All the chickens were still here this morning. We're hoping that the work William did yesterday around the chicken pens will deter anymore invasions from unknown intruders. I sure hope so. I don't want to have to set in the dark with a gun that I'm not sure how to shoot and a flashlight waiting on a varmint to come wandering into view.
I'm an old woman and my heart gets all fluttery when I get scared and wild animals scare me. Case in point the noises we heard in the front yard last night. My heart still goes pitter-pat faster when I think of the way that animal sounded.
If I was pulling a stake-out and heard an animal near me that sounded like the one we heard last night I'd probably shoot myself trying to get inside. LOL
Truly, I'm hoping that the repairs William did on the pens will stop the killing of our chickens. It's too late for the ducks but may be not for the chickens.
We are going to reinforce the fence around the pasture with some six foot wire and get a dog to live in the pasture. That should take care of all crawling/walking problems. Those flying raptors there's no way to stop. That is unless we can come up with $5,000.00 for each raptor we were to shoot and don't mind a few years in jail.
When the pasture is more secure I will get some more ducks. SSSSHHHH, don't tell William. Let be a surprise.
That's the day around here today. Y'all are welcome to drop in anytime.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
What Constitutes Botanical Murder?
I think I've committed botanical murder. After planting the greens last week, I decided the squash and cucumbers needed some fertilizer. We have some organic liquid fertilizer that we had bought. Being in a hurry I didn't take time to dilute the fertilizer instead pouring a small amount onto the dirt and then digging it in around the squash and cucumbers.
Today I went to the garden to look at the little greens poking their heads up through the dirt. Lo and behold the cucumber vines look horrible. They have yellowed leaves with spots on them. I've burned them up with organic fertilizer.
Now I'm wondering just how organic this fertilizer is if it burns like this. I've poured strong rabbit manure tea over plants with no sign of burning whatsoever. When I fertilized the plants last week no fertilizer touch the plants but the leaves still look cooked.
Before:
After:
On a lighter side the greens are up and looking good. They are planted thickly. When the plants are little larger I will transplant some of the plants and thin some. The thinnings I will use in stirfry or a salad. No waste here.
This is the kale:
Here is a picture of the lettuces. I mixed several varieties of lettuces and planted them together.
The next picture is a small spot of swiss chard. There is a row about ten feet long of swiss chard but I only made the picture of a small spot.
We are still getting a few tomatoes from the volunteer vine. I hope this one vine will supply us with a tomato here and there until frost. The tomatoes on this vine have tasted so good. I don't know if it's because I know the tomatoes are about gone for the summer or if these tomatoes have a better taste than the others. Either way, we're enjoying the last of our harvest.
On another note. The wild animals are still attacking our birds. All our ducks have been killed except for the old Pekin, Matilda. I guess she's too tough for the animals to digest.
They have killed several of our roosters we've raised for the freezer and some of our Barred Rock hens. Last night some kind of animal dug into the rare breed (Buttercup) pen and killed one of the young pullets.
William worked this afternoon to reinforce the pens so as to keep the animals out. Traps aren't working. We may have to set up a stake-out to find out what type of animal this is.
It's heartbreaking to raise birds up to the age they are just before beginning to lay and then have a wild varmint come along and make dinner out of them. I know that is what wild varmints do but it doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.
That's the goings on here at Hunny Bunny Haven. Thanks for dropping by. Come back again, y'all.
Today I went to the garden to look at the little greens poking their heads up through the dirt. Lo and behold the cucumber vines look horrible. They have yellowed leaves with spots on them. I've burned them up with organic fertilizer.
Now I'm wondering just how organic this fertilizer is if it burns like this. I've poured strong rabbit manure tea over plants with no sign of burning whatsoever. When I fertilized the plants last week no fertilizer touch the plants but the leaves still look cooked.
Before:
After:
On a lighter side the greens are up and looking good. They are planted thickly. When the plants are little larger I will transplant some of the plants and thin some. The thinnings I will use in stirfry or a salad. No waste here.
This is the kale:
Here is a picture of the lettuces. I mixed several varieties of lettuces and planted them together.
