Weekend Update

We moved the chickens out to the chicken yard. They are in 2 separate brooder boxes, (11 in each). I have one inside nursing a torn wing...I think the other chicks were pecking her and she was bleeding. Looks like her wing will be permenantly disfigured. I named her chicken wing. She was doing much better Sunday night. Dan planted some of the larger tomato plants that we bought. The ones I seeded are not quite ready. Some of them still don't have real leaves yet. There are lots of broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage plants to put in , but I don't know if it's getting too late for them. I seeded them in Jan, but they are just starting to take off with new real leaves.
We had the chickens out in the yard yesterday and the dogs inside so they wouldn't get the chickens. We heard the dogs making a commotion trying to get out to the chickens and all of sudden we see June flying through the kitchen window. The window was open and she decided to charge through the screen . It was so funny....but screen is broken now. Thankfully we caught her before she got a chicken! Got a good rain last night and this morning. The bush beans are planted too.

Peanuts

We started digging the peanuts we planted in June. It is probably a little early, they are very small.

We cleaned them up really good and boiled them in some salted seasoned water for about 2 1/2 hours.

They were very tasty....just didn't have enough. Maybe this weekend we'll try some more.
I bought more broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussel sprout plants last week and we got them in the ground last weekend. So far, they look pretty wilted, I sure hope they recover soon. The rye grass we planted as a cover crop was coming up really well and today when I checked, alot of it has died. Maybe too much rain at one time....so I guess we will reseed that too. Beets are spotty,so will replant those too. Plan to put in some spinach seeds this weekend also. Some of the cole crop seeds are spouting so that's encouraging. Weeds are growing the best of everything though.

Garden Planted update

Well, apparently we have a rabbit in our garden! All of my broccoli plants and most of my caulifower plants are history. Something (a rabbit maybe???) ate them. Very disappointed... I don't know whether to buy some more plants and replant or just see if any seeds come up. I hate to waste money and treat that rabbit to another feast.

Fall Garden Planted

We got the fall plants and seeds in the garden this past weekend. Planted some broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussel sprout transplants and seeds. Also planted seeds for mustard greens, turnips, snow peas, spinach, and beets. Envisioning a bountiful fall garden, hope springs eternal!! We also planted half the garden with winter rye grass hoping to keep some of the weeds at bay. I had a truckload of horse manure delivered and after seeing it decided to let it overwinter and age before tilling it into the garden. Plans are to tear down the existing chicken house and build a new, better orientated one that is easier to get into to clean. Got a nice rain the day after planting, so hopfully the plants and seeds get off to a great start!!

Magnolia and Gardenia blooms

It's springtime in Louisiana and the beautiful state tree is blooming. If you have never smelled a magnolia bloom you are missing a sweet part of heaven on earth. The blooms are large and very fragrant. The downside is they don't last long after you pick them off the tree..maybe a day. But for that day, they are sweet and intoxicating, filling the whole room with wonderful fragrance.

Gardenias are similar in smell  and just as delicate a flower as the magnolia. It too turns brown all too soon once picked. But the fragrance it brings to the room is worth the sacrifice of losing a few flowers off the bush. This is the first year my bush really bloomed and it must have about 30 flowers on it waiting to pop out. In an effort to make the flowers last longer this time I smashed the stems with a hammer so they could take up more water. I'll see if this helped any.

New Flower Bed

My son created a new flower bed for me last weekend. I transplanted a wisteria vine to the back, planted 2 knock out roses in the center, a hibiscus on the left and a hanging basket of Tex-Mex geraniums on the right.
I have not tried growing these before because I haven't had a sunny flower bed and now I do!.I surely hope the plants do well. I still have to put some mulch in...maybe this weekend.

Plantation plantings

My cousin and I went to St. Francisville to visit a few plantations while she was here visiting.These were taken at Afton Villa where the gardens and remains of a large plantation are located.

These were taken at The Myrtles, one of the haunted plantations in the area. There is a special mystery tour in the evening, but we couldn't stay for that.

 These were taken at Oakley Plantation where John Audubon spent 3 months painting some of his beautiful birds. I just love all the old gardens and this was the 1st time I had ever seen asparagus growing. It inspired my to try to grow some next season.

