Feeling Less Behind and Happy at Home

Whew, we've had a couple of really nice days (not always sunny, but if there's no rain, I label them nice) lately, and I've been able to get a lot done in the garden.

Rain was forecast for all day today, but when we got up and there was no evidence of moisture, I didn't even stop for breakfast but headed right out to the garden.  I did have to stop for lunch around 11:30 (much to my also hungry husband's delight) because I was so hungry I was starting to feel nauseated.  But then right back out again and all was well until 3 p.m. when the intermittent raindrops became more steady than intermittent, and I had to call it a day.

Our asparagus continues to be bountiful . . . and we're succeeding in eating all of it fresh.  I haven't frozen any at all yet, and you would think we'd be tired of it as it appears on our table at least once and sometimes twice a day.  But, nope, we're both still exclaiming how wonderful it tastes.  (Can you break out in hives from eating too much asparagus as some people do when eating too many strawberries?  If so, we're in trouble.)

I took the first cutting of rhubarb today.  Seems the stems shot up from 6" long to a foot long nearly overnight.  Soon as I finish with this post, I'm mixing up a favorite rhubarb cake recipe for tomorrow.

Another milestone today . . . Papa Pea decided it was time to integrate Mama Duck and her brood into the big poultry yard and pond.  I was nervous as to how the geese would react, but any fears turned out to be unwarranted.  The big, ol', clumsy geese exhibited a little curiosity which then quickly turned into boredom and by afternoon all the poultry was co-mingling without any problem.  Mama Duck continues to be a good mother and is keeping the little ones close.  They have all gone down to the pond several times and although Mama Duck goes right in, her offspring have (so far) stayed near the shore with short (very short) forays into the water.  You can almost hear them saying, "Wow, this is one BIG water pan!"

I'll try to get some pictures to post soon.

The chicks we ordered from the hatchery several weeks ago are still corralled in their chicken tractor with an additional small pen attached to it.  They'll be let in with the rest of the whole feathered flock probably sometime this coming week.

We're spending the Memorial Day Weekend at home which to my mind is not a bad thing.  I went into town yesterday and the traffic on the roads was heavy.  Cars and trucks and trailers and campers and boats, oh my.  Papa Pea never fails to reminisce about when we were still living in Illinois and decided to go to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky over a Memorial Day Weekend.  Coming home it was bumper to bumper the whole way home, and we didn't pull into our driveway until the wee hours of the morning.  Nope, we're not fighting traffic anymore in this phase of our lives.  We're happy, happy, happy celebrating most holidays right here at home.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend in whatever way you choose to spend it!

Would Like to Post More . . .

. . . but don't have the time.  I know you can all relate this time of year.

We still seem to be in the midst of two days of rain, one or two days of sunshine.  Temps are still cool (yes, I sound like a broken record), but when the soil is dry enough I take full advantage of garden work.

In the last couple of days I snapped some pics of our feathered friends.

Wet, wet, wet.  Rain falling but the birds don't seem to care.

Even in the rain, afternoon feeding time is a popular affair.

Several of the birds will come up to eat out of Papa Pea's hand.

Mama Duck giving her little ones a lesson in preening after getting soaking wet.  Being out in the rain was their choice.  They had a high and dry house to go into, but obviously it was more fun to splash in the wetness.

"Quack." 

Actually, the Muscovy ducks don't quack.  Their method of communicating is more of a chirp/hiss/whistle.

Yesterday we had (hallelujah!) bright sunshine.  Here's Mama Duck (she's such a good mother) with her little brood resting in the shade.

More sun forecast for today . . . so I'm outta here!

Saturday Night, After Dinner, Before Bed

I'm feeling behind on getting the garden in.  (I say this every year, don't I?)  The weather hasn't been conducive to planting.  We seem to be getting two days of rain, two days of no rain.  The first day after the rain stops, it's too wet to do much in the field garden, but I can usually work in the raised beds . . . which is good.

Rain (about an inch) is predicted to fall on us over night tonight and if that happens I'll lose another day of progress in the field garden tomorrow.  But I did get all my shell peas and potatoes planted there today.

Wasn't a particularly pleasant day weather-wise.  Very damp with a stiff breeze.  Worked with knit hat and down work jacket on most of the day.  On the other hand, the bugs aren't bad.  (They have yet to make their appearance.  Knock on wood, maybe they'll never hatch this year.  Ha.)

Also got carrots planted in a raised bed.  I'm still shaking my head over the size of my carrots from last year.  They were plentiful but about big around as a pencil.  (Slight exaggeration.  Slight.)  My carrots are usually fat and sassy so last season's were a puzzlement.  I plant a total of 32' of them which is an ample supply for us.  (Except when they turn out to be such skinny-minnies.)

Got a little more done as far as weeding the blueberry patch.  Not totally done yet, but getting there.  Same with the strawberries.  Plants are looking great, but no signs of blossoms forming yet.  It's early for us.

Started zinnia seeds inside yesterday.  They grow so fast that they'll be ready to put out about the first week in June.  If our weather ever turns warm, that is.

I'm not feeling "down" as this post may sound.  Just tired.  I think more from working out in the chilly, breezy weather than the day's physical work.  All is well and I'm feeling very thankful tonight for our little oasis in this crazy world.

A Day Off

And it's just about wrecked me!  I feel more tired, beat-up and run over tonight than if I'd worked hard physically all day.

Yep, until yesterday, I have been working hard getting the garden in, weeds on yet bare ground under control, weed whipping, berry bushes pruned and ready for the season and related outside yard/garden projects.

All that and more until our full day of rain yesterday.