The next picture is a small spot of swiss chard. There is a row about ten feet long of swiss chard but I only made the picture of a small spot.
We are still getting a few tomatoes from the volunteer vine. I hope this one vine will supply us with a tomato here and there until frost. The tomatoes on this vine have tasted so good. I don't know if it's because I know the tomatoes are about gone for the summer or if these tomatoes have a better taste than the others. Either way, we're enjoying the last of our harvest.
On another note. The wild animals are still attacking our birds. All our ducks have been killed except for the old Pekin, Matilda. I guess she's too tough for the animals to digest.
They have killed several of our roosters we've raised for the freezer and some of our Barred Rock hens. Last night some kind of animal dug into the rare breed (Buttercup) pen and killed one of the young pullets.
William worked this afternoon to reinforce the pens so as to keep the animals out. Traps aren't working. We may have to set up a stake-out to find out what type of animal this is.
It's heartbreaking to raise birds up to the age they are just before beginning to lay and then have a wild varmint come along and make dinner out of them. I know that is what wild varmints do but it doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.
That's the goings on here at Hunny Bunny Haven. Thanks for dropping by. Come back again, y'all.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The cukes and squash are growing!
We have the cucumbers and squash up and growing. It's kind of hard to find them in all the weeds and grass. I hoed both on Saturday then pulled dirt up around them.....then it rained. So I go back out there this afternoon and hoe them again. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. LOL
We still don't have greens in the ground but Felder says by the middle of September and they will still have time to mature enough to survive any cold weather we may have.
Below are some pictures of the squash and cukes.
Cucumbers before I hoed them this afternoon.
Cukes after they were hoed. They look good now but when it rains again it will be cukes vs weeds!
The squash leaves are a little yellowish. Our spring squash were the same way. They had the same food as the cukes. This is the before picture:
And the after:
I think they will produce before we have a frost. I'm hoping they will anyway. Now to get the greens in the ground before it's too late. Maybe we can get that done this weekend.
We still have butterbeans, some peppers, okra and a few small tomatoes in our summer garden. We had a tomato plant come up volunteer that has some nicer tomatoes on it. They're not large but large enough we can make a sandwich with one. This one plant will furnish us tomatoes until frost.
When all the summer veggies have done their do we are going to till the ground and start building the raised beds for next spring. Our raised beds produce many more vegetables than the row garden.
I can work the raised beds more easily than row gardens. I can pull something to sit on up to the beds and sit while I pull any weeds that need pulling. With the raised beds we don't have many weeds.
That's a little catch up for now. I will be showing some of the other veggies as we get them planted.
One more thing not vegetable related. Our young pullets we got back in March are starting to sing. This means they are getting ready to begin laying. I can't wait to get those blue, green, blue-green and speckled eggs. Also, the Buttercups will be laying soon too. Some folks I know will be glad to be getting eggs with white shells.
On a sadder note: Raccoons killed all our ducks except two. We have one Buff Orph and the Pekin left. Raccoons and possums have never attempted to bother the ducks before but I guess they got a taste of duck when they got the little ones so they can back and got the grown ones.
If things go as I hope there will be a six foot fence put around the pasture this winter and early next spring. The fence along with the pens we have our birds in should keep varmints out. I hope.
I'm glad you came to visit. Come again sometimes.
We still don't have greens in the ground but Felder says by the middle of September and they will still have time to mature enough to survive any cold weather we may have.
Below are some pictures of the squash and cukes.
Cucumbers before I hoed them this afternoon.
Cukes after they were hoed. They look good now but when it rains again it will be cukes vs weeds!
The squash leaves are a little yellowish. Our spring squash were the same way. They had the same food as the cukes. This is the before picture:
And the after:
I think they will produce before we have a frost. I'm hoping they will anyway. Now to get the greens in the ground before it's too late. Maybe we can get that done this weekend.
We still have butterbeans, some peppers, okra and a few small tomatoes in our summer garden. We had a tomato plant come up volunteer that has some nicer tomatoes on it. They're not large but large enough we can make a sandwich with one. This one plant will furnish us tomatoes until frost.