Rainy Spring

We are having a very rainy spring this year and quite warm too. The temperatures have been in the upper 80's for several weeks now. Usually we don't hit them till the end of April. I hope its not an omen for a super hot summer. Much as I want to hope global warming is not happening, I think it is probably. I really don't like the summers here in Louisiana, way to humid and hot. I need to hit the lottery and buy a house in Maine for the summer! What a sweet thing that would be.
The garden is planted but I haven't had time to check it lately. The green beans were coming up sporadically so I think we will have to fill in the gaps soon. The tomatoes I grew from seeds didn't look so hot either. Might have to buy some from the nursery. I hope when things dry out a little I can get a better look at things in the garden.
Need to pack for our camping trip to Destin, FL for Easter.
Later...

Beans, Beans, and more Beans

After the rain Tuesday morning, I decided to go out to check on the garden. The corn was bent over the green beans and the rows were flooded with water. When I looked closely at the plants, I saw beaucoup beans. I couldn't just leave them there, so I start to pick a few...and it turned into a few more and then many more. I ended up picking 6 more pounds of them. Snapped them while watching TV that night. Wednesday I canned 6 quarts and 1 pint. Haven't tasted the canned ones yet, but I sure hope they taste as good as fresh. I wonder how many more pickings we will get from this go-round of beans. Still didn't pick any beets yet, maybe this weekend. Have a few squash on the vines and realized one must be a volunteer plant because it just came up in the middle of a row of spinach. The squash look like little green balls. I think I planted that kind a few years ago and it's just now germinating.
Also planted some moon vine seeds. That  is a beautiful flower. I sure hope they come up.
Guess I need to plant another round of squash this weekend too.

Rain, Finally!

Finally some rain...thank Heaven for it. It has been very dry the last month. We only got a few little sprinkles twice since March 8th when we had a deluge for 4 days....so 7 weeks with little or no rain. The garden is smiling today...it's nice to get a bath.
We planted a big garden again this spring. Potatoes, carrots, beets, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, field peas, eggplant, okra, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe and strawberries. Saturday I canned 11 pts of green beans, our first picking, 6 lbs of them. They look so pretty in the jars, makes me feel like I accomplished something. About time to pick the beets, I think. Maybe this weekend.

Rain Finally!

It hasn't rained here in almost a month. Watering the garden is no fun. Dust and pollen are everywhere. My car is normally white, but lately has been yellow from all the pollen and I refuse to wash it....it needs to be rained on. We finally got a thunderstorm last night, but alas, my car was under the carport. Just my luck.

Anyway the garden was lookin good this afternoon. It seems to perk up after a little water from the heavens. The strawberries were happy.

The canatlope are flowering.

There are little green tomatoes on the bushes
The corn got a little windswept, but surely it will straighten back up.

Very glad for the nice rain.

Veggies are taking over

The vegetables are coming in like crazy now. Tomatoes, cukes, peppers, and green beans. We have too many to eat fresh, so I am going to preserve some peppers by drying and pickling. I will freeze the green beans in meal size portions. We are eating lots of tomatoes and cucumbers and giving away what we can't eat fresh. I guess when the tomatoes start producing all at once, I will can some for later. I am NOT making pickles this year....nobody eats them. I love making them and smelling them, but I don't like eating them and no one else does either. Soooo unless I find a recipe that the family loves, I won't be making them any time soon.

We are still waiting for the cantaloupe to ripen. They are looking good so far. I think we will have a bumper crop in a few weeks.

I planted just a few yellow squash this year, because last year we had way too many at one time. So I am spacing out my plantings and it seems to be working. I have enough for a meal or 2 , but not so many that I waste them.

Garden

We finished up the corn about 2 weeks ago and are trying to get to crops in this year. We planted them almost 2 weeks ago and they are coming up now. We have LOTS of weeds emerging too....meaning LOTS of hoeing.

We also planted some peanuts...they are coming along too. The sweet potatoes are beginning to sprout also.

Lots of activity going on in the cucumber & cantalope patches.

