Trixie's Travels...

Round 3

I am having a love/hate relationship with my chickens right now.  The old ladies to be more specific.  They know better, but they just keep right on doing whatever they want.  Then when they are done doing the really bad thing that they keep on doing - they look like this....

just sitting there resting like nothing happened.

But something did happen and it has happened twice!  but Nooooooo - they just sit there relaxing under the apricot tree.....

resting with even their eyes shut....

This one though looks totally guilty.  She knows she has done something wrong but tries to give it that "Who me?" look.

But I am onto them and this time they were deterred.  You see since the end of March, the kids and I have tried to start seedlings and just when they get to the point of being hardened off outside, these lovely ladies come and EAT all of our seedlings.  The bad thing is they haven't done it just one time, they have done it TWICE!!! That kind of horribleness (is that even a word ~ I am not getting spell check so it must be) is just unforgivable.  The third time around we got smart and put our seedlings out in front of our house where the old ladies can't get to them.  

Look at how lovely they are!  

So happy and green ~ growing peacefully undisturbed. They aren't being scratched up, ripped apart, flung to the ground to die a cruel death.I bet you didn't know chickens could be so evil, so inconsiderate....so .... so.... IN TROUBLE!  I will forgive them though because they continue to give me eggs even in their old age.

I just came to terms that our garden is going to be so late in producing fruit this year and the weather has been so crazy the past couple of months that our summer might last further into the fall.  It will be wonderful to see how the heirloom seeds do in our garden and as long as I can outsmart our chickens we should do pretty well!

Here's to outsmarting chickens and a happy healthy garden!

 

 

Goodness of the Garden

Our family belongs to a homeschool garden co-op.  Each week we go out and tend the garden.....right now, we are in the harvesting stage.  This is what I brought home this week...

it barely made a dent in what was picked.

Slice up the eggplant width wise ...marinate in a little italian dressing or balsamic vinergarette....grill...o.k. STOP! my mouth is watering...

Cut these saucer squash up in cubes, melt a little butter in a fry pan and saute until just soft.....

These babies are just pure, bonafide snacking material....pop one in your mouth and just taste the freshness....

Garden-fresh spaghetti sauce, homemade noodles and some excellent sides with a little warm sourdough bread - sounds like a fine meal to me!

YUM!

Garden Bugs

Garden bugs that were in our soil....

Garden bugs that are NOT in our soil anymore...

and very happy chickens!

Our Home Garden

Last year we took the plunge and really made an effort with our own home garden.  I put in a few raised beds; two for flowers and two for veggies or herbs. 

In one of the slightly raised beds, I planted artichokes. 

I planted four artichoke plants...this is important information to remember as you will soon see why.  I did not realize how BIG and how much room they would take; not only that, they spread!  Monster artichoke plants have taken over!

We don't mind as our family really LIKES artichokes and would eat them every day if we could.  I had planted two different types of artichokes both a globe artichoke but because I was slow on the garden journaling there is not any record of what kind I planted!

Put that on my list of things to do:

 - Need to write down what I plant

Ok, that has now gone to the bottom of my list with 100 other things to do above it!

Hot Rocks was getting a work out in the heat yesterday. Gosh! That man is HOT! In more ways than one..if I do say so myself and I do say so!

We decided to replace the fencing around the garden to accommodate more vine growing seeds. Check out the terminator glasses! They crack me up!

He tore down the fence and started to flip the dirt so we could add some amendments. He found the random plantings of Pook's potatoes from this winter.

Pretty good for a first time planting and really just "winging" it.

Look at the iris blooms - aren't they lovely? 

These were iris plants from the the man who owned the home prior to us.  They are somewhere around 20 years old.  I will separate the tubers later on and put some in another spot. 

The blooms last for such a brief time, but I was so glad we were here to see them.  We are hoping to get the fence and the watering system up this week so that planting will start on the weekend. Can't wait to start filling in those rows!

We are adding another area to the garden but I will save those pictures for another time! The area is a humdinger of a spot!

Oh, to be diggin' in the dirt again!

Garden Bug

On Friday, I woke up in the morning in complete anticipation...it was like I had been away from home for a great length of time and I was headin' back.  The morning was gorgeous - it would be a perfect day.  Then the plane was delayed!  I had to wait..the kids were in that very lazy way of getting ready and we were running behind schedule to get out of the house.  I was going to be late!  The thought of it was driving me NUTS!

You see, I love the garden.  Getting dirty, digging up the soil, feeling the earth at my fingertips, having your muscles ache...planting a little bit of life and seeing what God will allow to happen....now that is what I am talkin' about!  

The thing that has made this particular garden so dear to my heart is the people.  It is more than just work - it is a whole lot of great relationships.  

It is like hibernating all winter and when it is starting to get nice outside, everyone else shows up!  The garden is a unique community of people and we love it!

It is a Homeschool Community Garden.  Each family pays dues for the year to provide for the materials that will be needed that season.  One family has donated the use of their land for years for this project.  We finally came up with a name for their place the "Crooked Rows Farm" - we can't get the rows straight!

This is only our second season but our family has felt like we have been a part of this for years - that is how wonderful the friendships are here.  The kids work part of the time and socialize the rest...HA!  They learn a great deal throughout the whole growing season.  

This year we are branching out and after the families have gathered what they need for that week, we will offer baskets of produce for sale to other homeschool families in the area.  

We are also going to have a chicken co-op.  A 10-week class on raising chickens for the dinner table.  We were part of the "pilot" program last year (without the classes). We did what it took to "prepare" the chickens for the table! 

There are more families than even last year and last year had the most participants since Homeschool Harvesters originated.  

There isn't anything quite like driving down the gravel road each week.  You never know who will be there, what the conversations will entail or how much work you will get done.  That is the great thing about the garden - you just go and get to be surprised!