Sunflower

Fast growing plants are generally fun to watch (although the amount of water they require is not so fun...).  Luckily, Colorado's desert west is not under restrictions this year.  Even in official drought years, our city has never had to resort to any kind of watering restrictions.  Though there is water available, I live in the part of the city that does not have access to "irrigation" water, so the water comes from the tap.  I have noticed a lot of people's yards go completely neglected since the beginning of recession.  Our area was slow to feel the impact at the beginning, but likewise slow to feel the recovery the media keeps talking about. ^^;  Personally, I'm ready to switch to artificial grass for the front yard.  I've never been a big lawn enthusiast (Hate to sound sexist or to overgeneralize, but that seems like a guy thing.), so I would have no problem having more water to use on flowers and edibles by not having live lawn.

This photo was taken on July 20th.  Just about all of the sunflowers along the fence have reached the 4-foot-tall top railing of the fence.  Now that they're getting drip irrigation throughout the day, they're growing fast.

The first sunflower along the fence to bloom was a red one.  We planted a mixed row of 5 different packets of sunflower seeds at the end of May.  Felt so behind our neighbors when we started seeing sunflowers blooming in June.

A lemon yellow one beginning to unfurl on July 20th.

The same one, fully open on July 23rd.  8 inches across.  Bees seem to love sunflowers.

I measured the tallest sunflower this morning and it is now at 6 feet.  2 feet above the top railing of the fence.  And officially taller than I am. LOL   It looked kind of sparse when I thinned them out, but now they seem almost crowded again.  Some of the varieties (the red ones and the lemon yellows shown above) have lots of buds setting, so we will be seeing a lot more flowers.  The mammoth sunflowers still show no sign of buds.  The leaves keep getting bigger and stems are growing thicker every day. :D  I hope they get large this year.  I've only had moderate success with those mammoth ones as our soil below 6 inches or so is stubborn clay - extremely poor gardening soil.

German Queen tomato (heirloom variety) is doing well alone in the backyard far away from the garden boxes.  It is getting drip irrigation as an extended part of the sunflower fence.  This plant is now over 4 feet tall.  The protection of the chicken wire fence material is 4 feet tall here.

Looked closer at the plant and found these fruits growing. :D  I can't wait to get fresh tomatoes from the garden!!  I love making sandwiches with fresh, just-off-the-vine, sun-warmed tomatoes, lettuce, cukes, and mayo.  None of my family members understand why this is such a big deal for me, but they're simply missing out on something truly special.  Well, that's my humble opinion. :D

Meet my new fairy in the garden.  This is Fiona.  I didn't name her.  She came named by the manufacturer.  I found her on eBay and just had to have her.  Here, she's lying in front of the fever few clusters.  (I like moving her around...)

And this is Ilana.  She's sitting on the frame of the garden box.  She's surrounded by alyssum, pansies, and chocolate mint here.  I see her accidentally fallen off the edge in the morning a lot.  No doubt the works of the kitties... ^^;  Anyhow, there are several more in the series, and I hope to add more to the collection.

Just to the right of Ilana in the garden box is this pink monarda.  At first we saw purple blooms, but they're done blooming, and now we're seeing this light pink flowers from the same cluster of plants.  I'd like to divide them later in the season and plant them elsewhere in the garden, too.  These guys have really taken off this year and they're 4 feet tall...  I think it's taller than the label said they were going to be.

I think this tomato is called Goliath, and it was supposed to be a good container/patio tomato.  This one is in the summer veggies box with broccoli and eggplant.  The fruits are finally getting bigger.  Although with 100+ degrees heat now, I've noticed a sudden decrease in flowers.  Getting too hot, maybe?

Also small in stature is my Indigo Rose tomato.  My daughter asked me, "Are these grapes? What is up with this?"  LOL  Yes, the fruits on this tomato plant are about the color of the concord grapes!  Once ripe, they begin to get the tomato red color on the bottom of the fruits, but they look prettier with purple/green combo.  Fruits are cherry tomato size.

