The chickens enjoyed spending their day in the grass, hunting for bugs and seeds. Weezie, there in the front, heard me whistle and looked up to see what was going on.
It's unlikely any of the others even noticed me. Crazy chickens!
Stanley and his mother were put out to pasture with the rest of the herd. He thinks it's pretty cool having so many mothers looking after him! He still is knee high to a Texas-sized grasshopper, so it's good they pay so close attention to him.
Here we are in the month of May, and how about an update on the garden! This is how I keep track of things, you know ... I hope you don't mind me sharing!
Here's the "big picture" of the garden -- photo taken today. Yup, the tarp is still up on the side of the chicken yard. The to-do list is long... it's not a top priority, yet! I am actually glad it's still up -- I was able to keep last week's rain from blowing in under their covered yard, and had we actually received any rain today (like the 70-80% chance of rain we were supposed to have had), it would have come in handy again! Maybe we'll get rain tomorrow like they're predicting. We'll see. Oh, and if you look closely, you can see Alan in this photo just beyond the corner of the chicken yard (on the right side). He's trimming some tree limbs that were rubbing on the roof over the chicken yard. The ladies say "Yay, Farmer, cluck cluck!" They got to pick the leaves off of the cut branches, and thought that was great fun!
The plants in the garden got a little whipped and beat up in last week's storms. Lots of hail damage (plants got snapped off, lots of holes and tears in leaves), and the wind roughed up the leaves a good deal. The double-yield cucumbers took a beating, just like everything else. But they should be alright, assuming they can tolerate the rest of spring and summer. You can see the goat pellets I added to this bed today. In fact, all of the plants got a light side-dressing of goat poo today! Fun!
When I had such a poor showing of purple pole beans, I decided to fill in the center row with some green pole beans. The seeds came up quickly and filled in the row nicely, and hopefully they all start trellising! The plants that are only a week or so old are the same size as the purple pole bean plants that are well over 1 month old! The two outer rows of bush beans are doing much better than they were a week ago... I thought I was going to have to consider scrapping the bean crop, but looks like they might do OK. Fingers crossed.
This is the black and yellow zucchini bed. There are a few more plants in this bed than I had intended to put here, thanks to what I thought were failed seeds. But turns out I was just being impatient. I think the seeds were just fine. *grin*
These plants looked terrible after last week's storms, but they have really perked up and taken off! Yesterday I noticed that I had a high number of cucumber beetles on the plants, so everything got a good spraying of neem oil last night. The battle with the insects continues.
This is the best looking strawberry plant in the entire strawberry bed. It's about 3" long, and just over 1" wide, to give you a size estimate. Pretty small. I've snipped off the little flowers that this plant had, to force the plant to put more energy into establishing a better root system while they're so young. Even the strawberry plants took a beating in the storm -- some of these leaves are missing their ends.
The mint is growing nicely. It got a side-dressing of goat poo today, too!
The heirloom tomato plants are growing! Finally! Hopefully they built good strong roots for themselves! The random row of onions I planted down the middle are up as well! I know the tomato plants will eventually shade those onions, but I plan to dig them up and move them eventually anyway. For now, they're just fine!
The plants that surprise me the most in this garden update are "the other" tomato plants (two Celebrity, two Juliet, and two Solar Fire) that Alan and I built our "redneck wood trellis and watering system" around. They are well past the 16" bottom trellis row, and well on their way to the 32" row! The two Juliet plants lost their primary stem in the hail storm and are continuing to put on growth, but are requiring a bit more support to keep their secondary stems aiming upright. They're going to make me earn every tomato they grow!
It's nice to see progress happening. A lot of work goes into the garden, and we sure hope to be rewarded with lots of produce!
Want to compare these photos to previous garden update photos? Here are some links:
Redneck Tomato Bed
April 21, 2011
April 12, 2011
April 2, 2011
March 28, 2011
2011 Garden Planning
Wow! That garden gives me lots of motivation. I will, will, will get one planted next year :) Liz
Posted by: Liz | July 12, 2011 at 07:53 PM
Lovely gardens Anna - we can't even start ours for about another three weeks. But *hint hint hint* I was still hoping for an update and pic of my Gal-Pal, Betty :)))
xox
Posted by: Robb_eeie | May 06, 2011 at 10:48 PM
Stanley is just adorable.
