Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome back to Homestead Happenings.

Our Piedmont home and garden is coasting toward autumn.

Here's what's been going on around here.

The zinnias and other beauties keep on comin'

and adding a touch of summer to the indoors.

The container is actually an old pitcher

my momma used to store milk in when I was young.

What a treasure!

The squash vines just keep on-a-sprawlin',

and are invading any bare ground they find.

We haven't had rain in a couple of weeks,

but you'd never know it by these crops.

It looks like we'll have a nice harvest

of red ripper beans.

This variety is always easy to germinate,

has no pest issues,

and provides months of pods to pick.

We let them dry on the vine,

so they are ready for storage for the rest of the year.

The teepee turned out well and will definitely be repeated.

Although we've had a fairly mild summer,

this week's higher temperatures

boosted the growth of the loofah.

We once again have gourds growing on our gazebo frame,

providing much needed shade for the chooks.

Although these can be eaten when picked small,

we will most likely leave them to grow

so that they can be given away as loofah "sponges".

Pumpkins keep showing up,

in various sizes, shapes and patterns.

Seminole pumpkin

Some were planted,

and some are volunteers,

and I have absolutely no idea

what variety they are.

It's the most success I've had with squash,

so I'll gladly give them a home.

The nasturtiums cheerfully fill in

some of the Birdie's beds.

The flowers added to the veggie beds

attract pollinators to work their magic.

Next season, more flowers will be added

around the veg garden.

It's a win-win!

Some time was spent this week

harvesting herbs from the designated bed.

There is no dark room in our home in which to dry them,

so I simply use paper sacks to accomplish the task.

Here, we have oregano, which will be placed in the food processor

so that we have it for the entire year.

The Monarchs butterflies are here!

One was spotted early on in the week,

and we have the milkweed plants to support them.

Here you can see the aphids that are covering the milkweed,

but not to worry.

After some observation,

I noticed that the plants where this lil' mystery guy (gal) resided,

the aphids were gone.

So, I've been moving them from plant to plant

in hopes that they will take care of the aphid problem.

This will create a healthier milkweed plant

whenever the Monarch cats decide to show up.

I choose to use the natural approach to gardening,

and don't spray or otherwise interfere with Mother Nature.

She knows what she's doing.

Once our baby chooks started laying,

they have been cranking out eggs like crazy!

We are getting almost 2 dozen weekly,

although they are smaller than the average size egg.

They will increase in size as the girls get older.

Feeling very rich, indeed!

3 out of 4 of our baby olive eggers

Speaking of the babies,

would you look at this?

There are three nesting boxes in our 

Omlet Pro coop,

and yet, they all want to lay in the same one

at the same time!

They seem to be working this out,

but now we have one broody hen 

who refuses to leave the box all day!

Every two hours, we take her out,

so that she can eat and stretch her legs.

It's always something,

but our lives are richer because of them,

so we will deal with any drama that comes up.

The three older girls, or as they are also known,

the bullies, get free range time at least once daily.

They live in their own run,

as they are merciless with the babies.

They seem to be enjoying their freedom,

and are very good about staying close to home.

Betty eating homemade applesauce

I'm sorry to report that our sweet Betty passed in the last few weeks.

She was a good friend to our beautiful Queenie,

her twin sister Wilma, and dear Ruby. 

I hope they are all together somewhere 

and catching all the crickets they can eat!

With each chook passing, I am getting better

at dealing with it and giving them some comfort.

It's never easy losing a beloved pet,

but I know that they've had a good life with us,

and I send them off with love and peace

(and a boatload of tears).

May September usher in for you

new adventures and a peaceful heart.

Garden Friday

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Garden Friday.

It's been a quiet scene at our homestead

with two of the three members of our family

coming down with what we think was surely COVID.

It laid us out for a full 10 days,

so there wasn't much to report.

Thankfully, we are well on our way back to health. 

 

tastes like zucchini!

great for cleaning once dried and peeled

 

The loofah is creating a wonderful amount of shade in the chook run,

and the pollinators are relishing the bounty of nectar.

The fruit is hanging from the vines in various stages.

I'm planning on picking a few of the small loofah

for fresh eating.

The larger ones will be dried on the vine

and given away to be used as scrubbers.

 

Another volunteer something or other is getting started.

