Whew!
There's so much going on lately, I'm having a hard time keeping up. But it's all caught up with me and left me exhausted! "Just make it to bed time," has become my mantra. So, what's up? Let's get to it.
In the Garden
The peppers that I've got in the ground are are doing good, but I've been neglecting these...
The tomatoes are doing good too, lots of clusters of little fruits coming on!!
The cucumbers are really starting to come on strong. I'll have pickes in no time! This year I'm growing these...
I've alternated dragon's egg and lemon cucs for the past few years, but I'm ready for a change. I'm excited about these. The natsu fushinari cucumbers are exceptionally resistant to powdery mildew and they're incredibly heat tolerant. Another real draw is the productivity claims. So far, I'm pleased with this variety.
My tumeric has sprouted. I was just about to give up on it, when it started popping up. I had also started some ginger. I was afraid it had rotted, but while I was watering one day, I noticed that my cat had dug it up and replaced it..... with poop. >,< I suppose that's why it isn't growing!
Garden Berry Litchi tomatoes. I wish I had never started any of them. About five years ago I had three pants in my garden. They were novel and the tiny tomatoes were tasty enough, but the seeds are huge and tough. But they are viciously thorny. I fought them every year since. Have you ever heard of an invasive tomato? Well, I've got them. And I hate them. Baker Creek's description of the plant says nothing about it, but in the research I've done since then I've learned that they often over winter and they reseed prolificly. "Naturalize" is the word the use, but I feel like they're invading! I've pulled 50+ plants this season.
The three sisters (plus some) experiment isn't the success I hoped for, because the corn didn't germinate as well as I had hoped. But, I've got maybe a dozen plants. The sorgum, beans, squash are thriving. The sunflowers took their time coming up, but they're starting to take off now.
I've got lots of volunteer toothache plant coming up, the cabbage heads are gaining size and the lavender is blooming! I've got loads of basil. I love this Corsican variety. I'll be harvesting basil seed soon!
Mail Time!
Every day last week, 
In addition to this badass notebook, I also won a Steemit luggage tag. I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival!
This week of flash giveaways led up Friday's big giveaway.There's not much time left , just hours, on this giveaway, so get over there and get entered! And you're going to want to get entered, because this huge prize package includes a notebook, notepad, mug, reusable shopping bag, Christamas tree ornament and more, all printed with the Steem logo! But wait, there's more!! How does $25 SBD sound? Yeah, this giveaway is huge, so get over there and enter! But, if you choose not to, my chances of winning go up, so suit yourself.
The Chicken Situation
I loves me some baked chicken, but my yard girls aren't big fans. The sun this year is so intense! As you may know, we took our big tree down this spring, and it provided the hens with shade. Now they don't have much, so for a temporary fix, we tarped the top of the coop. We've got metal roofing to put up there, but that's going to have to wait til it's cooled down a little.
We got their water hung from the roof so they can't kick straw and poop into it any more. That saves me a load of time, because I'm not changing it out several times a day.
The mean chicken is still is still setting. I put some fertilized eggs under her 11 days ago. I sure hope her brood is female heavy! I'm not looking forward to getting rid of roosters.
Cock fighting is legal in Oklahoma. It is not legal in Missouri, but it is legal to raise and keep fighting roosters in Missouri. This close to Oklahoma, you don't have to get too far out of the city around here to see yards full of roosters chained to 55 gallon drums, being raised and kept for cock fighting. I'm terrified of giving any roosters I may come up with away, and having them end up in up being used that way.
Flies. Damned Flies!
I know they have a purpos, I know they're nessesary and all that. But I hate them. Before I had chickens, the flies around here were thick, inside the house and out. Now I have chickens. The flies are legion. For what ever reason, I haven't made any fly traps this year, it hasn't even crossed my mind until today so I made a few.
I don't drink soda, so I depend on other people for my bottles. I normally use 2 liters for fly traps, but today I'm working with 3 liter bottles. It's super simple to throw one of these things together. Make a line to guide your cut just a couple inches down from where the bottle's walls straighten out below the curved shoulders, and cut it. Put a few inches of water in the bottom and add something that will get super stinky. I used left over hotdogs for this one. I just mushed it up real good with a fork and put it in the water. I pushed the top half, upside down, into the bottom, just far enough to make a good seal around the top of the bottom, and taped it up. Be sure to leave some space between the bottle opening and the surface of the water. I've found that these traps work best if they're set out of the sun.
And Just When I Thought Things Were Finally Getting Boring...
A week or so ago, I thought things were coming together in a way that I would have plenty of time to work on the garden and crafts and art and Steemit. But four things have happened to start eating away at my time again.
- My son has developed a hernia. He's already had sugery to have one fixed, that ended with a Foley catheter that he had for 4 weeks while his bladder healed from an accidental puncture during the surgery. Now he's got a hernia in his upper abdomen, an incisional hernia, coming through a scar he got as a result of a pyloric stenosis surgery when he was 13 days old. Because we get our health care through the Cherokee Nation, we have to go to Tahlequah, OK, a two hour drive, for surgeries like this. He had his pre-op visit Monday, his surgery is in two weeks, then there will be a post-op visit two weeks and six weeks after the surgery. Every time I have to drive down there and back, I feel like I've got jet lag for two days. So, I've been pretty much worthless since Monday. But, he wants me to go, so I'll go.
- My sister found out she's having a baby! This is huge for her, as she's been trying for about 4 years. It's also huge for me. My sister is 11 years younger than me, and when she was about 4 years old, her mother left. I started helping my dad take care of her, and because of that we have formed a very unique relationship. Being 11 years older than her, we didn't really grow up together, so we could have had two very seperate lives. But because things turned out the way they did, we're close sisters, very best friends, and I'm her go-to, in place of her mother. She's my girl and I watch out for her the way I do my own children. It's the most amazing kind of relationship, and I'm excited to get my hands on that little baby!!
- My youngest son, (yep, the one with a hernia) is getting married! In October, I'll have another daughter-in-law! So, my clan's growing so fast! I'm gonna have to get a bigger table! Anyway, There's a whole lotta planning to do, and I've got to get a dress. That's gonna take some time.
- My daughter's basement flooded. She just recently moved into the house. She unpacked things that she thought she would need daily and put the other boxes in the basement so they'd be out of the way while she unpacked them slowly. We've got everything out and things that could be salvaged are drying. Today we'll cleaning and washing those things.
That's Just About It
Well, one last thing. So my fly problem, they're always crawling down my straw! (I only drink if I have a straw.) But I found a solution: a pen cap over the end of it!
You're welcome. :)
Hey, thanks for sticking with me to the end. For those of you who did, there could be 2 shares of SBI in it for you. Just leave me a winky face in the comments, and you'll be entered in a drawing for 2 shares when this post pays out. ;)
Oh yeah, one more thing...IT RAINED!!! :) :) :)
