Gardening

[Willow Flats]

I do prune my trees, but I have never thinned the buds. But sure will going forward!

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

View attachment 44102Here are some shots of my volunteers for this year. These are ornamental squash volunteers and petunia volunteers.

I know squash blossom can be eaten, however, I'm not sure about these. I'm looking for the information. If anyone here knows, feel free to let me know!

 

[MaryFlora]

Attached is the bed of daisies that volunteered to bloom as long as we didn’t mow them down!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Attached is the bed of daisies that volunteered to bloom as long as we didn’t mow them down!

View attachment 44116

Lovely meadow! We have natural prairie here. It needs to be managed just like any kind of crop. Do you mow this for hay?

 

[Ryan Johnson]

So jealous of that lovely grass, all I have here at the moment is mud

 

[MaryFlora]

I’m sorry, Ryan. Mud is just the worst and some mud is worse than other mud....a muddled statement but you all know what I mean!

Yes, Marsha, we do mow for hay! The fields are a mix of timothy, upland grass, clover, and some random alfalfa here and there - and an assortment of wild flowers that grow throughout the fields. In the heart of winter, when it is around 0 degrees Farenheit, I love seeing the dried flowers in a broken bale. It remains me that Spring always returns!

The ponies on the other hand just eat it all up without any reflections on nature!

I do remain profoundly grateful we have our own hay. That is a gift not to be taken for granted!

 

[MajorClementine]

My tomatoes are coming on and I have carrots. My dogs ate all the peas...

My pumpkin plants aren't growing female flowers so I'm worried I'll have no pumpkins. Is there a trick to get them to grow fruit??

Yes, those who have their own hay have a blessing for sure!

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

Well, that's the sum total of my decorative squash harvest from my volunteers. We haven't had much rain and I didn't water them, so I think they were generous. I *thought* I'd have that many of the little pumpkins. (You can see one on the upper left.) However, squirrels and my service dog thought they were tasty treats and toys, so I have just that one.

While I was harvesting the squash today, I found the miniature morning glory type flowering vine. Since it has so many seed pods, I'll be harvesting those for spring.

The pretty chickens are my new garden tillers. I bought them from a friend over the weekend. They were very aggressive at her place, so they came here. They're Seramas, the tiny little bantams. I think they're pretty and just wanted to share them with you.

 

[Willow Flats]

Love the colors of your squash and nice chickens! I have never seen that breed.

 

[Kelly]

Looks like the chickens are already laying eggs for you? I think I see one in that pic, how cool. Did you name them??

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

My friend and granddaughter had already named them. . The pullets are Sunrise, Sunset and Angel. The little cockerel was Peanut, however, he wanted something more sophisticated. He's now Reginald--not to be shortened to Reggie. He's quite the English gentleman...old family, threadbare tweets, money gone generations ago but still oh so polite. ☺ The girls' names may change as I handle them more. Here's a picture of their pretty, tiny eggs:

I think only two of the three have started laying. My friend got the first two eggs, and these are from their first 3 days here. No eggs yesterday. I gave them a new nest box yesterday. I hope they like it.

As to gardening, we've got drizzly rain today and it's supposed to rain tomorrow too. Since it's predicted to be cooler the end of the week, I'm planning to push myself and get the mowing and outdoor clean-up finished. Then I'll share my plans for next year.

 

[Dragon Hill]

I just noticed the toothpick!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Picked the last of the apples from the Golden Delicious. I've been drying, making applesauce, and sharing the generous crop. Kale and radishes coming up now. That's all I planned for the fall garden. The nursery man told me not to cut my birdhouse gourds until at least the end of September, as the longer they can go the thicker their shells will be. From a volunteer, I think there are over a dozen large gourds. Getting them off the top of the garden could be a challenge.

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

I just noticed the toothpick!

I put it there for perspective. It looked much nicer than my chubby gnarled fingers.

 

[Kelly]

I only noticed the toothpick because of Dragon Hill

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

Guess I should send her a lollipop . Dragon Hill, you win the observant award!!

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

I just found a batch of carrot, radish and lettuce seeds attached to my calendar. I think I'll plant them in the beat up bins I was just about to throw away.

 

[Cayuse]

My garden was a bust this year except for the peppers. We had some nice peppers! I think it was too wet.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Always enjoy these colorful guys in the garden. Notice his tail.

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

Notice his tail.

Yeah...I did. He's GOT one. We have tiny little blue tailed skinks here. My cat terrorizes them until they drop their tails, then bats the tails around. She is a very naughty girl. The attached photo is an example. It's one I helped catch and escort outside at Walmart

As you can see, he has a very long and pretty blue tail. Not a nub.

Edited to change skinks back to skinks because smartphone thinks it should be skins. SKINK SKINK SKINK!!!