Well, it's been hot and dry! Colorado is experiencing a very dry, hot (and often windy) summer yet again. We already have a lot of fires going. One in particular has been devastating... Luckily, our area is relatively untouched by the fire, just occasional smoke from shifts in wind direction causing hazy skies.
We have started free ranging our chickens. At first, under strict supervision (because of our cats). Now that the cats don't show as much interest after nearly being pecked from getting too close, we are now letting them do some free ranging on their own.
For the most part, the girls leave the garden boxes alone. But the corn box was hit hard one afternoon, and this Summer Veggies Box is showing some damage by the birds. Look closer at the cauliflower plant.
At first glance, it looks like cabbage worm or grass hopper damage, but no, this is all by our girls within a very short time period while they were unsupervised... T_T At least, they left the cauliflower head for us. :D They like Swiss chard, lettuce, anything in the cabbage family (cauliflower and broccoli), and corn! Our corn plants have been severely set back. T_T
But they leave the Herb Box completely alone. They seem to not like anything with strong scents. They don't mess with the tomato plants or the mint plants, either. :) By the way, the herbs have grown to fairly decent size now. I can enjoy them in my cooking on a daily basis, which is wonderful!
Here's a look at our dill plant. Very tall already and flowering. Chickens leave this plant alone. I like the way it looks. Reminds me of fireworks. :)
Banana Pepper plant is showing a baby fruit growing on a not-so-tall plant in my Summer Veggies Box. I loved the ones I got from our neighbor last year, I decided to grow my own.
Eggplant, a Japanese variety called Ichiban. It's my favorite. One of the local nurseries always offer seedlings. I make my trip out of the way to get them. ^^ Since I didn't have enough for myself last year from a single plant, I planted two this year.
Beefmaster tomato plant is starting to bear fruits. This plant was slow to get going, so I was worried, but I am now seeing baby fruits. This year, I am not growing any heirloom tomatoes, although I love them very much. Last year, they were off to a great start, and they were hit by some disease, and it was heartbreaking to see them slowly die or barely surviving with small fruits on the vine. I am growing disease-resistant hybrids this time around. I have three different types in my backyard this year.
And here's a beautiful globe of onion flowers! :D I grew this one from seeds (planted last spring). This one overwintered in the box in the backyard and now has a bloom cluster atop a 3-ft stem. How it's been surviving the mischievous cats and the high winds is a mystery to me. ^^
We have started free ranging our chickens. At first, under strict supervision (because of our cats). Now that the cats don't show as much interest after nearly being pecked from getting too close, we are now letting them do some free ranging on their own.
For the most part, the girls leave the garden boxes alone. But the corn box was hit hard one afternoon, and this Summer Veggies Box is showing some damage by the birds. Look closer at the cauliflower plant.
At first glance, it looks like cabbage worm or grass hopper damage, but no, this is all by our girls within a very short time period while they were unsupervised... T_T At least, they left the cauliflower head for us. :D They like Swiss chard, lettuce, anything in the cabbage family (cauliflower and broccoli), and corn! Our corn plants have been severely set back. T_T
But they leave the Herb Box completely alone. They seem to not like anything with strong scents. They don't mess with the tomato plants or the mint plants, either. :) By the way, the herbs have grown to fairly decent size now. I can enjoy them in my cooking on a daily basis, which is wonderful!
Here's a look at our dill plant. Very tall already and flowering. Chickens leave this plant alone. I like the way it looks. Reminds me of fireworks. :)
Banana Pepper plant is showing a baby fruit growing on a not-so-tall plant in my Summer Veggies Box. I loved the ones I got from our neighbor last year, I decided to grow my own.
Eggplant, a Japanese variety called Ichiban. It's my favorite. One of the local nurseries always offer seedlings. I make my trip out of the way to get them. ^^ Since I didn't have enough for myself last year from a single plant, I planted two this year.
Beefmaster tomato plant is starting to bear fruits. This plant was slow to get going, so I was worried, but I am now seeing baby fruits. This year, I am not growing any heirloom tomatoes, although I love them very much. Last year, they were off to a great start, and they were hit by some disease, and it was heartbreaking to see them slowly die or barely surviving with small fruits on the vine. I am growing disease-resistant hybrids this time around. I have three different types in my backyard this year.
Here's another tomato plant. It was supposed to be "Pink Girl", but judging from the pear-shape of this baby fruit, I'm suspecting either yellow pear or something similar... Swapped ID tags!
And here's a beautiful globe of onion flowers! :D I grew this one from seeds (planted last spring). This one overwintered in the box in the backyard and now has a bloom cluster atop a 3-ft stem. How it's been surviving the mischievous cats and the high winds is a mystery to me. ^^
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