We've begun free ranging the three young pullets two days ago.  The little girls are almost 12 weeks old and fully feathered in, so we thought we'd supervise and see how things go. First day, we let them out about 30 minutes before dusk and they've successfully put themselves back in the coop.  Second day, we let them out about an hour before dusk.  We're gradually extending the amount of time.  The first day, we saw some hostility from the older ladies, as expected.  Fiona challenged Mocha (the largest of the three younguns), and they went into a brief chest-bumping match - nothing too excessive.  Fiona's neck feathers were all ruffled.  I didn't know she could do that. :D  She seemed to be satisfied with the results and didn't bother the younguns afterwards.  At least, they don't mingle closely enough (They are in two distinct groups out there, occupying different areas of the backyard.), so there's no pecking or constant harassing going on.  I think they're off to a good start.  At least, as good as we can reasonably expect from them.  ^_^

Late Update

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.

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.   ^_^

Backyard Update

Chicks have turned 6 weeks old on Father's Day (June 15, 2014).  Time flies.  I have not been able to keep up with the blog.  It's been almost 3 weeks since my last entry. ^^;  Chicks are not the only thing that have grown in that time...

Here's a pic of Sage at 5+ weeks.  They have outgrown the old watering bowl.  I have bought the larger waterer.  It is placed slightly raised above ground level, but it still gets dirty from the chicks bathing in the dirt, kicking it everywhere.

Mocha and Vanilla at 5+ weeks, with Chaba the cat photo bombing.  LOL  She and a couple of cats just can't get enough of the chicks.  ^^;

Swiss Chard in the Spring Veggies Box looking beautiful.  My salad greens have started bolting in the heat.  Various flowers are about to bloom.  I kind of have fun watching them grow flowers.  Adds to the color.

Because it has gotten so hot, the broccolis have no time but form a rather small head before buds start to open.  This is what you have to deal with when you have a rather short spring (and late start in the garden).  ^^;

Because it is consistently in the 90s for mid-day high these days, I have a record short pea plants.  At least they're producing.  ^^;

I have some chrysanthemums interplanted in the Summer Veggies Box and found these baby ladybugs.  They're good for eating aphids that are bothering the broccoli plants.

The "Indigo Rose" tomato plants have fruits forming. :D  Purple on top and green at the bottom.  More fruits are forming.  The plant is still rather small...

The "German Queen" heirloom tomato that was planted way back in the old garden plot with plenty of room.  We have the tomato support, and on the outside of it, chicken wire fencing to protect from our free-ranging chickens.    Last year, we had a tomato plant grow wide in the SFG box and it was touching the fence.  Chickens were pecking on the tomato fruits through the fence material.  They do like tomatoes.  At any rate, this tomato plant is doing well.  Currently about 18 inches tall.

The sunflowers along the back fence line are doing well.  Most are about 10 inches tall and have been thinned once.  When they reach a foot tall, I will thin them again for 1 per spot.  They are still so short, compared to the volunteer sunflowers that grew from last year's seeds.  I have neighbors with sunflowers that are already blooming, too.  ^^;

Hubby and I made an exciting addition to our baby coop - a chicken run! :D  It's 8 feet long and 2 feet wide.  Connects to the end access door of the coop we purchased.  This is painted to match the coop.  It's been a big hit with the babies.  Sage was the first to come out past the threshold and venture out into the new run.  I see the girls running back and forth.  They do some funny hop-step-jump kind of stunts, and do a lot of chest bump with running starts. XD   It seems Sage has established herself as the boss bird of the three.  Brave and inquisitive, despite her small size.   These last two photos were taken today.

Mocha is starting to develop a rather cool pattern.  She also seems to be growing crest-like feathers on the sides of her head.  After the run was set up and the babies were venturing out, Dorito, once again, acted all annoyed and upset, squawking like a rooster, trying to peck at the little ones through the wirecloth...  The babies were just so curious about the big ladies that roam freely around them.

