Summer has arrived, and it seems that moms taxi is on the go non-stop. #2 got accepted to camp after all. Not what he applied for, but rather, military band at Blackdown. Totally unexpected. His C.O. worked it out for him. Awesome. So I have been shopping to fill his kit list before he leaves next week. New glasses are on the way for #2 and #4. I still don't see why they make the darn things so flimsy. I took the boys to a movie yesterday, Canada Day celebrations at the park on Sunday, and a friend to pick up on Tuesday to go horseback riding. I'm looking forward to a week at home to catch up with the weeds!
Hugelkultur bed is growing great. Check out the hay field beside it. I can barely see the currents in that mess! But keeping up with the garden weeds is more important. On a serious note, we have about 300 bales of hay to pick up today. The farmers are out cutting already! At this rate, they might get two cuts this year- which would be amazing in our climate. Some years it's iffy if we're going to get one!
Next year's huggie is under construction. The goats have found the perennial bed, so we are working on a short fence up the north side driveway. The tops of the fence post trees and all the branches are now the bottom layer of the huggie, covered with green manure. This will end up being more of a lasagna gardening huggie, lol. I figure it will work just fine, and it means we don't have to move the manure twice. And all of the nutrients will leach into the garden soil over the winter, rather than under a pile in the pasture somewhere.
#1 rototilled between the potatoes for me, and started hilling, last week, before I got behind on the weeds again.
The mystery survivalist plants are lillies, eh? This isn't the perennial bed. This is the patch on the lawn that I transplanted them from a few years ago. They came back, and they're flowering.
There were three cranes circling overhead as I worked in the garden one day. I only managed to snap a pic of one.
Puppies are doing great. They're developing their personalities, wandering all over the house, wrestling with each other, getting under foot, starting to go outside, climbing on things, eating dog food, and generally wreaking havoc. They bark when anyone comes in the door! It's so cute, and funny! I can't remember another litter ever doing that so young! I found this one curled up in the bowl this morning. Too cute. Life with puppies is bliss. (although a little stinky, lol). My favourites change every few days. The polar bears (whites) are currently winning.
Their mother is in trouble. She has been eating chickens. My little hens, to be precise. While I couldn't blame her at first- feeding ten is really wearing on her- I adjusted the doggy stew, adding more protein, and the puppies started eating it as well as nursing- she hasn't slowed down on the chicks at all. I hope she hasn't made it a habbit. For now she is tied up when she is outside, until the chicks get too big to escape their pen.
Our heat wave (rotflmao) has broken, with a good dose of rain last night. I know everyone is complaining about the heat lately. We had a week of about 28-32°C. It was really hot for us, with humidity! It's almost never humid here. Down to 20°C today, but the forecast claims it'll be climbing back up all week. Better than dropping! Rage on, Father Sun. Lots of work to do in the north!
wow - you sure have been busy, Wendy! and i can't believe the heat wave you guys had?!?!?!? you got lillies flowering all ready - holy moly - my wild roses just started flowering!!! still no lillies tho! as for lasagna/huggies next year - we sure do think a like. we are planning the same thing - just throw some dirt and manure on some dead wood and plant. your huggies are looking great!
ReplyDeleteyour friend,
kymber
I know, eh? That's some hot weather up here. Yeah, lillies flowering out in the lawn, not in the flower bed. go figure. Thanks.the huggies are just so easy when you have a bunch of dead wood laying around.
DeleteOnce a chicken-eater, always a chicken-eater. It may have started out of a real need, but she will continue. Hey, they provide a little sport besides a meal. She will teach the puppies this bad habit.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by your huggies. In the city I would get in trouble for piles of trash that "attract vermin." That is a scary phrase, bandied about by municipalities. Maybe I could just throw it in my pink planter box. It would look cute that way, you know--all contained in pink.
Ordinarily, I'd agree with you. Wonder, however, is unique. She was a chicken killer as a pup, but she's very eager to please, and learned not to do that. She also hasn't touched any of the full sized chickens, so I wonder if she even realizes that the chicks are mine and not wild birds wandering around the yard. She also hasn't gotten the crazy, self absorbed, 'must kill chicken' behavior going on. If I see her stalking a chick and call her, she responds to me. She will have some retraining and a second chance.
DeletePiles of trash that attract vermin, eh? Nope, not a bid of trash in the pile. All biodegradable. No vermin to speak of either. A few flies for the first couple of days, until the top layer settles, but that's it. And those flies would happily swarm any compost pile I chose to put that manure on too. Of course, in the city, you'd have people a little upset if you tried producing that much manure in your yard.