Mid July Update - 2022

Sunday...

The weather here has been insanely hot and this week will prove to be even hotter. We find that our feels like temperatures run about 10 degrees hotter than the thermometer reads. Right now the temp is about 103. 

Little turkey hen on a nest

I discovered yesterday that one of my turkey hens is sitting on a clutch of eggs. I didn't know turkeys did that in the summer, but only spring. But she is dutifully sitting on at least 10 eggs. 

This morning I didn't get out as early as I wanted because I had to get bread made. Since people were sleeping, I couldn't run the wheat grinder, so opted to make Prairie Homestead's Maple Oat bread (or my version, honey oat) with organic all purpose. The oats have to soak in boiling water first and I couldn't add the yeast until it cooled. So I ground some coffee beans, made coffee, did a load of laundry, then got the bread going. 

Two new rows: squash and pepper transplants

I grabbed seeds and the fertilizer from the garage on my way out and got to work. I fertilized the soil and planted both lemon and white scallop squash.  Then I  proceeded to dig out my chives when I discovered quickly there was a wasp nest hidden behind them. 

Lovely little wasp nest

So I stopped and went on to my next task.  I used dirt from the grow bags and topped off these beds then used the fertilizer (organic chicken compost). Some of these beds are empty or partially empty. I am prepping soil to plant more. 

tomatoes and basil and a freshly amended bed

 

Once that was done, I started weeding my strawberry bed which was in desperate need of maintenance. I was quite surprised that underneath all the pesky grass was a lot of new growth. When I finish weeding (I am halfway done) I will trim the sickly looking leaves and add fertilizer. I plan to transplant these in the fall to a better location, then use the bed for short term planting that can be weeded more easily. 

A very sad zucchini...but it is alive!

After watering, I came in for a bite to eat and my coffee which was in the refrigerator. Then I went back out and watered the kitchen garden. I transplanted the zucchini but I may have killed it. Although it looks like it died, it actually may make it.) Then when looking at the butternut squash, I noticed it had squash bugs. I started squishing them because I am not about to lose my butternut. 

Transplanted chives and butternut squash

The clump of chives I did get out of the raised bed before discovering the wasps, was planted in a large garden planter in the kitchen garden. Meanwhile, the corn, a midget sweet corn variety, is up and looking really good. Carrots aren't up yet, but I am hopeful. The tomato plant, chocolate cherry type,  looks great. 

Corn

Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes

Al has been setting up sprinklers to encourage the pastures to grow. The sheep ran out of forage and had to get a bale yesterday. Yes, it was the sabbath, but they needed food. So we got a hay cover taken over and brought in a round bale. 

I went back in the heat of the afternoon to plant potatoes in all the "fire rings".  There were five of them, and one black tub.  So the larger of all my potatoes that I harvested (and believe me they were not that large) went into the ground again. I am hopeful I can get these to produce more than my initial harvest. 

I also harvested three of the sweet potato bins, but the harvest was not good.  Plants were dying back and I decided to go ahead and pull them.  I did leave one bin to see what happens in the next month. 

I did end up going back out this evening to put up a trellis and plant a succession of cucumbers in a raised bed.  

Monday...

Last night we had a pretty powerful storm blow through with winds up to 60mph.  We are thankful to the Father that all is well despite the strong winds.  The only "damages" if you call it that, were tomato cages that had fallen over, the new cucumber trellis blew over, and the corn is somewhat sideways.  

We are also thankful that just a few hours prior, Al was able to bring all the hay in from the fields (sounds so weird to say that).  He brought in 45 small round bales.  These bales are light enough for me to carry, so that is a blessing for those days when we have a need to feed animals, yet are restrained from doing a large round bale.  Other than baling twine issues, as well as difficulty disconnecting and connecting the shaft to and from the baler (Al can correct me if I am incorrect), I think we are quite happy with the purchase.  It will come in handy for sure!

I took Smoky to the vet and it was determined he is about 6 weeks old and can be weaned.  So we will offer the milk and solid kibble.  The vet said he looked very healthy, but did give a dewormer to help expel any potential problems in the belly.  He said, "Thank you" for taking him in as it is probably not common practice for people to care for animals they find, but take them to shelters instead.  

Other homestead stuff...

Our two new pear trees and one apple tree have succumbed to fire blight, so Stark Brothers has refunded us.  

This side of the squash garden is doing fairly well with lush green vines.  They seem to hold up against the squash bugs quite well.  One of the vines I have not determined the type of squash.  There aren't any on it yet. The zucchini rampicante is actually quite delicious and has done better than the other zucchini types. 

Meanwhile, I did discover that I had indeed planted the Canada crookneck which is also proving to be a hearty variety for our area.  

The quail are due to hatch in just a few days.  The eggs are on day 16 now with only two more to go!  Al will have the fun of tending those tiny creatures while we are gone. 

In our homeschool...

Hannah put together a small volcano like the one on Mars.  She had fun with that one.  

The kids were supposed to do a presentation on certain topics of Egypt, but we have run out of time before the books have to be returned (not because they are due, but because we are leaving town).  So I instead told them to read up and we can share interesting things we learned from the books.  The books really didn't cover the topics we needed, but the information is good none the less.  

We recently started reading Catherine Marshall's Christy as a family read aloud.  They do love it when I read to them and I have missed it.  If anyone knows how to prevent excessive salivation while reading, let me know!!  Good grief!  Am I just out of practice?  LOL

The last of our curriculum from The Good and The Beautiful has been ordered now that Language Arts 2 is finally in stock.  Those who have already started some of it seem to be enjoying it.  The biggest struggle being the discipline to TRY even when you don't like to do something. 

Caleb has been refusing to do his work AGAIN so I decided to put together a store in which they can buy things using the money they earn doing their school each week.  I haven't set it up completely, but the store has crafts, color books, stickers, color pages, mechanical pencils, cups, and a few other things.  

I am trying to decide what we will take to my parents' house to do while there.  I don't want to bring it all, but there are things they need to do and things I want to do.  

Blessings in His Name...Love you all