Another year gone by

Well, today was my 9th anniversary. Too bad nobody but me remembered. I spent the day messing around in the gardens, getting some of the few remaining plants in the house set outside. The cats of course, were just plain wore out from following me all over the farm.

My old Queen Elizabeth rose has opened her first bud. Today is the day you wish the blog could be a scratch and sniff.

Looks like I might get to make my first round of cutting hay early next week if the rains cooperate. The over night temperatures are supposed to get up to the low 70s, finally! That's good for the garden, the plants will start putting fruits on......

Lazy Day

Not a whole bunch going on around the farm. I'm standing on pins and needles waiting for the corn to sprout. It's always agony waiting for those little green shoots. Are they dead? Will they sprout or not? Lots of little showers the last few days. It gets dark, a bit of a sprinkle and it's gone. The cold overnight temperatures have been a bit hard on everything and I lost all but 4 of my Roma tomatoes. Guess I'm going to have to punt on that one, 4 plants is not enough to harvest for a years worth of food.

I'm just a little worried, the tomatoes and cuccs have been flowering for a week now and apparently are not being pollinated. So, yesterday I started hand pollinating the flowers. I have not seen a single bee yet this year.

The 6 strawberry plants that lived thru the transplant and the cats have really sprouted out. The whole tub is full of leaders and all of the have new berry starts on them. This type of strawberry seems pretty aggressive. The way they are going, I will have to make a row bed just for them by mid summer. Later this season, I should be swamped with berries. I like that idea!

The sweet peppers have put flowers on, none have opened yet but they will very soon. I have my q-tips ready for hand pollination. At $3.49 for 4 small peppers at the market, I can't wait for them to produce for me. Eating dehydrated peppers is okay but nothing beats home grown fresh bell peppers.

Speaking of $3.49 for 4 small peppers, checking the prices of fresh fruits and veges at the local market can give you a pretty good idea of how much money you can save yourself by growing those things for yourself. It also helps give you a good idea of what the price is if you have extra you might want to sell. Specialty items like watermelons and cantaloupes are usually pretty high priced at the market. $2.49 for a small cantaloupe, $5-8 for a medium sized watermelon. Both these fruits grow quickly and are easy to maintain. I will have pictures of both these vines growing here soon.

I've hilled my second round on the potatoes and they actually need another tire added already. They're looking pretty good, I hope they're making potatoes in all that dirt!

We had to round up the banty chicks that were hatched last week. Something was killing them. Out of 8 chicks, we have 3 left and they are now residing in the storage house brooder tank. So far so good.........

An update on the small disasters around the farm... I got all the carpet yanked out of the closet and all the water mopped up the best I could. We're adjusting to the whole no hot water thing as quick as we can. As for the door, the window screens and the leaking fuel tank on the truck, they are all still waiting. What else can ya do? Deal with what you've got and go on.....

The Berries

Today I feel like a yo-yo, up, down, left, right, 35mph wind but at least it's warmed up again.

I'm slowly getting all the water mopped up. It already smells like mold. That figures.

Today is another simple day around the farm. I'm doing the usual, tending critters, baking bread, got some chili going and a couple of rabbits in the stew pot. Some cake cooling on the counter. Nothing new broke today.

I still found a little time to cut another sidewall off a tire I picked up from the local mechanic for the zucchinis. I got it filled and the seedlings planted in it. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to put the pumpkins out, I don't want them getting beat to death by the 35mph wind we have today. I still need to put the melons out, both the hot peppers and both types of cherry tomato. I haven't decided where yet. The new round of beans has sprouted, I will probably till their spot and plant them tomorrow as well.

It's almost time to hill the potatoes, again! They are really growing quickly, much faster than when they are in the ground. Must be the well draining, rich compost mix soil. I'm pretty pleased with it, so pleased I haven't even hit them with the home made fertilizer mix yet. No need if they are growing so quickly without it.

Off to finish the rabbit stew......

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day for all the Moms that visit here. My day was like any other lately. My daughter did pick me a bunch of wild flowers from around the farm which brightened my morning. The day has been cool and quiet, I tended critters, ground feed, cleaned the grill, lit a fire and cooked up the last of the pork loin for supper. I decided I'd bake myself a cake after I washed a kitchen full of dishes, went into the closet storage for some ingredients and squish went my feet on the carpet. We've lost the hot water tank. Just when I thought nothing else bad could happen to us. So add a hot water tank to the list of broken things we can't fix and it can join the lawn mower spindle and pulley, the hole in the truck gas tank, the front door falling apart and no window screens. Now I need to go have a good cry. Happy Mothers Day.