At the end of June, they will be 8 weeks old and we will be switching their food from 'chick starter' to the 'grower' type.  Although they seem to have grown so much since they first arrived, they're still a fraction of the fully-mature chickens in size.  But these babies will most likely start laying eggs at about 5 months, which will be end of September. :D

Update on the Garden

The chicks have turned 4 weeks old on Sunday, and they're doing really well.  Sage (Barred Plymouth Rock) is a sweetie and an adventurer, wanting to sneak out every time I open the door to change water and refill feed. ^^;  Luckily, she's quite content to have a visit on Grandma's lap for a while.  It's so unbelievably easy to scoop her up.  The other two always have a bit of a shenanigan of running madly around before settling down.  So I usually just spend extra time with Sage as I change the water multiple times a day.  They are getting larger, with Vanilla still being the biggest and Sage being the smallest.  But Sage definitely has a big attitude. LOL  Will have their photos next time.

Today, I have mostly garden photos as things have really picked up the pace outside with high temperatures on a regular basis.  With the high temperature, sometimes comes wind, which increases the frequency of watering for me. T_T  As I'm still recuperating from my recent illness, I can't do things quite as quickly and as easily.  Water feels heavy in a 2-gallon watering can, and the distance to the 'Sunflower Fence' seems longer... under my current condition.  But I have good news.  We have germination in every spot (20 along the fence).

This spot was sown with two different kinds of sunflowers.  Eventually, they will be thinned to one of each in a spot.  I have successfully managed to keep the soil moist during germination, so it only took 5 to 7 days, and I have drip irrigation hose in place along the fence, so I will be able to start using it.  The sad thing though, is that we have an old Elm tree that sheds so many seeds every spring.  All the little seedlings are them in the photo.  I'll be eliminating them in the coming days. T_T

Just on this side of the "Sunflower Fence" is the purple meadow.  These are volunteer plants (originally larkspurs that I grew from a seed package of blue flowers).  As long as we've been at this house, these guys have managed to self-seed and perpetuate in this somewhat sparse and bushy form for years.  The bees love these purple flowers - in particular giant bumble bees.  I've tried to capture in a photo at least one of the multiple giants that come to our backyard for the past three days, with no luck.  As soon as I start to walk toward them, they seem to sense it and fly away, only to return later. ^^;

Walking towards the house, here's the summer veggies box.  I've somewhat casually planted it this year with the broccoli plants making a semi-circle around an eggplant and tomato.

This morning, I noticed the beginning of a crown on 3 of the broccoli plants.  :D

Right next to the Summer Veggies Box is the Bees & Butterflies Box filled with flowers both annual and perennial.  Chocolate Mint proved to be extremely invasive last year, but the Bee Balm clump that didn't do much last year has come back with a vengeance, and they're about ready to start blooming. :D  Even more bees.  Speaking of bees, one got stuck in my hair right by the left temple.  Initially, I felt a slight panic, but I just hoped the bee would manage to untangle himself and he did so rather quickly.  :D   I just stood still while he returned to freedom.

The onions are out of control! LOL  The flower buds have formed and the stems have really shot up.  They are doing some kind of contemporary art thing by twisting and bending.  They're always changing. LOL

Next to the Spring Veggies Box is the Strawberry Box.  This photo was taken May 30, 2014.

And this was taken today.  Yum!  :D :D :D  Exciting~!!!

On Saturday, this arrived in the mail and I, like a garden nerd, was giddy. :D  My favorite tomato food!

It's basically a powdered sea kelp from North Pacific, that provides micro-nutrients to the plant.  The first time I used this, I had an heirloom tomato grow to 8 feet tall and out of control.  It eventually got blown over on a windy day, support and all.  Even though the main stem was damaged, it kept producing fruits like nothing happened until it got too cold.  It was an amazing experience. :D  So I'm hoping we can duplicate that kind of fun this year.

And, as I had hoped to show you one day, I cracked open one of our girls' eggs and one store-bought egg.  The one on the left is Dorito's egg with richer orange color, perky yolk... generally so robust and wholesome. :D  I let the girls eat a variety of greens in their diet, along with seeds and nuts, aside from their standard layer feed.  They scratch and forage all day long in the backyard, and they are happy.  I think it shows in their eggs. ^_^  (To think that the garden grub they find and eat with such glee is a protein that transforms into eggs... LOL)

Next time, I'll have chicks photos. ^_^

Chicks at 3 Weeks

Time flies when you're having fun!  The chicks seem to grow so fast, too.  Now they're 3 weeks old as of Sunday, May 25, 2014, and going through the awkward stage of half down/half feather look. Vanilla's 'chirp' is also starting to sound less like the chick and just 'oddly older'.

