Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome back to Homestead Happenings.

I've was away at a dog sitting job,

and it sure was nice to come back home to the family,

the garden and my beloved chooks.

There's nothing that centers me quite like

rambling through the garden beds

with the girls scratching and pecking around me.

One of the tasks I was able to complete

upon returning home,

was my biannual compost sifting.

The compost bin that I built out of hardware cloth

and conduit, has been gifting me with compost

for the last 5 or so years.

It's mostly yard waste

with a few scraps from the chook runs.

This time I got 5 3/4 five gallon buckets out of it.

It amazes me how well this system works,

with very little effort from me.

I leave the chooks to turn it as they scratch through

all the material, so I don't need to do a thing.

Anytime I add a new seedling to the bed,

some of this magic mixture gets placed into the planting hole.

I also will use it periodically to top off the beds.

Some time was taken to gather fallen twigs and branches

from the wooded areas around the house.

These will be burned and the ash saved for garden use.

We have an abundance of organic ingredients

right here in our yard.

The cukes are coming along,

although I'm not sure they will get large enough

to harvest before we get our first frost.

Ah well, we'll see how it goes!

Thankfully, the lettuce and kale are doing

well enough that I can pick some greens 

every couple of days for my lunchtime salad.

Crisp, fresh and flavorful!

Some of the outer leaves are shared with the chooks,

along with turnip greens that I grow just for them!

We still have flowers in the garden as well,

including these nonstop nasturtiums.

If you enjoy a peppery bite,

the leaves and flowers are edible

and will give your salad a kick!

We have an ample crop of coreopsis growing,

and the seeds are being saved for next year.

Some of these plants have scaled heights of

over seven feet, so I wanted to make sure to save this variety.

We also have some greenery and blooms in the 

front flower beds.

This lamb's ear and alyssum make great companions.

Well, the first bread experiments have begun.

This is the second loaf of sandwich bread I made

using my new obsession interest of fresh milled flour.

It turned out okay,

but I will be working on this newly acquired skill

every weekend until I get it right.

The texture was a bit off,

and I think I know where I went wrong.

Still, the flavor was a big improvement 

over the gluten-free storebought bread.

B-I-G!

So thankful to be where I am truly content.

I love the pups I sit for,

and it's wonderful to get my pooch fix,

but it's always so glorious to get back home

and be where my heart feels most full.

May your autumn days be filled with meaningful moments.

Garden Friday

 

 

 

Welcome to Garden Friday!

Autumn is finally here,

and you'll find no one more excited about that than yours truly.

Fall is such a great time to be in the garden,

whether it's sowing cool weather crops or picking what nature has provided to enjoy inside.

 

Sweet potatoes were harvested this week.

We got 14.5 pounds, which isn't bad, 

considering we planted only one small bed.

 

The tubers in this crop were smaller than in past years,

and they seemed to grow more in clusters, instead of individually.

The slips were started in February,

so this was a long process from seed to table.

 

They will cure in the garage for two weeks before being sampled.

We're using a hitch-haul and the bifold door that I use to use at the Market.

 

Some time was spent earlier in the season on planting the front flower beds.

I've added quite a few things and seeded many zinnias.

In fact, they grew so big,

that the evergreens and grasses behind them are well hidden.

 

Every morning when I open up my curtain,

I look down into this beautiful display of flowers and busy pollinators.

I even noticed a goldfinch eating bugs off of the milkweed!

The zinnias just went wild with the rainfall we got.

They are filling in the front bed so wonderfully.

 

 

Seed saving continues,

with flower seeds and dried beans making their way into our stash for next season.

It's a tranquil and fastidious task

that can be savored with the anticipation of future harvest.

 

The Seminole pumpkin has grown outside of its bed.

It's still too early to know if fruit will show itself,

but we'll leave it be for now.

The Piggot peas have started producing,

and I'm curious to learn more about them.

This is a new crop for me,

but so far, they have been easy to grow.

We're even getting some late-planted cucumbers coming up.

 

We've got visitors, folks!

Although we were not blessed with Monarch caterpillars this year,

a few black swallowtails were spied on the Rue.

This no-fuss plant is one of the host plants for this species.

What wonders have the fall season brought you?

 

Garden Friday

 

 

cactus zinnia

Welcome to Garden Friday,

where we share our Zone 7b Piedmont garden.

 

Our bed of sweet potatoes is doing fine,

now that we've had some steady rain.

This is one of the easiest plants to grow,

with little pest pressure

(I hope I'm not jinxing myself),

and double the food.

The roots are edible once harvested,

but until then, the leaves can be eaten as well.

 

The melons are enjoying the wetter weather.

A few of these netted bags were added to the larger fruit,

so that they will not break the vines if they get too heavy.

The bags are repurposed from citrus, potatoes and onions,

and are tied onto the cattle panel trellis.

There are SO many lil' melons out there!

 

The okra has grown by leaps and bounds,

as okra is prone to do with any sort of attention.

The straw bales had to be propped up a bit,

as they were collapsing from the moisture.

Making frames for the bales will be on my winter task list.

 

The cukes are consistently giving us food.

I've made refrigerator pickles with some,

and others are added to my daily salad.