Peanuts, Grandaughters & Sweet potatoes

We had 5 of our grandchildren Saturday. The twins (2&1/2), Jasper (3), Hannah(7), and Isabella (8) the oldest. Their parents are training for an adventure race and they needed to practice their biking and canoeing skills. So we had the kids. We had a grand time.
We picked kumquats, the twins, Audrey and Emma, loved those. Jasper enjoyed picking them. We picked a few ears of corn and had some others that needed to be shucked, so they all joined in as my husband and I sat on the swing in the back yard. The corn was so tender we were eating it as soon as it was shucked. Of course there were a few worms, but Audrey wasn't scared at all, she wanted to hold them.
The 2 older girls wanted us to plant some more corn and some lima beans, so they stayed overnight to help us get them in the ground Sunday. We also had some peanuts that needed to be planted.
Hannah's and Bella's job was to drop the seeds in the trench and after Dan covered the seed they had to water them. Not a good idea. They got FULL of mud and started having a mud fight and a hose fight. They thought it would be funny to sit on my lap and get me full of it too. They had a jolly ole time and forgot all about the planting business, but isn't that what summer is all about? We finally finished the planting and all looked forward to a warm bath. The joys of the simple things, that's what grandchildren bring to us.
The next day, after they went home :) we got some sweet potatoes in the ground. That's our 1st try with those. We'll see how it goes.

Corn

We picked about 2 dozen ears of corn late yesterday evening. They are small and the ears are not filled out completely, but the silks are dark brown almost black. I don't think they were going to get much better and the racoons would have found them soon. There are a few ears still left on the stalks, but the corn is just about done.

Garden

I am day-dreaming about my vegetable garden. I want a beautiful weed-free garden. But then reality sets in...there are weeds as high as my knees, (almost). The corn is a fiasco....hubby decided to run the tractor over the rows while the corn was still short and got too close to the roots. We ended up with some stunted corn and the racoons have found what little we did have. I guess I can kiss the corn goodbye for this season.
I spent the late afternoon last Friday weeding one little raised bed with squash and tomatoes in it. I thought if I weeded after a rain the weeds would come up easier. It almost killed me. Truth be told, I looked like a very happy bovine. Mud was all over me and I was sore all day Saturday. There is another raised bed that needs my attention, but.....I dunno....
The strawberries aren't doing too well this year either. We get a few every other day, but only a handful. I really need to work on getting those runners rooted. I don't know if I should cut them off and pot them or just make a hole in the black plastic mulch and try to root them still attached to the mother plant.
The green beans are growing very tall, but no flowers yet. They are surrounded by weeds also.
Same with the cukes.
Tomatoes are flowering and there are few green ones on the bushes. The bushes look good. They are planted on black plastic mulch, so weeds aren't a problem.
We have harvested our first 3 peppers. Dan thought they were banana peppers, but found out they must be hungarian wax. They were medium hot. My son, Danny loves them that way. The other peppers have flowers on them now.
There are flowers on the yellow squash planted in the raised bed. I think I saw some small ones coming along.
The potatoes were really slow coming up this year. They are flowering now. I think we must have planted them too late. I dug one up and it had teeny tiny potatoes on it the size of pea. Will have to wait to see how those turn out.
We planted some blackberry bushes this spring too. They had some flowers on them and now I see some small green berries, but not too many.
The blueberry bushes finally have some blueberries on them. I planted them 2 1/2 years ago. Last year they had 2 berries ann the birds got them. This year we must have maybe about 30 0r 40. I fertilized them with some Ammonium Sulfate. It's supposed to help them take up the nutrients they need and acidify the soil.

I don't see any baby satsumas on our 2 trees and there are maybe 3 oranges on the orange tree. I fertilized those with citrus fertilizer last week along with the lemon tree which is loaded with little green lemons. That tree has been very productive for us the last 3 years. It is about 5 years old.

Last of the Summer Garden

Here it is the end of July and our garden has given us its best. The tomatoes are still coming in but the cucumbers and squash have finished. There are still peppers coming. I haven't had time to check the garden since last week. We have been vacationing in Kentucky. Maybe this afternoon when it cools off a little I will check it out.
I have been washing clothes all morning. 4 loads already and they are all hung on my new clothes line. The clothes smell soooo good now. I LOVE my clothes line!
Later I will blog about all the good things I put up from the garden this summer. I was so busy canning and freezing our produce, I didn't have time to blog.

Tomatoes in the ground

I made some strawberry jam with the berries we grew in the garden this year. I used the recipe on the Ball Pectin box. I didn't have enough fresh berries so I improvised and used some frozen ones. It came out pretty good. I made some homemade biscuits this morning to have with the jam....Yummy.

We finally got some tomatoes in the garden this weekend. We put in Creole, Big Beef, Beefsteak, Roma, and Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes. I still have some Celebrity and more Romas coming.

I have several kinds of peppers that will probably go in on Sunday.

Here is a picture of my peppers.