In the month since my last post, we have pretty much spent every spare minute outside. The garden is all planted now except for the sweet potatoes, cukes, zukes, and sweet corn. The rows are ready for them, but there was a delay in getting the irrigation system working. Brian is away this week, but we should finish planting over the weekend. I ate 5 broccoli florets for supper last night. The crazy heat and humidity we've been experiencing since mid May caused them to bolt without developing nice heads. We'll try again in the fall, provided I remember to start the seeds. I can't blame the weather, but we didn't end up with many cherries this year either. Yesterday I noticed the black birds were around the tree a lot and a saw a pit or two in the driveway. By the time I went out last evening to pick, all that was left was a measly handful. The cherry tree is over 50 feet tall, and even with a ladder in the bed of the pickup, that's all I could reach. At least it was a delicious handful! I don't know what kind of cherry this is, some kind of pie cherry, but it is not as tart as the tree we had back home.
The first batch of 75 broiler chicks for the year arrived May 22. I didn't get any pictures early on, and their in the ugly chick phase now, but they are growing very well. I'm pleased that they learned how to drink from the automatic water bowl that I installed a couple of days ago. Hooray for labor-saving inventions! Plus there should be no danger of them running out of water. Speaking of labor savings, last night I rolled out four hoses so that I no longer have to carry buckets of water to the laying hens, who are far away from a water hydrant way out in the pasture. The new pullets are in with the older group now, and that group of 25 drinks a lot of water when it is this hot.
We've put up nearly 1000 square bales of first-cutting hay and some round ones too. Various breakdowns have slowed progress, but the weather has finally turned from rainy and cloudy to hot and steamy. We had two great weeks for drying hay and are really pleased with the square bales. The corn and soybeans are planted and the wheat continues to look good. The lambs are growing by leaps and bounds. They are at that point in the year where they look fantastic and their mamas are starting to look a bit stressed. We'll wean the lambs in early July and haul the ewes over to New Hope, their land of endless grass. Looking forward to putting our scales to work for regular weights so we can monitor the lambs progress more objectively.
I have planted all of my flowers, except for finding a summer home for the elephant ears, and for the first time ever, I splurged on bark mulch to help keep the weeds in check. It turned out to be much less expensive than I feared. Why is it that I allow myself to be paralyzed by fear of the unknown - happens more than I'd care to admit! Last night I removed a bunch of poppies that are finished blooming, and I'm going to get some more mulch to spruce up that end of the bank. If I keep it mulched I'm hoping I'll be able to see the crown vetch and spray it repeatedly. One day at a time I am making progress in eradicating that stuff!
We hiked to the top of Crabtree Falls with our young adults group from church. It was a good hike, and a beautiful view. Crabtree is billed as the highest vertical-drop cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi, and it was pretty amazing. We also enjoyed an unexpected visit with my Mom, who was here for a nice long weekend.
Recent wildlife sightings have included many, many big-eyed rabbits, very few ground hogs (thanks to our dead-eyed neighbor), a few deer, but no fawns yet, a large, too-tame coyote over in New Hope (thankfully the lambs won't be going over there), a bear cub 50 yards from the house, and a weird little salamander/lizard that drowned in a bucket on the deck. Never a dull moment.
Our 10th anniversary has now come and gone. I don't know where the time goes! We've also passed the 1 year mark for this blog and for Brian's job with Pioneer (guess I can stop calling it his new job now).
I think that brings our recent activities up to date. Now all I have to do is organize my photos and catch up on my Quicken records, and I'll have my head above water for a little while. It's interesting what can suddenly seem like a fun task when you know it will keep you inside in air-conditioned comfort, rather than outside sweating just for breathing in the 100-degree heat.
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