England nurseries. Some of the northern MA nurseries may be close to your sister's place. Where you are in the southern part of the state will make a difference as it's probably about 2 hours from Keene to Portsmouth. Also, where you are will affect the seriousness of deer problems you have. In more suburban areas with less hunting and habitat, feeding from deer can be a problem. I'm in a rural area just a few minutes north of Concord and although there are lots of deer, the only plants that I can't grow due to deer are yews and Tricyrtis/Japanese toad lily. There are so many other food sources available that they don't bother to visit my gardens except to snatch a real treat. The seacoast is zone 6, but most of the southern part of the state is zone 5 with some of the hillier areas around Keene and my river valley location are probably on the border of zone 4, but all are in the southern half of NH. I mostly plant for zone 4, but sometimes zone 5 for things I really want with the knowledge that if we have a particularly cold winter and poor snow cover, I may lose them. I don't know what type of budget you have, but often soil improvements can be found locally relatively inexpensively. Many cities and towns have composting programs that make it available to residents. Local dairy farms will often deliver a huge dump load of manure, and horse manure can often be found for free if you are able to pick it up, but it will have more weed seeds. Mulch can also be found from various commercial suppliers by the dump load, which will probably be an important part of the low-maintenance aspect of the garden. Three acres is a large space, so you may want to consider some smaller heavy equipment. You may also be able to find someone to run a tractor for you for brushhogging, moving rocks, moving dirt, etc or if you are comfortable with machinery, bobcats and tractors can often be rented. We have been happy using Carl Mattews equipment in Boscawen. (I laughed when DH bought a small tractor many years ago, but as I age, the ability to move things with that tractor instead of my body makes it one of my favorite gardening tools now.) Some general thoughts on gardening in NH: Depending on where your sister's house is, you will probably have lots of granite (this is the "Granite State" after all) though on the coast and in the Merrimack Valley soil is sandier (or on some areas of the coast there is a layer of marine clay a few feet down) and there may be less rock in general. For building walls, rough field stone is often used while edging, patios, steps, etc are frequently made of dressed granite. It's something you have to keep in mind in planning a garden, that you will probably have a goodly amount of rock mixed in with soil and you may have shallow bedrock or boulders too large to move that you need to work around. We buy dressed granite from Swenson Granite Works in Concord, which is our local granite quarry for items like steps, but that may not be the best choice for you if you are looking to build something that needs dressed granite if you aren't close to Concord. With good planning fall color can last for 6 weeks or more, with the red maples starting the show in September and the blueberries, Fothergilla, Viburnums, oaks, and beeches ending the color at least a month and a half later. It is my favorite time of the year and well worth planning for in the garden. We are lucky to have many natives that are stunningly beautiful in autumn. Because so much of our year my garden is deeply snow-covered, I do try to grow plants that extend the season of interest and plant gardens that can be viewed from the house in winter. Herbaceous plants and short shrubs that stay green in cold weather usually aren't of huge value in my yard during winter since we often have more than 4 feet of snow on the ground. I try to plant a few things in warmer areas on the south side of the foundation that will bloom early like snow crocus, reticulated iris, and snow drops to get some early flowers. I plant taller evergreens (larger shrubs and trees) along with woody plants having interesting bark (beech/Fagus, birch/Betula, Stewartia, Acer griseum/paperbark maple, red and yellow twigged dogwoods/Cornus ) or interesting branch stucture (Pagoda dogwood/Cornus alternifolia) to provide winter interest. I also leave up my clematis obelisks year round since they tend to look nice against the snow. Many folks have bird feeders and bird-friendly shrubs to bring in some extra winter (as well as other seasonal) activity as well. I don't since we have blackbears emerging from dens in just a few weeks and they enjoy birdfeeders a bit too much. Tell us a bit more about your goals for your sister's garden beyond low maintenance - do you want easy or wheel-chair friendly paths or good visibility from a patio or porch? Does she have someone to help with basic mantenence such as an annual cleanup of easy care perennials like type 3 (hard prune) clematis or Baptisia? Will she want chair-accessible raised beds near the house for a few veggies and herbs? Is the garden all on one level? Are you looking to put in almost all trees and shrubs? Are flowers or scent or colorful foliage important? Hope that wasn't more info than you wanted or needed! Here is a link that might be useful: NH nurseries thread

That's good news. Eggs can survive surprisingly cool temperatures. So check the box again in a week or sooner and see if she is incubating. I would like to invite you to join the bluebird nut cafe forum. It is much more active than this site and we have many veteran bluebirders that can give quick answers. Check us out! http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/

Hi Konrad, Kinda sad to lose your RBNH nest... but this is nature at work I guess. Yes, we lost 1 bluebird egg to a HOWR 2 seasons ago. We saw him fly to and into the nest box, and come out with the pierced egg still impaled on his beak! We were waving our arms and shouting at him, as he dropped it on the ground and flew off. It all happened in 30 seconds or less. We discouraged him with a squirt gun for days and the parent blues dived bombed him mercilessly whenever he came near. He finally stopped coming around, and I'm happy to say the other 3 eggs hatched and fledged successfully. Hope your Nuthatches try again for you, Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Latest Slideshow