It looks like a pumpkin, but it's too early to tell.

The last time something like this volunteered,

I thought it was watermelon,

but it turned out to be a pumpkin.

It's always fun to spy the female flowers

and guess at what it may become.

 

We do have a few Kajari melons coming along.

I had pretty much given up on these doing anything,

but here they are surprising me once again.

 

The Piggot peas and cukes are doing nicely,

thanks to a few downpours we've had in recent days.

These were transplanted around the 10th of August.

It's still hot and humid, so we may still get some fruit.

We've had over an inch of rain so far this week,

after three weeks with nary a drop.

More storms are on their way,

with a cooling in temperatures on the horizon.

We are ready for it!

 

The Seminole pumpkin seems quite content,

and was transplanted around the same time as the Piggot peas.

Once the rain hit, it took off like nobody's business! 

Not sure if we'll have enough warm days ahead to get fruit,

but it will be sown again in the spring.

 

The mottled leaves are so decorative.

 

The birdhouses were cleaned out a couple of weeks ago.

It's always a marvel to see how the nests tucked inside are constructed.

 

The chook feathers have obviously been instrumental

in creating a cozy place to raise young.

I can imagine how soft they would be.

 

The cannas were overrun by Japanese beetles earlier in the season,

and the leaves were such a mess.

A bit of trimming brought them back to life.

These will come up every year and spread below ground.

They also provide some shade for the chooks on this end of the run.

 

The hyacinth bean vine along the north side of the chook fencing

is loaded with blooms.

The butterflies, bees and even hummers savor their delightful ambrosia.

This vine never disappoints.

Maybe next year I'll set up teepees for them to grow on.

 

 We lost our sweet Jubilee recently

in a most sorrowful and tragic way.

She was a raven-feathered beauty

with a patina like no other.

Her loss has been a difficult lesson to learn,

as I feel it was preventable.

Please pray that she is at peace.

 She is so missed.

 

 I may not be posting for a couple of weeks,

as I will be pup sitting.

Blessings...daisy

 

Garden Friday

 

 

Welcome to Garden Friday,

where we share our Zone 7b garden.

The sunflowers have been gracing us with their beauty.

It just isn't summer without them.

 

This volunteer squash plant showed up near the canna lilies

earlier in the summer.

Pumpkins had been planted around here last year,

but nothing ever came of it.

 

After checking it for a couple of weeks,

a female flower was finally found yesterday!

Even if we don't get any harvest,

it's fascinating to watch the development of a volunteer.

 

The sweet potatoes are rockin'.

All it takes is some full-on heat,

they don't even mind not getting watered much.

With rain scarce these days,

it's a good thing.

If you look closely, you might see insect damage on the leaves,

but we grow it for the tubers, so it doesn't really matter.

 

All sorts of beans are poppin' up out there.

We have green beans and beans for drying.

These are Jacob's Cattle beans,

which will be left on the vines to dry.

 

 We've got tassels, folks!

So exciting to see this corn get this far.

It's a fight to the finish though,

with squirrels creating pressure for harvest.

 

Another heat lover,

the loofah is making fast work of climbing the trellis

in the chook run.

The shade it will provide will be most welcome.

 

With most of the kale and lettuce having bolted,

the chooks have been given free rein in this bed.

They are allowed to snack on whatever remains.

 

Surprisingly, a few asparagus spears were harvested last night.

Since most of the crop has gone to seed,

I assumed it was done providing for the season.

Always a delightful treat.

 

The hyacinth bean vine is decorating the north side of the chook run.

The purple flowers are so dainty

and I can't wait to see how it fills in.

 

We have some milkweed flowering in the front porch bed.

The pollinators are swarming them daily.

This is the host plant for the Monarch caterpillar. 

We have quite a few of this variety that volunteered in the bed,

but we have yet to see our usual type of milkweed pop up.

 

A few of the frustrations of dealing with squirrels

have been shared on many occasions. 

Here's the latest.

These two sunflowers were toppled over

and the entire heads have been removed.

No doubt someone is enjoying a nice, round belly full of seeds.

 

 

The bluebird eggs we showed a few weeks ago

have hatched.

These four sweet babes will soon be on their way
after careful tending by their parents.