Posted by: Jennifer | May 06, 2011 at 06:42 AM
Absolutely love seeing the pictures of your good growing!!! Thanks so much for taking the time and beautiful pictures and descriptions, wish I had that kind of talent! Love your critters too.
Posted by: Rose Kerry | May 04, 2011 at 07:46 PM
Just want to let you know how much I enjoy your pic's!! Your gardens are awesome, Stanley is adorable and Weezie is the cutest chicken...ever!!
Karen x
Posted by: Karen | May 03, 2011 at 11:12 AM
Nice pictures as always the recovery is amazing. Stanley is looking a little "lite" if you know what I mean. Is his mother short on supply? You would have mentioned scours so I gather he's not ill. If the other gals have milk to spare...maybe he's just hunched up but it does look like he could take some more groceries. Many first timers are short on milk, it's more of a beef breed problem than Dairy cattle.....More gravy Ma!........Love, Dad
Posted by: DK Wight | May 02, 2011 at 11:42 PM
Ok...i'm officially doing my rain dance to send some more way. We have plenty to share. And it looks like you could use more to end your drought. Love the very handsome chick with the crazy hair. It looks like it's just a wash n wear style!! LOL. Have a great week. Take care. Robin B.
Posted by: Robin Barwacz | May 02, 2011 at 07:14 PM
Happy May Day to you too! - Spent the morning here at church. Got some May Day Flowers from hubby, my mom and Greta and Coleen. Got them planted today.
Weather here for this week (rain) Ugh!
Posted by: Ida | May 02, 2011 at 01:49 PM
Thanks so much for the video. I live vicariously through you Anna. I really believe I'm a city girl who was meant to be a farm girl...alas it was not to be. Do give us another as time allows.
Posted by: Erca Fields | May 02, 2011 at 01:01 PM
Your garden looks great! We won't be able to plant until mid-month.
The prickly pear in bloom is lovely, too. Ours usually blooms mid-June. Who knows this year, though, it's been such a cold spring.
Thanks for sharing spring!
Posted by: Ann | May 02, 2011 at 08:38 AM
Anna, love your updates on the garden. I love to see all that GREEN!! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Suzy | May 02, 2011 at 08:26 AM
You and Alan are gardeners extraordinaire! I'm so impressed with all your labors and their fruits (and veges)! The chickens always make me smile . . . they're so colorful (and beautiful) in the green grass.
Posted by: Shellie Daniel | May 02, 2011 at 08:18 AM
I continue to be impressed with your gardening skillz! Things are really coming up and along despite your storm set-backs. I hope your garden yields you an awesome crop. Stanley, he just looks so soft and cuddly!
Posted by: Sherri D. | May 02, 2011 at 08:09 AM
Oh how I love Weezie's feather doo! Stanley is just so cute! And the garden looks fabulous even with the storm damaged leaves!
Posted by: Kathy Martin | May 02, 2011 at 04:51 AM
It looks like everyhing is doing well in spite of the hail storm! Nice recovery. :) The chickens sure look happy pecking for bugs. Stanly is ADORA-BULL, LOL.... Have a wonderful Week. Hugs...
Posted by: Carol Dee | May 02, 2011 at 04:49 AM
Love your updates with the animals and progress in the garden.
Reminds of when we kept chickens as a girl - those eggs were *good*!! And you make me wish for a bigger garden myself with all those mouth-watering veggie plants. I only have a teeny courtyard space in the city and it doesn't get much sun. Just enough space for a wigwam of climbing beans and a few containers for herbs and potatoes ;)
Hugs, Ruth S
Posted by: Ruth S | May 02, 2011 at 02:50 AM
I love reading your garden updates, I was wondering especially how the tomatoes had held up. And Stanley is just so cute!!!
Posted by: Diane M | May 01, 2011 at 10:28 PM
I love, love, LOVE the chicken pictures - what a beautiful variety you have, Anna. And that baby is SO cute!! Glad your garden is surviving! Good work! God bless....Jeanne in Idaho
Posted by: Jeanne in Idaho | May 01, 2011 at 09:39 PM