Sage standing on the inverted glass inside the waterer.  Feeling tall and adventurous as always.

We haven't seen a lot of chest-bumping like we saw with the first flock 2 years ago.  We have seen a little bit of that go on between Vanilla and Mocha, but it seems that the pecking order has already been established among these girls.  Vanilla, being the biggest of the three, is the boss bird.  And Sage, being the smallest, seems perfectly OK at the bottom of the pecking order.  They don't peck at one another at all, even when a treat of fresh green is offered.  Sage is the most fearless and friendly, so she gets to the treat first, while the larger, but more timid girls are perfectly happy checking  to make sure everything is safe before jumping in.

Vanilla and Mocha.  Pretty feathers are coming in.

Not only more of their feathers are coming in and they look more like chickens than chicks, a start of their comb is visible.  Since they're still chicks, the beginning of their tiny combs look yellow like the beaks.

Here, you can see Sage's 'baby comb'.  Of the three, Vanilla and Mocha are Easter Eggers, so they will have what they call 'pea combs' - just a much smaller, 'crumbled' kind of comb, and their wattles (these flappy things under the chins of the chickens) will be hidden with their feathers.  Sage, on the other hand, will have visible comb and wattles.

The baby girls are healthy, active, and friendly.  Chickens are such joy!!  As I've said before, the eggs are just the bonus of keeping chickens as pets, I feel. ^_^  The little ones are quite good at "flying".  They can go straight up from the ground level to the top of the ramp by flying.  They sometimes do the same coming down.  Having fun with shortcuts... just because!

Now, off to the garden pics.  This season, I have minions of chamomile all around the herb box.  They were the volunteer plants that germinated from seeds dropped from last year's cluster that I grew from seeds.  I love the scent of this herb and I wouldn't mind if we end up with an even larger patch... :D

The clusters of Sweet Williams (Dianthus) by the goldfish pond are doing well, too.  We had more rain than usual this spring and everything in the backyard is really enjoying it (although we had a much later start of spring growing season due to harsh winter and late cold snaps well into May).

Our goldfish pond is small, but we have a waterlily, which seems to be spreading just fine.  After a ho-hum performance last year, it's coming back with vigor this spring.  We've already had 5 blooms and more are on the way.

Had a terribly late start on the peas.  I almost gave up on the idea of spring veggies altogether.  By the time it was finally starting to warm up, it was already April, and we still had multiple killing frosts after that.  These guys were planted in April, and just now starting to really take off.  But now the temperature is expected to reach 90 degrees for daily highs...  I'll probably get some shade cloth for these.

After not planting window boxes for 2 seasons, finally got some new boxes for my birthday at the end of April.  Got a little crazy shopping for flowers and the extra flowers found their way into pots in the backyard.  I have them inside the fenced-in area for now to keep them safe from the older chickens that free range.

In the front yard, on both sides of the walkway, we have bachelor's buttons that I don't remember planting.  Not only do I not remember planting the seeds, these guys have managed to get 3 1/2 to 4 feet in height.  I've never seen them grow quite so tall.  The bees love these flowers and there's a hum of them all day long in the front yard near these clumps.  Spring is such a beautiful time of the year~!!

The vegetables (3 tomatoes, 2 eggplants, 1 sweet bell pepper) have been planted this weekend.  I've decided to plant "German Queen" alone in the old garden area way back by herself since it's an heirloom and heirlooms have done rather poorly in the past in SFG boxes in my backyard.  The other hybrid tomatoes are in the SFG  boxes with different veggies.

Almost finished with the planting for the season, with the roses and delphinium finally in the bed in the front, annual bed has been planted, and the sunflower fence in the back has also been sown.  Now we have two large pots and a dedicated flower SFG to plant.  My husband is building another SFG box, which will also require protection from our free-ranging chickens (fence time!), so I still don't have all the details figured out yet.  It's a work-in-progress. :D