Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome back to Homestead Happenings.

It's been a while, thanks to some technical difficulties.

Summer is winding down here in the Piedmont,

with next week's temperatures becoming 

more moderate and less humid.

I'm all for it!

Look at this gorgeous striped cosmos that is coming up.

The shed was recently cleaned out and organized.

I was able to find a friend who could use many

of the things I no longer needed.

It's such a blessing to have a place

for the gardening and chook materials.

To my astonishment,

the loofah is starting to flower.

I had all but given up on getting any loofah this year,

as the vines were so slow to get started.

But here we are.

It's doubtful that we will have enough warm weather

to enable a full harvest, but ya never know.

This ginger plant (that I basically forgot was planted),

has blooms so fragrant,

even I could smell them.

This plant lends a tropical vibe to any landscape,

and requires very little attention.

I look forward to digging up the tubers

to share with fellow gardeners.

Another small project was refashioning this workbench.

The old, rotted wood was removed and

the hardware cloth was added.

I had just enough to cover the two tiers.

This picture reminds me that I need to dig up

that turmeric plant to give away.

Dust bathing beauties

All of the chooks are still doing well,

and no broodiness has returned.

These three girls are having quite a molt though.

Better now than when the cold winds blow.

Egg production has amped up big time!

We are getting about 20 eggs a week

from our four younger chooks.

Our egg basket runneth over!

The raised beds are gradually being filled

with soil.  I've had a difficult time finding 

quality top soil to complete my personal mix,

so I am resigned to using the bagged stuff.

We have a local organic resource here called

Wallace Farms,

so at least I can feel good about supporting a local business.

Several crops were started in cell trays

in the past few weeks.

It's time to get the fall garden started.

A variety of kale, cabbage, broccoli,

snap peas and cucumbers were sown.

Germination for the most part was spectacular,

with seedlings showing up after only 3 or 4 days.

In fact, the cucumbers were just potted up

yesterday.  They already have their second set of leaves,

and it will be fun to share the extras with friends.

I've never tried growing cucumbers in the fall,

but with less bug pressure and mild days ahead,

I think it's worth a try.

What's happening in your garden 

during this transitional season?

For those of you wondering,

C is still awaiting his surgery,

but we've finally found the right doctor

and it will be scheduled soon.

I'll keep you posted

and thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.

Looking for the best possible outcome!

Homestead Happenings

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's been going on 

here on our zone 8A Piedmont homestead.

The gazebo frame is being covered in morning glory.

Unfortunately, the loofah that I had planted (twice),

never took off.

We'll try again next year. 

The garden is a bit of a mess at the moment.

The temperatures here have been blistering,

as in much of the country,

and motivation to be outside has waned.

With this weekend being a little cooler,

I am hoping to give some attention to filling the raised beds

with adequate growing material.

There have been several disappointments this season.

This Seminole pumpkin that I had great success with

the last two years, has not produced even one gourd.

I think that it is too late in the season to expect 

any recovery, so another thing to look forward to next year.

I guess it's not surprising,

as even the nasturtiums,

seen here in the bed next to the round strawberry bed,

have withered in the heat, despite hand watering.

The Red Ripper beans never disappoint.

They are starting to take off and dry on the vines.

These red beans have a mild flavor,

and are great for using in chili, sloppy joes,

and anywhere you might use meat.

These store amazingly well, and, in fact,

I recently just finished last year's harvest.

Some things currently growing are green beans,

leeks, okra and turmeric.

Fall seedlings will be started soon.

Although their timing is a bit off,

these volunteer pumpkins did exceptionally well,

despite the scorching heat and humidity.

These three were harvested yesterday and brought inside,

and are absolutely beautiful.

There's no way they will make it until fall

left outdoors.

As I don't know the variety, I was planning to keep them

for decorating the front porch.

We'll see how well they do.

The morning glory is vigorously adorning the compost area.

For some reason, it seems a lot of folks in this state

don't care for it.

The heart-shaped leaves alone are so pretty,

and the purple flowers just add to it.

There are a number of orbital spiders residing here.

It was mesmerizing to watch as this gal

turned this moth into her silk to trap it.

Nature is fascinating.

A few of these yellow fuzzy caterpillars 

were found on the baptisia this week.

It may be an American dagger moth caterpillar.

I'm so grateful that critters can find a home here.

Our neighborhood groundhog (?)

has been visiting the garden as of late.

I wonder if s/he could be the culprit

eating one of the green bean plants?

Something not as welcome are the bag worms,

which infest our persimmon tree every year.

These insects are a true menace,

and can defoliate and destroy many types of plants.

Just look at the inside of one of the sacks.

It is best to remove the entire bag

and dispose of it in the trash, not compost.

These gluten-free almond flour muffins

were made this week.

I tweaked the recipe just a bit,

and they turned out great!

This will definitely be going into

the family recipe file.

You can find it here.

There is some good news to report.

All of our girls are together again,

enjoying ranging time as one unit.

The two chooks who were broody,

despite our efforts to dissuade them,

broke their broodiness all on their own.

It's such a blessing to see them all 

hanging out together again.

~~~~~

For those of you who were thinking about our son C,

his surgery was a bust and he is scheduled to see

another oral surgeon next week.

Fingers crossed that these folks will be 

 able to help him.

He's been so patient through it all.

We are looking forward to having it behind us.