Even then I kept going non-stop all day catching up on repotting seedlings, household-y type chores I'd been neglecting, etc., etc. 

Papa Pea strongly suggested we take today off.  Seems he may have pulled a muscle or ligament or possibly damaged a tendon down by his ankle but has been gimping along on a very swollen ankle and foot for several days.  He finally made the decision this morning (his decision, not my suggestion about which I've been nagging him) to spend the day sitting with the swollen appendage up and resting.  Turns out it's been a good day for his idleness because it was cold and very gray this morning with rain starting again after lunch time.

All I did this morning was go to the library and make a quick stop (the devil made me do it) at a local nursery before coming home.

The rest of the day I've spent reading on the couch . . . which is something I never do during the day, even in the dead of winter.  Why, you may ask?  Because I immediately fall asleep when I'm not moving!  I do declare, I spent more time this afternoon dozing off and then jerking myself awake than I did reading.  Hubby tried to talk me into stretching out and taking a real nap, but I knew I would feel cwappy upon awakening.  (The few and far between times I've succumbed and napped during the day always brings the same yucky results.)

So I guess the moral of the story is the old saying, "It only hurts when I stop."

Sure hope the weather is good tomorrow so I can work hard again.  I'll feel much better.

Another Glorious Day

Our weather has been cool to start in the morning, warming up to shirt sleeves mid-day, and then back to cool 'round about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.  In short, perfect for working in the garden.  The very best part?  NO BUGS, yet!

I've got five cold frames filled.  (One in the picture above is still empty.)  Two hold broccoli and cauliflower I've planted out early.  They wouldn't need the cold frames except for the cold nights.  I don't think the plants would actually be hurt because the temp hasn't gone down to freezing, but I don't want to stress them either while they're so small and tender.

Yesterday I planted a bed (the seeds) of slicing cukes.  Those want to be kept as toasty as possible so I only crack the cold frames open enough during the day to introduce a little circulation of fresh air.  Then I cross my fingers that the soil doesn't cool down too much over night.

My bed of salad greens has sprouted and probably won't need the cold frame over it for much longer.

A good friend gifted me with many tomato plants (Big Boy and Brandywine) and several pepper plants (same ones as I've got started on my seedling rack -- California Wonder) but I don't have a cold frame or makeshift greenhouse, row cover, hoop house or whatever big enough for the tomatoes so I potted them (and the pepper plants) and have the pots set on the soil of a raised bed with a cold frame over them.  Where I'll put them when they grow big and it's warm enough to plant them in the ground, I don't know yet.  Will have to figure that out.  I've never any success growing full-size tomatoes because they need some kind of extra protection for the warmth they require.

I have about half the blueberry patch weeded and got a start on the strawberries today.  We're in need of rain and the soil in the strawberries where I'm trying to dig out weeds is like cement.  If we get the rain predicted over night, that should help.

We were planning on mowing the lawn for the first time tomorrow, but now realize it may be too wet if the rain materializes.  We really do need the rain as the fire danger is listed as High right now.

Our asparagus is coming along, just not fast enough for our taste buds that are all set for it.  The rhubarb, of course, is shooting right up.  I finally found a wonderful rhubarb cake recipe last year, and I fear as soon as the rhubarb is ready, I may break our rule of trying to avoid desserts!

I'm still working at getting all the quack grass out of the as-of-yet unplanted raised beds . . . and I think I may be gaining on it.

I was feeling pretty cocky yesterday thinking I was ahead of the game this year . . . until I checked my records and found I had all my potatoes and peas planted by May 10th last year.  I never should have checked.

Not a very exciting post, I realize, but good as record keeping for me.

Hope the weather in your part of the world is cooperating and your gardening season is starting out really well.

It's That Time of Year

Yep, it's that time of year when many of us can't possibly come even close to fitting everything that needs doing, or that we want to do, into any 24-hour period.

Our growing season up here is short.  I can start getting my cool weather crops in first whether they be transplants (with some protection) or seeds.  The push to get these out, in, up and growing usually starts around the middle of May.  Then the planting of the transplants and seeds that need warmer weather, along with ship-shaping up the berry patches and fruit trees, usually takes me into mid-June when I finally breathe a big sigh of relief and announce that the garden's ready for the year.

Funny, they looked much bigger inside!

Today I transplanted some of my cauliflower plants grown from seed indoors out into a 4' x 8' raised bed covered with one of our cold frames. 

Also, one of the three planned beds of onions got planted.

Early this morning before leaving for one of her three (or is it four?) jobs, Chicken Mama was a sweetheart and planted a bed of bulbs for me.  Her fella, aka Gilligan, gave me some gladiola and some tiger lily bulbs for my recent birthday, and I also had some pink and white glad bulbs (or I think more accurately "corms") from a kind and thoughtful Internet friend (thank you, thank you, Karen!) in Wisconsin.  Can't wait to see the showy display this planting produces this summer.

Speaking of Gilligan, here he is making a lovely seed bed out of the new patch we plowed up last year, fertilized and had planned on using for a new raspberry patch (and a few other plantings) this year.  Well, it ain't gonna happen.  Just too darn many other projects started or planned that are a bigger priority.  So we asked Chicken Mama and Gilligan if they wanted to use the space as their vegetable gardening area this year.  We were pickled tink to have them eagerly accept the offer.  It will be so much fun to see "another garden" right next to ours.  The space includes an adjoining area behind and to the left in the picture so they should have a good amount of ground to work with.

Alas and alack, I'm not going to have the time I want for the next couple/few weeks to comment on all of your interesting, entertaining, informative, and uplifting posts.  I'll miss doing so but as I started out this post by saying, all of a sudden the days are too short . . . the the list is too long!