Holy Moley

Just when I was beginning to think I might be done picking squash bugs off the squash, these little critters showed up on the eggplant.

Potato bugs!

So now. in addition to looking for these little copper eggs

(usually on the bottoms of the leaves, so not easily visible) and squishy them, and looking for baby and adult squash bugs and squishy them, I have to look for potato bugs on the eggplant vines and squish them.

Will it ever end?

And something has taken a few bites out of my perfect little aubergine eggplant.

The Fur's A' Flyin'

It's hot.  I don't have enough non-broiling-hot hours in the day to groom animals.

So, Pearlie got a haircut.  I don't claim to be a doggie hair stylist.

And, since I suddenly turned into Edward Scissorhands, minus the talent, Edward was not spared.  This is what happens around here when you let your hair turn into felt.  Either that, or male pattern baldness.

"hmmph"

Update on Nettle Erradication

I posted about various treatments for nettles back in June of 2010 ( http://tilemosaics.blogspot.com/2010/06/bulls-horses-and-nettles.html ), and it has occurred to me that I did not post a follow-up on how well the treatments worked.

I'm sorry to say that they did not totally erradicate the nettles.  We still regularly have bull nettles cropping up throughout the property.  Tom pulls them by hand.  And we have great patches of the Carolina horse nettle that he has to treat throughout the growing season.

Our next plan of action is to get our soil in tip-top shape.  We've had the soil tested to see what it needs and will be applying lime and some fertilizer in the coming weeks.  Then a regular regimen of mowing.  We have been told that if we fertilize enough, our hay will eventually choke out the nettles and other weeds.

We shall see.

Also, we've been letting the goats roam freely.  They like to eat the young sand burrs and the burr grass.  I think that has been helpful in keeping the burrs from taking over.

Twig Arbor

I got it in my head that I wanted to build a twig arbor.  So, I gathered up some of the small trees that were casualties of the drought and roughly the same size and built this.  Then I planted an Asian Jasmine next to it so it can climb.  It's pretty shady, so I don't know how the jasmine will do, but, so far, so good.

It looks pretty straight from this angle, but that is deceiving.

One of my trees was crazy crooked.

Don't be hatin'

I like it a bit wonky.

I Take It Back

Maybe I am getting better at it.  Well, it's probably not me, it's probably the good weather, but the garden suddenly exploded into life.  I've blanched and frozen several quarts of green beans.  This is the first year I've ever gotten more than a handful.  I still haven't gotten the hang of picking them at the right time.  I tend to wait too long or miss some of them hanging on the vine (they're very hard to see amongst the foliage) and then they're tough to eat.

I also blanched and froze a few dozen corn on the cob and have some waiting to be shucked.  I'll probably have another batch or two to pick in the coming days, then the corn will be done.  Maybe I'll have time for another crop of corn.  I don't know how it grows in the heat of summer.

The cucumbers continue to produce more than I know what to do with and I'm still resisting making  pickles.

The butternut squash survived the invasion of the squash bugs and, although I'm still finding some on the vines and leaves, there are far less than when the season started.  So, I'll have loads of butternut unless some other disease or pest crops up that I'm not prepared for.

Pumpkins?  I thought pumpkins were supposed to be harvested in the fall?  I followed either the Farmer's Almanac guide or my organic gardening book's guide on when to plant.  I'm pretty sure these pumpkins are ready to be picked and there are many more at different stages of development.  What does a body do with so many pumpkins and it's nowhere near Halloween or Thanksgiving?

This is some kind of melon called Canary.  I don't think I've ever seen or heard of it before.  I thought I was planting canteloupe, but it doesn't have the netted skin like canteloupe and the flesh is sort of creamy white instead of orange.  I picked one and cut it open today.  The seeds are in the middle like a canteloupe and the taste is a cross between canteloupe and watermelon with maybe a dash of cucumber.  It will be very refreshing when it's chilled.

Some critter, probably a cute little bunny, is eating the pumpkin and watermelon.  It will eat on the same one each night

until it looks like this.  Then it will move on to another young fruit.  I'm not terribly upset about it because it takes several days for one to be eaten and I have so many.  But, if it starts destroying too much of the garden, I think I'll send one of the young men out there for target practice.  Jasper Cat hangs out in the garden a lot, but I guess she doesn't stay out there at night, otherwise, she might be able to keep the bunnies away.

