Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Rain followed by Sun

Less than 2 weeks ago, the potato patch was spotty, at best.



Then it rained and rained. Finally, the sun shone. And, now you can practically watch it grow. Sadly, the weeds are growing just as fast.



Emma turned 3. She has discovered Barney so Gma got her 2 Barney videos. She also noticed, for the first time, that we have a Barney beach towel (was Dalton's ~ 12 years ago!). It's hers now. She's the most singy of all the kiddos, so we belt out the ole "I love you, You love me" song at the top of our lungs, and we don't care how much eye rolling occurs ~ secretly, we know they are singing too. :D



Inspired by Paul, I begged, pleaded, asked to have one so Jerry built this trellis system for the yellow squash, butternut squash and loofah. He used scrap lumber and also t-posts for anchors. I've got to tie the string on, and it's good to go. I have to decide if I'm going to want more for the cucumbers and tomatoes. How does one stake 75 tomato plants while on a limited budget?! Suggestions, please!



I can not stop taking pictures of the chix. They make it easy by hurtling towards me where ever I am. LOL That never gets old!!



Speaking of chicks, I have been letting the meat birds free range outside in the afternoons. What does this shot look like to you?! A daisy? Yeah, me too. One week to go til butcher date.

I should do updates to the challenges, but I don't feel like it. LOL So much is going on right now in the garden - doubling it has been a bit of a pain. Grass turf is a bugger to get thru. The ground underneath hasn't seen the light of day for 35+ years (back when it was farmland/tilled fields.) So, we are transplanting the turf, double digging, adding compost to holes, mulching between plants and looking forward to this fall when we can plow it all under.

  • Blackberry and blueberry bushes arrived, yet to be planted.
  • Lettuce is slow coming up, so are radishes.
  • Peas are a total loss thanks to the chickens for scratching them up, twice.
  • Rhubarb should be harvested.
  • We got asparagus in small spurts, never enough all at once, but I planted 10 more.
  • Planted another peach tree ~ Elberta.
  • Jerry & I shared the first strawberry of the season.
Cole, Braden & Dalton
The boys had a Father/Son fishing trip this past weekend. While they were gone, the girls painted nails, went shopping for coloring books & stickers and had a sleep over in mom's bed.

We have an entire week of balmy, breezy spring-time-in-Kansas weather forecasted (which translates to highs of 80, lows of 60, winds 10-25 mph and low humidity.) Paradise on the prairie!


11 comments:

Bethany said...

Sounds wonderful!

I can't wait to see what the loofa look like as they grow. Is this your first time with loofa as well, or have you done it before. I have to figure out my trellising for them, so I can get the poor things outside!

I love the pic of the meat birds.

Becca's Dirt said...

Happy Birthday to Emma. She looks so sweet and not a bit spoiled I'm sure. Looks like your veggie area is filling out nicely. What a nice shot of the meat birds. That is so cool. Becca

Unknown said...

I love the hens! And those meat birds! Wow..
What a dif some rain makes!

Sue said...

And I thought I was the only one who couldn't get enough of chickens! Love em! Everything looks like its moving right along. Have a great week!

Karen C said...

Serendipitously, the Demo Garden blog just had a thing on staking large numbers of tomatoes:

http://thedemogardenblog.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/training-the-tomatoes-up-right/

Melissa ~ Mom to 6 said...

Bethany ~ This will be my first year for Loofah. I have had fun making soaps and I read about cutting the loofah into 1" slices, pour soap in the open spaces, add a ribbon and voila! Soap on a roap with loofah. That's what I'm going for. LOL Oh, and to get away from commercial sponges/scrubbers. Fingers and toes crossed that I get a few.

Becca ~ She is the sweetest little girl ever. She was actually born on Mother's Day so a double gift. :D Nope, not spoiled, not at all. *giggle*

Chickenista - I have so many photos of the hens and the meat birds. For someone who used to be terrified of birds, I've developed a true love for chickens.

Sue ~Thanks! You too!

KAREN! I was wondering where you'd gone, but I just read up on all the updates. Thanks for the link. Excellent timing.

Melissa ~ Mom to 6 said...

Karen ~ I actually took Jerry to the Extension office yesterday to check out their compost bins and also to see if they still were growing Raspberry next to Blackberry. I could just sit in their lovely, weed free garden all day. :D

Parisienne Farmgirl said...

Wow - this looks WONDERFUL! What a riot with the meat birds!
I too am trying to figure out how to stake 13 tomatoes on no extra money - there is no way I can spend 7 bucks a pop on those horrible tomato cages.
You are such an inspiration.

Jennifer said...

Love the pictures of the chickens. That one that looks like a white flower is really neat. I planted loofah this year too! I don't know if it is because the weather hasn't been that hot until recently or what but they just sat outside and didn't do much for over a month. They are finally starting to grow now! I hope they grow fast enough to get some loofahs off of them this year with the long harvest time they have.

Melissa ~ Mom to 6 said...

Parisienne Farmgirl ~ Thanks! I think I've settled on a stake/twine combo. Those cheap cages just can't stand up to the plants I grow. I'm going to be visiting the extension office tomorrow to see how they do it.

Jennifer ~ I have my fingers crossed for the loofah. I really want to have some too. :D

Sue from Ky. said...

This post was written a while back, so you probably have already figured out your plan for staking 75 tomato plants, but a friend of mine used indeterminate plants which grow long, and planted 3 plants in a circle around one or two stakes, and tie them up as they grew,like a tree.He kept them mulched good at the base.That might be one way.

As for the chickens at the feeder, I think they remind me of a Columbine flower,with 5 doves forming a circle.