Tilling of the house garden was suppose to take place last week. It's now on my to-do list for this week. It will be put in at about the same time as last year's garden and the only thing going in from seed will be the winter squash, kale, spinach and some other greens. They'll be fine. I do have a few black krim tomatoes that will have to be planted pretty deep and lots of leaves to take off due to them having to wait for their permanent home.
I'm told I have a hummingbird battle going on. Two are disputing territory in midair over rights to the flowers on the deck and the feeder. I'm also told the oriels are back and a bald eagle keeps cruising over in the evenings.
My sister unloaded tons of flowers on me. One of my projects this week is to try to plant them in something. These are ones she started from seed. I've never seen the green or the pink/brownish/purple petunias before. I think they are named lime sophisticas and antique sophisticas.
I have a chicken coop to finish up. We had taken apart 95% of the hen house and had plans to build one with a window in the back and hinged opening for egg collection {kind of like some of these}. Their hen house wasn't bad, but just boards that created a simple house and a door with a ramp. Now the girls just have a bottom floor with their crates {yes those are from the former classroom...}, but it's summertime and fresh air is good, so the project can get done little by little. The girls act completely fine with their simplified digs so I'm fine with it too for now.
I have committed to getting my rabbit barn squared away with better hutches this week. The girls will get their new homes first. They've all been very patient through the long winter and deserve a little spoiling. The two current batches of kits have been living in the traveler this past week. My sister went out every 2 or 3 hours at night to make sure they weren't being eaten by anything while I was away...I owe her big time. Certainly in need of more housing and some more outdoor movable pens for the summer. I've decided to wait a year on bees. Last week I was suppose to pick up a hive, but with all that happened obviously did not. Instead I'm going to throw my efforts into the rabbitry this summer and finish getting it set up. I can't keep up with all the people inquiring about silver foxes and so focusing on them would probably be wise. There's a local honey bee club I learned about that I plan on delving into though. It will mean I'm even more prepared for bee arrival next spring.
Most of Sunday afternoon was spent outside checking up on things and mowing grass and it felt good. I have had paint waiting to finally finish up the barn trim and got that started this evening too. I think the color scheme is going to make it look like something straight out of New Mexico.
Flower seed planting was finally finished {I had planted in front of the cabin and things are sprouting...but the battle to keep the dogs out of the beds of cosmos and zinnias has begun...there are a few spots that will need to be patched up}.
And I'm trying to appreciate this phase of gardening more this year. I've often found that I get impatient during this first stage when things are so small or may or may not sprout {things almost always germinate}. I don't know why...possibly because in my mind there's this race until the fall frost {or in previous years a race to get the harvest in before things got too hot}. But things will grow and harvest will come and this is an exciting time in the garden. I'm glad I put in a few planters of lettuce earlier than everything else. They should tide me over...I was able to cut some mizuna this evening for supper.
I broke down and stopped at a nursery I used to go to growing up a few days ago on the way back to Minnesota and bought some herbs I had not gotten seeds for and never grown before just for something fresh and new--purple basil, fennel, and marjoram. My Mom had marjoram in the kitchen window when I was very small and it brings back happy memories of a pretty free spirited childhood in hot and humid Florida with America on the radio and my sister and I collecting toads in the evenings and running in to the kitchen sink to fill a container for their water dish in the bottom of a 5 gallon drywall mud bucket, and then letting those same toads go on their way in the morning and watching them happily hop off across the yard to freedom. Sometimes I would reach up and grab a leaf to eat. I don't know why I never thought of planting marjoram before, but when I passed it in the greenhouse as I aimlessly browsed around it instantly brought back all those memories and resulted in the other two coming home to join it as well.
It was good to be greeted by the crew. They have been in good hands and spoiled even more than usual under my sister's care. Them being there and hanging out does make the cabin feel more welcoming to return to.
And Jewel and Tuesday seemed to be getting on fine. It took Jewel months to get used to niece Sophia {which meant months of hiding under beds and behind end tables}.
Most of you already know this, but for those of you who don't--Mike was killed on the 29th of May in an accident along with a friends little boy while visiting a friend from the service and it all feels very unreal still. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I don't know what else to say. My mind is a mess right now.
