Garden Update

Y'all - we actually grew something besides lettuce and basil that we ATE. Radishes....I was thinning them out and lo and behold, there were tiny little radishes.  We also had spinach from the garden tonight..

I pulled a weed and  realized it looked like parsley - I tasted it. Cilantro. Shoot....I only see two other little leaves that survived the moose....but maybe there are more under there. They must have gotten buried pretty deep.

This teeny-tiny Texas Rattler melon actually has caused the most excitement around here. God-speed little one.... 

We've carried the seeds around for years and we need ONE melon to mature so we can get more seeds. None of them survived last year....but this year....they have one side of the greenhouse designated for watermelon. I had planned to pull the weak plants out when I saw which was growing well. I've only had the heart to pull one of the plants. ARGH.

Garden layout -Corn in the forefront, potatoes in the brown space between the corn and carpet. YES - I DO have the old carpet from BreZaak's house in my garden. ANYTHING to cover weeds. Zuchinni to the left of the carpet. The beds have carrots, lettuce, cabbage, kale, beets, spinach, radishes and evidently a bit of cilantro. There is a row of cauliflower and broccoli to the right of the 2nd bed.  

By the time I realized I had way more space than seedlings - I couldn't find more things to plant. I'd love to find squash, pumpkins, more potatoes.....

Cauliflower or Broccoli - novice problem - I am basically letting everything
grow until I can figure out what is food...then I pull weeds. 

 Pepper dreams 

Tomatoes in our future? 

Something ate the beet leaf....back to google I will go. 

I keep repeating Michael's comment, "It's a work in progress, De'Etta."  This is better than last year. Next year will be better than this year....I'll get it figured out.

Trouble.....Natural Aphid Spray

Yes, I discovered trouble in the happiest place on earth....

Facebook friends identified it as aphids on my pepper plants...and offered solutions. In keeping with our endeavor not to use chemical/pesticide on the garden or yard.....I selected a "safe" recipe and sprayed. I suspect I'll need to use this often so am putting the "recipe" below.....This site had many recipes.  I went ahead and sprayed anything in the greenhouse or garden that looked like it had bugs or holes....something has gotten left holes in ONE beet leaf and several radishes.

Recipe from the US Department of Agriculture (I figured they'd know a thing or two).

2 tsp dish soap
1 C oil
Fill 32 oz bottle with water (16 oz pictured above)

Shake and spray tops and bottoms of leaves every 9-10 days, ensuring aphids are completely covered.

I have one potted tomato plant with yellowed and leaves and found a couple of curled leaves on others. Google suggests they need more water.....or are too hot.....

Have Passport Will Travel?

The house is QUIET with three people out of town! Wow.

Dad and I made another trip to the post office - this time with an appointment. His passport application is on it's way to PA! Have passport, will travel? He is happy to think he has it for another 10 years.  The last time he'd renewed it was in Manila.

Nolan got home from work a bit early.

We all took naps.  I have discovered a new joy! Reading outside at midnight. A habit which evidently leads to afternoon naps.

I woke up in time to prepare dinner and have a water fight with Benny. 

The three of us played Farkle after dinner. The games are much quicker. LOL They are really fast if one rolls like this - I've never seen a roll like this. 3,000 points and Nolan for the win!

Dad and Nolan headed to bed after a second game. I headed outside to get chickens to bed, close up the greenhouse, water what looked dry and take care of some bug problems.

It's been a bit of a quiet day - but it's been a good day.

MeMa and Benny's First Water Fight

Benny LOVES to be in the middle of whatever project is occupying our attention. He especially likes chores involving water. Here are a few photos from last week. 

Helping water

On another day he helped me fill the chicken's water. 

He was doing a great job - until he turned the hose on them. 

The chickens tend to avoid Benny

Benny has spent yesterday and today calling for Papa, Yay-a, and Ax....alas  all went bye-bye. I suggested he come out and help me feed scraps to the chickens tonight. We asked Arielle - she said yes - and off we went.  I should have remembered the chicken incident.

It all started so innocently. Dandelions and Eggs - remember? Our two crops at Wibbly Wobbly Acres. All crops must be watered.  Don't be fooled by the cute innocence. 

Watering the dandelions

This was the warning shot....

and then all the photos became blurry and water logged as I attempted to escape  the onslaught of Benny-directed watering. He got me good....I was laughing and yelling. Arielle was laughing.  G Dog was yelling and laughing from the window....I was WET.

Benny? He was laughing with glee.  And chattering a mile a minute. In the midst of it all he called me MeMa (Memaw?). I have no idea if it will stick - but I liked the sound of it coming from a little grandblessing.

I told Arielle to help me....she said he'd get her if she helped. ::snort:: I told her to turn the water off. ::snort::  Look at the determination on that face!

I hope it's the first of many water fights to come.

Busy Monday

I got a text from Michael early this a.m. like 0500 early.  I needed to run an errand for him as soon as the post office opened.  Michael has safely landed in Colorado. He'll enjoy a few days with his brother and family. Krista will meet him in Colorado in a few days. They'll proceed to drive to Alaska.

Dad and I went to the post office to mail Michael's passport, get my photos and renew my passport, and get Dad a new passport. We managed to mail Michael's and get my pictures. We'll go back tomorrow as Dad needed an appointment. The man told me I could "mail this yourself." At the end of  helping me, after I'd paid, he gave me a flat rate envelop and recommended I send the passport priority.....as I walked out I realized...."No, I can't mail this FROM home, I'll have to bring it all back to mail it here." ::snort:: Tomorrow.