I read recently that watermelons need a lot of water as the vines are growing and getting established but after the watermelons get bigger, too much water will dilute the sweetness.  So, while they ripen, you need to cut down on the watering.  I have accidentally done something right.

Flower Gardening

My flower gardening is going well this year.

The other Dahlias were yellow

and another white one.

Turk's Cap.  What an amazing tiny little flower.  This plant dies back completely during the winter, then puts up all new shoots in the spring, getting bigger each year.

I'm trying to get a good stand of Cosmos going by letting it reseed itself.  Unfortunately, only one plant came up this year, but it's a doozy.  It's way taller than I expected.  I might should have put it more towards the back of the bed.

The miniature roses are blooming profusely.  I need to train it to climb on the fence instead of lay all over the ground.

Orange Canna

Asian Cucumber Salad

I'm looking for ways to use up my cucumbers so that I won't have to make pickles and came across this recipe on allrecipes.com. I made it last night and it was sooo good that I couldn't stop eating it. I used my own cucumbers, onions, and fresh mint and some tomatoes that a friend had grown (unfortunately, my tomatoes are not making).

1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes*
1/2 tsp. salt
2 lbs cucumbers, halved, seeded, and sliced (3 or 4 large cukes is about right)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 roma tomatoes, chopped (other tomatoes work just as well)
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbs. chopped frest mint
1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts

Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, coriander, red pepper flakes, and salt in a salad bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the cucumbers, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, and chopped mint, and toss to coat with dressing. Cover and refrigerate for an hour to blend flavors. Stir occasionally.

Before serving, toss again with chopped peanuts.

*The red pepper makes it quite hot, so if you don't like hot so much, go easy on the pepper.

Straw Bale Gardening Update

Well, I must say, I'm disappointed and unimpressed with this straw/hay bale gardening.  I do like how it elevates the plants so they aren't all over the ground and it's a little easier to pick the veggies, but I think that's the only good thing about it...except that I like how it looks, which is of little value.

In the bale row farthest to the right at the far end are the cucumbers that survived.  They're producting well.  The rest of that row was zucchini.  I planted about ten, but only three survived.  Those three are dead now.  The problem I had with them was, firstly, keeping them watered enough.  The bales dried out very quickly. 

 Secondly, zucchini plants are heavy and the roots couldn't get a good hold in the hay.  When they started putting on zucchini, one of them got so heavy that it just fell out on the ground. 

Lastly, from what I read, having the plants up off of the ground is supposed to help keep the pests off of them, but that was not the case with the squash bugs.  It did help with the moles, but I had to inspect every leaf for squash bugs and their eggs every day. 

Anyway, between the weak root system and the squash bugs, the zucchini didn't make it and I replanted in another area.

The middle row is butternut squash.  I'm fighting the squash bugs with that, but so far, they are making it.  It's easier to keep the vines propped up on the bales so that they don't pull the roots out.

The tomatoes are growing like crazy, but not putting on tomatoes.  Haven't figured out what's going on with that yet, but I have some friends who already are picking their tomatoes. 

I'm really not getting any better at this gardening thing even after, what? five seasons.

Dinner Plate Dahlia

Yay!  The blooming of the Dahlias has made my week.  I can't get over how beautifully perfect this flower is.

It is a full eight inches across and so heavy that it hangs it's head.  I'm surprised the stalk can hold it up.

Here is is amongst the daylillies to show a contrast in size.

I must admit, when I ordered these bulbs from Breck's ( http://brecks.com/ )

I didn't really believe they'd bloom the 6-9 inches promised.  I especially didn't expect anything this summer because I planted them in the spring of last year.  I planted ten of them in different colors and they all sprang up.  Then the drought hit and, even though I watered them faithfully, the drought killed off over half of them.  The ones left got buds on them and were promptly eaten up - everything but the stem - by grasshoppers.

In our climate, you're supposed to dig dahlias up and store them through the winter, replanting in the spring.  My efforts last summer were such a dismal failure, that I didn't even bother digging them up.  They over wintered in the ground and to my great surprise, three of them grew this spring.  This one is the first to bloom, but the others have buds on them, too.  Can't wait to see what colors I have left.

