7/31/18 Tuesday

Can't believe tomorrow is August. Even harder to believe that a lot of schools already started this week. What happened to summer vacation?

Got some potting soil mixed up

Potted up some Nero de Toscana kale seedlings. An Italian variety of "dinosaur" kale. 

Potted up my green cotton seedlings. I am really late with these but needed to get some more seed for them so hope they do ok. I was given my first seeds by a lady from Missouri. She said her father always grew it in the yard while they grew white cotton in the fields. 

I also made up some soil blocks and planted purple sprouting broccoli, a white and a purple cauliflower and some red cabbage. Hopefully fall will come on time and they will do well. 

This greenhouse is a crazy jungle. 

I did get some of the squash vines tied up so I can sort of walk in there. 

Got an oil change and tire rotation. Went to see mom and did the usual chores. My Filipino customer came and picked up 4 cockerels so that cleared out a pen. So tomorrow will be cleaning it out and moving birds around. Pretty sunset tonight tho no rain and a high at least 102.  Good night world. 

7/30/18 Monday

.8" of an inch. A drop in the bucket but better than nothing. But not enough to skip watering even one day. Sigh. 

Planting out some mizuna mustard seedlings and even with the rain the soil is dry two inches down. 

Well there goes a good tarp.  Had to bail water off this morning.  Really need to get a real roof over these kennels!

Today's tea, lemon balm with a few sprigs of pineapple sage. 

Finally found a connector that would work. 

So the water is back on this garden. Upper bed has kale and some sad looking chard. This bed has a double row of leeks, some radishes and a few beets. I also planted some mizuna  mustard in some open spaces. I'll plant some collard greens down the middle. 

That is a Northern New Mexico Melon that volunteered at the end of the bed. I got the seeds from Bountiful Gardens a long time ago.  It's sweet like cantaloupe. 

The sunflowers and zinnias are thriving in the heat. 

This Black Copper Marans pullet caught my eye while I was doing chores. I think she's growing out pretty nice. Made a run to the nursery for peatmoss and vermiculite because I need to make more potting soil. So that will be tomorrow's project. 

I tried to take a nap but watched farm videos instead. Then right when I got up to do chores it started raining. So I got to wear my raincoat again. So not much else got done today except a little dinner and now it's bedtime. Good night world. 

7/29/18 Sunday

Morning Tink. Ouch, watch the claws will ya! Wow almost August. A lot of schools start tomorrow. I remember when we didn't start until after Labor Day. 

Spent most of the morning turning compost and watering it.  This pile should have been turned months ago and was terribly dried out. 

Took almost 2 hours (including breaks) but finally done. Now off to Tractor Supply for feed. 

Feed hauled and slowly unloaded. It's cloudy and humid and not as hot but still hot enough. 

Hello chicken. I picked up a couple of rescue hens last night. The person was concerned they couldn't get any weight on them. We discussed their feeding program and I advised to cut the scratch and feed a higher problem layer feed. These two girls look healthy enough but will be quarantined for a couple of weeks before mixing with the rest of the flock. 

Well come on. Quite teasing me and rain already.  And finally it did rain. It rained hard for about 30 minutes. I probably got about a half inch of rain. Not nearly enough but anything helps. 

Afterwards I had to stop at the store and there was a great rainbow. First time I've used the panorama feature of my iPhone camera. The usual chores done and off to bed. Good night world. 

7/29/18 Sunday

Good morning Tink. Hey watch the claws!

Market Saturday

Good morning Silkie butts. I never would have thought I'd like "foo-foo" birds but Silkies are different than other chickens. I was given several a few years ago and they've grown on me. 

Herbs and a couple of squash for Market

I didn't have a lot of veggies, it's just so hot and dry. Took some flowers to the nursing home when I went to visit mom. A lot of the other ladies enjoyed them. 

Took a long nap. A big storm is trying to come in and the pressure in my ears is giving me a headache. Just really hope it rains for real. 

7/27/18 Farmer Friday

Picking flowers for Market. Zinnias and sunflowers really taking off. 

Cherry tomatoes may not make it. A few hours too long without water. 

Love these okra flowers. Can you tell they are related to hibiscus. 

First picking of red okra. Even the biggest one was tender. Yup. Ate them all standing in the garden. 

Washing radishes. 

Off to deliver to my customers in Superior. We meet at a great little coffee shop and deli, The SunFlour Market. This is where I bought my hat last year. It is holding up well to daily wettings and sweating. I love that the sales of hats, purses, fans and baskets help women and children in Africa. 

Back to do evening chores. Sure there's clouds and even thunder grumbles but will it actually rain??!!!

And there it goes, raining over there, on the copper mine. That really doesn't need it. It did sprinkle a bit at my house as I was leaving. Will just have to wait till morning to see if it did any more. Now some dinner and bed. Good night world. 

7/26/18 Drier than Dry

Today's tea flavor, spearmint, lemon balm and a sprig of cinnamon basil. 

This bed of Swiss chard got pretty crispy from going too long without water. It is sooo hot and dry this year I just can't get the water to things fast enough. I pulled out the plants that didn't revive with a dep soak and trimmed back the rest. 

Mmmm. Not sure how or why that came apart. #onemorething

This greenhouse is turning into a jungle

The zinnias are managing the heat ok

The sunflowers are thriving so far. 

The squash have had some ups and downs. A few crispy leaves and aborted fruits but so far reviving when watered. 

I would trade a hundred perfect sunsets for a few inches of rain. The years total stands at 2.5". The heat is depressing and frustrating.  It is all I can do to keep going every day. 

7/25/18

I guess I don't know my own strength. Pulled the hose and the whole faucet popped off. Well it has been there 20+ years. Had a can of primer but of course no glue to be found so a trip to the store. 

Scraped and sanded the pipe and fitting and glued it all back together. Now a 2 hour wait before putting pressure on the line. 

It was 86° at 6:30 this morning. By the time the faucet was done and the sun was over the hill it was miserable. So I watered some more more wilting plants and goofed off on the computer. While watching a webinar about using social media to promote my farm I shelled a bag of bush bean seed I saved last year. By 11ish I had a sinus headache and pressure in my ears so went to mom's house and took about a three hour nap with an ice pack on the back of my neck.  

A Black Copper Marans cockerel that may turnout nice. I'll know in another six months!

Some more grow outs

Tink and Tommy the Tank trying to stay cool

A baby pumpkin

A baby okra

Sunflower and bees. Some things are dieing in this extreme heat and some are thriving. It's wearing me down that's for sure.  7:30 pm and still 100°.  Even with a long nap I'm ready for bed, as soon as I feed the dogs. Good night world.