The flavor is good and the skin is thin,

which makes for good eating.

 

The basil (you say BAY-ZIL, I say BA-ZIL),

will be used for savory dishes, but also for something new.

I heard about making basil tea on a YouTube channel called

"Roots and Refuge", and can't wait to try it.

 

Meet my dragon's tongue bean.

The only one.

As soon as I noticed this beauty,

the next day the plant dried up.

Ugh.

I will be planting more this weekend,

along with bush beans and a few other goodies.

 

Speaking of unexpected surprises

(and not in a good way),

our first pumpkin patch just decided to die on us.

I was diligent about watering,

before all this rain came our way,

and I even remembered to fertilize it when it flowered,

so I'm not sure what happened.

Haven't spied any bugs on it,

so who knows.

 

Our second patch is doing better.

This one was planted a few weeks after the first,

so I'm crossing fingers that it makes it.

I've always wanted to have my own personal pumpkin patch.

Maybe Linus Van Pelt himself will show up!

 

The mystery squash still shows no signs of slowing down.

It also doesn't show any female flowers on the stem.

The bees are all over it all day long,

but so far, I think it's going nowhere fast.

Ah well, it's a nice vertical statement in the garden.

 

Our carrot crop is still working on going to seed,

although I think it's getting closer.

These are two plants in the same bed,

but notice the difference in textures.

I didn't realize it took so long for this process

with this particular crop.

I have other carrots growing, so that I can harvest as needed,

and I will most likely succession sow some more.

It just makes sense to grow carrots, potatoes

and onions all year long.

We are blessed with a long growing season.

 

The veggie garden is getting fuller by the day,

and after this weekend, it will be maxed out.

Until something else is harvested,

and then it all begins over again.

 

On the flowery side of things,

our pollinator bed is already bursting.

This is one of the beds from the original garden location,

and placed here specifically to encourage pollinators

to work their magic on the veg garden.

When we had to relocate most of the garden beds,

this one stayed put, as there was no contamination issue,

since these were all ornamental plants.

We have a mixture of candy tuft, coreopsis, daisies, 

rudbeckia, sunflowers and zinnias growing here now.

 

 

The front porch pots are filling out nicely.

I love this combination of the fountain grass 

and the pop of color from the calibrachoa.

There is also a sedum in there,

but it has been overtaken!

I'll find another pot for it.

 

 

 These balloon flowers have grown taller than expected.

They have a home in the pollinator bed near the mailbox.

I've had to prop them up because they refused to stand tall

without any support.

They were given to me by a friend,

and I think of her each time I enjoy their beauty.

Gardening friends are the best, don't ya think?

The new chooks are settling in to the routine.

The divider between the two sets of chooks 

has been removed, and they now all mingle together.

I can't say it's been a peaceful transition,

but it sure is nice to have a few more sweet souls to tend to.

And we are getting 2-3 dozen eggs a week.

Bless their little egg-laying selves.

Here's some video shot yesterday during our downpour.

Don't you feel cooler just watching it?

Ah, nothing spells relief from the heat like 

R-A-I-N!

Hope you are blessed with what you need this week!

Garden Friday

 

Welcome to the first Garden Friday of the summer season!

We are welcoming new growth and new life.

 

The corn is slowly making progress.

This is a first time crop for me,

and I'm happy with any success with it.

As this is our initial foray into corn growing,

we started with a small block of eight seeds,

7 of which germinated.

 

The pumpkins are still doing well,

although I haven't yet spied any fruit on the vine.

It's early though, so I will be patient.

 

The cucumbers have started bearing fruit,

so I will be getting my jars ready for quick pickles.

It will also be nice to be able to share these with the chooks.

They love some frozen cucumbers!

 

I thought this was a cucumber beetle,

but the bug I saw does not match the photos I've seen.

It's on the squash plant, but it's not a typical squash beetle either.

Any ideas?

 

Fortunately, the good guys gals are easy to recognize!

 

This squash plant has showed no signs of slowing down

or of being affected by our 90+ degree temperatures this week.

 

The leaves are enormous!

 

These sad looking potatoes are ready for harvest.

I'm  hoping to get that done this weekend,

as our garlic is fully cured,

and I can use the same drying system for the taters.

Potatoes are one of the easiest crops to grow,

with very little in the way of pest pressure.

 

It's so exciting to see the melons on the vines out there.

We all love watermelon and I've been making lots of 

watermelon lemonade the last few weeks.

So refreshing!

 

Some of the cannas around the chicken run 

have started to bloom.

What a gorgeous, tropical-like blossom!

I have very little red in my garden,

but for these, I make an exception.

 

The turmeric is bouncing back

now that it is outside under our maple tree.

It spent the winter in the garage, 

along with our aloe vera.

This inflammatory-reducing herb is a beautiful plant

all on its own.

The medicinal benefits are a bonus!

 

 Although I admire this nest made by a mockingbird,

it was too high up for me to take a peek

at what was inside.

Bird nests are always so fascinating and truly works of art.

I was, however, able to get a glimpse of this bluebird house

and its inhabitants.

So sweet is their chirping.

No doubt they will be off on their own adventures very soon.

 

What's happening in your summer garden?