 

A few of the chooks have discovered

that lying in the compost bin is indeed

a very nice place to be.

Here, Betty and Wilma share the space

and enjoy the coolness of afternoon shade.

Any way to beat the heat, girls!

 

 

Life is Better with Chickens!
 

 

Garden Friday

 

Welcome to the first Garden Friday of summer!

We are expecting another family of bluebirds soon.

This will be the second set of eggs hatched in this birdhouse this season.

What a blessing to be able to watch the miracle of Mother Nature.

 

 

Our garlic was harvested last week.

We pulled up all of the heads from one of our 3X8 beds,

as well as the garlic planted as a border around the property.

The border garlic was not as productive as the crop

grown in the bed.

I imagine the soil is just not up to par,

but that can be remedied with a little attention.

 

The curing process takes about 2 weeks,

and we use our garage to complete the task.

In the first couple of days, the smell fills the space,

(even I can smell it),

but within the week, it dissipates.

Another year's worth of garlic is worth any temporary inconvenience.

 

Due in large part to our amazingly cool spring,

I am still harvesting lettuce and kale.

The insect netting has done a fabulous job

of keeping out anything that might try to eat it before I do.

 

This was one morning's harvest of lettuce, kale

and tat soi blossoms.

The tat soi has gone to seed but still tastes good,

and the delicate flowers add flavor to salads and scrambled eggs.

 

Once things start to go bitter,

the chooks enjoy their share.

Not much goes to waste around here.

 

One curiosity has confounded me.

The cabbage I'm growing is not forming heads,

although the leaves are a good size and in good shape.

Any ideas about this?

 

During our Community Garden workday last weekend,

I got a few great trellis ideas for the beans.

I used the frames (made from half of a cattle panel)

that usually cover the smaller beds

and stood them on their sides.

This allowed me to transplant the seedlings

and not have to change the shape of the panel,

so that they can be used again in the fall

with row cover.

The corn is coming along.

So far, the squirrels have not tampered with it.

I guess they don't like the welded wire

I used to surround each stalk.

Not an easy solution if corn is grown in abundance,

but being a newbie at it,

there are only about 20 plants growing in this bed.

There are pinto beans growing on the outside edge

of this deconstructed raised bed.

It will be transitioned to a raised row for future planting.

The Ruth Stout method of growing spuds

left a lot to be desired.

I still like the idea of growing crops in straw,

so I'll try it again in the fall,

perhaps prepping the ground a bit more first.

We did end up getting enough for a couple of meals

from the volunteers that came up in one of the raised beds.

They are curing on a wire rack in our coat closet!

 

 

The front garden makeover is a work in progress.

With the garlic harvested,

I am hoping to get some annuals to fill in the border.

 

The butterfly bed near the street has exploded

with all of the rain we've gotten this week.

In the last three days, (as of Wednesday),

we have been graced with over 3 inches,

and there is more on the way.

Rain is a gardener's best friend.

 

The first set of hydrangeas on our property are blooming.

I'm not sure why, but I've felt that 

it was important to add this plant to the landscape.

It's almost as if the garden wasn't complete without it.

This is the Blushing Bride variety.
 

The front porch bed has gone rogue!

With all of the potted plants placed in it

to collect the precious rain water,

it looks a bit more full than it really is.

The lettuce border will be harvested

and given to the chooks.

Alyssum might be a colorful addition in its place.

 

The loofah has been slow to germinate because

it loves the heat and conditions just haven't been favorable.

With the blessing of rain this week,

no doubt it will be quite content.

It has been planted next to the frame inside the chook run,

where it will add much needed shade for the girls.

It'll be fun to watch the loofahs form and

perhaps this year I will have some to give away.

The canna lilies have gone wild in this one area just outside the chook run.

They will need to be divided after they bloom,

and my neighbor has agreed to take some for his backyard project.

To my surprise, I found a pumpkin plant growing 

amongst the cannas.  

Don't ya just love a volunteer?

 

 This curious critter was found on the outside of the 

insect netting on one of the beds.

It looks like it wants to be a snake,

but the head is malformed.

Any ideas?

Moonflower

With this daily rain,

the garden has blessed us with so much.

Blooms to admire,

and food to savor.

What a gift gardening is to the body and soul.

Enjoy whatever Mother Nature brings you!