When all the summer veggies have done their do we are going to till the ground and start building the raised beds for next spring. Our raised beds produce many more vegetables than the row garden.
I can work the raised beds more easily than row gardens. I can pull something to sit on up to the beds and sit while I pull any weeds that need pulling. With the raised beds we don't have many weeds.
That's a little catch up for now. I will be showing some of the other veggies as we get them planted.
One more thing not vegetable related. Our young pullets we got back in March are starting to sing. This means they are getting ready to begin laying. I can't wait to get those blue, green, blue-green and speckled eggs. Also, the Buttercups will be laying soon too. Some folks I know will be glad to be getting eggs with white shells.
On a sadder note: Raccoons killed all our ducks except two. We have one Buff Orph and the Pekin left. Raccoons and possums have never attempted to bother the ducks before but I guess they got a taste of duck when they got the little ones so they can back and got the grown ones.
If things go as I hope there will be a six foot fence put around the pasture this winter and early next spring. The fence along with the pens we have our birds in should keep varmints out. I hope.
I'm glad you came to visit. Come again sometimes.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Gonna Be Late....
We're going to be late with our fall gardening. William made some beds for fall cukes and squash but then the rain set in and we haven't been able to get the seeds planted. If I can get the seeds in the ground next week maybe we can have fresh squash and cucumbers until frost but after next week I can hang it up. It will definitely be too late.
We don't have a bed made for the lettuces nor the swiss chard, spinach, mustard, kale and collard plants. That needs to be done within the next two weeks or we won't be getting many salads from the lettuce. The other greens can survive some cold but not the extreme temps. Oh, that's right we don't have extreme temps here do we? OOPS!!!!
We are still harvesting green beans, butter beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and will have some more peas by next week. We have been able to save on our grocery bill while enjoying the fresh veggies.
I always hate to see summer draw to a close. I miss the fresh veggies after summer has ended. Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are missed more than any others. I have never been able to find these three vegetables in a grocery store that taste like the real thing. Real thing being those that we grow in our garden. Another thing about store bought tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers is I just don't know what they were fertilized with nor what has been sprayed on them. Sure makes the next summer seem so far away.
I wish I had a green house that was heated where I could grow vegetables during the winter. That would take a good size area for a large green house. Neither of which we have.
I do have a small green house frame if I could just get the corrugated materials to go on the top and sides of it. I don't have any idea where to look for the materials. Maybe we can find some thick plastic to cover the frame with this fall. It won't hurt to try this and if it doesn't work then we can look further.
That's about all the happenings at Hunny Bunny Haven. The two little ducklings that have survived so far are growing. The three baby chicks that William got to hatch are growing. So are the chicks that we ordered from Murray McMurray the end of March. The chicks we ordered should start laying by the end of this month. Fingers crossing!!!!!
No baby bunnies. We still have the five bunnies that we had when spring began. I still want to get some new ones to raise our own rabbit meat. I guess I need to get serious about this if I'm ever going to do anything. It won't happen if I don't make it happen.
Thanks for dropping in. Come back again.
We don't have a bed made for the lettuces nor the swiss chard, spinach, mustard, kale and collard plants. That needs to be done within the next two weeks or we won't be getting many salads from the lettuce. The other greens can survive some cold but not the extreme temps. Oh, that's right we don't have extreme temps here do we? OOPS!!!!
We are still harvesting green beans, butter beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and will have some more peas by next week. We have been able to save on our grocery bill while enjoying the fresh veggies.
I always hate to see summer draw to a close. I miss the fresh veggies after summer has ended. Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are missed more than any others. I have never been able to find these three vegetables in a grocery store that taste like the real thing. Real thing being those that we grow in our garden. Another thing about store bought tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers is I just don't know what they were fertilized with nor what has been sprayed on them. Sure makes the next summer seem so far away.
I wish I had a green house that was heated where I could grow vegetables during the winter. That would take a good size area for a large green house. Neither of which we have.
