Garden Update

This is an overview of the garden, chicken pen and orchard.  The warm weather and plentiful rain has brought everything along quite well.

I mentioned before that the chicken pen was at the top of my do list.  And here is the finished pen.

Complete with chickens.  While still young in a few months they will be supplying all the eggs we can use.  A big thanks to Michael & Julie for getting them started for me.  

This is what I traded for the chickens.  Well not exactly, these are this years apples coming on.  I traded Michel & Julie some of last years apples for the chickens.  While a late freeze got most of my apples this year.  I will still have plenty of apples, maybe even some to trade or sell.

Salad anyone!  This is my salad bed.  the recent rains have made the leaf lettuce grow rapidly.  We are not at a want for salads.

More salad stuff.  I have never raised lettuce or salad greens before so maybe I over did it.  I have enough romaine lettuce to feed the neighborhood and then some.

Almost ready.  We will have broccoli by the end of next week.  The cabbage is making heads and I think we may have cauliflower this year.  The brussels sprouts are coming along but no sprouts yet.

Egg plants and basil plants.  Add some tomato sauce and cheese and yum.

Speaking of tomatoes here they are with peppers on the side.

Some summer squash on the side and a garden fresh meal fit for a king.

You've got to have some onions and spices to flavor the other stuff.  So here is some of that.

All this about food makes me hungry.  A state I have stayed in lately.  The good Lord has given me the will power to say no.  No to the excess I have enjoyed over the years and that has left me grossly obese.  Now thanks to His power I am shrinking back to a more manageable weight.  Since some time in February I have lost right at 65 pounds.  I praise God for His intervention in this because I know I didn't have the will power on my own. 

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How Does Your Garden Grow

Here is my most pressing project "the chicken pen".  I have the post in the ground, the gate hung and I'm in the process of reworking the inside of the shed.  Currently I have all the materials in hand, a plan and the chickens are ready for me to pick up.  All I have to do is finish.  

This was what I found a couple of weeks ago, sack worms and baby apples.  The sack worms are easy enough to deal with.  Soap water or tobacco juice have worked for me in the past.

 A late freeze got a lot of the apples this year but there will still be plenty for our needs with plenty to spare.

The blackberry plants are healthy and doing well.  This is one of the easiest crops to deal with. The toughest aspect is thinning the old canes out in the fall.  Painful work!

The late cold snap affected the asparagus.  We were able to get a couple of messes out of them I only cut them once because they seemed to be struggling, so I let them bolt. 

This picture is a couple of weeks old as seen by the date on the photo.  After the recent rains things have grown leaps and bounds the plans have doubled in size.  
Below are the tomato & pepper plants. Their roots have taken hold and are starting to grow with the rain and warmer days and nights.
The crows devastated my peas this year, so I filled the empty spaces with broccoli.  Don't ask me why, because I have way too much broccoli.  To the right of the photo below is the romaine which is doing nicely.
The lettuce is also doing rather well.  We are eating lots of salad and loving it.  We have also given to family and friends.

Ah, the collards have seen their day.  They bolt!  But not before suppling several good meals for me and others.  As soon as the ground is dry I will till this area in and plant more hot weather plants.