That's A Wrap Folks!

I am ready to shout, "that's a wrap" to the summer of 2013. With the very light winter past here in the southeast and an abundance of rain, the bug population got a huge leg or wing up this summer. Papaw took this photo of a preying mantis in the garden last week. I am not sure if you can tell but it was almost 6 inches long. Yes I said, 6 inches long! Get your rulers out and mull that one over.

We have been overrun with bugs of all types this summer. The most hated among them for me are, the mosquitoes, gnats and those dog gone squash boring beetles. Those bugs have wreaked havoc all summer long and I am so over them. Can't you almost just invision me stomping my foot and pouting?

With all the excess rain, nothing really wanted to grow in the garden except for weeds and grass. We did get some veggies but it wasn't bumper crops for sure. You can note all that grass in the photo too.

With all the moisture this summer, there are no need to worry about the extinction of the mosquito and gnat species. They made working in the garden unbearable because, it would take days to recover from being bitten so much. I am a mosquito magnet and tend to be a bit allergic to the bites so, I avoid being bitten almost at all cost. I missed the evenings spent in the garden picking with Papaw like last year. I just couldn't take the bites.

With all my dissatisfaction with summer, my curiosity about winter peaked and I popped over to see what the Farmer's Almanac was predicting for winter this year for the United States. You can read it for yourself here. We need some seriously cold winter to equal the score up with the insect population so, bring on winter. I am ready!!! OK, I say that now. I do hope I am not blogging/whining in February about the cold weather.

I am excited about fall. I am wondering when the real break in the temperature will come. I can't wait for the first cold snap in the air, when walk outside brings a rejuvenation of spirit. To feel the need to lightly bundle up, see your breath in the air and to smell the fresh air with the hints of burning wood from homes in the neighborhood. I do think fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. Oh yes, I am ready for a change. I am ready to say goodbye to 85-89 degree, humid days of summer. Oh well, I guess I should stop complaining and go get on the tractor and do a bit of mowing and trimming around here. Did I mention that I am really tired of mowing grass too? LOL Here's to fall and winter! Forgive me for complaining. I can look on the bright side of it all too. My grass has reseeded several times over this season. I am going to have a fabulous lawn next summer. Oh yea!

Hope you all have had a blessed and maybe less buggy, moisture laden summer than we have.

Many Blessings!

Confessions of a Neglectful Gardener

I have a confession to make...OK, here goes... I totally let the summer get the best of me and things have gotten out of hand around here. I honestly would love to say, I have no idea how this happened but I can't. We got off to a great start in the spring. We tilled, brought in compost and set out our gardens, started seed. I really worked so hard...in the beginning.

We started a new herb garden this year. I have always wanted an herb garden. I gave it careful thought and did a lot of planning. When the time came, I put all of the energy and effort into laying it out and getting it ready to plant. I decided not to use any type of ground cover under the mulch. I WAS GOING TO DEVOTE MY MORNINGS TO WEEDING and a bit of meditation! I was certain that I would keep the grass and weeds under control.  OK so, here are my excuses as to why things got so out of hand.

First, we have had an unbelievable amount of rain at the beginning of summer, which prevented some of the weeding opportunities. I know there still were many mornings that I could have gotten up and got out there to get some of it done but I didn't because the mosquitoes seemed horrible in the mornings because of the rain. So, that was my second excuse.  

At the end of May, my granddaughter’s summer break began and it seemed as if all my good intention regarding gardening went downhill from there.   She and I do not get to spend very much time together anymore since she is back in public school so, when her summer break started, I think I just went on vacation with her. We have been biking, hiking, swimming and when it started getting really hot, we started ice skating, going to the movies and just having fun. So, there you have it. There are my excuses. I know we can all find excuses much more easily than getting the work done. 

Now let me describe the condition of my herb garden because honestly, I am ashamed to photograph it at this point. I can use one word to describe its’ current state, “jungle.” Most things around here seem as if they were growing in a tropical rainforest. Out of control due to the rain, including grass and weeds.  Not to worry though, I have a plan. Below is a photo of what it looked like in the beginning.

A couple of weeks ago when instead of weeding, I was surfing around on the computer. I ran across a very cool gardening tip or suggestion on killing off weeds and grass without using Roundup or one of those products that would linger or you certainly would not want use in a garden or herb garden. The tip was using white vinegar, undiluted as a grass and weed killer. Even if the ph of the soil was a bit out of balance after the fact, adding a bit of lime would solve that problem.

I got busy one evening and dug out my strawberry plants and the other few herbs that I had planted. I treated the areas with the vinegar a few days ago. The article that I read said that it may take a few treatments; however, after the first treatment and waiting a couple of days, I do see it is working.  The grass is dying. Once I do manage to get it all killed off and under control, I am going to lay down a ground cover blanket and re-mulch and then set the plants back into the garden.

So, the moral of my story or the lesson that I am sharing with you is, "listen to your mom." I should have listened to my mother.  Yes mom, you were right! OK, I am certain she would like for me to repeat that again. YES MOM, YOU WERE RIGHT! *grin* She told me when she was up for a visit and helping me with the project, “you should think about putting down a ground cover blanket before mulching.”  I think my response was, “nah, I think I will be able to keep it weeded and under control.” WRONG!!!

On a lighter note, our veggie garden is really doing well. We have a lot of grass growing in there as well but the veggies are still growing great. I am certain it is going to be an awesome year for tomatoes, squashes and okra. We planted corn this year also and it is doing well. I will post a few photos of the garden soon.

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer and your gardens are growing well. I hear here in the south we are in for some really hot days ahead. I hope our gardens all survive.

Many Blessings!

Cheep, cheep, cheep...

I realize once again, it has been almost a month since I have posted anything here. I guess other than doing a lot of canning and putting up veggies in the freezer, there really wasn’t any eggciting news to report. All of that changed this morning.

At 8:30 this morning, the phone rang and the gal at the post office said, “good morning, I wanted to call and tell you that your baby chicks are here.” My first thought was, this early? I could hear their little chirps in background. I knew we had to get moving quickly and get down there and get them.

Papaw quickly jumped into the shower. I ran to the barn and turned on the heat lamp in the brooder, grabbed the car and came back to get Papaw and off to the post office we went. Papaw said, he walked up to the counter at the post office, he could hear them. He told the gal at the post office, “I hear my package is here.” She smiled and said, “yep and they are hungry too. I am glad you hurried down to get them.” 

It is amazing that they were just born yesterday, August, 1^st. The date seems so suiting since it was after all, Chick-fil-A appreciation day.  They were shipped out to us yesterday afternoon.

They are a straight run of Barred Rocks and most all of them are a bit feisty. One sweet baby didn’t make it though. We hurried to get it some water and warm it up. We kept trying to help bring it around but it died in my hands, poor little thing. I was kind of relieved in a way. It is sad but it was so weak, I do believe it would have had a very hard time with all the spunk of the others to contend with.

A little video clip from inside the brooder.

Murray McMurray Hatchery did give us one, what they call an “exotic” chick as a freebie.  We have no idea what kind of chick this is but its’ little face makes me think of an owl. It is quiet cute, don’t cha think?

Well, we will be busy the next couple of week looking after these little ones. We are in hopes of moving them to the hen house in a couple of weeks, weather permitting. These gals will have the hen house all to themselves since we are down to only two Rhode Island Reds but that is a whole other story.  I’ll fill you in on it sometime. I am to happy at the moment to go there.

Hope you all are having a blessed summer. I can tell you, we are all looking forward to fall here and a bit more pleasant temperatures outdoors. It has been a pretty hot summer here.

Until next time, God bless you all!