I do have a small green house frame if I could just get the corrugated materials to go on the top and sides of it. I don't have any idea where to look for the materials. Maybe we can find some thick plastic to cover the frame with this fall. It won't hurt to try this and if it doesn't work then we can look further.
That's about all the happenings at Hunny Bunny Haven. The two little ducklings that have survived so far are growing. The three baby chicks that William got to hatch are growing. So are the chicks that we ordered from Murray McMurray the end of March. The chicks we ordered should start laying by the end of this month. Fingers crossing!!!!!
No baby bunnies. We still have the five bunnies that we had when spring began. I still want to get some new ones to raise our own rabbit meat. I guess I need to get serious about this if I'm ever going to do anything. It won't happen if I don't make it happen.
Thanks for dropping in. Come back again.
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Pots And Pans Pantry
While it's not the largest pots and pans pantry in the world it's large enough for me. I have gotten the pans that were hanging on the wall, those cast iron pots and pans that were sitting on the stove and those that were on the counter tops all put in the pantry. There's a lot more counter space for working and that is what I was hoping for when I asked William to build the pantry.
There's a shelf for the storage containers, too. I keep the sugar, sweetners, flours, meal, rice, etc. in containers on this shelf. They are convenient to the stove and the containers are off the counters.
The next phase of this renovation is to get the cabinets down from the walls and the walls painted. Then we will paint or stain the shelving and the pantries. The shelves will be installed and new floor covering will be put down.
I don't think William is too keen on installing the floor covering so I am on the lookout for someone to do this job for us.
Here's the pots and pans pantry:
Nothing spectacular to most folks but it certainly is to me! Thanks Honey for all your hard work!
There's a shelf for the storage containers, too. I keep the sugar, sweetners, flours, meal, rice, etc. in containers on this shelf. They are convenient to the stove and the containers are off the counters.
The next phase of this renovation is to get the cabinets down from the walls and the walls painted. Then we will paint or stain the shelving and the pantries. The shelves will be installed and new floor covering will be put down.
I don't think William is too keen on installing the floor covering so I am on the lookout for someone to do this job for us.
Here's the pots and pans pantry:
Nothing spectacular to most folks but it certainly is to me! Thanks Honey for all your hard work!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A Little Of This And A Little Of That
Everything around here has been hot and dry. We did get a good shower this morning. Also, got rain on Monday of this week. There's more supposed to be on it's way later on tonight. We really need the rain on our garden. We have tried to keep it watered but it's just not the same as what I refer to as "God Water". Rain that is.
My sweet friend, Mrs. Gladys always laughed when I called rain "God Water". She would say, "It's all God Water." I told her "Yes, but we add some junk to what we catch and use from the tap and it doesn't do as good on the garden as when God sends the rain." We always got a chuckle out that. But it's really the truth. Water from the faucet just doesn't help the garden as much as rain water does.
We are getting very few veggies. Our garden has really fizzled this summer. We are planning to go back to raised beds in frames for next spring. The raised beds are easier to tend and to keep watered.
Some of that now: William finished my pots and pans pantry. We still have to stain it and put something on the side next to the stove to keep it from getting splattered when I'm cooking. I will post a picture in the next day or two.
We have started the painting in the kitchen. The color is called light copper but it's almost a french vanilla yellow. It's really weird as that's exactly the color I tried to find and couldn't find one that I thought looked like french vanilla ice cream. But we got it in the light copper.
We have one part ready to put up shelves so we can remove the cabinets in the rest of the kitchen. We have to go get the shelving materials and get them stained. We need to chose the brackets to put the shelves on, too.
That's about all that's going on right now. Other than we had three Barred Rock chicks hatch out of eleven eggs. My Mom told me the weather is too hot for hens to set.
I guess it's too hot for the ducks also. One of our ducks had a clutch of around twenty eggs and only hatched four ducklings. So, I guess the weather must have caused the eggs to go bad there too.
I'm hoping to set some more hens a little later on when the weather cools some. Maybe the ducks will lay another clutch of eggs too. I can only hope.
That's about all that's happening here at Hunny Bunny Haven. Thanks for dropping by and come again anytime.