The Lawn

I'm so excited that our lawn is recovering from the drought.  There are a lot...a LOT of weeds, but the St. Augustine grass is going strong and starting to retake its territory.

And, I think it's pretty cool that the cannas I planted behind the orange patio furniture...

bloomed the exact same color as the furniture.

Remember This?

Let me remind you.  I started this in July of last year; posted about it in August.

http://tilemosaics.blogspot.com/2011/08/slow-season.html

Finally, almost a year later...it is completed.  I had painter's block for several months.  I just have to put a coat of varnish on it and then it will be winging its way to the intended recipient.

It's a knockoff of the Paul Van Ginkel painting, White Out.

Crystal Garden Art

I love garden art and have been drooling over these glass and crystal pieces that I've been seeing at the flea market lately.  So, this is what Meagan made for me for a Mother's Day gift.

Isn't it wonderful?!

Paden got me a great hammock swing, but we haven't hung it up yet.  Tom said that if I want to hang it on the back porch, he'll need to get up in the attic and build a special brace.  I guess he thinks I have too much body fat to suspend from our current porch roof.  :o

Ah, They Grow Up So Fast

Mom

(If you look real close or double click on the pic you can see momma Cardinal feeding babies.  Sorry it's so tiny, but I'm never prepared with my camera and my super duper zoom lens wasn't handy)

Pop

And little geezer.

Goat Roper

We had to move some goats around in the pastures today and this goat obstinately stayed behind.  He's Daisy's only surviving triplet from last year that we ended up keeping as a companion for Billy.  I couldn't get him to go where I wanted him to and he's way to big for me to struggle with, so I asked Jordan for help. 

We cornered him at the end of the alley where he was and while he made a half-hearted attempt at jumping the fence, Jordan leapt upon him and wrestled him to the ground while I danced around them saying, "oooh, Jordan, don't get hurt!"  Jordan held him down while I slipped a rope around his neck and Jordan tried leading him with that, but when that didn't work out too well, he just took him by the horns and manhandled him into the pasture.

The Little Things

Things have calmed down around here for me.  Milking season is upon me.  I have my early morning routine with that, then the goats are out to pasture for the rest of the day.  We use about a quart of milk a day, but I've been getting enough milk so that I have a few gallons stored in the freezers.

The garden is well under way and only requires weeding here and there rather than intensive weeding every day.  So, I now have time for the little things.

Every year we have some kind of bird build a nest and raise a family in the ferns that I hang on the front porch.  This year it is a Cardinal couple and they built the nest so that we can see everything from the kitchen window.  The mother doesn't seem to mind being eye-to-eye with me as she sits on the nest and goes about her business tending the hatchlings.  I took a picture of the babies while the mother was away today.

It's amazing how such ugly little creatures can morph into beautiful red birds.

Red Yucca blooms.

None of the yucca around here bloomed last year, but this year all the big white wild yuccas are blooming and my red yucca in a pot is blooming like crazy.  I tried to grow some of this from its seeds last year, but was not successful.  Will try again this year I think.  I'd like to have enough to do a big planting by the front gate some day because it's so pretty in mass plantings.

Pickled Asparagus

The asparagus has gone crazy this year.  I've been picking it since about the end of February and it's still putting out enough shoots that I'm having to pick them so that the fronds won't be so thick.  Since the asparagus was taking over the refrigerator and I was tired of eating it, I decided to pickle every spear that was in the frig.

I found a recipe on allrecipes.com and modified it a little bit to fit the ingredients that I had on hand. 

Trim the ends of the asparagus spears and cut them into pieces that will fit into a pint jar (about three inches).  Place them in a large bowl with 1/3 cup of coarse sea salt and cover them with two quarts of water.  Let stand for two or more hours.  Drain and rinse under cool water,  pat dry.

Sterilize four pint size wide mouth jars in simmering water for five minutes.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 3 1/3 cups of distilled white vinegar, 1 1/3 cups of sugar, 2 teaspoons of course salt, 2 teaspoons of mustard seeds and 1 teaspoon of dill weed (or 3 tsp. dill seed).

Add one onion, sliced or chopped.  I used red onion because that's what I had on hand and I like red onions the best, but it does turn the pickling liquid pink, which turns the asparagus a little pink, too.

Bring to a boil and boil for one minute.

