Month: August 2021

Morning company, and that might be an issue!

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It’s been a while since I had a whole crowd of cats and kittens following me around in the mornings, but now that Potato Beetle is back, he does tend to join me.

After breakfast, of course.

I was quite tickled to go into the sun room this morning and discover not only the adult cats waiting for me, but Broccoli and Chadicous, too! Even Junk Pile’s kittens were hanging around, though they kept running off anytime I came near.

Potato has a habit of trying to climb me when he wants attention. I managed to dodge him while opening up the trail cam to switch the card, so he climbed the post, instead.

The photo was taken the moment before he leapt onto my shoulders.

He did it again from the saw horse next to the summer squash, and the garden cam!

I have no idea where he’s been for the past few months, but he does seem happy to be back!

While checking the remains of the purple corn, something odd on one of the deer chomped cobs caught my eye, so I took a closer look.

A corn fungus had set in. I’ve seen a few people posting photos on gardening groups of this, asking what it is. Others got very excited about it. Apparently, this stuff is edible and very tasty.

I have no intention of finding out. :-D

Then there is something I checked on that I actually discovered yesterday.

The old kitchen was tacked onto the log cabin portion of the house at a later date. It has it’s own foundation with a crawl space under it, and it the only part of the house that is not on a basement.

That foundation has cracks in it. One of them is on the North side, near the septic tank.

Yesterday, I spotted wasps all over the area and realized they were going in and out of the crack.

Of course, getting picture of the actual wasps didn’t work out too well. LOL There is one in the shot, crawling through, where the arrow is pointing.

Last year, we had issues with wasps in the corner nearby, under the eaves where the old kitchen and the rest of the roof joined. It was bad enough to pick up wasp killer to get rid of them. So far, this nest hasn’t been a problem, but we will probably have to get rid of it before we get the septic tank emptied for the winter.

What this does tell me, though, is that the crack is open all the way through to the crawl space.

Which also tells me the old kitchen is sinking.

We did sort of know that already. We have seen that the sun room is shifting quite a bit, too – enough to affect the angles of the door, and crack windows.

Which reminds me. We’re having to use the old kitchen to go in and out of the house again. The fix I did on the main doors has given out. You can read about that here, here and here.

There is so much major work that needs to be done on this house, it’s pretty discouraging. What should be done it to get it all fixed before things get worse and end up costing more, but we’re still looking at repairs and renovations probably costing more than the house is worth. Even if my entire family pooled our resources to fix up the home we grew up in, we couldn’t come up with enough.

We’ll just take care of what we can as we go along. I must say, though, a lottery win would sure come in handy right now! :-D

The Re-Farmer

What the heck?

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Now, this was a strange thing to see outside or living room window!

Broccoli and Caramel weren’t just chillin’ with the grog. They were eating, too. I think they may actually have been eating the sunflower seeds! The only other things there are grass and leaves, and I know they weren’t eating those.

So very strange!

The Re-Farmer

All tucked in

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There was a break in the rain, giving me a chance to test out my squash hammocks.

This is a melon, not a squash, but “melon hammock” doesn’t roll off the tongue as well. :-D

I’ve made three of these so far. I think I got the size right. None of the melons or winter squash will get much bigger than this. The ties need to be a bit longer, though.

For those who want to know, it’s basically just a filet crochet square, with chain stitch ties woven through the openings on opposite sides that act as drawstrings, to keep the fruit snug. I used medium weight cotton yarn and a 6mm – J/10 hook.

I think I’ll make a few more to have handy, if needed.

The Re-Farmer

One of “those” nights

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Last night turned out to be one of those odd nights. I’d stayed up late to finish of part of a crochet project, then work the set up on the next part of it, before going to bed.

I didn’t sleep a wink.

This wasn’t even a sleepy night of tossing and turning or interruptions, but just plain, “hmm. I’m awake.”

The problem with such sleepless nights is that I end up feeling hungry. So by 4am, I finally gave up and got something to eat, then watched some Midsomer Murders on Tubi. By 6am, I figuring I could actually fall asleep, but it was getting light out, so I did my morning rounds, first.

As early as it was, Rosencrantz was already waiting for breakfast! :-D

While checking on the garden beds after switching out the memory card on the garden cam, I was very happy to see these.

The one Red Kuri (Little Gem) squash is changing colour so nicely! One of my crochet projects has been to make mesh hammocks for the squash and melons. We have all smaller varieties, so the vines can hold the weight. The hammocks are more to ensure that, if they do drop off their vines, the ones that are higher up won’t hit the ground.

