A Full Weekend

The past two weeks sure have been sultry!  It was so hot that for a solid week we brought our buns inside to keep cool.  They never would have made it out in that heat and humidity.  Since they don't have the option to burrow into the cooler ground like the wild rabbits, we created for them their own little underground sanctuary - in our basement, which stays a nice 60 degrees year round.  I have a feeling they were much obliged.

The garden (for the most part - I'll get to that later) is doing well.  As a matter of fact, it's doing so well, that I'm realizing that I should have planned it out just a little better.  My butternut squash is taking over the whole lower quadrant.  Not surprising in that I planted 8 seeds (all came up) in a 4 by 8 plot.  I didn't have the heart to thin them out.  And now they will be the squash monster that takes over my whole garden; I'm sure of it!  The roma tomatoes plants are full of fruits.  Beans producing like mad.  Okra enjoying the ridiculous heat.  And pumpkins starting to trellis up our TV antennae tower.

This past weekend we travelled up north to help move my brother and sister-in-law back home.  It was a long and exhausting process, and by the time we left to come back down to the farm, you could tell everyone was whooped.  Even after the moving truck had been unloaded, it was still a full weekend.  We visited the local farmer's market (Eat Local!) and open air market - something new for Warren County, and went a saw a movie.  And of course ate more than we should have.  That always happens when mom's cooking.

Can you find the Sphinx (Hummingbird) Moth?

This is not to say that we didn't find time to relax as well.  We certainly did.  I took the opportunity to shoot some pictures of the flowers and wild life in her gardens during one of those times.  My mom's flowers always seem to attract Sphinx moths.  I love these little things.  They never stop flitting from one flower to the next.

Chinese Lantern Plant

I acquired this plant from a friend of mine when we both lived at the barn.  I think these are fabulously bright and wonderful!  I love the orange color they change as they mature.  Inside is a tiny little fruit that reminds me of a type of tomatillo.  Don't just go out and eat them though, as I can't tell you if they are edible or not.  Some have told me they are edible and others have said they are not.  If anyone knows for sure, I'd love to know!

Garden

Yellow Squash Seedling

We did our garden a bit differently this year.  Other that two tomato plants, one basil, and one cilantro, everything was planted from seed ~ the first weekend of June.  It was a late start but except for the stevia, everything appears to be coming up and doing well; especially the potatoes, onions, squash, and beans.  My focus this year were root cellar crops.  I wanted to plant as many foods that could be stored and used throughout the winter as possible.  Last year we had sweet potatoes in the basement as well as some canned pickles.  I'm hoping to expand that this year.  Baby steps, folks!  That's how it's done.  I have grand ideas for my gardens, I really do.  But can find myself quickly overwhelmed if I try to do it all at once.

I'm pretty proud of what we've planted this year.  We've a 4X8 plot of butternut squash as well as another of a variety of bush beans.  A third plot is split between red potatoes and yellow onions.  A fourth with jalapenos, broccoli, okra, eggplant (which I don't think is going to grow), and carrots.  A fifth with roma tomatoes, beets, and green onions.  And lastly a small strip planted with the basil, cilantro (one plant, the rest seeds), parsley, and stevia.  That's just the garden.  I also planted in a couple of large pots yellow squash and zucchini, and a half barrel of potatoes, and a small pumpkin patch next to my bleeding heart.  Just making the most of the space I have.  I still would like to put in some lettuce but I'm having a hard time keeping the  chickens out of the planter I want to grow them in.  I suppose I could fashion some kind of lid to start them off with.

In the mean time, the weeds have come in along with the sprouting seeds.  Mostly Lamb's Quarters (which I just recently found is edible) and some suspicious red-bottomed leafy plant.  I'm not sure what that one is just yet.  Perhaps it is edible as well.  All I can say is that they came from our compost as none of the 'compost-free' areas have it growing.  I don't mind the weeding that much though.