My sweet friend, Mrs. Gladys always laughed when I called rain "God Water". She would say, "It's all God Water." I told her "Yes, but we add some junk to what we catch and use from the tap and it doesn't do as good on the garden as when God sends the rain." We always got a chuckle out that. But it's really the truth. Water from the faucet just doesn't help the garden as much as rain water does.
We are getting very few veggies. Our garden has really fizzled this summer. We are planning to go back to raised beds in frames for next spring. The raised beds are easier to tend and to keep watered.
Some of that now: William finished my pots and pans pantry. We still have to stain it and put something on the side next to the stove to keep it from getting splattered when I'm cooking. I will post a picture in the next day or two.
We have started the painting in the kitchen. The color is called light copper but it's almost a french vanilla yellow. It's really weird as that's exactly the color I tried to find and couldn't find one that I thought looked like french vanilla ice cream. But we got it in the light copper.
We have one part ready to put up shelves so we can remove the cabinets in the rest of the kitchen. We have to go get the shelving materials and get them stained. We need to chose the brackets to put the shelves on, too.
That's about all that's going on right now. Other than we had three Barred Rock chicks hatch out of eleven eggs. My Mom told me the weather is too hot for hens to set.
I guess it's too hot for the ducks also. One of our ducks had a clutch of around twenty eggs and only hatched four ducklings. So, I guess the weather must have caused the eggs to go bad there too.
I'm hoping to set some more hens a little later on when the weather cools some. Maybe the ducks will lay another clutch of eggs too. I can only hope.
That's about all that's happening here at Hunny Bunny Haven. Thanks for dropping by and come again anytime.
Friday, July 3, 2009
It's been a couple of weeks....
since I posted. Things have been pretty hectic around here. William's Mom had a heart attack and was hospitalized for several days. Then my Mom was admitted to the hospital for dehydration. William and I have been running back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...well you get the picture.
We are harvesting a few vegetables from our garden. The green bean vines look horrible so I don't know if we will get any more of them. I only have four bags of green beans in the freezer so far. I was looking forward to canning at least fifty quarts of green beans this summer.
That long row of squash is only yielding a few squash along. We pick two or three at a time. I'm disappointed in these, too.
The two volunteer cucumbers are doing better than the ones that we planted. The volunteers are the long burpless type and our regular ones are (I think) called crazy eights. They are short and fat. Not what we usually have from them at all. At least they're not bitter.
Now the okra and peppers are doing wonderfully. The jalapeno is so hot that it's hard to eat it. So is the Cayenne. That's the way I like them though. The okra is making a good bit of pods. I hope I can put some okra in the freezer and can some pepper sauce.
Our peas are doing so-so. They're not as good as I had hoped but they could be worse. We did get enough to make a meal for four adults today. There's enough left that I can put a bag of peas in the freezer.
The weather has turned very hot and dry. We are trying to keep the garden watered but it's so hot that when we water it doesn't look like it in a few hours.
There's rain predicted for four days next week. I just pray that we get some of the prediction.
We are harvesting a few vegetables from our garden. The green bean vines look horrible so I don't know if we will get any more of them. I only have four bags of green beans in the freezer so far. I was looking forward to canning at least fifty quarts of green beans this summer.
That long row of squash is only yielding a few squash along. We pick two or three at a time. I'm disappointed in these, too.
The two volunteer cucumbers are doing better than the ones that we planted. The volunteers are the long burpless type and our regular ones are (I think) called crazy eights. They are short and fat. Not what we usually have from them at all. At least they're not bitter.
Now the okra and peppers are doing wonderfully. The jalapeno is so hot that it's hard to eat it. So is the Cayenne. That's the way I like them though. The okra is making a good bit of pods. I hope I can put some okra in the freezer and can some pepper sauce.
Our peas are doing so-so. They're not as good as I had hoped but they could be worse. We did get enough to make a meal for four adults today. There's enough left that I can put a bag of peas in the freezer.
The weather has turned very hot and dry. We are trying to keep the garden watered but it's so hot that when we water it doesn't look like it in a few hours.
There's rain predicted for four days next week. I just pray that we get some of the prediction.
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