I take pics and then intend to sit and write up a post so many times before it actually happens. T_T Something, usually an e-mail from someone or a call, distracts me, and before I know it, days go by. I have to get better at keeping my garden and chicken journal up to date.
We're now seeing triple digit daily highs. Now, this is just plain uncomfortable at this point. I can only stand to work outside early in the morning (or if I feel so inclined, after sunset). Morning hours between 6 and 8 are very nice, especially before 7 when the temperature is still in the mid 60s. Once the sun comes up though, the dry air of the desert west heats up fast and sun is scorching hot. My skin hurts when I don't get myself into shade. No fun, and I've got plenty of pigments in my skin and don't usually burn, but tan really easily...
I actually managed to get some nice pics of the 4th of July fireworks for the first time. :D (I did get a lot of duds, too... ^^; )
Pretty much all the spring veggies in the one SFG has gone to bolt. Onion flowers are cool to look at... but they reek. The pretty blue daisy flowers belong to some of the greens that were in the salad mix. :D These plants are taller than I am now. Ridiculous. LOL
Still getting visits from many different kinds of bees. We see huge bumblebees out in the old part of the backyard where these wild larkspur plants are growing. They love the purple flowers.
English lavender in the Bees and Butterflies box is doing well. In fact, pretty much everything in that box is doing wonderfully. ^_^
Still demure in stature, the Indigo Rose tomato has a lot of fruits on the vine. A few of the ones that set early in the season have started changing the bottom color from green to red.
This Fever few clump was transplanted from north of the house to a summer veggies/herbs box last year. It was tiny and had a hard time getting going after transplant, but it's doing a lot better this year. I love the scent of this plant. This year, we have a much larger clump of it come back in the northern shaded area of the house where the soil is dry and poor.
Getting there slowly... :D
Chickens at 7 weeks. Mostly feathered in and looking very much like pullets now. Still chirps like chicks, but every now and then, they make 'chicken' sounds. The sound vocabulary is expanding. Still haven't learned to stay out of the water bowl, though. XD
"German Queen" heirloom tomato on June 24th.
Same plant on July 1st. This tomato is growing fast and doing well in the barren lot that has not been used for many seasons. The soil was amended with some organic garden soil and compost, with handful of bone meal and blood meal, and a doze of Sea Magic. I don't use chemical fertilizer on our food stuff.
Forgot to insert this when I was talking about the Bees and Butterfly Garden Box! This bee balm clump is in there. Somehow got so tall this year ... like 4.5 feet. Looking a little out of control, but I love the scent of the leaves.
Chickens at 8 weeks (Pic taken on July 1st). Clockwise from top left: Vanilla, Mocha, and Sage. Sage is still the smallest, but she's the head bird of these three. The two older chickens come by often and take sand bath right next to their run. I think they've gotten used to the idea of 'more chickens'... finally. I'm still not taking chances and won't be releasing them out until they're fully 16 weeks old. We're more than halfway there since they just turned 9 weeks old on the 6th of July. Vanilla is a wheaton Easter Egger. I don't know what Mocha's feathers are called, but she's black, gold, and brown. Very pretty. And Sage is a classic Barred Plymouth Rock with black & white wavy stripes appearance. She is till the most curious and the sweetest! These are special birds.
The sunflower fence on the south end of the backyard. These guys got such a late start in the season, but they seem to be doing OK. I'm using some tumble weeds for mulch. This area has tumble weed infestation of gigantic magnitude on some properties - you'll see Christmas tree size tumble weeds on a regular basis. :(
I'm actually allergic to the pollen of tumble weed flowers, so I pluck or cut them down whenever I see them.
We're now seeing triple digit daily highs. Now, this is just plain uncomfortable at this point. I can only stand to work outside early in the morning (or if I feel so inclined, after sunset). Morning hours between 6 and 8 are very nice, especially before 7 when the temperature is still in the mid 60s. Once the sun comes up though, the dry air of the desert west heats up fast and sun is scorching hot. My skin hurts when I don't get myself into shade. No fun, and I've got plenty of pigments in my skin and don't usually burn, but tan really easily...
Getting there slowly... :D
Chickens at 7 weeks. Mostly feathered in and looking very much like pullets now. Still chirps like chicks, but every now and then, they make 'chicken' sounds. The sound vocabulary is expanding. Still haven't learned to stay out of the water bowl, though. XD
Same plant on July 1st. This tomato is growing fast and doing well in the barren lot that has not been used for many seasons. The soil was amended with some organic garden soil and compost, with handful of bone meal and blood meal, and a doze of Sea Magic. I don't use chemical fertilizer on our food stuff.
Forgot to insert this when I was talking about the Bees and Butterfly Garden Box! This bee balm clump is in there. Somehow got so tall this year ... like 4.5 feet. Looking a little out of control, but I love the scent of the leaves.
Chickens at 8 weeks (Pic taken on July 1st). Clockwise from top left: Vanilla, Mocha, and Sage. Sage is still the smallest, but she's the head bird of these three. The two older chickens come by often and take sand bath right next to their run. I think they've gotten used to the idea of 'more chickens'... finally. I'm still not taking chances and won't be releasing them out until they're fully 16 weeks old. We're more than halfway there since they just turned 9 weeks old on the 6th of July. Vanilla is a wheaton Easter Egger. I don't know what Mocha's feathers are called, but she's black, gold, and brown. Very pretty. And Sage is a classic Barred Plymouth Rock with black & white wavy stripes appearance. She is till the most curious and the sweetest! These are special birds.
The sunflower fence on the south end of the backyard. These guys got such a late start in the season, but they seem to be doing OK. I'm using some tumble weeds for mulch. This area has tumble weed infestation of gigantic magnitude on some properties - you'll see Christmas tree size tumble weeds on a regular basis. :(
I'm actually allergic to the pollen of tumble weed flowers, so I pluck or cut them down whenever I see them.
Not a good comparison shot at all! LOL *mega fail* This was taken on July 1st. The tallest sunflower measured 37 inches. This is a mixed planting of at least 5 different varieties of sunflowers. Some were Russian Mammoth seeds, so I'm hoping to see some giants... eventually. ^_^
No comments:
Post a Comment