After all this time, we FINALLY have another winter squash developing. Possibly more, but this is the biggest, and shows no sign of dying off like so many others have done. Which is, on the one hand, quite exciting to see. On the other, it’s a bit frustrating. Our first frost date is September 10, and it’s already August 24. Hopefully, we won’t actually get frost that early, but that chances of this, and any others, reaching full maturity before first frost is low. These varieties were chosen specifically for their shorter growing season, but even with our watering and fertilizing, the drought has set so many things back. Now, after all that heat, it’s our cooler days and almost cold overnight temperatures that are slowing things down again.

Ah, well. We shall see what the fall brings us.

Meanwhile, I did manage a few hours of sleep. It’s drizzling outside, so I think I’ll continue on the crochet projects I’m working on.

The Re-Farmer

Checking things out

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After all the wonderful rain we’ve been having, I just had to go and check out some areas beyond the outer yard.

Of course, that included the old gravel pit! Here’s a slideshow, covering just over 3 weeks, from being newly dug out to today.

The first photo was taken the day the pit was dug, on the 7th, though it was deepened slightly a couple of days later. The next photo of the first puddle of water was taken on the 10th. By the 14th, it was noticeably lower, and by the 20th, looking almost gone. The next photo was taken on the 21st, and the last was taken today, the 23rd.

There’s a nice little pond started in there, thanks to the wonderful rains we have been having. Had the renter not had this dug deeper, there would have been little more than a muddy puddle, only slightly larger than the pond not far away. I checked that out, too, and for all the additional rain we’ve had, there really isn’t much more water visible there than the last time I checked it out.

Since I was in the area, anyhow, I decided to check out another low, almost marshy, area close to the road that is partly in where the renter has his corn. Driving past, the feed corn looked pretty good, but this was the first time I got a real look at how it was doing.

What a mix! In some areas, the corn was taller – though still only about 4 feet high – with swaths of shorter corner, here and there.

This spot was the most extreme in corn shortness! Not far past this, it started getting tall again. Especially right in the corner, near where the low area I wanted to check out was. While walking along the fence line, I could see where deer had chomped off the tops of some of the developing corn cobs.

Our views while driving by on the road was deceptive. While most of it seems to be doing okay, if shorter than normal, there is a lot where the feed corn isn’t much better than our own sweet corn! Though even the smallest of the feed corn is sturdier than ours. That would be the difference in soil nutrients. The renter has been good about amending the soil with manure, composting in old hay and straw – even the stalks from last year’s crop – and keeping up the nitrogen.

Last year had been such a bad year for crops, and this one has been even worse. Depending on the next few weeks, though, it does look like the renter will have something to harvest, at least.

As for the low area I had gone to check out, there was no sign of water there at all. Not even where it merged with the ditch along the road. It was, at least, looking a big greener than the surrounding areas, but that was pretty much it.

The Re-Farmer

Our 2021 garden: morning after the rain

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The gardens seem to be really enjoying all the rain we’ve been having!

The Ozark Nest Egg gourds are having a growth spurt, and more flowers are blooming.

They are the first ones I’ve seen with only three petals on them.

So far, I’m only seeing male flowers, but I might be missing some. I’m not about to lift the chicken wire protection just to look.

On the leaf above the blossom, you can see that the cayenne pepper is still there! I’m rather amazed it didn’t get washed away.

The newest Mongolian Giant sunflower that opened is looking very nice. What surprised me, though, was…

…finding that it is growing stalk babies, too, now!

I don’t know if I’m supposed to prune them or something, but I’m leaving them be.

I even picked some teeny tomatoes and cucamelons this morning. :-)

It’s been interesting on some of the zone 3 gardening groups I’m on. Quite a few have been sharing photos of all their green tomatoes that they rushed to bring in, before the rain, so that they wouldn’t split. If you like at the tomatoes in my photo, you’ll actually see a couple of Spoon tomatoes that have done exactly that! I’m not concerned about that, with these little guys. What caught my attention more, though, were all the people talking about getting overnight frost. !! They are all at much higher elevations than we are, so while they are zone 3 like we are, us being so close to sea level makes a difference.

The Re-Farmer

Morning critters, and a break in the rain

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I am happy to say that, yesterday, I was wrong in doubting we could get any of the predicted rain.

Very wrong!

It poured hard! This is the rain shooting off the end of the rain barrel diverter. Everything is getting so nice and green again. I might even have to mow the lawn again at some point! It’s a bit late to add grass clippings as mulch in the garden, but it certainly will be used, if we do get some.

One of the things I am happy to see when I first come out to do my rounds is Junk Pile’s kittens. They have been coming to the kibble house more often, and while they still run away in a panic when I come out, they are quicker to return.

