Yes, Roberta, it was reg upon reg, for better or worse, that eventually forced my parents out of their farming livelihood. At middle age, with no formal education they were forced to find city jobs (or move and rebuild the barn etc. etc. etc.). Unfortunately, their story is not unique. I'd love to see a documentary of the saga during this era - but the window is closing. I do have one question related to your comment though, before this thread folds completely. Our pullets aren't laying yet - though one of them jumps into the raised nest box and stirs it up good daily, so it shouldn't be too far off. Our ducks ARE laying however - but their nest box isn't so clean. I'm wondering if the tidy habits chickens keep goes for ducks also...If so, perhaps one of the drakes or the pullets are messing in it. It's ground level and doesn't belong to the pullets (paybacks?). Anyway, I have to tidy it up for them each morning. -lf

I am just repeating several growers that have said this on other sites. People a lot more knowledgeable than me . But , yes, it is hearsay and they (and therefor I) could easily be wrong. I always thought that was interesting because most A. aristas that I saw were prolific clumpers. Also maybe there are many natively occurring hybrid strains in the wild. Things get complex out there and I am not the one to bank my reputation on anything I hear .

My ID skills are certainly not full proof, so still a mystery!! I don't remember seeing small leaves on the flower stem so could be something else.. Guess we'll have to wait a few more days until those buds fully open :) For good measure, here is a pic of mine. Still doing pretty good at this time of the year considering we already had multiple 100+ waves in san Jose :(

Thank you so much hablu and isde02!