This morning Dahlia, the cat that thinks she's a dog, and I took a walk around the yard to snap a few pictures. I swear this cat doesn't know she's a cat, she runs and plays with the kids and doesn't even care if it's raining out.
My tomatoes are doing so well this year without the chickens. I really felt bad locking the ladies up for the summer, but seriously, it was just too frustrating to put in all that work and have pretty much nothing in the end. They ruined everything!! My goal of having enough tomatoes to can at the end of the season just might become a reality. Now to learn how to can.....
It seems late to me, but I'm still starting seeds in the greenhouse, I have my second batch of pumpkins and cucumbers going right now. Some I'll share, others I'll randomly place around the yard just for fun. If I get enough I'll leave a pumpkin here and there and let it decompose and hopefully the seeds will grow next year. It's called lazy gardening....
I planted a bucket with basil, lavender and thyme seeds, so far the lavender hasn't germinated. Not sure what happened, but 2 out of 3 isn't bad, right?
Behind the greenhouse there's this random spot that gets great sun but was pretty much a bunch of blackberry bushes and rock when we moved in. I slowly hacked away at the blackberries and moved rocks so I could plant my raspberries. They seem to be loving it. It's also where I keep my big compost pile, which by the way has so may things growing in it, potatoes, peas, squash, onions, etc... I'm going to let them all grow and see what happens.
The peppers in the greenhouse are going crazy! They clearly love it in there so I'll leave one of each plant and move the rest outside. It will be interesting to see if the greenhouse peppers do better.
My citrus trees are doing amazingly well, especially since I thought I was going to have to toss them all. They were infested with grey citrus scale which led to the mold fungus that spread everywhere. They were in really sad shape and nothing I did was helping, they were just too infested. So as a last ditch I put all the citrus out in the winter, I figured the cold would kill all those darn bugs, but knew there was a chance it would also kill the plants. I was pleasantly surprised to see it did kill the bugs and stopped the fungus. But it still took a lot of work to clean off all the fungus, I had to wipe down each leaf and branch, but it was worth it. They all survived and are blooming! I still get those pesky grey citrus scale, but now I check them regularly and remove them when I see them before they can become a problem again.
My squash are doing fairly well, some better than others. I planted quite a few plants in various places to see where they do best. Gardening in a new place is always a learning experience the first couple years. I'm still learning.
A kick I'm on this year is using baskets in the garden. It started when I picked up some really cute ones at a garage sale, got them home and realized I really didn't have a place in the house for them. Then I saw some of the most beautiful planted baskets at the garden show, the prices were not so beautiful, and I was inspired. This one is just filled with mint, but I still like how it looks. There are more randomly placed in the garden that have flowers, herbs, and vegetables, all different. Instead of paying $50 and up I paid a fraction and did the work myself.
This basket has mostly herbs, but also a strawberry and some trailing flowering ivy that I love (not the hanging planter).
It's hard to see, but the water bulbs I tossed into the pond are growing, no flowers yet but it's still early. Some time in the future I would love to redo this pond and make it deeper. It's currently about 18 inches deep and I would love to go another 12" or so. But that project is pretty far down on the list.
And now for my ladies and gentleman.... I so wanted this handsome boy to be a hen, his coloring is amazing (this picture does not do him justice, guess I'll have to get a better one) and he has a wonderful temperament. He follows me around everywhere and makes the saddest noise when I leave the run (basically their fenced in area). He lets me pet him, pick him up and is good with the ladies. Louie doesn't even mind him, which is great.
This is the other rooster we hatched, when I was rehoming the other boys he was on the list to go but I he caught on to what was happening and refused to be caught. He pretty much avoids me and keeps a low profile, so that has bought him a pass to stay here at Purple Pastures.... for now.
This pretty girl we call Baby, she was the first chick to hatch here and is the sweetest girl. She will be another blue/green egg layer. I love them!!!
Earlier this year we picked up 9 hens from a woman in town that was getting rid of a bunch. I really had no intention of getting more, in fact I was going over to look at them for a friend, but saw how pretty they were and had to get some....
This is Ninja, she is such a character, even Mr. Housewife likes her....
And then there's Roxy.... she's broody right now and we've decided to let her sit on two silkie eggs. She is a mean little hen right now, puffing up and trying to look all mean if you come near her. She was sooooo happy to get her picture taken this morning.....
I have a few (ok many) more chickens that will eventually make their appearance on the blog, but for now these cuties will be the stars.
What's happening in your garden and yard?
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