Grow-Along Week 12

Hello my Loves!

Wow! We made it to week 12!! What an amazing accomplishment for us all! So many plants have grown and flowered and are moving into a state of fruitful abundance. We are so proud of you for your choice to work towards a better, more sustainable lifestyle along with us. Whether you grow your own food on the scale we do, or you just dabble in flower gardens and houseplants, we want you to know that what you are doing is important and wonderful. Give yourself a pat on the back... for real... go ahead... do it! We'll wait... (no really, do it!). There! :) Doesn't that feel good? It is so easy to be so overwhelmed by the beauty and wonder of new life in the spring and early summer that we overlook the critical role we play in the magic of nurturing new life of all kinds. Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers, watch the butterflies, and consider how important you actually are to the great web of life that we are all a part of.

It has been hectic here this past week since Nate and I are both on modified work schedules due to our recent job title changes and the training that comes with it. We have still managed to find time for the garden and homestead in the chaos, though, and have found the work very grounding after spending our workdays learning new technical systems. Our tomatoes and peppers are finally in their beds and I am thrilled to report that they have tiny fruits on them! I once thought that I'd never be able to grow them successfully from seeds, but here I am... Micro-Farmer extraordinaire with fruits on my homegrown plants. Our lettuce bed is filling up and we will be harvesting our first leaf-lettuce salads soon. We finally have some carrots coming up, and the onions are looking stout and sturdy. I'm greatly looking forward to tasting the bounty that our strawberry plants are laden with right now. It seems they have done quite well this year and nearly every plant has at least a few little green berries growing. We should have a good sized first harvest and hopefully an even more bountiful second one later in the year.

 

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Nate got one of the much needed chicken coop renovation projects finished off. His ingenuity always amazes me. It boggles my mind how I can describe something I need or want built for the homestead and he gets to work with his super-mathematical brain and makes it happen. In just a couple of days (and with only one trip to Lowe's), he built a gorgeous, 4 hole nesting box for the girls to lay their eggs in. It is so much better than the improvised bucket-nests that I had in the coop previously. The bucket-nests worked alright when our flock was smaller, but with 20+ hens in our Chicken Brigade now, 2 bucket nests was a bit crowded. I love the new nests because they are big enough for our largest girls to feel comfortable, and they are external to the coop, so the bedding will stay cleaner since they have a barrier between the coop floor and the interior of the nests. Also, I'll now be able to collect eggs without having to climb into the coop, which is a HUGE relief and will save so much time. The roof of the nest box is hinged and lifts up to give easy access to the eggs within. I am quite happy with it, and the Chicken Brigade are too. The nests weren't even completed for 30 min and two hens went in and laid eggs. We've also had the bonus that since they've been added on, none of the girls are laying eggs on the floor of the coop or in ditches in the run. YAY for clean eggs!! 

In the duck house, Nibble continues to show her egglets all the love and devotion they require. We are at about 12 days in with approximately 11 days to go before we expect hatching. Of the original 13 eggs, she has 10 remaining after two broke and one that was infertile went bad. We have been candling them more regularly to check up on the development of the little ducklings, and we have to say, this clutch is blowing us away. We think she's going to have her hands full in another 11 days. I decided on a whim to candle one of her eggs in the middle of the afternoon on Monday and was totally amazed by what I found. Not only did the egg I chose show excellent development and lots of good, strong veins, but I could actually see the little duckling embryo swimming around quite vigorously inside the eggshell! I was so astounded by what I saw that I dragged Nate inside and we stood huddled in amazement in our tiny little laundry room (the room that is dark any time of the day) as we watched the tiny life inside the eggshell doing acrobatics. Well, tonight we went outside and candled again (Nibs only let us look at 6 eggs before she bellied up to the nest and started tucking eggs under her belly with her beak) and managed to catch the movement on video to share with you all! The motion is so much easier to see in person, but the video is pretty stunning as well. :) 

Nibble's boys take good care of her.

 Last, but not least, my little brood of Silkie chicks are doing wonderfully as well. They have reached that simply absurd stage that all chicks get where they are halfway between having their juvenile feathers and still having their baby fluff. Personally, I think this stage looks even more ridiculous on Silkies since they never actually get smooth adult feathers, just a different type of puffy feather. We've got little ones that look like they have dandelion fluff stuck to their behinds and crazy 80s inspired spiked hairdos. It is highly entertaining. There is one little cheep that I'm seriously hoping is going to turn out to be the roo I am longing for in Hideki's absence. I call the little one Dandelion on account of a smudge of yellow he/she had on the top of his/her head from the day we got the babies. Dandy is such a sweetheart!! Of all of them, Dandy is the calmest and the most personable and absolutely loves cuddles. If there is any validity to the old wives' tale that female chicks feather out faster than males, I may have a good chance with Dandy since he/she seems to be the furthest behind on fluffing up to actual feathers. Keep your fingers crossed for us! :)

This week, Jamie has a text-only update for us, and we don't blame her... the mosquitos here have been awful this week as well and we remember well how horrendous they can be down South. We are convinced they are spawned from the seventh layer of Dante's Inferno itself.  ;)

I've decided to give you a picture-free garden update this week because we just came back in from putting the chickens in their coop, I forgot to take pictures and I don't feel like going back out into the heat and mosquitoes, lol. We've gotten pretty hard rains for the past few days, and my peppers, tomatoes and eggplants were all looking like they'd been mud wrestling. I went out early yesterday morning, gave the muddy leaves a gentle rinsing, used foot-long bamboo skewers to give the stems a little extra support, and gave the entire garden a good misting with the neem oil solution (thank you SO MUCH for that suggestion! It already looks to be making a huge difference to my poor, bug-abused eggplants as well as the rest of the garden). I'm happy to report that all the plants I worked to nurse back to health yesterday were looking stronger, taller and healthier today. I'm also very excited to mention that we've discovered a handful of baby squash that are all around 3" long. Our peas and green beans have started flowering, so I'm hoping to see more baby veggies popping up soon, and our lettuce is looking like it's going to be heading for our salad bowls in the VERY near future.

Elaine has a lot going on in her garden this week too! It looks like she'll be having a bumper harvest as well.

In addition to all the things pictured, I also planted a circle of dwarf sunflowers in the center of the blueberry bed, planted onion sets, and parsley seeds.

Anyone want some delicious, fresh mint?

Blueberry Abundance!!! Can't wait to enjoy these!!!

Chives gone wild!!!

My "Salad Bowl" second harvest!

New orchid spike!

And last but not least, an update from Stell, who has a lot growing in her gardens up North as well!

I've been a bad garden mommy, and also a flower thief. Forgot to water my seeds all week. I'm hoping they don't care too terribly much.Nothing new is planted aside from two little about-to-bloom English daisies I shamelessly swiped from the lawn of a vacant house down the street :DTulips are going like gangbusters, the tomatoes and brassicas are getting bigger, and the lily of the valley are just on the verge of blooming.I'm going to see if I can take home some lilac suckers and some lavender from my mom's house today. Included is a photo of my view from my top front step, where I am currently sitting, soaking up some morning sun. It's a nice view, despite the fact that it looks as if the cats have been digging in my seed beds again.  

Ohhhh look! I was wrong! We have peas!! And kale! Woot!

Until next week, Happy Gardening!

If you want to join us in the Grow-Along, simply send us your gardening plans, pictures, or progress via Facebook, email, or in the comments below. We welcome everyone to the adventure! It is never too late to join us! :)