In The Good Old Summertime
It appears we have skipped all the nice parts of Spring and jumped right into Summer. We went from days of damp, chilly and rainy to sunny, clear and hot. Now, I would rather hot than cold any day, but a little bit of that old-fashioned nicely warm Spring would have been nice.
I got most of the garden planted. Lost a few transplants, but they will be replaced. I think next year, I will not start the seedling so early. Many got far too leggy before the weather got warm enough to transplant. But the light stand we bought was a real success! The seedlings grew like crazy, something I have not had happen before.
I did go to the garden center on Tuesday and picked up some more veggies to fill in the empty spots. Got a little carried away with broccoli, I fear. Eighteen plants! Good thing I love broccoli (unfortunately, someone else does not care for it as much). I also got some cauliflower and cabbages, as well as some lettuces to fill in, since the chickens keep eating the greens seedlings!
We mostly fenced in the garden last week and will finish this week. That should keep the chickies out. I hate to keep them penned up during the day, since the eggs we get are so much better if they can free range. I guess a few seedlings are a fair price to pay until we get things completely enclosed.
The new chicks are now spending mornings and nights loose in the coop with the older chickens. No blood so far. Just some pecking and chasing which is to be expected. I haven't let them out to free range yet. I am still training them to know that I bring food and they should come when I call them. The older chickens know this. If they see me out there, they come a-runnin' and I can lead them back to the pen when I need to. I've been spending some time each day out in the pen with the babies, feeding them raisins to get them used to me and food.
We had our son-in-law up last Sunday to help clear a lot of the overgrown junk in front of the house. He brought a chain saw and just ripped through all the crap there. The front is completely bare now, but that's what I wanted. I need to put down landscape fabric for now. Replanting will probably wait till next year, but at least it looks somewhat neater, if rather empty now. He also trimmed some dead and overhanging branches from the aspen trees and trimmed back the wildly overgrown forsythia. He did in one partial day what would have taken me all summer! And I would not have been climbing the big ladder with a chain saw to trim the trees! He also cleared out under the big aspen at the side of the driveway. Lots of saplings and some Oriental bittersweet that had to go. We left one wild cherry sapling there. Underneath, the vinca we planted years ago has spread nicely. I filled in with a few more of the vinca. That will make a nice bed once it's all grown in.
This weekend? Re-doing the pond liner this weekend. Going to be a big job but the old one leaks quite a bit and needs replacing. The BaldMan is smoking a brisket on Sunday for a little gathering we are having on Monday. Just family (hopefully, Kryss, Kleber and Will can make it) and a few of Steph's friends. Should be fun.
I got most of the garden planted. Lost a few transplants, but they will be replaced. I think next year, I will not start the seedling so early. Many got far too leggy before the weather got warm enough to transplant. But the light stand we bought was a real success! The seedlings grew like crazy, something I have not had happen before.
I did go to the garden center on Tuesday and picked up some more veggies to fill in the empty spots. Got a little carried away with broccoli, I fear. Eighteen plants! Good thing I love broccoli (unfortunately, someone else does not care for it as much). I also got some cauliflower and cabbages, as well as some lettuces to fill in, since the chickens keep eating the greens seedlings!
We mostly fenced in the garden last week and will finish this week. That should keep the chickies out. I hate to keep them penned up during the day, since the eggs we get are so much better if they can free range. I guess a few seedlings are a fair price to pay until we get things completely enclosed.
The new chicks are now spending mornings and nights loose in the coop with the older chickens. No blood so far. Just some pecking and chasing which is to be expected. I haven't let them out to free range yet. I am still training them to know that I bring food and they should come when I call them. The older chickens know this. If they see me out there, they come a-runnin' and I can lead them back to the pen when I need to. I've been spending some time each day out in the pen with the babies, feeding them raisins to get them used to me and food.
We had our son-in-law up last Sunday to help clear a lot of the overgrown junk in front of the house. He brought a chain saw and just ripped through all the crap there. The front is completely bare now, but that's what I wanted. I need to put down landscape fabric for now. Replanting will probably wait till next year, but at least it looks somewhat neater, if rather empty now. He also trimmed some dead and overhanging branches from the aspen trees and trimmed back the wildly overgrown forsythia. He did in one partial day what would have taken me all summer! And I would not have been climbing the big ladder with a chain saw to trim the trees! He also cleared out under the big aspen at the side of the driveway. Lots of saplings and some Oriental bittersweet that had to go. We left one wild cherry sapling there. Underneath, the vinca we planted years ago has spread nicely. I filled in with a few more of the vinca. That will make a nice bed once it's all grown in.
This weekend? Re-doing the pond liner this weekend. Going to be a big job but the old one leaks quite a bit and needs replacing. The BaldMan is smoking a brisket on Sunday for a little gathering we are having on Monday. Just family (hopefully, Kryss, Kleber and Will can make it) and a few of Steph's friends. Should be fun.