Really rain!

Of course, it's all a matter of perspective. We were longing for rain after a dry, windy heat wave that left the ground parched until last night when we got a half inch and a very welcome cool front moved in. Less fortunate was Duluth, MN that received 6 inches from the same system and is dealing with dangerous flash flooding today.

I could almost see the garden growing this morning; it's difficult to thrive when the wind wicks all the moisture away and the sun is pounding down. Now all I need to do is stay one step ahead of the weeds.

Sunday

Today was crazy hot and windy so it was nice that my brother and his partner stayed over and we spent the day together. Such a wide range of conversation subjects to cover!

After they headed home again and it began to cool off I did some desperately needed watering and got half the row of spinach weeded before the biting flies and setting sun drove me back inside. Not a great weekend for getting projects done...but very good for living.

Party day

It's been a busy weekend with a graduation party in the family. It also became an opportunity for the newest member of the family to meet some of his other relatives.

Here is the graduation girl:


Loads of delicious foods and desserts:


Great-grandpa keeping little Ethan comfortable:


I always have to spend some quality time chatting with the chicks. How they've grown! In the center is the original Zen Chicky:


They were all too busy with their own concerns to worry about the camera or photo ops.


What could have all the guys so fascinated?


Ah, of course, the opportunity to shoot guns, grunt, and have fun.


Yep, that's my family. :)

Shifting the woodpile

As I had to move the wood to make room for the chicken pen expansion, I decided to relocate it closer to the house. First I put down a layer of repurposed guinea pig bedding to discourage weeds, then the pallets for a base. Moving the rest will be a spare time job as the garden must take first priority.

Garden update

I've got the rough hoeing done in the big garden, but not the in-close finger weeding yet. Our weather continues very hot and dry so I feel like I'm fighting just to keep things watered.

The year of the Onion~ last year's left behinds and some new plantings plus a row in the small garden. To the right are kale and spinach with cucumbers in the background.


Peas are struggling with the heat. Notice the high-tech gadget to discourage birds!


Even the beans are looking a bit crisped around the edges.


The potatoes are loving it and flourishing. Hooray!

I've got space yet for brassicas and a few squashes which I picked up on clearance. If I time the planting right it will be right before the rains return.

The expanded chicken pen

Today was a the day for a massive accomplishment: we finally expanded the chicken pen. It's more than doubled their space (and is that much less for me to mow).

Here is the border of the old pen. It's well fertilized, but picked clean.
Room to roam. I'd love to have free range chickens, but living in town with so many dogs it just wouldn't be possible. The fence is composed of cattle panels to keep the dogs out and chicken wire to keep the hens in.
Frodo approves; although I did have to bribe them to explore the new space with grapes.

Hard labor to hot showers

I've been working on my dual projects of splitting the walnut trees I had cut down last year and expanding the chicken run. That meant that today I used the grass trimmer to make room for another pallet in the area where I'm stacking the split wood to dry, used the wood splitter to work my way through all the pieces stacked up where the chickens will be, and used the garden cart to shift the finished product from one place to the other.

I'm not used to so much physical labor and, while I got a lot done, it was a dirty, sweaty job which brings me to the other point of today's post. After a day like this, there is nothing that feels so good as getting thoroughly clean. Hot showers may be the pinnacle of civilization for me. :)