Random

 A few showers have finally fallen and the lantana has loved it!  These blooms are like little joyful bursts of sunshine!

We got a dog on August 5:

Daisy is a Great Pyrenees.  Yes, we were aware that she would be a big dog.  Here she is at 4.5 months old!

Isn't she pretty!?  She is by far the best puppy we've ever had.  As a cat person, I am really surprised how much I've enjoyed having her.  I'm having a hard time remembering she's just a baby, though! 

A Dry Garden Report

 This evening's photos are kinda dark.  This has been a hot, dry spring & first week of summer!!!  The garden has been abysmal.   However, after 3 years of trying to grow sunflowers, I finally have a bloom!

 Yes, it is really taller than me!  There is one more plant that is even taller, but it's not ready to bloom yet - it's still growing up!

I took photos from the same positions as I did last time, so you can compare if you'd like.  In the first photo, the onions have been harvested, the corn (which did not make any) has died, and the squash is still alive but not producing any more.  The green bean tepee is there but empty because the green beans died without producing.  One lone zinnia is blooming in front of the playhouse.

 From the opposite side, you can see the spaghetti squash plant on the trellis is dying, but it was my best producer of all!  We have eaten one and I have 9 spaghetti squash put up for later!  The tomatoes are hanging on, and believe it or not, still making some little tomatoes.  The pepper plants are doing likewise.  I put up a shade cloth over the peppers and the tomatoes are benefiting from it in the afternoon as well.  I am starting to believe "full sun" does not mean "Texas sun" for many garden plants.

Here is the lizard house David & I built beside the asparagus (in it's 1st year) after spotting a Texas Spiny Lizard there one day.  Of course, we haven't seen one since, but David enjoyed making the house for him.

 I have tried to make the garden a fun place for the kids to be with me, since I like to spend so much time out there.  I just wish this year had been a better year for gardening!  Just too, too hot and dry... too early!  Notice the large crack in the ground coming out from under the playhouse?

The girls were waiting for me when I came out of the garden.  They're the reason it's fenced off... them and the other wild critters that would get in there & dig it up.  I have decided to try gardening again, this year, in the fall.  I've never tried fall gardening.  We'll see how it goes.

First Garden Report of 2011

This has been the driest spring.  Seeds were planted and just sat there.  I watered, but still nothing sprouted.  Then all of the sudden, things started happening!  And today...

The first tomatoes!!!  These cherry tomatoes were actually growing in a hanging bag on the back porch, of all places!  Here's how the garden is looking:

 As you can see, we also have a bit of playground in the garden.  I can fence the little people in with me and not worry about a certain someone going into the barn to eat chicken poop or something like that.

 More tomatoes are turning!  Cherries above and Roma's below!  So exciting!!!
 

 I need a good crop of tomatoes to make our salsa to last for a year.  I only have one jar left of last year's salsa.  Will we make it???

 I had no idea what to expect when Dad's uncle gave me these "Sweet Spot" pepper plants.  That long one is not what I was expecting!  I thought they were going to be a bell type.  The pepper below is "Garden Salsa" which will also be used for our salsa.  I also have some jalapeno and Anaheim peppers.

 I have never, ever had onions that actually made a bulb!  And this year, I do!  Even the purple onions!

 We will have squashes running out of our ears soon, but that's ok!  I planted zucchini, yellow squash, butternut, and spaghetti squash (below)! 

 I had to plant seeds 3 times, but finally have some Swiss chard growing.  Not fabulous, but at least it's there.

Beautiful days for being outside lately and we're all enjoying our time in the garden!

Late Summer Blooms

Over 7" of rain brought in by Hurricane whatever a couple of weeks ago sent the late summer blooms into exhibition mode!

Welcome July

Well, we made it to tomato season and we're on our last jar of salsa that I made last year. This year, I planted more plants because I want to make one more batch to make it last a little bit longer and be able to give some away also. I also wanted to freeze some pasta sauce.

But if gardening went like this every year, I probably wouldn't be a gardener! My tomatoes are having a terrible summer. I have less than half the amount needed for one batch of salsa. I went to the farmer's market yesterday and bought the rest of the tomatoes needed for one batch of salsa. I'll give my plants a chance to grow some more, but I'm probably heading back to the farmer's market for the rest of the salsa, too.

My peppers are doing pretty good, though. At least I didn't have to buy those!

Today's Picks

We have entered the season again. Many of my blog posts will be gardening related. I will try to take pictures of the kids, too. : )

2 small Roma tomatoes, several Sweet 100 Cherry tomatoes, 4 heads of garlic (whoo-hoo - that's 100% because I planted 4 cloves last fall as a test crop!!!), and 3 eggs. I caught Blue Beard on the nest this afternoon, so unless she moved to a different box after I saw her, she laid the egg on the far left. It's kinda olive green. That means (I assume) the other Egger laid the blue-green one and I don't know who's laying brown. Haven't seen any others in the boxes.

This Week in the Garden

Right now my tomatoes look terrible, but there is still lots of fruit waiting to turn red.

This is why my tomatoes look so bad. I found, picked off, and fed to the chickens at least 6 of these nasty things this week... each day larger than the ones I found the day before!

I spend a good amount of time each day out there looking for them because I've chosen to be pesticide free. I need to look up what the eggs look like. I've squashed a bunch of eggs this season but apparently I missed some!

Assorted peppers are doing well. Anaheim, poblano, jalapeno... respectively.

Finally grew a marigold from seed. Never got that to happen before.

Baby Cucumber:

Pinto & Black Beans:
Corn. I didn't know if this bed would be worth growing in because there's not really any soil in it. I guess we'll have to wait & see how the corn turns out.

Elizabeth with her gourd:

I suppose in the next week, I need to make sure my children have clothes on, have hair brushed, and then take some pictures of them!

David is in charge of letting the chickens out each day. He has discovered that roosters like to fight. heh heh...