Pack the asparagus spears, tips up, in the hot jars leaving.  If you have some dill sprigs, tuck one into each jar, then sprinkle in 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  Pour hot pickling liquid into the jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the rim.  Wipe rims with a clean damp cloth, and seal with lids.  Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Cool to room temperature.  Check seals when cool by pressing the center of the lid.  It should not move.  If any jars have not sealed properly, refrigerate and eat within two weeks.

This recipe made four pints.

It's pretty good if you like pickled things.  I can only take it in very small doses because of it's sweet-tartness.  It also has a little bite to it because of the red pepper, which I do like.  I think I might like the onions that it's pickled with better than the asparagus.

Pony Has a Friend

A family at the church where we go gifted us with a miniature donkey.  I accepted because I thought she would be a good companion for Pony and solve her loneliness problem.

She is nine months old and so very cute.  Her breeder told us that she is very sweet and tame, but I think at the moment she is completely freaked out by being dragged into a trailer, taken away from her mother for the first time, and thrown in with a bossy horse, so she is a little skittish.  She is also more interested in Kip and Buffy on the other side of the fence (and they with her) than she is in befriending Pony.  Hopefully, she'll come around.

Pony is tiny.  Donkey is tinier.

And such a cute little pouty face.

Spray Paint Hand Cramp

Been spray painting my patio furniture.  Ack!  What a project...all those curlicues!

But worth the pain.

Most Excellent Dog House

Here's another one of nephew Jordan's projects.

A house for Harry.

Since we fenced the back yard last year, Harry can't get onto the back porch, which he liked to do when it rained.  All winter we've had his bed right by the front door, which I really didn't like.  Who wants a huge, dirty, stinky, dog bed right by their front door?  And when the wind blows just right, he gets wet anyway.  We thought he needed a place to go during inclement weather and not have him banished out to the barn or mower shed.

So, now he has approximately 64 cubic feet, 16 square feet of cedar sided, tin roofed living space.

A flap in the front and back lift up for ventilation.  The inner walls are particle board wrapped in Tyvec.  The floor is a pallet, which is nice because Tom can use the hay fork on his tractor to move the house.  For the roof, he used tin left over from other projects.

What is really cool about this house is the siding.  Tom had to cut down a big cedar tree a couple of years ago and it was left out in the field all this time.  We have a friend that has built himself a saw mill, so Jordan took the tree over to our friend's place and they milled it into planks.  Jordan used those planks as siding for the house.

I painted the house with a clear polyurethane sealer to help preserve the wood.

In Over My Head

That's what I told the vet when I took Pony for her appointment for shots, coggins test, and to check her cough.  He just laughed.

I've had horses before and they were a breeze to take care of.  So, how hard could it be to take care of a tiny little miniature?  Turns out, it can be pretty stinkin' hard.

First of all, she came to us as fat as a butterball and within two weeks, she was on the verge of foundering, so says the farrier.  "Don't feed her any grain, just let her eat the grass, she's too fat."  he says.  I was only giving her a handful of sweetfeed a day anyway, but I cut out the sweetfeed entirely.  Still she munched, still she got fat, then she started limping and was reluctant to get up and walk on her sore feet. 

So, I called the vet.  He said, "She's eating too much lush grass and clover, take her out of the pasture and give her only dry hay."  So, into the barn she went.  In the stall, she paced round and round and stirred up all kinds of dust, then she started coughing.  So, I had Tom mow the pasture short and put her back outside.

She gained some of the weight back, but was not limping any more.  Now she was coughing.  I thought putting her back outside would clear up the cough.

OK, to the vet we go.  Vet told me she was, as I thought, coughing because of the dust and now her airways were irritated so he gave her some antibiotics and a bottle of medicine for me to give her a shot twice a day.  Then he said, "I'm not worried about her feet, I'm worried about her weight.  I see at least two horses a week foundering because this season our pastures are so lush that the horses are eating themselves sick.  Put her in a dry lot and give her only hay."  "I don't have a dry lot." I say.  Every inch of our pastures is lush green.

My solution was to put her in the smallest pasture and to keep the grass cut very short.

  She is lonely and longing to get out and run with the donkeys.  BUT, so far it seems to be working.  She is no longer coughing, she is not limping, and she looks to be a reasonable weight.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this plan will continue to be successful.