Inside the kibble house are three of Butterscotch’s kittens, plus Junk Pile in the far corner, while Butterscotch is eating from the container on the ground. That is the container I’d been leaving out by the junk pile, and later the concrete steps, for her and her babies, but now that they are also coming to the kibble house, I brought it over. After taking the photo, I moved it to under the roof on the other side of the kibble house. I did see Junk Pile’s kittens in the kibble house with Butterscotch’s kittens, but with how shy they are, I figure having food on the other side would be nice for them. They come from that direction and, sometimes, instead of running off, they’ll squeeze under the cat’s house to hide. It’ll eventually join the other containers in the kibble house, but this will also keep things a little less crowded. Especially with the adult cats asserting their pecking order with each other.

Which is why I’m still putting food out by the other junk pile for Rosencrantz, Nosencrantz and Toesencrantz. It helps keep the peace, and they seem to prefer eating there.

I’d been moving the kibble container for Butterscotch and her babies around, to encourage them to come closer to the house. Having it on the concrete steps has been a bit of an issue, as I kept finding the container elsewhere. Likely dragged around by skunks. So yesterday, I put it in the slightly raised bed near the steps, where the cats like to hang out.

This morning, I found it half under the lilacs.

I also found this.

That corner is exactly where I’d put the kibble container. This is the first time I’ve seen this area dug up like that! The skunks don’t usually dig that deep. The larger hole goes under the wood, and was dug from the other side, too.

I suspect the rains brought a lot of grubs closer to the surface, and with this bed being so heavily mulched, it’s a lot softer than the soil outside of it. Snack time for the skunks!

Today, we are supposed to have a break from the rain, at least in our area. There are, once again “overland flow flooding” warnings near rivers. I should check out the gravel pit dugout again, later today. Light rains are supposed to return tomorrow, and again later in the week. After that, it should warm up again, a bit. We’re at 17C/63F right now, but in a few days, we’re expected to reach 20C/68F and stay in that range for at least the next couple of weeks. Perfect to get some big jobs done, outside!

For now, I leave you with one more photo. The adorable Nosencrantz, watching me as I checked on the potatoes!

She is such a cutie! And my younger daughter has even managed to pet her!

The Re-Farmer

Our 2021 garden: morning in the garden

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While checking on the sunflowers this morning, I found one of the Mongolian Giant seed heads finally starting to open.

I had actually expected this one to open up first. Look how dark the middle is!

Hard to believe this is the same type of sunflower as this…

They look completely different!

One of the smaller seed heads sprouting out the side is starting to open, too.

With our fall planting, only a few of the rainbow chard has survived the grasshoppers and the heat. Enough that, when they are large enough, we can find out if we actually like chard! :-D

The lettuces protected by the window screen covered frame are coming up quite nicely! It’ll still be a while before they are large enough to start picking baby greens for salads, but being under the adapted cover, they should be protected from both groundhogs and insects, so I expect to actually have some this time. Unlike our first planting in the spring, that got eaten before we’d had more than a handful ourselves! Even the weather is supposed to be cooler and potentially rainier, over the next while, so we won’t have to use the shade clothes, either.

As rough of a gardening year it has been, we’re still getting some produce, and I’m happy with that!

The Re-Farmer

Can they get any cuter?

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My husband sat on the edge of the bed to chat with me, and Ginger glommed onto his hip for a cuddle nap. Just look at that face!

Cabbages was enjoying a nap, too. Being so adorable can get very tiring, I guess! :-D

The Re-Farmer

Our 2021 garden: evening harvest

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While doing my evening rounds, I was able to gather quite a substantial harvest from the garden!

The yellow beans are, as could be expected, winding down right now, but there was still quite a lot of them. There were plenty of green beans, too, but it was the purple beans that stole the show! There were so many ready to pick this time!

I picked a few sweet corn that seems like they might be ready, just to see how they were. Though their silks are drying, they are still quite immature. My expectations are on the low side for these, given how nitrogen poor the soil is, but we shall see as time goes by.

I was really happy to have so many sunburst squash and zucchini! I also had to straighten up a lot of the support poles, as the wind had blown them over somewhat. However, I can definitely say it was much easier to find and harvest the summer squash grown vertically! Last year, I was picking sunburst squash and zucchini pretty much daily, but this is the first time we’ve had a substantial amount to pick. They did not get eaten before we could get to them! The cayenne pepper is definitely working!

I applied more over everything after I finished picking things. The rains would have washed it all off by now. We might get more rain today, then off an on over the next week, but I don’t expect to get much here, so I wanted to make sure the garden beds had their spicy protection.

There was enough picked that we could blanch and freeze some more, but this time I’m keeping them for having with our meals. In fact, I’m enjoying some of those beans with my lunch as I write this, sauteed with our Purple Stripe garlic (crushed and chopped) in butter, then braised until tender, then seasoned and stir fried with rice and some of the grass fed beef we got with the package we ordered a while back. It turned out very well!!

It may almost be the end of August, but we’re finally getting to where we can probably eat from our garden every day. :-)

The Re-Farmer