Unfortunately, Agnes died the other day. You can read about it here. The girls of course were devastated but took it a lot better than we thought! The vet wanted me to bring her in but she was already disposed of by the time the vet called back. I guess if we have another one drop we will be doing bird autopsies, fun times!
Well we are still on Eggwatch 2011 (yes we gave it one of those fancified titles). If they don't lay soon I am going to scream! Patience obviously is not one of my virtues. I haven't bought any eggs from the farm in two weeks and I am going through egg withdrawal. I just know the minute I purchase them, my gals will start laying and I will be inundated with eggs.
In other garden news, we are now on Tomatowatch 2011 as well. Any day now I am going to have a tomato explosion in my garden! So if you don't hear from me for a while I am up to my eyeballs in tomatoes! I try to pick them before they get too red so they don't rot before I get to them!
The corn is still doing it's thing.....Don't worry in a few short weeks we will be on Cornwatch 2011. Just kidding, I am sure we will only get a few ears of corn because I did not plant that much.
The girls have been loving all these strawberries. I am not sure if I just mixed up the varieties when planting or if we were just lucky this year. Anyway they have been enjoying the few we get from the garden each night.
The deer have found the garden and decimated my zucchini plants. I need to put up a fence but putting in raised beds along with organic soil kind of sucked up a bunch of the garden fund this year. Believe me the beds and organic soil were so worth it especially since my property was an old farm so who knows what they put on the ground! I think I am going to have to deal with it for this season. But fair warning to all the deer out there, if you eat my tomatoes I will
The Hubs and I are making plans to take our garden a little further by adding some cool weather crops. We are not sure what we are going to grow and we are still figuring out a storage solution. In my basement things tend to spoil and mold quickly. I have been researching root cellars and have found a few we could dig out of the side of the hill.
The hot and humid weather finally broke today so we were able to enjoy time outside!
We are already planning our garden for next year. Noting what has worked and what has not worked for us. Have you started your plans for next summers garden? Are you planning on adding anything like cold weather crops or perennials?
I have read that you can take an old fridge, dig a deep hole and put the fridge in so that it opens like a cooler. You put bales of hay on top over the winter.
ReplyDeleteI have been planning to put in cool crops. I have dragged my feet on starting spinach, brussels sprouts and a fall batch of kale. I fear that it's too late. Argh.
Chandra, I did brussel sprouts this year, paid full price on starters, & have nothing yet. I strongly suggest you check local farm markets for those last of season plant packs(Adam's most likely has tons left in Hudson Valley area-here upstate we are limited on who sells plants), & stick them in the ground. I did not realize they take so long to grow, & I guess its like cabbage. They like it colder & do better as the weather cools. Also, Anne, I tried a squash last year for 1st time called Delicata. Its absolutely amazing! If you dry out the seeds they do come back, & local farmers here tell me that seeds are hard to get (at least up here), so if you can buy a few squash this year & save seeds your in luck! I scopped the seeds, & stuck them in halves in freezer bags. Then all you have to do is stick them straight into oven, they do not need seasoning or butter or anything in my opinion! They are just sweet & melt in mouth. You can even eat the skin! They freeze wonderfully which was a blessing because my winter squash was getting spotty after a few months of basement life, & I HATE to waste! As for butternut,accorn, & buttercup, I had to peel & chunk cut all of those for freezer. But I do make sweet mash as well as creamy squash soup with them, & its amazing! Also, Chandraa, I got spinach seeds, never got in ground, but LOVE the stuff, so I think I will work on a window box design & plant for so fall spinach salads. I had hoped for this huge crop of spinach to freeze, but I always have next year. Freecycle is a great place to join because people waste so much today, & nearly everything can be recycled. I personally like the wooden wine boxes, they make nice solid little garden planters. If you have a railed porch you can screw them onto railing & plant away. I have an older singer sewing machine in the table, it works but I never use it. I was thinking of pulling out the machine & using the table as a plant stand, it would be cool to build a bottom on the table & plant inside it. Anne- this is unless you would like the entire thing (saw you would like to learn to sew & it sits in my garage & will happily give to you when you guys get up this way). I actually have my mom's machine here & its easier for me to handle. As OFTEN as I sew (did it 2 times my entire life), I see no need for two machines, this one was gifted to me, so its is yours if you would like! Also, I have been a crappo friend this week, sorry! Computers in this house decided to take a week off, cell is still on death row, & my garden too has suddenly decided that I can not have too many cucs & beans. I fear the upcoming weeks as I planted 54 tomatoe plants! Yaaaa, lesson learned before they even ripen! I stood looking out at them the other day in fear.....they are loaded! I guess we will not run out of pizza sauce this year though! As for these cucs, I'm experimenting. This is 1st year trying pickles. I currenty have a bowl fermenting....in 6 weeks they will be what Ball calls Icicle Pickles. I'm determined to creat a half sour or NYC deli style crunchy pickle that can be preserved in a canning jar rather than the fridge recipes I keep finding. If by chance anyone reading knows of a trusted recipe for canning I would be forever greatful! Anne- keep up the blogging girl, love to read from ya! xoxo & best of luck this weekend! You & fam are in my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThat's a whole lot of "-watches"! I hope the chickens oblige soon. Sorry to hear about your deer problems. Our zucchini has suffered from the heat, so our harvest is also decimated. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteYes it is a lot of "watches" but I have a feeling everything is going to happen at once then I will be inundated with eggs and tomatoes! The heat was a bear this season! I felt like I watered every night then the next morning everything was dry as a bone!
ReplyDeletewe can totally commiserate with the deer problems. they're cute when they stay in the woods where they belong, and not so cute when they're eating your hard work!
ReplyDeletehope those eggs appear soon!
How old are the chickens? They're "supposed to" start laying around 20 weeks, but mine always take a few weeks longer than that. They will! Don't give up hope! And it'll take your breath away when they finally do. :)
ReplyDeleteFor real, the deer did that to your zucchini!? Wow.