I didn't even get to walk into the door before Stacia met me and we headed to Freddies to get her a couple of things she needed for camp.  This is usually a 5 - 6 minute drive. Due to road construction it takes 20 minutes to get to Freddies. Tis the season.

Nolan came home and agreed to drive out with Dad and I to take the kids to camp. He was making a call to the oral surgeon before we left and they said the could see him THIS Friday. WHAT? No initial consult. They'll remove the offending, painful teeth this Friday...IF we registered him before the end of business day. I knew we wouldn't be home before the end of business day....that was a LONG registration form. ::snort::

We met a friend and followed them out to camp. I was a bit worried about trusting the GPS in totally new territory.  Gorgeous area, nice camp. I took a photo, but promised one of the girls I wouldn't put it on Facebook.....

Yes, the kids are at camp. Michael is gone. I freely admit this as one would  be a fool to attempt to get into this house. Enough said. There are still 3 men here... CoRielle had recommended Smashburger...they said the burgers were good, the view great, AND they had a vegetarian option.

Our table with a view

They were right on all counts. It was another gorgeous summer day in Alaska and we scored an outside table with a stunning view.

Back at home, Nolan and Dad headed to bed. I spent another hour watering, weeding and settling chickens for the night. I've discovered it's very refreshing to sit and watch a sprinkler....with a cup of tea.

Saturday Projects

We worked on projects today. Michael and Alex were determined to finish the upgrade to the chicken coop before Michael leaves to bring our baby girl home. They succeeded. Michael can leave knowing the chicks are contained and I'm not chasing them up and down Mat Peak. LOL 

They'll have a covered area this winter and I'll wrap the fence in that corner to cut the wind and snow drifts. We are hoping this will allow them to be outside more and cut down on the pecking and such. We also hang cabbage for them to peck on, give them carrots, put balls in there, and I'm looking for a xylophone to attach to the wall - anything to give them something to do. LOL   

They errected a temporary fence that runs from the corner of the coop to the existing fence. This will keep the chicks in and close to the bigger chickens. We're letting them get used to each other, waiting for Phoenix to mature, then we'll sneak this year group into the coop some night. Maybe it will go smoothly. Lucille still can't go back into the coop. She is bloodied every time we try. She WANTS back in....that'll preach. 

Josiah came by as we were finishing our Saturday projects and helped catch chicks. They have enjoyed free-ranging. I am tired of the poop on the front porch. They've started heading for the road, and one made it. They are also easy prey the further they range.  They are adjusting well to their confinement.

CATCHING them was an adventure. Benny jumped in to help with this as well. They love hiding under the trailer.

As we caught them, we introduced them to their new home. Stacia with Lorri 1. 

Josiah and Lorri 2. 

Alex with Red - needs a name. 

 See the thin one with the white head and gray back lower half. She holds herself very upright when she runs. She's fun to watch. We've named her road runner - and we'd love guesses as to her breed. 

 While the guys worked on the chicken coop, Stacia and I continued working on the garden. 

I hadn't realized how big the garden spot is. I planted all the seedlings I had....and still have 1/2 the garden to plant. I had hoped to find some squash and pumpkin starts - no luck.  The chick weed up here is like Kudzu in the south. It's terribly prolific! I don't want to look at a huge patch of weeds all summer....the wood shavings did not deter the weeds last year. They grew through ROOF shingles. ::snort::  I am covering the areas we are not using with black plastic in an effort to check the weeds.  We were given a roll and used it. Michael had a huge box from Lowes and we used all of it today. I need to go buy more. 

I am standing in the NE corner of the garden by the fence post...all this grassy area needs taken down and then covered. To the left is corn. 

Stacia and I covered from the beds to the fence line and over to the other SW fence line. 

It's going to be a work in progress. I envision various sizes of beds, some flowery spaces, a bench and table to enjoy....a trellis and a wooden fence with an arched entry way....for now I'm content to slap plastic over it and weed every day....Things are growing this year. I'll do a post soon - I have garden questions too. Anyone surprised? LOL

As the guys picked up tools, we started dinner inside. It was fun to have Josiah out to visit and to catch up with him.

We played a couple of rounds of Farkle and STACIA won for the first time since G Dog arrived. LOL

Chick Antics or Name That Breed

If you are a chicken person, please give us your opinions on the breeds of the chicks we mention below. I am happy to have selected chicks from a local feed store - I got a bigger variety than I need when we ordered from Anchorage....but I haven't a clue what I got. I do have 6 Cochins or mixed-Cochins. I recognize the one Red Sex Link. 

The antics of this year's chicks keep us on our toes....Evidently this gal wants to go for a bike ride.  Anyone want to guess as to her breed? 

This is one of our black Cochins, shown providing natural fertilizer for my plants. 

Chicks happy in their new home - well ok - not so happy. They want to continue having free range of Wibbly Wobbly acres...but as they are not smart enough to stay out of the road....they now have a safer home.  Anyone know the breed of the one in the bottom right - white head, gray feathers, black tail feathers. She's really pretty. We have two of them. The Cochin beside her appears to be a mixed whatever she is and Cochin. Any guesses?  They run like road runners - therefore we have named them road runner 1 and road runner 2. 

Phoenix is getting the crowing thing down...though he seems to think 1 a.m. is an appropriate time to practice. I need to figure out how to make their pen DARK so they aren't waiting for the sun to go down.  Anyone know what breed he is? 

Guesses on breeds? 

Thanks all! They are two months old. We are waiting for Phoenix to be big enough to win in a fight with the mean girls before we combine the two year groups. We want him to establish order and not be terrified of the meanies.