Friday, August 1, 2025

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.

1 comment:

  1. Oh boy. A groundhog (or whistle pig) can destroy your garden quickly. I hope that doesn't happen to you. They are such sweet little creatures, but boy do they love veggies (and veggie plants) and have a voracious appetite. Hence our garden fence (or as we call it, our prison fence - because of the layer at the top of the fence).

    Pumpkins already! Wow. Yes, it's been very hot and humid here as well and we, too, are receiving the cool down this weekend. Our garden plants have been stressed from the weather so hoping the plants will do well with the temporary dip in temps. Happy your chickens are no longer broody. And those muffins look delicious!

    I'm sorry about C. He's in my thoughts - hoping things will be resolved quickly for him. Wishing you a wonderful weekend - enjoy the wonderful weather!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts!